Fear Not Psalms – Worship In The Real World

Trust

(Psalm 46 October 6, 2013)

While I was at seminary, I had a front row seat on a great life lesson. The lesson involved how a child of God deals with adversity. During my second year there – my Greek professor – a very godly man – a great prayer warrior – went through a series of deep trials – one on top of the other. I remember thinking at the time – any one of these trials would just about finish me. He was not just a professor – but also a pastor. And in short succession two church splits forced him to leave those churches in very trying circumstances. Then the house he had recently sold was subsequently found to have been built on contaminated waste – a lawsuit followed that decimated him financially. Then his beloved wife developed serious cancer. And then his son – who had been a prodigal – but had miraculously returned to the Lord decided to attend seminary. But on the way to the seminary he had been seriously injured in a motorbike accident. It was like watching the trials of Job. Each day in class he would share with us what God was teaching him through these trials. I learned more from those times than from all the Greek he taught me. Trials, tribulations, sufferings – these are a regular part of life in this fallen world. The Psalms speak much about how a child of God is to deal with trial. I need to be clear at this point. Much of our suffering in this world comes as a consequence of our sin. A number of Psalms – the Psalms of Confession – deal with

what to do when we are in the depths because of sin – we looked at one last week – Psalm 130. However, there many afflictions that arise simply because we live in a fallen world. If you have a heartbeat – you will face adversity at some point in your life. If you live any length of time in this world you will have times of intense suffering. Genesis 3:17–19:

And to Adam [the Lord] said, “… 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.”

I know full well that sitting here are men and women who have suffered in some serious ways. Some who have been bullied and tormented. Some who have seen a child die. Others have experienced the pain of a difficult marriage. Some have lost their job, their home, their possessions. Some have seen a child, a friend, a spouse – turn from Christ. Some have chronic illness and live in daily pain. Some hurt because they are single. Others hurt because they are infertile. Illness, disrupted relationships, wars, natural disasters, evil men – there are so many sources of pain, trial, distress in this world. How is a child of God to handle serious trials when they intrude on our lives? Because this is universal experience – no one escapes suffering – there are many Psalms that address this issue. It is one of the reasons we love the Psalms and find such comfort in the Psalms. I struggled to narrow down this sermon to one Psalm. There are so many Psalms dealing with this issue, but I finally settled on Psalm 46. For those or you who like a good conspiracy theory – Psalm 46 is well known in conspiracy theory circles. Someone with far too much time on their hands realised that in the King James translation – the 46th word of Psalm 46 is ‘shake’. And omitting the liturgical mark Selah – the 46th word from the end of Psalm 46 is “spear”. And of course William Shakespeare is an anagram of “Here was I, like a psalm.”

And all earlier English translations of the Bible had shake and spear in radically different positions in this Psalm and ‘shake’ was spelled ‘shoke’ in earlier versions. So ‘clearly’ Shakespeare rearranged the placement and even the spelling. And if that is not enough for you. The Authorised Version was completed in 1610 when Shakespeare was – wait for it – 46 years old! Supposedly this is a da Vinci Code type of hint that proves that William Shakespeare translated this Psalm in the King James Version – and – so the conspiracy theory goes – probably embedded other secret wisdom in his translation of this Psalm. Maybe that will get you reading this Psalm – but because there is wisdom embedded in this Psalm – it is there but it is not hidden – it is in plain sight. This is a Psalm that was written to bring the child of God incredible comfort. Clearly the people of God are facing a trial that is pushing them to the limit. We aren’t certain what that trial is – but most likely it involves Jerusalem under serious attack from pagan nations. Jerusalem had been under siege many times in her history. At times starvation had led mothers to eat their own children. At times the casualties were enormous. The trials were terrible. It seems this Psalm was written at just such a time. How does a child of God respond to a devastating trial like this? The Psalmist has a very simple message.

Fear not because of:

God’s Presence God’s Power

Look at this with me. Psalm 46:1:

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

When trials and tribulations strike and there seems no way out – the natural response is fear. You fear for your future and the future of your loved ones. The Psalmist wants us to face these tribulations without fear. That is easier said than done when a murderous army surrounds you. Like many others I watched the video this week of the terrified motorist surrounded by bikies who wanted blood. I don’t know all the ins and outs of that situation – but I know that Scripture says – Fear not I am with you – and be anxious for nothing – Yet I am pretty sure if I was in that car – I would struggle to not fear. I also wondered how I would fare if I was in the Kenyan Mall when the Islamic gunmen were running amok. It is not easy to face trials without fear. So where do we start? Think back with me to the times when you have been under siege. Sickness, death, stress, pain. At that time – did it feel like God was right there with you in the trial – or that He didn’t care? Usually what we feel is abandoned and alone. Why? Because our sinful hearts say – if God is with us – He would have stopped the pain. David – a man after God’s own heart was under attack by enemies and in Psalm 13:1–3 he wrote:

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? … Consider and answer me, O Lord my God.

