Psalms: Refuge and Strength

Introduction

We will be in book two of Psalms this evening. Please open your Bible to Psalm 46.

Last time we had the question, who is the king of glory.

The Creator

The one that bestows blessing

The mighty one

We can actually answer the question in one word, Jesus

The kings city, where the king lives

Where does Jesus live?

Lets read

Psalm 46 ESV

To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A Song. 1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah 4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. 5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. 6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. 7 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah 8 Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. 10 “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” 11 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

May God Bless the Reading of His Holy and Infallible Word

Lets Pray

Transition

The first 3 verse address the hope of the elect.

When you see the Selah

Body

The Present Help In Trouble

Psalm 46:1–3 ESV

1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

To whom is God a refuge

The image of the earth under our feet disappearing

The Image of the Flood, the foundation of the deep solid earth gone, the refuge of God was with his people

Transition

Verse 4 though 7, what is the city of God?

What is the city of God?

Psalm 46:4–7 ESV

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. 5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. 6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. 7 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

What is the city of God. Where is the city of God, where s the place that God makes his dwelling?

Remember we we talk about God’s promises to Solomon, I have chosen this house to put my name there but, “But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, 7 then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight.” (1 Ki 9:6–7, ESV)

But that house, the house where God’s dwells, that house existed long before the house the Solomon built.

Hebrews 11:9–10 ESV

9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

Jumping down to verse 36.

Hebrews 11:36–40 ESV

36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

If that is not clear enough,

Galatians 4:22–26 ESV

22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. 23 But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. 24 Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.

This is an astounding statement, from a Jew.

That physical city is not my kings city.

That the house of bondage

The Jerusalem above is not the house Solomon built.

Transition

As son of the Reformation, we inherited the Five Solas.

The last stanza of this Psalm

Soli Deo Gloria

Psalm 46:8–11 ESV

8 Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. 10 “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” 11 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

The earth is the Lords, and he is pleased to desolations

“wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire”

Calvin thought this Psalm my have been writing,

“The prophet, therefore, whoever composed the psalm, commending a deliverance so singularly vouchsafed by God, exhorts the faithful to commit themselves confidently to his protection, and not to doubt that, relying fearlessly upon him as their guardian and the protector of their welfare, they shall be continually preserved in safety from all the assaults of their enemies, because it is his peculiar office to quell all commotions.” [1]

Who’s office is it to quell all commotions?

The one who welds the rod of Iron?

The one who’s rod and staff comforts the sheep?

The King of Glory mighty in Battle?

The very same one who will be exulted in the earth.

The nae of Chirst, the name about all names, the every knee will bow, every toung will confess is LORD.

He is the only one this Psalm can be talking about.

Conclusion

For the saints, the elect of God, God’s people, the Lord of hosts is with us.

The earth can melt

The waters rise over us

We can be like the the ones the Author of Hebrews wrote about,

“Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated”

Yet we are more then concordances in Christ Jesus.

Thee God of Jacob, your God,

The only and only Jesus Christ,

The second person of the trinity

The Emanuel, God with us is your refuge

All the promises of God find their yes and amen in him… And him ALONE!

Benediction

Hebrews 13:20–21 ESV

20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

References

[1] John Calvin and James Anderson, Commentary on the Book of Psalms, vol. 2 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 194.

Bibliography

Calvin, John, and James Anderson. Commentary on the Book of Psalms. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010.