Psalms

Psalm 46 – The Lord is our Refuge and Strength

The Psalms are songs of praise to God, some written on certain occasions, and others written just to proclaim His glory. The context of Psalm 46 is debated. Some attribute it to King David after a battle was won. Some attribute it to the deliverance of Jerusalem from Assyria during the reign of King Hezekiah, in which the Assyrian army was miraculously wiped out by God. But, Psalm 46 is a Psalm of praise, praising God for His deliverance and the hope He gives.

In this world, we will face trouble. There’s the geo-political and economic troubles we see on the news. But then there’s our personal troubles. Jesus said in John 16:33, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

In Psalm 46, we are remined that God is our refuge, that He is our hope, And we are invited to remember His marvelous works.

    GOD IS OUR REFUGE AND STRENGTH.

    Verse 1 – God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

    God is our refuge. He is where we can go to escape the trials and tribulations of life.We can look to Him for peace and comfort.We can lift up our concerns to Him in prayer, and know He hears and He does good for us (Romans 8:28).

    God is our strength. He is the source of life.He is the force that gives us life and keeps us going.We press onward, not by our own strength, and not because we have to, but because He enables us, and powers us forward. Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.

    He is our refuge and strength because He has redeemed us, given us new life through Christ, and an eternal hope in His Kingdom. Everything in this life is temporary, and soon we will be rescued from the trouble of this life.

    Verses 2-3 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; 3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.

    Therefore, since God is our refuge and strength, we will not fear. We will not be overcome with anxiety. We will not entertain the thought that our ruin and demise has come.

    Though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. Though the things that we felt were unmovable moved… Though the things we relied upon have failed. Though our security blankets have unraveled, we will not fear. We will not tremble before this world. And we will not lose hope.

    Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled… Though things in this life rise up and intimidate us…Though our fears become reality…

    Job said in Job 3:25, “For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.”

    Maybe your worst fear is coming upon you… Yet, you shouldn’t fear, because God is your refuge and strength.

    In remembering God as our refuge and strength, we need to remember the hope He has given us.

    THE HOPE GOD HAS GIVEN US.

    Verse 4- There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.

    The psalmist has stated that we will not fear, because God is our refuge and strength.He then lists some of the most cataclysmic things that could strike fear in our hearts (the mountains being carried into the sea…)

    Then, He redirects us to the hope by painting a picture of the city of God… and He starts this picture with a river. There is just something peaceful about sitting next to a river. But for a city, a river is a source of life, provision of water, and possibly commerce. When the writer references the City of God, He isn’t talking about Jerusalem, because there is no river in Jerusalem. The writer is referencing the Heavenly City… New Jerusalem. And the river… the river of life. The writer is referencing our eternal home, God’s house with many rooms. The place Christ said He was going to prepare for us.

    Heaven will be a place of eternal peace and rest. No anxiety, No trauma, no triggers, no painful memories haunting us. No problems, no turbulence, no tribulation.

    Verse 5 – God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.

    The best part of Heaven will be the presence of God, and dwelling with our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said in John 14:3 – And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

    The most comforting words the disciples heard in Jesus’ comments in John 14… “That where I am, there ye may be also.”

    If your faith and hope is in Christ, then the hope that you have in Heaven is seeing and living with Jesus. The Lord’s presence in Heaven will make it what we expect it to be.

    Verses 6-7 The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted. 7 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

    The Lord will have ended sin and iniquity on earth. He will have set everything at peace. And He is with us, and will be our refuge.

    BEHOLD THE WORKS OF THE LORD.

    Verses 8-9 Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. 9 He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.

    Look at what God has done.

    He’s ended wars and defeated the fiercest of enemies.He delivered Israel from Egypt, from the Amalekites, Philistines, Assyrians, Babylonians, Hittites and others. He has brought us through the worst life has thrown at us. He has raised up our nation, and given us His word.

    God, who gave His Son to redeem us, will not withhold that which is good from us.

    Romans 8:32 – He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

    Knowing what God did for us in the Gospel, what makes us think that He won’t carry us the rest of the way through?

    Psalm 46:10-11 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. 11 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

    Be still and know that He is God. Trust God. Trust His timing. Wait for His perfect timing. He will be exalted. He will be victorious. And, He is with us. (If God be for us, who can be against us?)

