Please turn in your copy of God's word to Psalm 46. Psalm 46, we're continuing this series in the Psalms, familiar Psalms sung anew. And this morning we come to Psalm 46. As we come to the reading and the preaching of his word, let me pray for us. Father, our help is in you, the maker of heaven and earth. So we pray that as we sit under your word now, that you would renew our minds, conform our wills, and comfort our troubled hearts. And we ask this in the name of your son, our savior, the one who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever praised. Amen. Psalm 46, to the choir master of the sons of Korah, according to Alamoth, a song. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 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. Selah. 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, Selah. Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear. He burns the chariots with fire. Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah. The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God endures forever. In April 1521, as Martin Luther traveled to the city of Worms in Germany, he penned his famous hymn, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. It was based on his favorite psalm, Psalm 46. On March 8th, 1750, John Wesley stood in Hyde Park, London, and preached a sermon. His text that day, Psalm 46. On September the 11th, 2011, President Barack Obama stood at Ground Zero in New York and read from the Bible. His text that day, Psalm 46. Three occasions, each about 200 years apart, but each connected by the common use of Psalm 46. But that's not the only thing they had in common. What was common to each of these occasions was the shared backdrop of troubled times. Martin Luther wrote his own version of Psalm 46 as he traveled to Worms because he was in big trouble. He had been summoned by the Roman Catholic Church to appear before Emperor Charles V to recant his teachings on the Christian gospel. Not only was his ministry in danger, but so too was his life. John Wesley preached on Psalm 46 in Hyde Park, London on March 8th, 1750 because London had just experienced two earthquakes in a matter of four weeks. Though the earth gives way. Barack Obama read from Psalm 46 at the 10th anniversary of the falling of the Twin Towers because 10 years previous, terrorists had flown airplanes into them. What unites these three occasions is the shared context of trouble and danger, of threat and destruction. And on each of those occasions, the people heard these arresting words, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. The word trouble in verse one is actually in the plural in Hebrew. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in troubles. Luther captures all the possible options for us. He says, our troubles concern any attack on Christ's church and his word from fanatical spirits, the gates of hell, the devil, assaults from the world, the flesh, and sin. I think he pretty much covers everything, doesn't he? This is a psalm for all our troubles, whatever they may be. But there is one qualification. They are church troubles. Psalm 46 is a psalm for the church more than for the Christian. Of course, we should avoid the false dichotomy. But it is not a personal psalm like Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd. Now, Psalm 46 is a church psalm. God is our refuge and strength. The Lord of hosts is with us as a church. The God of Jacob is our fortress, the church's fortress. The church in this psalm is pictured, verse four, as the city of God, a city in times of trouble. God's church through the ages, in every age, has been a church in trouble, in danger, in conflict, from within, from without, from above. From within, the flesh has always lurked and lured God's people into sin, especially church leaders and ministers. Just this week, a well-known Christian leader has fallen into sin with a woman, not his wife. Trouble within. And then there's always trouble without from the world. Our culture, our city, and its officials can oppose and trouble the church, especially now in the West with the rise of secularism and Islam. Trouble without. And then there's trouble from above. from the devil, the prince of the air, as the apostle Paul calls him. Trouble within, trouble without, trouble from above. The church has always been a church surrounded by trouble. And it's easy in such times of trouble to be discouraged, disheartened, downcast. But this morning, God wants his church to hear words of encouragement from Psalm 46. Three great reasons to be optimistic as a church. Number one, God is our very present help when our world is falling apart. God is our very present help when our world is falling apart, verses one to three. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear. The second line of verse one, a very present help in trouble, it carries the sense of God's readiness and sufficiency to help. God is ready to help and He is sufficient to help. God is more ready to help us as a church than our troubles are ready to trouble us. God is more sufficient to help us as a church than our troubles are sufficient to trouble us. Which is why we need not fear anything. Not even when the world is falling apart. Verse two, 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. Four though clauses which paint the picture of a world in collapse. The psalmist presents us here with a worst case scenario of apocalyptic proportion. Because look what's slipping and moving and trembling. Verse two, the earth. and the mountains, two of the most immovable things in the created universe, and yet here they are, slipping, moving, trembling. And look what's roaring and foaming and swelling. Verse three, the sea, one of the most uncontrollable things in the created universe. So do you see the picture? The world is slipping. The sea is swelling. The world is in turmoil and tumult, except for one thing that's not. The first thing in verse one, God. Though the earth is slipping, God's not slipping. Though the mountains are moving, God's not moving. Though the tsunamis are crashing against the mountains, God's