Introduction
Last year (2024), in September, I went to South Korea, to attend the Lausanne Congress. When conference ended, I had to move out of my hotel to a small BnB called the “Noble House” which was on the other side of the sea. So, I got into a ferry that transported people and vehicle across the sea. Within 30 minutes I was on the other side, I asked one of the receptionists of the hotel nearby – because I knew he/ she could understand English. So, the man told me that the place was a couple of blocks away. So, he stopped a nearby taxi and gave the driver the instructions to get to the place (of course – I did not understand what they were saying because they were conversing Korean. So, I got into the taxi, we were on our way to the place!!! As we got to the area – the taxi driver could not find the place!! We were lost!! He kept asking me for the name of the place – I told the name of the BnB. Because I was speaking in English - he did not understand what I was saying!! No could not speak, nor did he understand any English word!! I knew that I was in trouble when in terms of communication!! So, I took a piece of paper that indicated that I had made and paid for the booking and gave it him to see!! Because everything was written in English!! He could not read the paper, nor did he understand the information on the paper. So, I took my phone, showed the Name of the place and location on Google Maps!! Still, he could read nor understand anything because Google maps is in English, and the Korean streets had Korean names!! We would stop and he would ask, he people in the area. Many Korean people in the street did not know the BnB. We stopped next to one of the hotels – I told him to wait for me in the car, I was going to ask the receptionist of the hotel. So, left him went inside the hotel to ask– when I came out the car was gone – with all my bags, this includes all the important documents such my passport, my plane tickets!! I looked around the car was gone!! At that point- I realised that I was in serious trouble!! I was in a foreign land, many people can’t understand my language!!! I can’t understand what they say!!! I had lost my bags, and all travel documentation!!! I panicked because I was not expecting this!! Lots of questions invaded my mind – where I am going to sleep? How am I going back to South Africa? I ran up and down the street asking the people if they had seen the taxi? The people could not respond to my questions!! They starred at with that dead look indicating – what is this foreigner taking about? Is he mad? All my efforts – amounted to nothing!! I went back to the place the taxi driver dropped me!!! I began to pray to God asking him to help me in my situation!!!
Friends, in the Xian life is not a bed of roses!! We face trials of every kind!! We feel that life is sometimes tough or harsher! We often ask where is God when I am in trouble?
Psalm 46 is a Psalm about the troubles we have, the fears we face, the God who is and our faith!
Have you been in trouble recently? Do you have any fears? There are plenty of fears?
We all know what fear is! It is a sudden attack of anxiety, of agitation caused by the presence of danger, evil, pain, guilt - it covers a wide range of emotions from anxiety to apprehension to tear!
Where is God when I am troubled and when I am fearful?
Well, Psalm 46 deals with this question. Psalm 46 was written by the “Sons of Korah” – Psalm 46 is a Psalm of Confidence.
Psalm 46 can be Outlined as follows (4 thoughts on the Psalm)
- God is present with us (verse 1, 5, 7,11)
- God is present with us to protect us (verses 2-3)
- God is with us to refresh us (verses 4-9)
- God is present with us to calm us (verses 10-11)
1. GOD IS PRESENT WITH US (verses 1, 5, 7, 11)
I want to remind you that from Psalm 46 that God is present. God is our refuge and strength an ever-present help in time of trouble. In the Hebrew on verse 1 – the word present does not occur – literally the verse says “God is our refuge, strength, [and] help ever-finding [us] in trouble!!
When we are in trouble – we feel lost – disconnected with God!!! We feel as if God has turned his back on us!! The good news is that God has not given up on us!! He is always reaching out to us!! Like the Good Shepherd God reaches out to find!! In our lostness, God looks for us and finds us!! He delivers us from our predicament!!!
He comes to our aid!! He is our refuge, strength and help!!! He comes to our help when we are in trouble or distress!!
He carries you when your heart is broken!
He holds you when you are in pain!!!
He sustains you when you are tempted!!
He helps you when you in times of trouble!
The Hebrew word for trouble in Psalm 46 is translated in other places tribulation, distress, anxiety, tightness, adversity, affliction or anguish! Have you ever been there?
Who do you turn to? when you are in distress?
Who do you turn to? when you are in affliction?
Who do you turn to? when you are in anguish?
Who do you turn to? when you are filled with anxiety?
What do you do when you have pain in your chest? The smartest thing to do is to run to him!!!! He will find you and deliver you!!
