PSALM 46
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; He lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
8 Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations He has brought on the earth.9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; He burns the shields with fire.10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Psalm 46 HOW CAN PEACE BEGIN WITH KNOWING GOD?
Springford Baptist Church: November 5, 2023.
We continue to pray for peace in our world that is ravaged by war. Again, this Remembrance Day 2023, we remember and are grateful for those who have served in war times, longing to see peace established and maintained.
Our current world scene reminds us that peace is so very fragile. People are demonstrating and protesting the horrific loss of life and suffering being brought about by the War on Gaza. The war in The Ukraine is not getting much coverage in the news these days, but the anguish of war and the longing for peace continues in the hearts of the people of The Ukraine and those who care about the people of The Ukraine.
Again and again we are reminded of the mess of our world because of the multiple sins of greed and selfishness and hate and revenge and thrusting for power.
Today, we can affirm the truth that God really is our only hope for peace. This Psalm 46 returns our gaze to God and what God has to offer each of us and our deeply troubled world.
We ask the question then in reflecting together on Psalm 46, “HOW DOES PEACE BEGIN WITH KNOWING GOD”?
At the very outset of this Psalm, there is recognition of God being available to be “our refuge and strength.”
Recognize with me today how much we need God to be our “refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” (vs. 1)
God is the One we turn to when our world is in distress and when we feel like there is little that we can do.
I think here of a young child who is really frightened of the dark and calls out. “MOM”! or “DAD”!
That child knows the one who is able to protect and keep safe.
We as God’s children, know God as the One we can turn to in the darkness, in any and every situation.
If I were to ask any of you to list the things over which you feel you have no control, the list would for most of us be quite long.
We bring to God all the things that we cannot control or change and we look for peace in knowing God as our refuge and strength.
God provides strength to face what we must face.
We look to God to be our ever-present help!
Like a child, we call out “GOD”! and God is with us.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give wayand the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,3 though its waters roar and foamand the mountains quake with their surging. (Psalm 46;2,3)
The description here is of not giving in to fear even with a catastrophic falling apart of the world. We too can look to God
when our own personal world may seem to be falling apart.
I was talking with some of my residents at The Meadows Long Term Care this week about their fears. These individuals who have lived long lives listed: being alone, illness, getting old, not having control over their lives, and death.
We then talked about being able to bring our fears to God because God promises to be with us in all our fears. Recall Psalm 23, “I will fear no evil for Thou art with me”.
The possibility for peace begins with knowing the reality of God and His constant Presence with us.
Listen to these next verses from Psalm 46.
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,the holy place where the Most High dwells.5 God is within her, she will not fall;God will help her at break of day.6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;He lifts his voice, the earth melts.
Certainly we witness this present day reality that “nations are in uproar.”
Still God is God and this is where the hope for peace and the possibility of peace lies.
Hear this, “He lifts His voice, the earth melts.” (vs. 6)
We can think of Jesus, God’s Son lifting His voice and calming the surging storm when he and His disciples were in a boat on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus said, “Peace. Be still” (Mark 4:39) and there was peace. Even the winds and sea obeyed Him.
Because peace does begin with knowing God and what God can do, God can speak the words that will establish peace. This is what we pray for and long for Him to do.
I know that there are various desperate human negotiations looking to maneuver peace, but ultimately it is God who will speak with authority and “make wars cease to the ends of the earth.”
God has the power to “break the bow and shatter the spear”.
God has the power to silence the guns and destroy the missiles and to disable the bombs and land mines.
God has the power to transform hate to love. We cannot imagine love between Israelis and Palestinians. The whole long lasting pattern has been a pattern of hate. Only God can change this.
When we cannot bear to watch the news and to see the graphic evidence of what hatred brings about, we can choose to , “Be still and to know that God is God.”
This is not denying the atrocities. This is very realistically turning to God and asking Him to be the possibility for peace. Peace does begin with knowing God for who He is.
Jesus demonstrated this overcoming of the power of sin and evil when He went to the cross for us and did establish our peace with God forever.
We will remember this together this morning as we come to The Lord’s Table.
This is a place to be still and know that God is God.
This is a place to remember Jesus who died to bring us eternal peace.
“The Lord Almighty is with us.” (Psalm 46:11)