not trembling. God is unslippable, immovable, untremblable. And this is why the church should not fear in the midst of her troubles, because her God is a God who is a refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Boys and girls, there's a famous photo that I think captures this picture of God being our refuge in the midst of nature's raging chaos. It's a photograph of a French lighthouse in the Celtic Sea in the North Atlantic Ocean. Perhaps your parents can look it up later on the internet for you. The photograph was taken in the midst of a storm in 1989 when the waves were crashing against this lighthouse out at sea. The waves were rising to 20-30 meters high, nearly engulfing the whole of this And the photograph is taken from a helicopter up in the sky looking down at this lighthouse. And it's a famous photograph because standing at the front of the lighthouse in the doorway is Theodore Malgorn, the lighthouse keeper. And he's standing there with his hand in his pocket as this huge wave comes and envelops the lighthouse. Why does he have his hand in his pocket? because he was standing in a refuge that was strong and able to withstand this huge wave. Well, that's the picture here. The seas of opposition roar and foam and swell against God's church, but the church is safe because her God is a refuge in strength. A very present help in times of trouble. God is our very present help when our world is falling apart. Number two, God is our very timely help when our enemies are raging about. God is our very timely help when our enemies are raging about. Verses four to seven. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High." Do you hear the dramatic change of sound and scene? We've gone from the sound and scene of the sea roaring and foaming and swelling to a quiet, tranquil river flowing into a city. You can almost hear the trickle of the streams. From waters causing trembling to waters conveying tranquility. Scholars debate what the river symbolizes. I think the best option is God's grace and presence. In Eden, the river that flowed into the garden was a picture of the source of life flowing from the place where God lived. And it's the same here. Here is a city, a symbol of God's people, irrigated by the river of God, irrigated by God's grace and presence. I think that makes most sense because the river flows into the city and leads us to the chief resident of the city. Verse four, there is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. As I think you've worked out by now, I'm from Belfast, Northern Ireland. And a number of years ago, the Tourist Board of Northern Ireland created a video. And the voiceover was the actor Liam Nielsen, who's from Northern Ireland. And at one point, he says these words as you see these beautiful scenes of Ireland, of Northern Ireland and the people there. He says, places are made and measured by the people who live there. Places are made by people. Discover the people, discover the place, discover Northern Ireland. It's why Northern Ireland is the greatest place on earth. Because the people who live there, apparently they're very humble as well. Well, this city is made and measured by the person who lives there, God Most High, the King. Discover the God who lives there and you discover the kind of place it is. Verse 5, God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. The city is immovable because the king who lives there is immovable. Discover the person, discover the place. It's not the resilient walls that protect this city. It's the resident king, God Most High. The words, she shall not be moved, link back to the mountains being moved into the sea earlier in the Psalm. The matching of the words provides a contrast between the mountains that are moved and the city on a mountain that is not moved. And it's not moved because God is in the midst of her and he is immovable. It's also not moved because of something else. Verse five, God will help her when morning dawns. Literally, God will help her at the turning of the morning. During a war, the dawn was the most vulnerable time for an army. It was when the men were just waking up and they were not prepared to fight. So the sense here is that God helps his people at the most vulnerable time, which means his help always comes at the best time. He helps his people just when they need it the most. And God's church does need help because, verse 6, the enemy is raging about. The nations rage. The word rage here, it creates a link back to verse three where the same word is used for the waters roaring. The nations are like the sea waters roaring and foaming and raging against the city of God on a mountain. But no sooner are the nations raging than their kingdoms are tottering. Verse six. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter. Again, this word, totter, it points us back to the earlier verses. The earth gives way. It's the same word. Only this time, the nations that have tried to cause the church to give way to totter are now the ones that themselves are giving way or tottering. They totter and they fall. Why? Because God utters His voice. God steps into the fray and thunders at his people's enemies. It's a picture of strength and terror, and it's so powerful that not only do they totter, but the whole earth melts. This is why our God is our very timely help when our enemies are raging about, because He just needs to speak a word, and their kingdoms totter. As Martin Luther said in his hymn, a mighty fortress is our God. Speaking of the devil, do you remember the line? One little word shall fell him. It's a timely reminder that it is the word of God preached from this pulpit that will topple our enemies. God is pictured here as a warrior fighting for his people. Verse seven, the Lord of hosts is with us, literally the Lord of armies. God is a fighter with us, fighting for us. And he's also a fortress. He's a fighter and he's a fortress. The word fortress here, it refers to a tar of inaccessible height, or I should say tower. The Hebrew is pronounced tar. Boys and girls, I gave you a picture of a lighthouse in a storm, of a