I’ve been there. Strife in the church. Illness. Personal attacks. And you wake up at 3.00am – it is dark – it all seems hopeless – and you feel really alone. Even great men and women who know God is always with them can feel abandoned. Robert Dabney was one of the great theologians of the nineteenth century. He wrote what is still considered one of the great systematic theologies and in it He talks about the unshakeable presence of our sovereign God. But then his beloved son Jimmy died. He struggled, but did find some solace. He says:

When my Jimmy died, the grief was painfully sharp, but the actings of faith, the embracing of consolation, and all the cheering truths which ministered comfort to me were just as vivid.

However, not long afterwards a second son, Bobby was also taken. It nearly ended him. He wrote this:

But when the stroke was repeated, and thereby doubled, I seem to be paralyzed and stunned. I know that my loss is doubled, and I know also that the same cheering truths apply to the second as to the first, but I remain numb, downcast, almost without hope and interest.1

He knew in his head the love of God and the presence of God. The double loss was so painful that despite his faith – the desperation and desolation of the circumstances left him numb and feeling abandoned by God. If I lost two children – I suspect that would be me. While it feels as if God has abandoned us – the reality is far, far different.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Look at verses 2 and 3 of our Psalm:

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.

Because God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble – we will not fear. Humanly speaking – we have much to fear. These are images that are meant to convey the worst possible circumstances. They remind us of Genesis 1 – except this is the very undoing of the creation. Huge earthquakes throwing mountains into the seas – turmoil in the waters, mountains trembling. This is an apocalyptic picture – the end of the world as we know it. But because God is our refuge and strength – we will not fear. This is not meant to be literal – but metaphoric. I don’t think the Israelites were in the midst of a world ending earthquake – it was just a seemingly world ending trial. So what was the trial?

1 Thomas Carey Johnson, The Life and Letters of Robert Lewis Dabney (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1977), p. 172.

It is hard to know the exact situation that spawned this Psalm – it is somewhat vague. The images in verses 6, 9 and 10 have led many to think that most likely the trial is one of the times Jerusalem was under attack and there seemed no way out. A number of scholars think it may well have been the time when Sennacherib the King of Assyria besieged Jerusalem. Rabshakeh the spokesman for Assyria stood before the people and told them they had good reason to fear. No city or nation had stopped the might of Assyria. He told them they did not have the resources to repulse even one of the captain’s of Assyria. Moreover their city was cut off, food and water was running low and soon they would have to eat their own dung and drink their own urine. Basically you can say it was a pretty bleak situation. In one sense they were facing the end of their world. This may well have been the situation but I think the circumstances are left deliberately vague so we can read in our own situation. Chances are we will not live through a siege on Brisbane that looks likely to end in all our deaths. But we will have trials that will shake our world. When you lose your job and you can’t pay the mortgage – it feels like the end of your world. When you are relentlessly bullied day after day – there seems no hope. When you wake up every day in pain – the world seems bleak. But, what the Psalmist knows is that the way to deal with this situation begins with us stopping and remembering that regardless of the situation – God is with us. Our sinful hearts might say – God has abandoned us. We have to declare – No! I believe God is right with me in this trial. This is walking by faith. All we know about the Lord is that He keeps His word. He promised to be with us – so He will be. The Psalmist knows this and begins his Psalm with that great affirmation – but let me personalise it:

God is my refuge and my strength, my very present help in trouble. It helps to say it, write it, pray it, sing it.

When trouble strikes – claim it by saying it aloud:

God is my refuge and my strength, my very present help in trouble. He is not just a present help in trouble – He is my very present help in trouble. Trials make us somewhat irrational. All we want is for the pain and hurt to end. If God loves us – the pain will end. If God loves me – He will heal my daughter. If that doesn’t happen and quickly – God has abandoned me. And that is the point where we need to step back. God loves me. He loves me so much that this awesome all powerful God became a man and suffered and died for me – the One who rebelled against Him. This God promised to put His Spirit in me and be with me to the end of the age. He will not abandon me. I know that. So we need to ask – why does my refuge and strength not take the trial away? Paul asked that same question in 2 Corinthians 12:7–9:

A thorn was given me in the flesh, .... Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

When my children were young – I had them immunised. They cried every time. I felt like crying. When they were sick I gave them medicine. They hated it. I felt like crying. When they were disobedient – I disciplined them. They cried. I felt like crying. I did it not because I did not care – but because I did care. The best thing for them was the sting of the needle, the taste of the antibiotic and the pain of discipline. In the same way – God puts trials before us. And James 1:2–4 says:

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

God wants us mature, perfect, complete.

