In Whom will you Trust? (Psalm 46) [Part 1]

Psalm 46:1-11 NLT

God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!

A river brings joy to the city of our God, the sacred home of the Most High. God dwells in that city; it cannot be destroyed. From the very break of day, God will protect it. The nations are in chaos, and their kingdoms crumble! God’s voice thunders, and the earth melts! The LORD of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress.

Come, see the glorious works of the LORD: See how he brings destruction upon the world. He causes wars to end throughout the earth. He breaks the bow and snaps the spear; he burns the shields with fire.

“Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.”

The LORD of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress.

Psalm 46 is one of my favorite Psalms in the Bible

There is so much meat to sink your teeth into this Psalm

There is an appeal to not fear because the Lord is always ready to help when we call on His name

When the world seems to be in complete chaos, we lean on the promise that we can always put our trust in the Lord no matter how devastating the storm may be

Statements like “The LORD of Heaven’s Armies is here among us;” gives us confidants to walk through the darkness valleys and not be afraid

We can approach each battle knowing that no matter what we face that God is our fortress

Psalm 46 gives the call to “Be still and know” that our sovereign Lord is still on the throne and will be honored throughout the world

Though this Psalm gives a profound message in the words alone. I believe digging into the back story will make this Psalm even more meaningful for us today.

Before looking at the story of what most theologians believe this Psalm is based on let us turn to the Lord in prayer….

KING AHAZ

In Whom will you trust???

Today I want to take you back around 2,700 years ago to a place called Judah

The King of Judah at this time is a young man named Ahaz

King Ahaz becomes king at age 20 and early in his reign as king,

He was faced with a significant decision that would affect his entire legacy.

King Rzin of Syria and King Pekah of Israel joined forces to attack Judah

And of course King Ahaz and the people of Judah were struck with terrible fear by their approaching adversaries.

What is happening here is the Kings of Syria and Israel are being tormented by the King of Assyria

Because Syria and Israel are located in the perfect trade route for Assyria, Assyria see’s both Syria and Israel as an inconvenience of their plan to have the most optimal trade route as possible

You must understand that the Assyrian army at this time is a military powerhouse

They have the reputation of latterly skinning their enemies alive

The Assyrians perform physiological warfare on their enemies

They would capture a civilian a torture that individual to strike fear in the people

These people where ruthless which is why the Assyrians became known as a symbol of terror

So, with that in mind when king Ahaz see’s Assyria fighting Syria and Israel he does nothing because he does not want to upset the Assyrian king who is destroying anyone who gets in his way

It makes sense than why King Ahaz shrinks back in order not to upset the King of Assyria

But the problem now is because of Ahaz lack of standing up against the Assyrian rule both Syria and Israel want to take out Ahaz as king and install their guy as the new King of Judah in order for Judah to join them in attacking Assyria

In the thick of this political turmoil

The Lord sends the Prophet Isaiah to say this to King Ahaz…

Isaiah 7:4b, 5b, 6, & 7 9b ESV (I am going to be covering alot of ground today so I will be paraphrasing some of these portions of scripture, I encourage you to take a deep dive into this story on your own as it has alot of theological nuggets)

Isaiah 7:4b, 5b, 6, & 9b

“do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands… they (Syria and Israel) have “devised evil against you, saying, “Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,”

Isaiah finishes with saying “If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.”

Another words God was telling Ahaz that this is a crucial moment…

Do not fear because I the Lord will protect you…

Don’t waiver in your faith…

I know things seem bad right now but you must stand firm in the truth that I, the Lord God, will deliver you…

God knowing this crucial moment in Ahaz’s reign God gives Ahaz an amazing opportunity…

Isaiah 7:11 ESV

The Prophet Isaiah gives another word and says this to Ahaz..

“Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”

God in his mercy gives Ahaz the opportunity to ask for a sign from heaven

God does not limit the sign but rather opens the sign to as big of a request that Ahaz could think of in order that Ahaz will completely understand God’s power.

God is willing to give a miraculous sign to the King of Judah to show that God will in fact deliver them. All the King needs to do is put his faith in Yahweh.

Simple right?

But this is how Ahaz responds

Isiah 7:12 ESV

But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test.”

Which Deuteronomy 6:16 says not to put the Lord to the test

But what is actually happening is far from king Ahaz trying to be obedient to God

Ahaz does what many Christians do today.

He used the Bible as a means to sound spiritual but in reality, Ahaz was rejecting the Lord’s plan.

You can read on in the following chapters and see how the Prophet Isaiah rebukes King Ahaz.

We can get a clear picture on why King Ahaz rejected the Lords plan when we read this same account of history written in 2 Kings 16.

2 Kings 16:7-9a

7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” 8 Ahaz also took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasures of the king’s house and sent a present to the king of Assyria. 9 And the king of Assyria listened to him.

King Ahaz trusted in the king of Assyria rather than trusting in God.

See Ahaz already made up his mind in whom he would place his trust.

In whom will you trust?

Ahaz trusted his own military genius in becoming a servant to the king of Assyria

Geoffrey Grogan writes on this passage stating

“Ahaz made his plans, and they did not include God or his will.”

Ahaz chooses to be a servant and son of the Assyrian king rather than a servant and son of Yahweh.

Notice that Ahaz is so committed to the King of Assyria that he steals from the house of the Lord to give to the King of Assyria.

Something I want to highlight is this and i am going to say it again later but i want to hammer this home

“The very thing that you turn to instead of God will become a monster that will come to destroy you”

Remember I said how this was a crucial moment for King Ahaz.

Because of King Ahaz’s decision to follow his new found savior, (the king of Assyria) King Ahaz leads the people of Judah into tremendous sin.

When Ahaz meets with the King of Assyria to visit, Ahaz sees an altar to a false god and asked one of his priests to make a replica of it and place it in the Temple of Jerusalem.

Not only does the house of the Lord get robbed, the new alter which is a replica to a false god replaces the alter of the Lord.

Ahaz leads the people of Judah into tremendous idolatry which leaves Ahaz’s legacy as the following...

2 Kings 16:2b 3b Describes Ahaz’s legacy stating…

“And he (King Ahaz) did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD his God…”

“He even burned his son as an offering, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.

King Ahaz became so corrupted that he even sacrifices his own son.

But what does this all have to do with Psalm 46?

Let’s continue on in the story…

After King Ahaz dies, his son Hezekiah takes his place as the new King.