Psalm 46 was written at a very critical time in the history of the nation of Judah. During the reign of Hezekiah around the year 700 BC, the Assyrian army invaded Judah and surrounded Jerusalem, the capital city. It was their intention to take the city. and their leaders, Senegarib, he boldly defied God, saying that even God could not save his people at that particular time. But Hezekiah, the man of God, and by and large he was a good man, he prayed. So in his time of great need, he turned his face toward heaven, and he got his eyes on God, and he prayed. And that very same night, God sent an angel. Quickly, an answer to that prayer, and the angel of the Lord slew 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. The mighty army was no more. It perished where it stood, and Jerusalem, against all of the odds, was saved. The jubilant city rang with hymns of thanksgiving and praise. Shortly after this, And to commemorate that great victory, this particular psalm was penned. The people rejoiced in what God had done and they sang with great enthusiasm, God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble. So great. was that victory. And so marvelous was the deliverance that Jews and Christians alike have turned instinctively to Psalm 46, whenever disaster strikes and when it seems that all hope is lost. And that's 46 Psalm assures us that God can handle in his own time and in his own good way. that which seems to be to us a total disaster. It assures us that in time of trouble and fear, we can stand strong and victorious because God is our refuge and our strength in times of trouble. Moreover, we do not need to worry about the present or the future because our God is in control, working out all things for his sovereign purposes. Now, the psalm itself divides into three parts. You probably see that as we read down these verses. And they're all marked off by that word selah. You can see that three times in the psalm. And so we have these three divisions in the psalm. And I have three simple things that I want to highlight for your attention tonight, three things that we have as the people of God. Well, first of all, we're told here in the opening three verses that we have a refuge. That's what it says here. God is our refuge and strength. Now the Hebrew language, just trust me on this, the Hebrew language contains at least 21 words that describe various kinds of trouble. And the word that is used here in verse 1 literally means, in a tight place. And the thought that we have before us is that the people in Hezekiah's day were in a tight place. And maybe sometime in your life's experience, you have found yourself to be in a tight place. Sometimes we do get into a tight place, and we don't know what to do, what way to turn. And so here we find the people of Judah, and they're in a tight place. Why do I say that? Well, the Assyrian army was at the gates of the city, more or less. And the approach of Sennacherib had struck fear into the hearts of the people. And even the leaders didn't know what to do. They lost faith. And instead of getting their eyes focused on the Lord to begin with, they looked to Egypt and to the strength of Pharaoh to help them. And you can read something of the history of this in 2 Kings 18 and 19. And in order to avert The storm Hezekiah submitted to Sennacherib's claim and his demand to pay an extreme tribute for which he was obliged to strip the gold from the walls and the pillars of the temple. So at that particular time, initially, instead of looking to the Lord for help and grace and divine intervention, he compromised, with the result then that the gold was stripped from the temple, the walls, and the pillars. Now, Sennacherib, he had promised that if Hezekiah paid the tribute, he would depart peacefully. You can read that in the story. He lied. He lied, you see. And when he left, he left a large force which eventually marched upon Jerusalem and demanded unconditional surrender. And the Jews could do nothing but hope in God. Now, did God fail them? Did God let them down? Well, you know the answer to that. He didn't, because God cannot fail. The Lord had his eye upon his people. He was caring for his people. He knew what they faced. He knew the circumstances. He knew the threat. He knew the danger. He knew the discouragement. He knew everything that was going on. He knows that about every congregation, every individual here. He knows all about it. And that's the message of the opening verses is based upon what Israel learned. And that's what preaching is all about. That's what services like this are all about, to teach us how to handle issues, how to handle situations, how to handle things in time of trouble. And I think one of the main lessons that the people of Judah learned on that day, at that particular time, God is in control. And I may say that again, God is in control of every situation. It didn't take him by surprise what Sennacherib did. It didn't take him by surprise that Hezekiah looked to Egypt. It didn't take him by surprise at all. God's in control of every situation. And notice how the psalmist describes what was happening. Look at verse two. Therefore will not we fear though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Now the word for earth, you can see that there, can