Hebrews 12:7–11:

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? … [God] disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

God lets us go through the trials because He loves us. But He is right there with us – strengthening us – giving us peace amid the turmoil. A very present help in trouble. So I ask you – where was God the Father while Jesus was beaten, tortured and dying in agony on the cross? Was He off on the other side of the galaxy distracted by a supernova? No – He was there – strengthening Jesus for the task of saving His people. When you are suffering – and crying out to God – and your prayer seems unheeded – where is God? He is there with you – a very present help. When we know God is there – and whether we are delivered from the trial or go through it – He holds our hand – He strengthens us – then we will not fear even though it seems the world is about to end. You probably know that Psalm 46 was one of Luther’s favourite Psalms. He based His most famous hymn on this Psalm. A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

A mighty fortress is our God; A bulwark never failing. Our helper He amid the flood Of mortal ills prevailing.

This hymn is so beloved because of the comfort this truth brings. We are surrounded by a flood of mortal ills – that threated to wash us away. But they will not prevail because God is my mighty fortress – a bulwark who will never fail. This amazing thought leads us to two great truths that remind us why we should not fear. The first is: God’s Presence

Let me read verses 4-7 and listen carefully:

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.

Here is the picture these verses convey. They picture a holy city – the people of God – under deadly siege. They are suffering, hurting. Things look desperately grim. This reminds us of Psalm 2:1–3:

Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed.

But you look a little closer – and they are not cowering in fear. They are peaceful, calm, singing praises to God. Why? Because God Himself is dwelling in their midst – strengthening His people – in the teeth of the onslaught. His strength, peace, power flows through them like a river. The nations rage – but God is with His people. Look at verse 4:

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.

Scripture gives us many images of God dwelling in the midst of His people His people and a river flows out bringing peace and joy. But these images are from Eden and from heaven. It begins in Eden where in Genesis 2:10-14 we see a river flowing out of Eden – where God walks with Adam – into a land filled with good things gold, precious stones and the like. Then there are a series of pictures of heaven – where we see the holy city – Jerusalem with a river flowing out of it. Ezekiel 47, Joel 3, Zechariah 14, Revelation 22. These are times of peace. There are no enemies.

But here – we live in the time between Eden and heaven – there are enemies – they do assail us. But the point is – the presence of God brings peace even amid the turmoil. Let me say that again – the presence of God brings peace even amid the turmoil. The peaceful river of verse 4 stands is sharp contrast to the roaring foaming waters of verse 3. Week after week – my seminary professor shared his trials. What was remarkable to me was the peace he exuded amid these serious trials. How can this be? It does not come from within. The night before His death – Jesus gathered His men. He told them what was about to happen. He would die – they would be persecuted, hated and killed. Then in John 14:26–27 He said:

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

Jesus would still be present with them – through the Holy Spirit – and amid the turmoil that would be the rest of their lives – persecution, suffering, death – they would know peace. This peace comes from above – My peace I give to you. Verse 5:

God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved. Here you are – surrounded by trials that threaten to sweep you away. But you are not moved – why because God is in your midst – God is with you – and He is a bulwark who can never fail. How do you reach the situation whereby you know the peace of God amid the trials of life? The answer is you can’t do it – but Christ in you can. Philippians 4:13:

I can do all things through him who strengthens me. The Spirit of God within you can enable you to find peace and not be moved by the trials of life.

Notice the last half of verse 5 and verse 6:

God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; He utters his voice, the earth melts.

This is a promise of help – but the help comes when the morning dawns. At night it is dark – things always seem worse at night. But dawn is coming. Relief is coming. Please note – this is not a promise that God will always remove the trial there and then. It is a promise that at the right time – dawn will come. It might be a minute to dawn or it might be a long time till dawn. The nations are raging, kingdoms tottering – but at the dawn – God speaks and the earth melts. God will deliver His people. Psalm 34:19:

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.

Don’t misunderstand this promise. This is not a promise of speedy intervention – or even of any earthly intervention. God does what is best for you and for the kingdom – and He does it in His perfect timing – not yours. There are many times in Scripture that Jerusalem was under siege and the people cried out to God. At times God miraculously delivered them. In the days of the attack by Sennacherib – God sent His angel to destroy 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in a night – the city was spared. At times God allowed them to be disciplined and go through the siege. In the days of the attack by Nebuchadnezzar – God allowed the city to fall and the survivors to be carted into captivity. He does whatever is for our greatest good and the greatest good of the kingdom. At times – this is to intervene there and then. Daniel prayed in the lion’s den – God miraculously delivered Him there and then. At times the way to the dawn is a long road.