refuge. Now let me give you a picture of a tar in Ireland. This tar is in a forest in southern Ireland beside a lake just south of Dublin. It's called Glendalough Tar. It's about 1,000 years old. It's 30 meters high. Again, your parents can Google it later to show you it. Here's what's most interesting about this tower. It was used as a guide for pilgrims from afar, but also as a place of safety. But here's what's interesting about it. You walk around the tower, and there's no door on the ground level. Three and a half meters up the wall is the door. And so the people who lived there 1,000 years ago would climb up the ladder, pull the ladder in, and shut the door when the enemy came, which meant that they were completely safe because there was no way for the enemy to get in. It was impenetrable, inaccessible. It was a fortress. And that's what God is for us in this Psalm. He's our fortress. Once we are in Him, then we're safe from the enemy. This is the second thing that we see in this Psalm. God is our very present help when our world is falling apart. He's like the lighthouse in the stormy sea. And God is our very timely help when our enemies are raging about. He's like the tall tar in the forest that we can enter just before the enemy comes. Well, this may be so for us in the past. It even may be so for us in the present as a church, but how do we know that God will be our help in the future? How do we know that God will preserve and protect His church tomorrow, this year, next year, and for the next hundred years until the Lord returns? I mean, just think of Martin Luther. His gospel preaching and Bible translation turned Europe upside down. But now look at Europe. The kingdoms of the West were toppled by the gospel, but they have risen again. And in Europe, it feels more like the church is toppling under the pressure of secularism and Islam. They say by 2050, Europe will be an Islamic state. Perhaps you can think of ways that God has helped 10th in the past, but now you find it hard to see how 10th might make it to the end of the year. Nevermind mark its 200th anniversary in five years, if the Lord wills. God has helped us in the past. Who's to say he will help us in the future? Well, the final stanza of this psalm gives us some assurance for the future, which brings us to our third point. God will be our very present, very timely help to the end. God will be our very present, very timely help to the end, verses 8 to 11. In order to convey this point, the songwriter gives us an invitation a declaration, and then a confirmation. The invitation is in verses 8 to 9. It's an invitation to come and see something. Come, behold the works of the Lord. This word works is a very rare word in the Old Testament. It occurs only three times. Proverbs 8, 22, the works of creation. Psalm 66, 5, the works of salvation. And here, Psalm 46, 8, the works of desolation. All three kinds of works, creation, redemption, desolation, are no ordinary works. They are wonderful works. And by wonderful, I don't mean they're really nice and lovely. I mean, they are wonder-filled works of God. That's the sense here. The psalmist invites us to come and behold God's wonder-filled work of desolation on the earth. That is, his acts of judgment. It's a reference to the wars that God had brought on the earth against his enemies in the Old Testament. Like when Pharaoh and his men were drowned in the Red Sea, we read that it occurred as the morning broke. Same language as Psalm 46, 5. Or like when King Sennacherib of Assyria woke up one morning to find 185,000 of his men had been slain in their sleep as they were laying siege to Jerusalem. These are the kind of desolating and devastating wars that God worked for his people in the Old Testament. And he didn't just work them for the sake of war like he was some sort of sadistic, masochistic God who just loved war for the sake of war. Now, notice in verse 8 and 9 why God goes to war. Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth, making wars cease to the end of the earth." God goes to war to end war. It's war for the sake of peace, like Leo Tolstoy's famous book, War and Peace. Well, this is a epic, War and peace story. And like any war, what brings actual lasting peace is not compromise, but conquest. Which is why verse nine goes on to say, he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the chariots with fire. That's not a compromise, that's a conquest. The bow is the enemy's long-distance weapon. God breaks it. The spear is the enemy's close combat weapon. God shatters it. The chariot is the enemy's ultimate weapon. God burns it. He removes all the arsenal of his enemies so that the circumstance for lasting peace can be established. The question is, did he achieve it? Did God achieve lasting peace through the wars of the Old Testament? Reminds me of H.G. Wells' catchphrase for the First World War. Do you remember it? The war to end all wars. It was a mantra of faith and optimism in the First World War, to motivate those fighting in it, to win it, because if you win it, then all wars will be brought to an end. But the mantra of faith and optimism became a mantra of doubt and cynicism. because the First World War didn't lead to lasting peace as the event of the Second World War proved. Well, what about the statement then in verse nine, he makes war cease to the end of the earth. Is it a statement of faith and optimism or of doubt and cynicism? Did God's wars in the Old Testament bring an end to all war? Well, Egypt and Assyria never bothered Israel again after God defeated them. But then came the Babylonians who fought the Assyrians. Then came the Persians who fought the Babylonians. Then came the Greeks who fought the Persians. Then came the Romans who fought the Greeks, and so on, and so on, and so on. So does this psalmist massively overstate his case? Well, I think the answer is found in that second word of verse eight, behold. Some translations say, come and see. And so it might give the impression he's just saying, come and have a look. But that's not what he's saying. This is a special word that is used for prophets