Remember Who is in Control
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
We spent most of the summer looking at the idea of living faithfully, even in the midst of a world that is fallen. The idea was that the main thing a Christian can do in this world is simply stay faithful, live faithfully, love God, love each other, and keep on doing good, even when evil manifests itself in the ways that it has.
The problem is, sometimes it gets hard. Sometimes we forget, we fail to remember why we should remain faithful. The next two Sundays I want to give you reasons why we should continue to live a faithful life.
The first key to living faithfully is remembering that God is in control. This is the point of the Psalm, this is the reason we can read the Psalms and rejoice in spite of the circumstances, in spite of the calamity that is going on all around us.
Look, we can get on our headlines, we can look at the election upcoming, we can see the gloom and doom that is going on around the world. And we know the world is dark, we know that the world is a mess, but, despite it all, God is in control. God is on the throne, and God has not abandoned us, His people. Let’s talk about that and notice that, first of all,
I. God is in Control Despite
I. God is in Control Despite
A. Natural Disasters v.1-3
A. Natural Disasters v.1-3
Look at how the Psalm opens.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
God is our refuge and strength. He is a present help in trouble. When do we need God? When we are in trouble. Actually all the time, but particularly in times of trouble. And what are we told? We’re told that he is a present help. The NIV says ever present help. Always there. Always willing to help.
In verse 1b very present translates a phrase meaning “very accessible”; the verb means “be present, near.” The noun help is used also in 22:19.
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
The psalmist is describing in vivid, colorful language, the idea of the earth being destroyed, the mountains collapsing into the oceans, the mountains quaking before the massive storm that the oceans are bringing.
We went to the ocean last weekend. We had a great time, except for the fact that the ocean was too mild. We wanted a little bit of waves to challenge us. Of course, what we did not want was what we see in Texas and LA from the hurricane this week.
Look at our world and see the trouble that arises from natural causes. Look at the devastation in Texas and Louisiana. Look at the damage we accrued in a hurricane just three or four weeks ago.
And, of course, we need to look at our own lives and see the damage of natural catastrophe. A virus that has swept the whole world, that has caused massive damage all over the globe.
And yet, we remember that God is in control. WE remember that He is the one who looks at the winds and waves, and says, peace, be still.
You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them.
Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling his word!
Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters; they saw the deeds of the Lord, his wondrous works in the deep. For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea.
They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their evil plight; they reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits’ end. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven.
God is in control despite natural disasters, and he is in control
B. Attacks Against the City. v.4-7
B. Attacks Against the City. v.4-7
The Psalmist describes the natural disasters, and then he describes the attacks against the city he resides in. He talks about a river in the midst of the city
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 psalmist talks about the city that is there, and in the midst of the city, a river, a place of healing, a place of refuge and strength despite what he mentions in verse 6.
The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts.
The picture is of a city being under attack, under siege, and yet, despite it all, the river flows, gently, peacefully, without being stopped or damned up.
Now, we don’t see cities under attack. Well, we do, but in our immediate context, we don’t see this. But, we often experience attacks against us personally. We face fire, we face hardship, we face difficulties that threaten to rock our world upside down.
That’s why Peter said those words that we talked about a few weeks ago.
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.
I like these words that a lady named Stacy Reoach wrote a few years ago.
A couple years ago, our six-year-old daughter came home from school and announced, “Miss H. says she’s not tying any more shoes after Christmas.” Which meant we had better start practicing! “David started to fuss and whine about needing help with his shoes, and Miss H. said, ‘David, life is full of hard things.’ That’s what she says all the time.”
Miss H. is a wise woman. I’ve often thought of her simple and straightforward words to little David and pondered how they really are a lesson for all of life. Life is full of hard things.
But yet, God is still in control. God is still on the throne. God is still watching over us. Despite natural disasters, despite conflicts around us, and
C. Worldwide Chaos. v.8-13
C. Worldwide Chaos. v.8-13
Look at verses 8-9
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.
The chaos spreads wider than the immediate surroundings. It is in fact world wide. The nations are raging, the people are standing against God, the world has turned its back on God and said we will be our own god.
Western society is doing its best to detach itself from God. We think we can deny objective morality, that we can call evil good. We no longer believe in objective truth, believing that if you think you are a woman despite a male genetic structure, you are indeed a female. Even objective measurements such as 2+2=4 is now being questioned and discarded as false and a product of whatever.
We see this chaos, and as Christians, it forces us into a choice. Either we can allow the chaos and destruction in our world to drive us to despair, to fear, to hopelessness, to anger or what have you, or it can remind us of this truth. God is in control. God is on the throne. God is alive, he has defeated death, hell, and the grave, and we will be victorious.