Joseph in prison would have prayed to God for deliverance. Yet, he rotted there for years. It matured him and prepared him to be in a position to rise to power and deliver his people. At times – the way to the dawning might be the dawning of heaven – death rather than deliverance. Stephen prayed – but the stones fell and killed him. Jesus prayed – but the will of God was the cross. God strengthens us in the trial. He gives us His peace in the trial. And He will do what is best for us. Dawn will come. Quickly or slowly – deliverance or death. Dawn will come. But here is the truth that we have to cling to in order to have peace and to be sustained through the trial. Verse 7:

The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Listen to these wonderful promises. These deserve their own sermon. Isaiah 41:10:

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

How many of us have that hanging on the walls of our homes? Or Isaiah 43:1–3:

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. For I am the Lord your God.

What a precious promise. Notice – God does not say – I will stop you going into the raging waters or having to walk through the fire. No – He says – know that when the river is threatening to overwhelm you and the fire is all around you – know this – I am right there with you. When Joseph was rotting in prison – God was there with Him. When Daniel was quaking at the thought of hungry lions there in the pit with him – God was there.

When Jesus was in the garden praying – take this cup from Me – His heavenly Father was right there with Him. Know this – whatever trial you face – as a child of God – your heavenly Father is right there with you a very present help in trouble – our refuge and strength. When I hurt, I cry out and I want God to intervene. Healing, deliverance, change the circumstances, stop the oppressors. And at times God intervenes directly. But at times He says – My grace is sufficient and He strengthens me to persevere. When the river rises and the fire surrounds us – He is right there with us. God is with us. We know this when we hear a sermon on it. But we have to know it not in the safety of a sermon – but in the fire of a trial. When the Facebook torments lead us to want to die. When the pain of terminal cancer is unbearable. When it hurts so much to know we won’t have children. That is when we have to know God is there with us – a very present help. If you are struggling to know the presence of God and the strength of God and the peace of God in the midst of trials – talk to Him. Tell Him you are struggling. Tell Him you can’t do it alone. Tell Him you need His help. Ask Him to make His presence manifest in your life. Listen again to Luther’s A Mighty Fortress:

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 –

Know God’s presence – Christ with us – and then you will know peace – even amid the turmoil. There is a second great truth that reminds us why we should not fear:

God’s Power Verse 8:

Come, behold the works of the Lord. At first you might think this is a call to consider the power of God in areas like creation – Psalm 19:1:

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Or salvation – Psalm 27:1:

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

But it is not – this is a call to consider the power of God in Judgment – in particular judgment on the nations who oppose the people of God.

How he has brought desolations on the earth. Verse 9:

He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire.

Again and again – God has protected His people from the nations. Whether it be Moses at the Red Sea facing Pharaoh’s army – and God swept this mighty army away. Whether it be Gideon facing the might of the Midianites with just 300 men and routing them. Whether it be Hezekiah facing the power of Sennacherib and the armies of Assyria – and He sent His angel to kill 185,000 in one night. No army can stand against the Lord Almighty.

God can deliver His people. And one day God will end all the wars. Isaiah 2:4:

They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

That is our God. He can end wars now should He please – He will end them on the last day. He can remove any trial you face now. He will remove every trial on the last day. Verse 10:

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

We need to be still and know the God who is with us. Our God can end any trial – strengthen us to face any trial – will be with us in any trial. We need to pause and remember this. Here is what is probably going on here. Jerusalem is surrounded by an enemy army of incredible power. Humanly speaking – nothing can stop them. The people of God are fearful, desperate, worried. And God says – Be still and know that I am God! These nations have come against the people of God. God says – then they come against Me. They will not prevail. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! Speaking of the kings of the earth and the rulers who oppose God – Psalm 2:4 says:

He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. No army can stand against the Lord. He will break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces. Psalm 2 ends with this:

Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.

We need to know this. Do you remember 2 Kings 6? The king of Syria wanted to seize Elisha. He found out that he was in the city of Dothan. So he sent horses and chariots and a great army, and they surrounded the city. Elisha’s servant looked out and said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” Elisha said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. When trials come – we might know the Lord is with us – but it feels like we are alone – it looks like we are alone. We have to walk by faith and know that the horses and chariots of fire are around us. God is with us. He will strengthen us, send His peace and protect us through the trial. These truths of the power of God apply in every area of life. He can overcome illness, relationship breakdown, bullying, loss. Sometimes ending the trial – sometimes supporting us through it. Be still and know He is God – and trust Him. He may overcome them now. He will finally destroy them all. He will end wars, illness, pain, death. But until then – until the dawn comes – He is with us and His power is with us. There is a wonderful statement in Zechariah chapter 2 verses 7-8:

He who touches you touches the apple of [God’s] eye: “Behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they shall become plunder for those who served them.”

