Emmanuel (2)

Psalm 46 expresses confidence in the Lord. The statements are bold. The assurances are strong. Look at the opening lines:

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1 (NIV)

“Ever-present help in trouble.” This isn’t abstract theology that God is present everywhere. It’s a heartfelt celebration that God’s presence is a good thing. God is always nearby to help.

I’ve been a pastor for a few years. I don’t keep track of when I read Ps. 46, but I’m quite sure I’ve read this psalm more often with people in hospital rooms, funeral homes, and living rooms than in worship services. The confident declaration of God’s faithful presence and assistance can be very comforting. To be honest, it can also be irritating.

In my experience, there are two main reactions to Ps 46.

Either a fervent “amen – this is true” and I’m grateful for the reminder … OR

God doesn’t feel particularly close or helpful right now but it’s the kind of things church-going people say.

I don’t know about you, but I have felt both ways at various times in my journey of faith.

It might be helpful to admit that our feeling about God’s presence and help aren’t always reliable. If God says he’s an ever-present help in trouble, the way you or I feel doesn’t change God’s promise. Our feelings don’t affect God’s closeness. God is nearby because Jesus promised he would never leave us nor forsake us.

This is a song about how God is our refuge, our fortress, our shelter. Curiously, the song doesn’t identify a specific threat or danger. The singers sing about God’s protection in a wide variety of disasters.

Big natural disasters: landslides, mighty waves, earthquakes.

Big human disasters: the rise and fall of kingdoms and wars.

Amid natural disasters and political turmoil, the singer reassures his audience of God’s protective care.

In fact, when our temptation is to run wildly in all directions or we lie awake at night with anxiety or fear for what will come next, the answer is not to work hard at thinking of something else. The singers encourage you to calm yourself with the assurance that that God is God and you are not.

Be still and know that I am God.

Relax! Your heavenly Father knows what you need. God is powerful enough to protect you and supply all you need. God loves you deeply enough to supply what is best for your life, your faith, and your contentment in him.

It’s a timely reminder as we look back tonight on the year that was and the year that’s ahead. We’ve talked about the milestones in our church family. There’s exciting stuff happening here.

Our goal is to make more disciples and make better disciples. God is using us to proclaim the gospel and respond to Jesus’ victory over sin and death together. While it’s not all peace and harmony – we see good things happening; we see the fruit of our faith in God in our lives and our church family.

But it’s not just local. Psalm 46 invites us to sing about God’s help on a national or global scale. The singers sing about nations in uproar. We’ve seen that kind of thing on the news.

Canada’s military hasn’t been directly involved in fighting wars. We’re not building bomb shelters in Ontario. Yet news every hour on the hour keeps us aware of fighting in Ukraine, Israel and Palestine. Recently Ly & Navy Chan wrote to ask us to pray that God will bring peace and an end to the fighting, bombing, and killing along the Thailand-Cambodia border.

Politics both in Canada and with neighbouring countries has been complicated and worrisome. Politics remains divisive and outrage is the response more than dialogue.

The year 2026 looks like there’ll be more of the same. No end in sight for the trade war with the USA. Parts of Canada have had low rainfall – drought conditions. I’m sure if I paused here, you could supply all kinds of worries about the economy, the environment, and the future. Here’s God’s invitation when this kind of stuff keeps you up at night:

Be still and know that I am God.

In the daily readings, I highlighted the refrain in Ps 46. There’s a pair of lines in vs. 7 that are repeated word for word in vs. 11.

The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Psalm 46:7 (NIV)

It’s a similar thought to what we opened with. God is an ever-present help in trouble” is similar to “the Lord Almighty is with us.” It refers to God’s closeness to his people.

I noticed a cool thing when I read this psalm over in Hebrew. The psalmist uses God’s covenant name here “the Lord.” YHWH

The Lord“Almighty” almighty is a translation of Sabaoth. It means almighty but also can be translated as “Lord of hosts.” The message paraphrases this as “God of Angel Armies.”

We most recently read of an angel army from Luke 2, the heavenly host who appeared to the shepherds outside Bethlehem. Luke describes it this way:

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:13–14 (NIV)   

Stay with me here. The psalmist celebrates that the Lord Almighty is with us. “With us” in Hebrew is עִמָּ֑נוּ.

It sounds like one of the titles we use for Jesus. In Matthew’s gospel, as he tells the story of Mary & Joseph and Jesus’ birth, the author quotes from the OT prophet Isaiah:

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). Matthew 1:22–23 (NIV)

In Ps 46, the singers celebrate that the Lord Almighty is with us.

We end 2025 and enter 2026 with God’s assurance that he is an ever-present help in times of trouble. We enter 2026 right after our celebration of Christmas when God himself came to be with his people. Jesus is Immanuel. “The LordAlmighty is with us!”

Jesus came into his own creation to live with his people because of God’s love for the world. He came to help his people, his creation. We’re stuck in cycles of sin and rebellion, cycles of conflict, cycles of broken relationships between individuals and between nations. As individuals and together, humans cannot fix the brokenness: not with our intellect, not our technology, not by trying harder.

We can’t prevent most natural disasters. Without God’s grace, we can’t fix human relationships. We can’t make amends for rebelling against God.

But in Jesus, God is with us. He is our refuge; our fortress. He hides us from the punishment for human sin. On the cross, Jesus dies the death we deserve so that we can enjoy the grace and love of God that Jesus deserves.

Three days after Jesus died on the cross, he rose from the grave. Jesus’ victory over sin and death assures you that, by faith, you have life with Jesus. Even if you die, you have been raised to life with Jesus Christ. Jesus is Immanuel. As we sang earlier, our only comfort is: we belong to him in life and in death.

As an on-going assurance that Jesus is with us, he sends the HS. By his Spirit, Jesus never leaves us nor forsakes us. The HS, protects, guides, strengthens, and assures us of God’s love. God the HS is “an ever-present help in trouble.”

In the strength of God’s love and assurances, we can trust God’s rescue plan. We can believe God’s promises. We can take refuge and strength in God, whatever lies in store for us personally, as a church family, or as a nation.

Be still, and know that I am God.

You can trust that if Jesus has rescued us from sin and death, he’s not going to abandon us in any of the other troubles we face. In fact, he is at work renewing us. God is at work renewing his creation. As Jesus’ disciples, we are part of God’s plan to reconcile the world to himself.