seeing visions. Come and envisage. Come and have a vision of a God-enacted war that will end all wars. As we read this verse in the context of the whole Bible, we see that it entails a future war that would end all wars. The Old Testament wars of desolations were types. They were signs and shadows of a greater war that God would bring on the earth in which he would be present with his people. fighting for his people as the Lord of armies in order to save his people from their enemies. And the psalmist says to us, come, come and have a vision of a future war based on past wars that will end all wars. Come and behold Jesus Christ. Emmanuel, God with us. The Lord of hosts who came fighting for his people against the world, the flesh, and the devil. Jesus fought a war to end all wars. He fought against the flesh, sin, by paying its penalty and dying to its power. He fought against the world, the rulers and authorities of the present age that rage against his church, disarming them on the cross when he died. He fought against the devil, resisting him in the wilderness, in the garden, on the cross, and then he crushed him in the head when he rose from the dead. Jesus' whole life, if you think about it, was one long war. We might call it the long war against the world, the flesh, and the devil. And because he fought that war, one day, all wars will cease. crown him the Lord of peace, whose power a scepter sways from pole to pole, that wars may cease and all be prayer and praise. That day is coming because Jesus fought a war. For now, we live between the now and the not yet. Perhaps we can think of it like the time in World War II between D-Day and V-Day. On D-Day, June 6th, 1944, the Allies invaded northern France. They invaded the enemy territory and they attacked the enemy forces. They brought desolation to the enemy. And then nearly one year later, May 8th, 1945, the final victory was announced, and there was lasting peace brought to the world. Well, Jesus' first coming was like D-Day. It was like the day of desolation when He launched His attack against the world, the flesh, and the devil. His second coming, will be like V-Day, a day of victory, when he will return and sin will be no more, when death will be swallowed up in victory, when the devil will be thrown into the lake of fire to experience his second death. At that point, world peace will ensue. This is what the psalmist invites us to get a vision for. The Lord of armies enacting a war to end all wars. And God is so confident of the outcome that He gives us His victory speech ahead of time in verse 10. Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. This is the declaration that follows the invitation. It's actually the only time in the psalm that God speaks, and it's like his victory speech. Now, perhaps, like me, you know these words because you've seen them on a nice poster with a beautiful sunset. Maybe you've seen them at the front of a church, put up on the inside of the sanctuary, and maybe like me, you have sat there in a time of personal trouble, and you have felt God say to you, be still, be calm. Know that I am God, and I'm in control of everything that's bothering you. If that has been your experience like mine, then God bless you and God bless me, but that's not what the verse means. Be still is better translated stop. Stop it. and know that I am God." These words come not in the quietness of tranquility, but in the noise of hostility. God says to anything and anyone that troubles His church, that threatens the city of God, God says to them, stop it. Stop fighting. Stop disturbing. Put your weapons down. Because in the death and resurrection of my son, I have brought a desolation on the earth that will cause all wars to cease to the ends of the earth. So stop it and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in all the earth. Psalm 4610 does not belong on the inside of a church sanctuary. It belongs in the outside on the church steeple. Because it is a declaration to the world that fighting God and His people is utterly futile. Stop it, God says to the world. I am going to be exalted among the nations. I am going to be exalted in the earth. In this respect, we could imagine the words on the outside of a church steeple functioning as an invitation to come and join the church. It's an invitation to stop the hostilities, to put down the weapons, to repent and come and join the church. Because one way that God destroys his enemies is by making them his friends. Didn't he do it for you? So let me ask you this morning, are you a friend of God and his church, or are you an enemy? If you are an enemy, then hear his message to you this morning. Stop and know that I am God. And if you are His friend, if you are a part of His church, then be assured of this great truth, that God will be our very present, very timely help to the end, because He has mapped it all out. The psalmist reassures us of this with a final comment in verse 11. He's pointed us to the past in verses eight to nine. He points us to the future in verse 10. And then he brings us back to the present in verse 11. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. I began this sermon by speaking about Martin Luther. So let me end with Luther. when Martin Luther would feel discouraged at the advance of the kingdom of Satan and crouching on the kingdom of God, when he would feel the church under attack by the devil. Luther is reported to have said to his friend, Philip Melanchthon, come, let us sing the 46th Psalm and let them do their worst. Why did Luther turn to Psalm 46 in the midst of church troubles? Because he knew that God is a mighty fortress, a bulwark never failing. So 10th Presbyterian Church, when we feel overwhelmed by the troubles within, without, from above, from the prince of the air, come. Let us sing the 46th Psalm. Let's pray. Father, in the midst of our church troubles, would you please remind us that you are indeed the Lord of hosts who is with us and the fortress who is for us. And so may we find our help in you, our refuge and our strength. And we ask this in Jesus' strong name. Amen.