Psalm 46
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The New King James Version Psalm 46
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. A Song For Alamoth.
The sons of Korah were Levites. By this time the were working in the Temple in the worship side of things.
Then the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with voices loud and high.
A song for Alamoth. Concerning the virgins. This led one commentator I read to say this could have been a group of female singers.
Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with strings according to Alamoth;
This would suggest it was string instruments.
To understand this Psalm we need to go to the time of Isaiah.
The king was Hezekiah and the Assyrian army had surrounded Jerusalem.
These guys were bad dudes. The were the super power of the day.
I think this is very important to understand as well. Hezekiah had torn down many ideals and had returned the nation back to the God of Isreal.
The Assyrians were a mighty army that would use any means at there disposal. We talked about it a little bit last night in the men’s bible study, they would skin people alive. Actions like that are not only about about the punishment it is also a deterrent from it happening again.
I think of Vlad the impaler or Vlad Dracula. When you rode into his kingdom and saw miles of body’s hanging on a stick up in the air it was a deterrent.
Fear is a very strong emotion . It effects every one in different way’s, and unfortunately you don’t know how it will effect you until your confronted with it.
So here they are in the city and the king of Assyria sends them a message.
Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in Hebrew, and said, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you; nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” ’ Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make peace with me by a present and come out to me; and every one of you eat from his own vine and every one from his own fig tree, and every one of you drink the waters of his own cistern; until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered its land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Indeed, have they delivered Samaria from my hand? Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their countries from my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’ ”
This message is accurate. This is how it happened, but note how the writer wrote it . All little g gods.
This is the response that Hezekiah had.
Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands—wood and stone. Therefore they destroyed them. Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord, You alone.”
If you have not read the rest of this event in a while I recommend reading it . It goes much deeper than I am going to go tonight, but this is the result that came out of it.
Then the angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at Nineveh.
God proved He was the strength of His people. Walled city's feal all the time. Look at Jericho, but God never does.
Many think because of this event the Psalm was written.
God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.
In God is my salvation and my glory;
The rock of my strength,
And my refuge, is in God.
Trust in Him at all times, you people;
Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us.
Selah
I want to say something about the word Selah. We don’t truly know what this means. We will see it a couple of times tonight.
From what I have found there is many that think this is a pause. Weather it is a pause in music to change tempo. It could be a pause in the psalm to give the hearers time to reflect on what they just heard,or a pause for the hearers to reply, as in amen.
Like I said we don’t truly know but it is an educated guess by people with way more knowledge of the Bible than I have.
The main point of this is God is are refuge and or strength
Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah [witch could also mean son of John], for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
So on the truth that Jesus is the Christ , the church will prevail even against Hades , against death.
With these promises , that are very uplifting, we also need to understand that things will come against us.
We have protection from the troubles we will face.
The second part of the verse is: very present help in trouble. Abundant help.
The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.
The word truth here is faith. Belief that God will do what he says He will do. God is who the Bible says He is. The one and only God.
Therefore we will not fear,
Even though the earth be removed,
And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
Though its waters roar and be troubled,
Though the mountains shake with its swelling.
Selah
If Selah means a time to pause and reflect this would be a great time to do it.
This is something easy for me to say but it can be difficult to practice.
Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
Although we still fear sometimes , we have nothing to fear. I believe the biggest fear we have is being dead , but Christ has overcome that.
We live in a time when the End times is a popular subject. I think through out history it has been.
It seems like we have seen a lot of natural disasters lately. War’s breaking out . These things have always happened. I think there are a lot of people making a lot of money on this subject.
If you are a person interested in this subject by all means study it. We should.
Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.
There is also other books of the Bible that deal with end time prophecy, but the blessing is not in fear[except of the Lord]but who is in control .
Even though mountains will shake , storms will rage , we will not fear because God are refuge and strength is with us.
There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God,
The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;
God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.
The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved;
He uttered His voice, the earth melted.
In scripture the city of God will be Jerusalem, but it is the city of God because His people dwell there. So where ever God’s people dwell . The river. God is there to sustain life.
In God’s creation rivers are a sustainer of life. Its shelter in the grass along the shore. Food in the water and at the waters edge.Rivers can be very peaceful and the can rage. River here is a metaphor for God. So know matter the circumstance God is there.
Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel:
I am the Lord your God
And there is no other.
My people shall never be put to shame.
We won’t be shaken because God won’t be shaken. We won’t be surprised because God won’t be surprised.
We know these things will happen. God said He would be there and He will.According to His will all things wiill happen.
Nothing can come against Him. Disobedience, war. supper powers falling, new nations rising up nothing will move the will of God. He is who He say’s He is and He will do what He says He will do.
Isn’t that reassuring. I have found the older I get and the more I'm around children that consistency Is the key.
They bible is clear about disciplining children, but I have found that disciplining doesn’t have to be done as often if the rules are consistent.
God is always the same.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge.
Selah
Come, behold the works of the Lord,
Who has made desolations in the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
He burns the chariot in the fire.
Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!
The writer again assures us that God is with us and is or refuge. That is the point of this Psalm . That is the consistent message throughout this Psalm
We talked earlier about the event that led up to this Psalm. Gods people were surrounded by the Assyrians. They are in a tough spot but then Hezekiah cried out to God and God sent the Angel of God and he struck down 185000 Assyrian soldiers and saved His people and Jerusalem from destruction.
Who was the Angel of God. That is open for debate but either way it is what God used to defeat the army.
So the Psalmist say’s come and look what the Lord has done . He has torn up all there tools of war.
He shall judge between the nations,
And rebuke many people;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.
There will come a day when all war will cease to exist.
vs 10 Be still and know that I am God.
The lofty looks of man shall be humbled,
The haughtiness of men shall be bowed down,
And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge.
Selah
The psalmist goes back to the chorus
Selah. weather this means to pause and reflect or not. I hope we all stop and reflect on this fact daily.
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”