WE have to choose to believe that. We have to choose to embrace that. We have to fight within our selves, several times a day even, and realize that, despite it all, God is indeed in control.
II. Because God is in Control...
II. Because God is in Control...
A. We don’t have to give in to fear. v.2
A. We don’t have to give in to fear. v.2
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
We won’t fear, even if the earth gives away, even if the mountains are moved into the heart of the sea.
Listen, fear is an emotion given to us by God, that is neither good or bad. A healthy fear keeps me from picking up the rattlesnake in my backyard. Fear is what causes me to lock the door at night, and even to take precautions in a time of pandemic. But, fear can easily become sinful in our hearts. I like the way Colin Smith of Unlocking the Bible describes it.
Why are there so many fearful Christians? Why are we not more obviously different from the culture of fear in which we live?
The answer is that the self-exalting spirit of the world has widely permeated the church. The heart of our sinful condition is that we put ourselves in the place of God. In our relentless desire to take the place of supreme authority, we have sought to remove God from the throne, and to occupy it ourselves. We have welcomed and embraced the satanic proposal first put forth in the Garden of Eden, “You shall be as God,” and now are finding, to our consternation, that “uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.” To whom can we look for help if we ourselves are on the throne? In whom can we trust in times of trouble if we are the ones who reign supreme? The person who puts him or herself in the place of God will soon find that they are besieged with fear.
We want to be in control of our lives. We want to determine our health and so we exercise and eat good and avoid bad stuff and suddenly a disease comes that we are told is going to wipe out the world and we panic. Because we can’t control it.
Again, we use wisdom. Eat and exercise and avoid bad stuff, but we can’t control when we are born or when we will die. We have to trust God with our lives.
Because God is in control, we don’t have to fear. Because God is in control, we can be assured
B. We can trust in His faithful presence. v.7
B. We can trust in His faithful presence. v.7
The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
You go back to verse 6 and you hear a different story.
The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts.
The contrast couldn’t be more clear. In the midst of chaos and confusion and a world coming unglued, God is with us. The expression Lord of hosts is sometimes rendered “Lord of the armies.” Since the focus is upon the power of the Lord, this title may also be rendered, for example, “the Lord, who is the strongest of all” or “the Lord, who is all powerful” or “the Lord, who has all strength.”
That God will be with us.
But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Is it any wonder that Jesus told his disciples to go to all the world and preach the Gospel, and then, reminded them, that
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
You need that when you face martyrdom for preaching the Gospel. You need that when they throw you in jail for proclaiming Christ. And yet, he is with us, even to the end of the age.
Because God is in control, you don’t have to give into fear, you can trust in His faithful presence, and finally
C. You need to be still. v.10
C. You need to be still. v.10
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”
Be still The term raphah means “to release” or “let go” (37:8; Job 27:6). God commands the forces of chaos (Ps 46:2–3) and the nations (v. 6) to stop their raging and recognize Him as God (2:10–12).
You need to stop, you need to let go, you need to understand that He is God. He is in control. he knows what He is doing.
This Psalm is the impetus for the German reformer Martin Luther writing the hymn A Mighty Fortress is our God.
Based on Psalm 46, the hymn is a celebration of the sovereign power of God over all earthly and spiritual forces, and of the sure hope we have in him because of Christ. After its publication, it gained immense popularity throughout Reformed Europe.
It was … the Marseillaise of the Reformation. It was sung at Augsburg during the Diet, and in all the churches of Saxony, often against the protest of the priest. It was sung in the streets; and, so heard, comforted the hearts of Melanchthon, Jonas, and Cruciger, as they entered Weimar, when banished from Wittenberg in 1547. It was sung by poor Protestant emigrants on their way into exile, and by martyrs at their death. It is woven into the web of the history of Reformation times, and it became the true national hymn of Protestant Germany. (Louis Benson)
The hymn became closely associated with Luther himself, as it embodied in its words and melody so much of the character of its author — bold, confident, defiant in the face of opposition. This association is symbolized in the monument to Luther at Wittenberg where the first line of the lyrics were engraved on the base.
A mighty fortress is our God, A bulwark never failing;
Our shelter He, amid the flood Of mortal ills prevailing.
For still our ancient foe Doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and pow’r are great, And, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.
Did we in our own strength confide, Our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side, The Man of God’s own choosing.
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth is His name, From age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.
And tho’ this world, with devils filled, Should threaten to undo us;
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us.
The prince of darkness grim — We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, For lo! his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.
That word above all earthly pow’rs — No thanks to them — abideth:
The Spirit and the gifts are ours Thro’ Him who with us sideth.
Let goods and kindred go, This mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.