    FINAL – There’s a lot of turbulence in the world today. Praise be to God that we can look to Him and find peace.

    How Do You Start Your Day?

    The invention of the snooze button tells you a lot about how we feel about mornings. The alarm rings, we know we need to get up, but we want a little more sleep, so we hit the snooze button to silence the alarm for nine precious minutes before it wakes us up again.

    Mornings mean the routine starts again. It’s another day, another to-do list, and another schedule filled with stressors, from work-related conflict, to financial challenges, to family issues. These daily challenges wait for us to rise out of the peaceful dream state and re-enter the grueling reality of this world.

    We hate mornings. We hate Mondays. But, it doesn’t have to be this way.

    My daily Bible reading brought me to Psalm 5 today, and in it, verse 3, which says, “O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice, in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.”

    These words, penned by King David under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, were convicting to me. I do not always enjoy mornings. Many times, I have hit the snooze button to the point where my morning routine is rushed. In these times, I fail to pray, give God glory, and appreciate the blessing of another day.

    Then, I read the words of David. “In the morning you hear my voice, in the morning, I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.”

    Prayer was important to David. He prayed relentlessly, and continually praised and worshiped God. The picture he paints in Psalm 5:3 is one of waking up early, selecting the lamb for sacrifice, conducting the sacrifice, praying to the Lord, watching the sun rise, and then watching to see how the Lord blesses the day.

    The entire process oriented the day around the Lord, and thus David enjoyed peace in the Lord despite the turmoil and stresses that come with being king.

    Life is hard, and stress is part of the package. We can either rise up reluctantly in the morning, curse our fate, and trudge through the daily battles, or we can rise up early, give God His glory, and watch for Him to do amazing things throughout the day.

    The lesson we learn from David is one to be well received. We will enjoy more peace and joy if we learn to prepare God’s sacrifice of prayer and praise in the mornings. May the Lord help us to begin each day in gratitude toward Him, and may He give us the energy to rise up in plenty of time to worship Him, and to rely less on the snooze button.

    –Pastor Leland Acker has pastored Life Point since its inception in 2008. He is a longtime morning radio personality, former hospice chaplain, and financial services advisor.

    Wanna Get Away?

     

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    Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

    Let’s face it. Sometimes we just need to hit the “pause” button on life, and get away. Whether our escape is hopping a flight to LA for the weekend, engrossing ourselves in a good book, or an evening of Netflix, our need to escape the pain of life is real.

    Unfortunately, our retreat into a good book, movie, or even a road trip often amounts to little more than a temporary distraction from what truly bothers us. While we have temporarily redirected our minds, we have not truly escaped what ails us. Hence, when the book is finished, when the movie ends, and when the road trip is over, we once again find ourselves discouraged by our present situation.

    You see, when books, Netflix and travel are our escapes, we never truly take refuge. We merely trick our minds into ignoring our problems for a few hours. The peace and happiness we feel during that time is not real, and we will soon be hit by reality again.

    So, what can we do? Where can we truly turn when we need refuge from the trials and tribulations we face on a daily basis?

    Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

    A refuge is more powerful than a distraction. A refuge offers real protection and escape from a problem. If you truly want to escape from and solve a problem, scripture says there’s one place you can turn. The Lord.

    The Lord is our refuge. The Lord offers us true escape from the problems we face. All too often, we forfeit the true peace God can offer us by turning to mere distractions instead. God offers true deliverance from life’s problems, and He offers the strength to endure them. To learn more about obtaining peace from God, listen to Pastor Leland Acker’s sermon below:

    God Sustains (Psalm 3:5)

    In today’s message, Pastor Leland Acker discusses how David depended on God’s deliverance through the worst times, and how we can draw strength, comfort and deliverance from God today. For more, listen to the message posted above, and check out “When Life’s Out to Crush You.”

    When life is out to crush you

    adult alone black and white dark

    Photo by Kat Jayne on Pexels.com

    Are you stressed? You’re not alone.

    Survey data reported by Vox, the Times of Israel, Gallup, and Pew reports that Americans, as well as people around the world, are becoming increasingly unhappy and stressed.