be translated land. And the word removed can also be translated change, or change hands. So the verse could be rendered, therefore will not we fear, though the land change hands. And in this way, Hezekiah was describing the Assyrian invasion. So he's really saying here, even if the authority and the land changes, if we lose our freedom, with nothing to fear. That's really what he's saying here. The enemy had made great progress. They'd come to the very gates. That was close. And we're coming to a gospel mission. And we want to evangelize the community. We want to see people reached with the gospel, our family, our loved ones. You think we're going to get scot-free? You don't think the devil's going to try to upset things and destroy our confidence and our faith? Of course he's going to attack. He's going to come with all vigor and all force. But we need to trust in him, as in the Lord at this time. So the enemy had made great progress. They were at the very gates of the city. And although the invader threatened the city, Hezekiah's God was with them within the walls. And you notice how he continues describing the scene. Though the waters thereof roar with trouble, though the mountains shake and so on, in a few bold strokes, the psalmist sets before us a picture of a land in upheaval. Earthquakes, mountains are staggering, tidal waves. It's a symbolic way of telling us of war and invasion. They were facing a warfare. The enemy was on the move. We need to be made aware of this and alert to this danger at this time of going forth with the gospel of Jesus Christ. So, we've made that clear, but notice, notice what it says there in verse two, what the psalmist said. Therefore, we will not fear. Therefore, will not we fear. Why? Because God is our refuge and our strength in times of need. And that word for refuge in verse 1 literally means a place of protection. It means a safety harbor. It means a place of shelter. It means a place where we can go to hide for protection. You think about the Psalmist David. The psalmist David spent a lot of time in different caves. The cave provided him with protection from Saul and from other enemies. And so you get the picture here. Here's a place of refuge. God is a refuge. He's a place that we run to for shelter. A place where we can hide. Hiding in thee, thou blessed rug of ages, I'm hiding in thee. It's Christ. We've got to get to Christ in these times. This is what the psalm's all about, getting us to Christ, getting us to this place of beholding God, getting the rise of the enemy, getting the rise of the Assyrians, getting the rise upon the God of heaven who has a refuge and a very present help. That word can also mean close by. He's not far away. He's nearby. A very present help. It simply means that. He's more or less at your elbow, if you like. We can turn to him, we can trust in him. He's our defense. He's our protector. He's the one who will protect the going forth of the gospel. He will protect the seed that is sown. And so we've got to spread it, we've got to disseminate the seed. God has got to protect it and God has got to bless it to give us a gracious and gathering of souls. God is our place of refuge. He hides us. The storm may blow, and the battle may rage, but we have somewhere to run to, we have somewhere to hide. He helps us. So he hides us, and he helps us, and neither natural or national disaster can touch our refuge. Selah. And that simply means, what do you think of that? That's just an amazing statement. And then the Spirit of God seems to be saying, well, you look at that for a minute, slow down for a minute, look at that. What do you think of that? Isn't that an amazing thing, the promise that God has made? The present application is equally stirring, for we are engaged in a deadly struggle with principalities and powers. and the rulers of the world's darkness. Look at spirits in high places. Our country's in a mess, religiously, politically, socially, morally. The gold, referring to precious things, the gold has been removed. And men seek to make peace with the enemy only to find that the enemy cannot be trusted. So that's what Hezekiah did, the great king in all that he was, he took the gold from the house of God, he compromised, he gave it to the enemy, the enemy promised to depart in peace and then he lied. We will get no help from Egypt or anywhere else. Our only help is in the God of heaven, so we have a refuge. But then the second thing we have, In verses 4 through 10, the second section, verse 4 says, look at it, there is a river. So not only do we have a refuge, but we have a river. Now in a dry country, a river is a godsend because it irrigates the land. and it waters man and beast. Until I visited the land of Israel, I had no idea how critical water there really is. For without water, nothing can exist there. Of course, it applies to other places as well. Jerusalem is an ancient city that was founded not on a river. Babylon was founded upon the mighty river, the river Euphrates, and Rome was founded and built upon the river Tigris. But Jerusalem was not founded upon a river. Yet the psalmist says, though Jerusalem is not situated beside a river, it has a river. What is that all about then? Well, this river, according to what the Bible teaches us, it