Psalm 46 Relax, I got you! Part 2

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the Lord.

Prayer

Before I begin, I wanted to say I miss each one of you and pray for you often.

Please keep each other lifted up in prayer and please take the time out to make calls to your brothers and sisters to just check up on them.

Text or email if you must, but there is nothing better than a phone call, since you cannot visit in person.

I am reminded the the BIG C, trumps the little c. Again the BIG C, trumps the little c.

What does this mean you might say?

Well, I borrowed this from my little brother who when he was diagnosed with cancer said, Christ over cancer!

The Big C= Christ our Lord and Savior, while the little c= coronavirus. So, like Joseph said its Christ over cancer, let us say Christ over the corona virus. AMEN!

Again, let us take a few moments this next week to connect with one another.

Read Psalm 46

Can you all say, Amen! Hallelujah Jesus!

Today, is part 2 of this mini series on this Psalm.

Last week we learned about the background of why this Psalm was written and today we will go through it verse by verse, to see what the Lord is saying to FCC.

But before we go there, I would like to give you a short review:

Review

Psalm 46 was written during a time of overwhelming turmoil in Jerusalem.

We know that King Sennacherib of Assyria was a brutal force, not to be reckoned with. The Assyrians were so brutal that when they captured their enemies, they would skin them alive. And at different times would place hooks in their noses and ears and drag them back to their camp were they would brutally kill them.

While King Sennacherib and his army was attempting to take over Jerusalem, King Hezekiah of Judah prayed this prayer:

2 Kings 19:15–19 NKJV

Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said: “O Lord God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste 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, I pray, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord God, You alone.”

Church, what do think happened?

2 Kings 19:35 NKJV

And it came to pass on a certain night that 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.

That’s right! The Lord struck his army down and King Sennacherib fled back home to Nineveh and then 2 of his own sons struck him down with the sword. Yes, they killed their own father.

The Angel of the Lord, killed 185,000.

So God had answered the prayers of his people!

Are we praying? Or swaying? Are we using this time away from one another to draw near to the Lord? Or are we becoming lazy and slothful, not spending time with our Heavenly Father who can shut this little c down?

We must ask ourselves the questions are we really redeeming the time because the days we live in are evil?

Or are we faint and growing weary?

Church, I believe God is using this time to call the church out of its lukewarmness

I believe God is using this time to refine his people, to get rid of the dross in the church house

I believe God is calling the unsaved to himself. I cannot imagine what it would be like during this specific time in history while people are dying everyday and not knowing Jesus!

Psalm 46:1 NKJV

God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.

Church, although we are only going to cover 46, you can read 47 and 48 because all 3 of these are songs of celebration, songs of rejoicing in God’s faithfulness in delivering the nation from a foreign foe.

It was a hopeless situation for King Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem, but God showed up in a mighty way.King Hezekiah was not alone, the prophet Isaiah was with him. Let’s pick up in:

Isaiah 37:33 NKJV

“Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: ‘He shall not come into this city, Nor shoot an arrow there, Nor come before it with shield, Nor build a siege mound against it.

Psalm 46:1 NKJV

God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.

This Psalm was so important that it was committed to the care of the Chief Musician to be sung in soprano, high pitched voices.

My first observation is that : Three times in this Psalm we read “God is our...” or the Lord of Hosts is with us.(46:1, 7, 11). This literally reads in Hebrew “Elohim Laynu” which means God is to us or God is for us.

Church, God will never leave us or forsake us, He is a very present help in times of trouble.

Is the world in a time of trouble? Do you think God has left?

I am reminded of:

Hebrews 13:5–6 NKJV

Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

Can God lie? Does God lie? What makes us think for a moment that God does not have our backs?

This promise was not just for the Hebrews, it was given to us for such a time as this. Let’s look a little deeper into, “I will never leave you, or forsake you!”

God made this promise to Isaac to ease his anxiety when he was facing envy, disputes, and hostility from neighboring people groups: Fear not, he said to Isaac, for I am with you! (Genesis 26:15)

God made this promise to Jacob when he was at a low point in his life due to adverse family circumstances ( partly his own conniving ways). He was all alone in a desolate place; his heart was filled with regret over the past, he was facing loneliness in the present and anxiety about his future, and God encouraged and comforted Jacob with this promise: “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, I will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I promised to you!” (Genesis 28:15)

Moses encouraged the Israelites with this promise as they were about to enter the Promised Land. They were to drive out and eliminate the ungodly, idolatrous people groups that occupied the land (Duet 20). So, Moses reassured them that the Lord would be with them for this immense task: “ Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or dread them, for the Lord your God goes with you. He will not leave you, or forsake you (Deut 31:6).

Church, God is saying this to us right now: I will never, not not never, leave you, or forsake you! I will be your God, and you will be my people. Redeem the time for the days are evil. Press into to the Kingdom of God and serve one another!!!

Psalm 46:1 NKJV

God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.

Another observation is that twice in this Psalm the Hebrew reads “LORD Sabaoth” which means “Lord of Hosts” (46:7, 11). Luther used this phrase in his famous hymn: A mighty fortress is our God!