    Why are so many people unhappy? It’s hard to tell. There are more theories on the rising discontentment in the world than there are sources reporting it.

    The fact is that in today’s world, stresses are piling up and problems are multiplying. Bills, health problems, family problems, work problems, social problems, so on and so forth. So, you go online to escape reality for a moment, and story after story is posted about some politician who is intent on destroying America as we know it.

    Spend enough time in this situation, and you’ll start to feel hopeless, like the obstacles are too much to overcome, and there is no escape.

    Such was the case for King David when he wrote Psalm 3. He had fled from Absalom his son, who had overthrown his government, and was chasing him down to execute him.

    David had lost his kingdom, his home, the military, his family, his wealth, everything. He was fleeing to the wilderness where there would be little food or water, and safety would be hard to find. However, the hopeless wilderness was his only option.

    People turned against him. His enemies far outnumbered his friends, and many of his friends were throwing in the towel. It was hopeless.

    Yet, in Psalm 3:3-4, David wrote, “But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill.”

    David knew His only true friend, and the only One that could help him was God, and he trusted God. So, he cried out to God, and God heard him. Thus, in Psalm 3:5, “I laid me down and slept; I awaked, for the LORD sustained me.”

    Knowing that he was in God’s hands, David slept. What faith that showed! To be able to step away from his daily struggle and rest. It showed that David understood that God was in control, and that God held him in the palm of His hand.

    That faith was validated the next day when David awoke. He awoke, because God sustained him.

    Life may be crushing you right now, and you may be struggling to keep your head above water. Yet, the Lord never intended for you to continue the struggle on your own. He loves you, and cares for you. So, be like David. Trust God. Call out to God. Then rest, and trust Him to take care of that which you cannot control. You will find that He will sustain you.

    The physical application of Psalm 3:5 is that we should trust the Lord, knowing that He will sustain us. However, there is a Spiritual application as well.

    So many of us are struggling with our Spirituality. We doubt whether we will enter God’s Kingdom when we die. Is it possible for a man to know that He is saved? Is it possible to know for sure that you will go to Heaven when you die?

    These questions being unanswered for many, some stress out, trying to follow religion to the “T” hoping to be good enough to go to Heaven when they die. Others reject the Lord altogether out of frustration. Both approaches are equally wrong.

    Psalm 3:8 says “Salvation belongeth unto the Lord: thy blessing is upon thy people.”

    We don’t determine whether we get into Heaven, God does, hence John 1:13, “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

    There is nothing that we can do in and of ourselves to warrant our entrance into Heaven. God determines who gets in and who doesn’t. But praise be to God, He told us how He will make that determination, so that we can have blessed assurance. In John 1:12, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”

    All God wants us to do is to believe on the name of Jesus, to trust Him for salvation, and by doing so turning away from sin. Repent, and believe. And the repenting is inherent in the belief. By trusting Jesus Christ as your savior, you confess that you are a sinner, that the sin is bad, and you have set your mind to be rescued from it. Once you have done that, the Lord wants you to rest… not work to get into heaven, but rather to trust Him for that salvation, then spend your time on this Earth glorifying Him for the salvation He freely gave you.

    Hence, you lay down, you sleep, you awake, for the Lord sustains you. Also, Matthew 11:28, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

    Furthermore, the Lord sustains you… so He keeps you saved. You never have to worry about losing that salvation.

    Finally, there is a future application of Psalm 3:5, “I laid me down and slept; I awaked, for the LORD sustained me.”

    The day is coming when we will close our eyes one last time in this life. We will close our eyes in death, as the Bible says, we will sleep. Yet, as we close our eyes in death, we will turn right around and open them to eternal life, because the Lord will raise us up and receive us into His Kingdom, if you know Him as Savior.

    We will lay down and sleep, we will awake, for the Lord will sustain us.

    All of this possible, because the Lord Jesus Christ laid down His life on the cross, was buried, then rose again the third day, because God resurrected Him.

    God’s eternal plan for you is to bring you into His Kingdom, where you can live forever in His presence and glory. Everything He does in your life prepares you for that day. Will you trust Him? Are you looking forward to that day?

    Knowing these things will not only comfort us during stressful times, but will also help us put the stress into perspective. May God bless you as you continue to follow Him.