The apple of your eye is the cornea – it is so sensitive you can’t bear anyone touching it – you protect it at all costs. That is what God does for His people. No one can touch us. God is for us. Verse 11:

The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Listen again to Luther’s A Mighty Fortress:

And though 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.

God is mightier than anything we face. Although I cannot be certain, I suspect that one of the passages of Scripture Paul had in mind when he penned Romans 8:18–39 was Psalm 46:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. … For in this hope we were saved. … Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. … And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. … What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? … Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God works all things together for good. If God is for us – who can be against us? It is not that God always removes the trial. They were slaughtered as sheep all day long. They suffered tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger and sword. But none of these things can ever separate us from the love of God. My seminary professor faced a multitude of trials. He had to go through them all. They all resolved in some form. He moved on to a new church. He was decimated financially but moved on. His wife recovered from the cancer. His son’s injuries healed. But he would tell you – he learned much about God being a refuge and strength in times of trouble. He learned about trusting God amid the turmoil of life. Consider this.

You have faced trials in our pasts. At times they seemed insurmountable. And yet here you are – you survived them – you love the Lord – and you grew through them. The Lord of hosts was with you. And when the next trial comes He will be there with you again. He may deliver you, He may strengthen you to endure till the morning, He may take you to be with Him. So what I want you to do now is to think about your greatest trials – how big they seemed – how impossible to overcome they seemed. The way out seemed impossible. It all seemed too hard, it hurt too much. Now think about the God of Psalm 8 – the God who created the immensity of the universe – how impossibly awesome He is. The God who can raise the dead, part the Red Sea, create the cosmos – this God is in control of your life – not Satan, not chance, not evil men, not even you. If the best thing is to end your trial, He can and will do it. If the best thing is to strengthen you to endure the trial, He can and will do it. Nothing is beyond Him. And regardless – He will give you peace amid the trial. Now think about Psalm 130 – how sinful you are. How seemingly impossible it would be for Him to love you. Now think about the cross. That awesome God cares deeply for you. He cares so deeply that He sent His Son to die for you and knows the very hairs on your head. He sees you in your trial. He is with you in your trial. He cares for you in your trial. How do we know this? The cross. God experienced pain and took your pain – because He loves you and is with you. He is our heavenly Father – being a father is one of the things that helps me grasp the merest portion of the love of God. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for my kids. I would die for my kids. God did die for us. He loves us. He is our refuge and strength. Our very present help in trouble.

He is with us.

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.

Fear Not Psalms – Worship In The Real World

Trust

(Psalm 46 October 6, 2013) Main Point:

When the trials of life come, God is our refuge and strength to help us stand and to bring us peace.

Read Psalm 46 – Read Luther’s Hymn – A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

� What have been the great trials you have had to weather in your life? How did you

handle them? What did you learn from them?

� Why are there trials in this life? � Why does our loving God often allow us to go through trials instead of miraculously

ending them? � How do you feel when you are in the midst of trials? Do you feel closer to God or

more isolated from God? Why? � How can we know the presence of God our refuge and strength? � When the trial is so great our world seems like it is ending – how can we trust God

and not fear? � If you do become fearful or anxious – what should you do? � If you faced a trial in peace – how did you do it? � Have you tried verbalising a statement of faith such as:

God is my refuge and my strength, my very present help in trouble. Did it help or not? � Read verses 4-7. What is the picture these verses convey? � How does God bring peace in the midst of turmoil? � Read John 14:26-27. How do we get this peace? � What does it mean that God will help when the morning dawns? How does this

help us amid turmoil?

� Read Isaiah 41:10 and Isaiah 43:1–3. What do these teach us about God and trials?

� If we struggle to know His peace and presence – or if the trial threatens to

overwhelm us – what should we do? � What are the works of the Lord referred to in v. 8? � How do we be still and know that He is God? How does this help us? � Read 2 Kings 6:8-23. How can we learn to know the Lord’s resources are with us

even though we don’t always see them? � Read Romans 8:18-39. How does this correlate sith Psalm 46? � How can you prepare your heart for the trials that will come in the days ahead? � Where have you failed when faced with trials and what will you do differently next

time? � Spend time thanking God for being our refuge, our fortress, our very present help

in times of trouble, our peace, our rock.