BE STILL, AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD

PSALM 46

Introduction:

1. This Psalm was written after Hezekiah had prayed and God sent one angel to destroy 185,000 Assyrians.

2. This Psalm teaches us that whenever Disaster strikes and it seems that all hope is lost, that God can handle, in His

will, in His own good time and way, things which seem like total disasters to us.

3. Many times-A person is searching for the will of God in their life.

a. They have Ambitions, Goals, and Dreams.

b. Question is What Am I to do with My life.

c. Answer---God has a Plan for each Life--Be Still and Know that God will Reveal His Plan at the Right Time.

4. Many Times--Problems arise, delays comes, detour signs appear.

a. We Worry How are We going to Accomplish Our Goals.

b. Answer---God Specializes in Miracles IF WE GIVE IT TO HIM.

c. Just Like Moses and Israel at the Red Sea--STAND STILL AND SEE THE SALVATION OF THE LORD!

5. The first phrase of Verse 10 is important. It is about the hardest thing a person can do. We are prone to talk, to

defend ourselves, to justify our failures, and to condone our defeats. But the Psalm is clear, "Be still, and know

that Iam God."

a. "Be still" means to "get quiet and sit tight."

1. Activity is no sure sign of progress.

2. Jesus commended Mary because she sat quietly at His feet, and He condemned Martha because she was too busy.

b. "And know"--this is the greatest revelation that can come to any soul.

1. Many Words for Know in the Bible

a. Gaze with eyes wide open--to know by seeing or experience

b. Voluntary observation

c. Casual glance

d. Watching from a distance

e. Earnest and continued Inspection--to know by education

2. We must wait before we work, sit before we serve, and know before we can teach.

c. "That I am God"---Notice the Great "I am" is speaking. I AM WHATEVER YOU NEED.

d. This chapter Divided in Three parts--Each part is a different way to know God.

I. BE STILL AND KNOW HIM AS THE REFUGE--Vs. 1-3

A. A Personal Refuge--Vs. 1--"God is our refuge"

1. Nations find refuge in Battalions and Battleships

2. Lost men find refuge in Positions and Possessions

a. Battalions--can be defeated

b. Battleships--can be sunk

c. Positions--can be taken away

d. Possessions--can be lost

3. "God" (Elohim) is our refuge"--Elohim is the word for the Triune God---The Enemy will have to go thru all Three to get us.

B. A Powerful Refuge--Vs. 1--"a very present help in trouble."

1. "Trouble" literally means "in tight places."

2. "Present help"--means right now

3. "Very"---means "speedily"--I thought, "How can you be better than present which means "right now". God

has no problem with time you will notice it does not say "in the time of trouble." God has the help already

there before the trouble arises.

C. A Permanent Refuge--Vs. 2--There are Four "Thoughs" illustrating that even if the whole world is destroyed,

when all the noise subsides and all the dust settles, he will still be standing because God is his refuge.

II. BE STILL AND KNOW HIM AS THE RIVER---Vs. 4-7

Here is where it is important to study Biblical History. Hezekiah had planned ahead of time. The spring of Gihon, located below the steep eastern hill of Ophel in the deep Kidron Valley, Jerusalem’s most ancient water supply, was exposed to enemy attack. Hezekiah diverted the spring through a conduit, 1777 feet long and hewn out of a solid rock, into a reservoir inside the city’s walls. He then completely covered the ancient spring so that the enemy would not know it was there. Throughout the fearful seige there was "a river, the streams whereof made glad the city of God."

A. God Has Revealed Himself in the Midst of His People--Three Ways

1. Old Testament-God the Father was a Fountain of Living Waters

a. Jer. 2:13--"My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me the fountain of living waters."

2. New Testament--God the Son was a Well of Living Water.

a. John 4:13-14--"But the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."

3. New Testament--God the Holy Spirit was a River of Living Water---John 7:38--"Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." EACH ONE IS DEEPER THAN THE PREVIOUS.

4. Point: We’ve Got more than Old Testament Saints, Contemporary Saints of Jesus’ day. More than a Fountain or a Well, A River.

III. BE STILL AND KNOW HIM AS THE RULER--Psa. 46:8--11

A. The Call to Behold---Vs. 8-9--Look at how God sent ONE ANGEL to destroy the Assyrian Army.

B. The Call to Believe--Vs. 10-11--"Be Still and know that I am God"

1. Believe in God’s Person

a. We can’t know God like we should if we are rushing here and there.

b. One of Satan’s traps is to get us so involved in activity that we have no time to be still in the presence of God.

c. Psa. 23:2--"He maketh me to lie down in green pastures"

2. Believe in God’s Plan--Vs. 10--"I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth."

a. God is going to win. He is determined to bring glory to Himself in our circumstances.

3. Believe in God’s Presence--Vs. 11--"The Lord of hosts is with us: the God of Jacob is our refuge."

a. The Mighty God who commands all the Angels of Heaven is with us.

b. The God of Jacob is our Refuge--The God who met Jacob when

he had nothing and deserved nothing; who met Jacob in his

backslidings and failures; who took Jacob and Made Israel.