comes from the throne of God. It's a special river, you see. Now the word river means there a constantly flowing river, not a creek, which carries a flash flood and then dries up. There's nothing left there. It speaks here of a constantly flowing river. Now it wasn't until Hezekiah the king dug his famous tunnel. You've heard tell of Hezekiah's tunnel. It wasn't until he built his famous tunnel that Jerusalem had a water supply within the city. Now knowing sooner or later that the Assyrians would come and surround the city, and besieged Jerusalem, Hezekiah had taken wise and practical steps to ensure that the city had an unfailing water supply. The Gion Springs was located deep in the Kidron Valley, Jerusalem's most ancient water supply, and that was exposed to the enemy. So if the enemy knew about this, this was the only water supply that Jerusalem had, where do you think they would go? They would go there, they would take it over to prevent water getting into the city. Hezekiah diverted the water from the Gion Springs through a conduit, 1,777 feet long, hewing out of solid rock into the reservoir inside the city wall. And they started at both ends. And the amazing thing is this, that it met in the middle That was some feet. 1,777 feet long. Starting at both ends and it met exactly in the middle. The Lord was in the thing, you see. So they brought the water supply in from the Kidron Valley into the city. There is a river. There is a river. And then he covered the spring to hide it from the enemy. Now during the whole siege, there was a river which made glad the city of God. To the besieged inhabitants of Jerusalem, it meant the difference between resistance and surrender. It's a little bit like the siege of Londonderry, 105 days there. And they were just eating rats and cats and dogs for a period of time. There is a river. There is a river. And for all the strength and cunning of the enemy, the enemy knew nothing about this unfailing source. How thinner refreshment without which the city could not have lasted more than two or three months. Without this river, the city of Jerusalem would have fallen. But there is a river. It was not from the strength of the full without, but it would have failed because of weakness and failure from within. But God, in his mercy and his grace, moved the king to make this conjuct to bring the water in. And all through the siege, they had this reserve. They had this means of refreshment. The city had a river. that kept the city strong because God is a refuge. So we need not fear because God is our God and he's with us. He's our river. We need not faint. Do you see that? Bring it right up to date, we have a river within us. It's interesting that God the Father is set forth as a fountain of living water, Jeremiah 2.13. The Son is set forth as a well of water, John 4 verses 13 and 14. And then, of course, in John chapter 7, 37 and 38, the Holy Spirit as a river of living water. So we're thinking here about the Trinity, three divine persons, one God, co-equal, co-eternal. The eternal God is our refuge and our strength, a perpetual source of refreshment for the church of God. And the spirit has come from the throne of God above to fill our hearts and our lives with power, with energy, with strength to provide a deep unfailing reservoir of spiritual strength. He abides. Psalmist continued, God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. God shall help her. And that early verse five. So there is someone in the midst of Jerusalem. is someone in the midst of the church. You find those words in the midst in Luke chapter 2, you find it there in John chapter 20, Revelation chapter 2 and 3, and Matthew 18 verse 20. He's in the midst. And the Lord God, omnipotent, Hezekiah's God was in the midst of Jerusalem when the Assyrians threatened says the Lord of hosts is with us, verse 7, the identity of this mysterious resident is brought to attention. The Hebrew reader would immediately recognize him because the word for with us is the word from which we get the messianic title Immanuel. Immanuel means God with us. Child of God we have this wonderful savior and he's with us. Now, the conclusion that I reach from all this is very simple. The foe, the Assyrians, were defeated before they ever left Assyria. Because God is a refuge and our strength. So take that to heart and believe this and see how God confounded the Assyrians. 185,000 in one night. So in the first place, we have a refuge. God is a refuge. In the second place, we have a river. There is a river. The streams for all shall make glad the city of our God. The triune God abides within us by the Spirit, that great reservoir of power and energy. And then the third thing is we have a ruler, verses 8 through 11, Selah. Think about that. The closing verses describe the amazing victory easily wrought by God. It was an easy victory for God over the massive Assyrian army. And notice what it says in verse 5, God shall help her and that right early. And the margin of my Bible, it reads this, when the morning appeareth, So that dark night, the Assyrian army had surrounded Jerusalem. I suppose the people within the walls were thinking, well, death tomorrow, defeat tomorrow, we're going down tomorrow. How can we deal with this army out there? We're weak and