Be Still and Know that I am God

Psalm 46 ESV

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

Introduction

Today we look at the 46th Psalm— a psalm that was near and dear to Martin Luther’s heart upon which he based the hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is our God.” Rather than writing a hymn for this, we chose to use Luther’s hymn as our hymn of the Day.

This Psalm begins with a similar inscription to what we heard last week in Psalm 42 and 43 with slight alteration: According to Alamoth. In 1 Chronicles 15 the same word appears. There, it means “maidens.” So this psalm was set for women’s voices. And it is called “a song”. Songs in the Psalms are those that are sung without instrumental accompaniment.

This psalm declares that God actively controls everything in this world and no one can escape His reach.

It is God who delivers both disaster and deliverance. Our future is in His hands. Nothing has changed since David penned this psalm. He still does this today, which can speak volumes into our present context. For those who are His, however, there is great peace in understanding

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

We ‘ve got trouble… right here in River City…

Trouble in human existence is a given. It wasn’t supposed to be— The Garden of Eden was a perfect existence with a perfect relationship between man, woman, and their creator. But with their disobedience, trouble entered the world. God tells them right off the bat what some of it would be:

Genesis 3:14–19 ESV

The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

The trouble would become much deeper than that. Earthquakes. Tropical storms. Hurricanes. Tornadoes. Volcanoes. Killer hornets. Murder. Wafare. Violence. Mayhem. Clenched fists. Disease. Suffering.

Of these things, C.S. Lewis, when speaking of the invention of the Atomic Bomb, penned these chilling words:

“.... do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented...”

All roads of human existence lead to death. That’s trouble. Hell is even worse. It’s real, and it’s never-ending trouble.

Not only is trouble a given in this psalm, but it is pronounced universally. We all have it. God’s children or not, it’s coming. And it’s here.

Starting with this second part of the verse gives the first part of this verse its meaning:

God is our Refuge and Strength, a very present help in trouble.

In the Hebrew the words for “Refuge” and “Strength” are known as “action” words: God “protects” and “strengthens”. The word “help” in Hebrew actually is a declaration of salvation, not just some kind of earthly deliverance from foes.

This first verse of the Psalm sets the stage for what will now be developed through Jesus for us.

Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling

David begins to show that the trouble of which he speaks is great and grave trouble: The earth giving way. Mountains being moved, and not as an action of faith, storming seas, and earthquakes. All things pertaining to nature over which man has absolutely no control. Things that kill and destroy. And also a prequel to the Judgment- for these very things will take place before Jesus returns- signs that He gives us so that we might “stand up, and lift up our heads because our salvation draws nigh.” But notice what David utters here: We will not fear. This takes us back to the fact that God is our refuge. Our strength. Our very present help in trouble. For we are His own.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.

Through David, the Lord is lifting your eyes, beloved, on the river, whose streams make glad the city of God, the Holy Habitation of the most High.

What do rivers remind us about in the Bible? What are some of the Rivers?

First, they remind us of creation. Rivers take us to the peace of the Garden of Eden before the Fall. The garden was bordered by four rivers: Pishon, Gihon, the Tigris, and the Euphrates. Calm, peaceful, waters of life for the new creation.

Sometimes they have a bad connotation- like the Nile, which ran through Egypt, where the Children of Israel were held hostage for over four centuries- the river that turned to blood in the plagues of Egypt.

In the New Testament, we have Jesus talking about Himself as a River

John 7:37–39 ESV

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

So this River ultimately is talking about Jesus- Valiant One whom God Himself elected. Jesus points us to the Holy Spirit, who provides that water. Plunged into it in Baptism, it flows forth from us evermore through faith in Jesus.

Revelation 22:1–7 ESV

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.” “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

Jesus leads us into the New Creation of the New Heavens and the New earth. And there again is the water of life, flowing from the River of life.

Sin, death and the devil can pursue us. But God utters His voice, the earth melts. So does evil. And the Devil. And sin. And suffering. And corona virus. And protesting. Forever. For all will be at peace.

Just an aside- I hear a common error among Christians talking about this time and they misquote scripture saying that “the lion and the lamb will lay down together.” There is a statue of this at the Millennium Theater at Sight and Sound. But you’ll never find that in the Bible. Ever. It’s the lion and the wolf! Lion and Lamb are both designations for Jesus, not for good and evil.

But in heaven we shall live in peace forevermore. That peace will never happen here. Stop looking for it. The peace that we have on earth is only in Jesus making us right with the Father through the Cross, where He took on the one that has no equal here on earth, Satan. And while that peace is available to everyone right here, right now, the majority of people reject it en toto. They will never have it. They will never rest in peace. For they rejected peace in rejecting Christ. As long as there is sin there will be no earthly peace. And there will be sin until Jesus returns.

God will help her— His own— as morning dawns. We spoke about “Joy in the morning” two weeks ago. There is an ultimate morning coming: The King Shall come when morning dawns and light triumphant breaks” on the Last Day. For Jesus stands as the defendant before the damnation of the Judge for His own. He was slain for us. And because of His stripes we are healed. And now, risen, ascended, and glorified He is keeping us to Himself as a holy people over whom He watches and empowers until the day He brings us and all believers in Christ into the eternal peace in heaven, where the river of life never stops flowing.

Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire.

Jesus defends His Church here and now. Look at His works to see that this is so. He is the one who brings His peace to us here and now, gathered around Word and Sacrament.

Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Be still! That means keep your mouth shut. Turn off your brain. Set aside your preconceived notions and opinions. LISTEN. We have a hard time with being still. Right now, our hearts often are anything but still. Fear still lurks there. The din of life, the din of the media, the din of politics, the din of evil triumphing doesn’t seem to allow for us to be still.

We need to learn to shut it out. Stop focusing on the fear mongering of millions. Stop listening to the news if that’s what gets you going. Stop with the social media. Spend that time in the Word of God and prayer. That’s what GOD has called you to do. Everything else is simply sin going awry both in your heart and in the world.

We can do this because God is with us.

How? In Jesus. Remember His name of old? Emmanuel. It means GOD WITH US. And Jesus is. Risen, Reigning, and Returning Jesus who is coming for us is here with us now. He dwells on earth now in His Word, on His Altar, in the water, and in You. He is with us. He is our fortress.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.