In my situation, in Korea -I went back to the place where the taxi driver dropped me!! I prayed!! I asked God to bring the driver back!!! After waiting for about 5-6 minutes which felt like 30 minutes!! The Taxi driver came back!! I was so relieved!!! He found the place we were looking for!! He took me there, dropped me there with all my bags!!!
Friends, God is our refuge!!! We can run to him in times of trouble and distress!!! Because he is a refuge!
The word “refuge” means cave, sanctuary, shelter, asylum, harbour, a safe place (Isa 25:4)
4 You have been a refuge for the poor,
a refuge for the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the storm
and a shade from the heat. (Isa 25:4)
-Something or someone turned to for assistance or security (Is 28:15, 17; Je 17:17; Joe 4:16; Ps 14:6; 46:2; 61:4; 62:8–9; 71:7; 73:28; 91:2, 9; 94:22; 104:18; 142:6; Pr 14:26);
Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge. (62:8–9)
-Protective covering that provides protection from the weather (Is 4:6; Job 24:8).
6 It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain. (Is 4:6)
Friends, God is a safe place! He is our shelter!! Our cave!! Our habour! We can trust in him at all times for assistance, security and deliverance!! He provides protection for us!! We all live in an environment that is unstable, remember that God is our refuge, our solid rock of stability!!
If you lived in ancient Israel & you are working in the fields and cut down a tree and it accidently falls on someone & crushes him to death – You better run! & there was a place to run to! Cities Refuge! That God had planted! Once you get in the city walls, you were protected and safe from the relatives of the person that you have killed unintentionally.
The question that I have for you this morning is : Where do you run to when you are in trouble or distress? It is sad to note that some people run to substance like alcohol or drugs or food!! In some contexts, others run to the witch doctors or Sangomas or “called prophets” for “holy water”- some even go to the ocean on the 1st of January to dip themselves and to get rid themselves of “bad luck.” Other young, the Generation Z, people turn to media – “google” or “siri” for help!!
Who do you tun to when you are in distress?
“Do you turn to God? Is he your Refuge???? Is your strength?” Do you know God as your refuge?
Having God as our refuge & helper does not mean that everything in your life will turn up good!! As we want! God allows us to go through suffering for our good or sanctification or purification!!
James says,
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (Jas 1:2-4)
Friends!! God is & God will be our refuge our ever-present help in trouble because he is with us always. He has promised no matter what you go through no matter what circumstances you find yourself in- he will not leave you.
2. GOD IS PRESENT WITH US TO PROTECT US (verses 2-3)
The Psalm suddenly shifts to from the ever-finding us in times of trouble to describe catastrophes such as tsunami, Katrinas, floods, avalanches, hurricanes e.g. Helena (verses 2-3).
God is present with us to protect us- therefore the Psalmist says that we will not fear- that is the admonition! To fear not! The origin of fear is found Gen 3, it is the 1st human emotion experienced by after Adam & Eve sinned! Why Adam? Because I was afraid! So fear attacks you! Fear is normal because we have a fallen nature; we live in a dangerous world! Fear is normal because we have an enemy! When fear hits us, we become vulnerable and desperate!! Fear manifests in our insecurity, inadequacy and our powerlessness!
What do you do with your fears? Do you cover your fears! Do you minimize it? exaggerate it? rationalize it?
Listen! You need to face your fears!! David says in Psalm 34:4
I sought the LORD and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.
You may have many fears, the question is: what do you do with your fears? The fear is normal! Learn to relinquish your fears! 90% of the things that you fear & worry about don’t happen anyway! What you should do is to cultivate a healthy fear of God! You should learn to run to him!!!! You don’t need to panic – Many people in this country are afraid of future of this country!! Are afraid of the economic or political situation or the exchange rate might go down after the new government.
There are Christians out there who do not even sleep because fears and adversity, distress and anguish!!!!
Friends, you do not have to panic though adversity, anguish, tribulation comes on your way. You do not have to panic! But you need to know the Scriptures! You need to know God personally as a helper in the times of trouble or distress!! We all face storms in our lives!
From the Psalms, David had the conviction that the Lord will never leave him under any circumstances!! From example in Psalm 3:5-6, David says,
I lie down and sleep; I wake up again because the Lord sustains me. I will not fear the tens of thousands, drawn up against me on every side!
In Psalm 4:8, David says
I will lie down and sleep in peace for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.
My Friends, our God is in the heaven, he does what pleases him. He causes tsunamis, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes etc! God does not leave us! He is our security in this world! When there is recession & our economy collapses, our God is with us! He does not leave us! When we encounter natural disasters! When war breaks out! When our governments fail! When our health deteriorates and fail! When our friends betray us! God is the only place you can go! Run to him!! God does not leave us! Our world with all its technology, computers, internet etc is no safer today than it was thousands of years ago!!! Not at all!! Our security comes from our faith rather than our circumstances!!! Listen, our security is in eternity and not in this present world!!
Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
6 So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (Heb 13:5-6)
31 .. If God is for us, who can be against us?... 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?...37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8:31ff)
It says here in verse 8, Come & see the works of the LORD – ultimately who wins? He does!!
3. GOD IS WITH US TO REFRESH US (VERSE 4)
God is with us to refresh us --
Notice the scene shifts into the city of Jerusalem. Take a note on what the Psalmist says in verse 4 –
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not [be moved] fall; God will help her at the break of day....!
The word refresh means “to revive, to renew, to invigorate, to rejuvenate, to energize, to restore”
In biblical times, many of the ancient cities had rivers that would flow through them. Such was not the case in Jerusalem. That’s why the Psalmist here points out that there is a river! Who is the river? God himself! God is our river of joy!! He is the one who can give you freshness! He can renew you! He can rejuvenate you! He can strengthen you, who can freshen you up! Who can cure & quench your thirst! He and He alone!! Jesus in John 7:37-38 says:
“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.
Is Jesus living water to you? Do you come to him? Are you thirsty? Do you drink from a well that will not dry? God is within her, she will not [be moved] fall.
Notice what the psalmist says here in verse 8, because of this what are we to do? Come and see the works of the LORD... see the exhortation!
Let say we surrounded with Sennacherib Army (Isa 36), the messenger sent by Sennacherib comes & says do not trust Hezekiah & do not let him persuade to trust in God for deliverance! In 722 we defeated Israel the Northern Kingdom! Your God has not helped you!
Now the Psalmist is saying to us “Come & see the works of the Lord”
Think back to what God has done! When something happens to you this week or next month or next year you have to remember God’s faithfulness in the past! You have to be reminded of the God whom we serve! He is the God of Jacob! He is the God of losers! Failures! Deceitful ones! The God of the weak! He is the one who listens to you when you cry out! He is the one who can deliver you from the giants in your life just like David! He is the one who can deliver you from the lions like Daniel! God is with you! Just like he was with Jerusalem. God sent his angel & he killed 185 000 men, the Israelites did not lift a finger (Isa 37:36ff)! God did it!!! Some incidents of course they had to fight!! Remember what he did in Egypt, what he did when they crossed the Red Sea, what he did when they circled Jericho!!
Friends we should not be shaken because God will never abandon us! Never! You husband or wife or girlfriend or friend or your family may leave you! Cancer may strike! God won’t leave! Never under any circumstance will God leave you!
GOD IS PRESENT WITH US TO CALM US (verse 10)
When trouble or distress comes before us, we get anxious! When trouble comes, we have a tendency to take things into our own hands, we figure out! We try to fix things!
“Be still” literally means “Take your hands off! Relax!” We like to be “hands-on” people and manage our own lives, but God is God, and we are but His servants. Because Hezekiah and his leaders allowed God to be God, He delivered them from their enemies. That was the way King Hezekiah had prayed:
“Now therefore, O Lord our God, I pray, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know You are the Lord God, You alone” (2 Kings 19:19, nkjv).
The Lord calls Himself “the God of Jacob,” and we remember how often Jacob got into trouble because he got his hands on circumstances and tried to play God. There is a time to obey God and act, but until then, we had better take our hands off and allow Him to work in His own time and His own way. If we seize His promises by faith with both hands, we won’t be able to meddle!
The admonition of Psalm 46 in the Hebrew language, literally means “Stop worrying,” It leads to no good! What do you do when you worry? You disregard his command! You distrust his sovereignty! You doubt his Promises! Where is your trust! Stop worrying! He is a safe place for you! You can come to him! He is with us always! You can put your faith & trust in Him - you don’t have to panic, you don’t have to be anxious! You do not have to be afraid! Don’t forget the God who is with you! Don’t fret! God! It all leads to pain!
God allows us to get into “tight places” so our faith will grow and He will be exalted. (See 22:27; 64:9; 86:9; 102:15.)
As we close today, I have three simple lessons or reminders for you.
- Run to him in prayer when you are in trouble God! Run! Flee to the refuge! When cancer strikes! When things don’t work out! When your prayers are not answered! When you are disillusioned & confused! Learn to run to him in prayer!
- Reflect on past deliverances when fearful in your life & biblical accounts in the Bible that’s why it is important to know the Scriptures.
- Last, be still & know that he is God!! You don’t have to fear!!!