pathetic. So the night was taken over. The angel comes, the morning comes, when the morning appeareth, a new day. God's help came at the breaking of the morning, the beginning of a new day. Oh that God would give us the beginning of a new day. And the closing verse describes an illusion. Yes, at the breaking of the morning, obviously an illusion to the Assyrian army. You go back to Isaiah 37 and verse 36. When they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So when the psalmist looked out over the city wall, all he could see, dead bodies, corpses all over the place. He's amazed. God has come. God has intervened. God has supported his people. God has sustained his people. God has dealt with the enemy. God has dealt with the foe. This is the work of God. Look and behold. God has done this particular thing. So there was one night between complete disaster and complete deliverance. One night. In the morning these 185 warriors lay dead, and the verse 8, the invitation is, come behold the works of the Lord. What desolations he has made in the earth. Would you look at this? This is what God has done without our help. He didn't need the help of Hezekiah. He didn't need the help of the people, the soldiers, the guards in the walls. He did it himself. God did it. That's what the message is. Come and behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he has made, and the earth, the Lord defeated the enemy. Verse nine, he maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth, he breaketh the bow. And you read there about the bow, and you read about the chariot, and you read about the spear, the Lord breaks these things. There's a thought here of the burning of the chariots. So one angel and one knight could smite all the host of Sennacherib. The angels are mustered, you see, at the command of God. Around his heavenly throne they wait for his command to proceed and carry out his mind and his will. They rush to do his bidding. They are sent as the messengers to the heirs of salvation to defend his people. So against this background I sign it forth, one of the great callings of scripture, be still and know that I am God. Be still and know that I am God. Know what that really means? It means take your hands off and let me be God in your situation. It means to desist. It means to cease your efforts. In other words, God is saying, you don't have to do anything here. Don't you meddle. Don't you interfere. Just stand back and let me be God in your life. Let me do this work on your behalf. Be still and know that I am God. That's really the message. That may be the message for us tonight. Be still, hands off, and God will work out all things according to his own divine purpose and plan, because God cares for Jerusalem, and God cares for his people, and God cares for the city of his people. And so he's saying, don't meddle, just let me be God, and I will do it, and I will do it right, and I will do it well. And then we find that word again, the Lord of hosts is with us. Here's the ruler of the people. We have a ruler, the Lord of hosts, the commander. of the armies of heaven." He wrote it down twice. He didn't want us to miss this. That word selah appears about 70 times in the Psalms and has various meanings. It's equivalent to our word slow. It could mean amen, it could mean repeat, it could mean what do you think of that? Sometimes it may refer even to a musical saying which means raise it a note higher or lift it up. Sometimes I may be leading the singing and we come to a good lively part in the chorus and I might just say, lift it up now. What I want you to do, I want you to really praise the Lord, to pull out all of the stops and lift it up. And so here we are exhorted to lift up praise to God. Lift up your praise. Think about this. Think of what God has done. Think of what he's still able to do. Raise it a note higher. What do you think of that? What do you think of what God has done? Isn't that an amazing thing? Oh, it'd be a wonderful thing at the end of the mission to stand back and look back and say, would you look at what God did during the mission? He raised it a note higher. He took us to a new level. May that be our case as a church of God. This word seal is found three times in Habakkuk. You can find that for yourself. Just as you have a triology, Psalm 22, 23, and 24, so Psalms 46, 47, and 48 are treated as a unity, a unity relating to the same historical events. And you can read that for yourself. It's a tribute to God. In the midst of his trials in life, Martin Luther was accustomed to say to his friend, Melanchthon, Come Philip, let us sing the 46th Psalm. And Lord, Luther found the 46th Psalm helped him face any trouble, and so we see. We can see that as God's people. Because God is a refuge, a very present help in time of trouble. Very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear. Though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof, there is a river. There's a refuge, there's a river. And the Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob, as a refuge, the ruler is in control of all things. See, now think about that. Lift up praise to God tonight from all of our hearts in God's house. May the Lord be pleased with Beth's word. We'll bow for prayer. Let's seek the Lord especially.