In both cases, the title comes with a prepositional phrase that states “the LORD of hosts is with us.”

One last observation is the word Selah in verses 3, 7, 11. This is an unknown liturgical or musical marker. We do know it means pause. It also means to stop and think about what you just sung or read.

Is that a challenge for any of you? To really take a moment to allow the Word God to dwell with you richly? The Psalmist is telling us to stop and think after verse 3, 7, and 11. Let us take a moment in the busyness of life to Pause< to stop< to think about what the Lord is saying to us. This is a good idea for us to do with each other, right???

The Hebrew word for refuge is: machaceh, which refers to a place of refuge, creates an image of a stronghold or impenetrable fortress (Ps 61:3; 91:2). It emphasizes God’s protection.

A refuge (machaceh) is a shelter, that is, a place where we can hide for protection. It is a place we can hide from danger from a storm.

Church, who or what is your refuge? Who are what are you running to in times of trouble? King Hezekiah, the prophet Isaiah, Moses, Paul, Peter, John the list goes on and on and on they all ran to Elohim, to God, to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. When they got off track, the Lord would always send a messenger to draw them back to himself. Could this virus be a messenger? What is Gos speaking to you? God says there will be no gods before me!

Matthew 6:33 NKJV

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Strength- oz- emphasizes God’s power to protect or save (21:1; 29:11). Strength speaks of the power that God gives us to endure and overcome adversity.

God is always ready to help you in times of trouble!

Speaking of trouble the Hebrew word for trouble is:

Trouble- tsarah- in Hebrew it literally means a narrow or tight place where a person is unable to move. It is also used to describe severe pressure.

Church, the fact that God is our refuge and strength does not mean we are immune form trouble and problems.

The life that the Lord gives is not a life free from adversity, it is not free from challenges, nor sickness and diseases.

We can read about the the Hall of Faith in Hebrews .

Hebrews 11:35–38 NKJV

Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.

These folks were homeless, without proper clothing and food, they were mocked, tortured, beat, put in prison and even executed for there faith.

But guess what, God promised he would never leave them or forsake them.

What about the Apostle Paul?

2 Corinthians 11:24–28 NKJV

From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness—besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.

God does not protect Christians from this sort of thing. When a plane goes down, God does not make sure that there are no Christians aboard. When war ravages a country, God does not preserve the believers from its effects. God does not allow cancer to strike only those who have lived a life of sin. No, trouble will strike the godly as well as the ungodly. The question is, when trouble strikes, do you want to face it with God as your refuge and strength or do you want to find help elsewhere?

Pastor Steven Cole

Psalm 46 shows that when trouble strikes.

Church, has God been sufficient to see you through difficult times in your life?

Then he will be sufficient to see us through this difficult time we are in.

This Psalm teaches us God is our refuge and strength

A very present help in times of trouble.

Very-mehode-(adverb) an it indicates that He is exceedingly or speedily present in times of trouble.

Not even a second goes by when we have to face our troubles alone, or in our own strength.

Jesus is our very present help church! He desires to be our refuge.

Who or what is your refuge? Is Jesus? Or another person, place, or thing?

God is calling us to himself and his desire for us is that we would stop making our refuge other people, other things, or other places.

Would you turn to him today?

Prayer

Lord here in America and FCC we confess that we have forsaken you and exchanged You for other things only to end up empty, full of fear, anxiety, worry, and even depression. We ask that you would forgive us for making other people and things are places of refuge. Please Lord, come into our hearts again, set things in order, and cause us by your grace to make You and only You our strong tower, our place of refuge, and strength. Lord as the days go bye and we are away from one another, please place teach us how to really love each other thru this social distancing and God because this is all new to us, please teach us how to navigate life so that You and only You are glorified. If there is anyone listening today that has not called upon your name to become the Lord of their lives, we pray in the stillness of their homes they would say this prayer:

Lord Jesus, life is really difficult right now and there is so much uncertainty. I am lost in the midst of what is going on and I need a loving Savior to save me. I felt the Holy Spirit’s tug on my heart and today I confess I am a sinner and need you. Please forgive al my sin and come into my life and be my Lord, my Savior, and my King! IJN

Announcements

This week will mark history at FCC. I will be sending out a link for us to meet on Wednesday April 8 at 6:30pm for prayer. This will be the start of us doing church from home. Grow groups I hope to follow.

Please connect with one another via phone, text, or email. Reach out like never before and let your brothers ands sisters iN Christ know you love and miss them.

I know we are not meeting at the Church building right now and for a few more weeks. Don’t forget to mail in your tithes and offerings. Our mailing address is not the physical location of the church, but PO BOX 673 in M/F 97862.

Or you can give online at : firstcommchurch.org In the right hand corner of the website you will find the word giving. Just click there and follow the prompts. Thanks to those who have given.

Benediction

Psalm 91:1–4 NKJV

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.” Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

Thank you for joining us for church at home!

The Lord bless you, and keep you, and cause His face to shine upon you!

Have a wonderful week, be safe, and

Your mission starts now!

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