WINNING OR WHINING?
Psalm 46:1-11
INTRODUCTION: In 7-1 B C, the nation of Judah was a small insignificant nation. Assyria was the nation that was conquering the known world of its day. Sennacherib was the conquering king of Assyria and he was told by his intelligence unit that a man named Hezekiah was the king of Judah. Sennacherib was told that Hezekiah was a religious man who had come to the throne at a very young age and had set his heart on seeking after his God, Jehovah. Hezekiah had destroyed all the idols that the people of his nation had worshipped and repaired the temple of his God: 2 Kings 18:1-8. Sennacherib tried to get the people of Judah to turn against Hezekiah: 2 Kings 18:28-32. However there were also two very godly prophets in Judah at the time and they spoke from God to Hezekiah to encourage his faith: 2 Kings 19:1-7; 2 Kings 19:10-19. Hezekiah left it all in the Lord’s hands and simply waited on the Lord: 2 Kings 19:35-37. Psalm 46 was a song of praise to the God of Judah for the great victory He gave to the nation of Judah.
I. WHEN TROUBLE COMES TURN TO GOD!
Psalm 46 divides into three sections each one punctuated by the word “Selah”. The first section tells us that God is our hiding place: Psalm 46:1. The word “refuge here means a quiet place to go to for protection. We need to learn from Hezekiah that when trouble comes we can take our troubles right into the very presence of our God. The Old Testament teaches this truth in many places: Deuteronomy 33:27; Psalm 91:2; Psalm 18:2. We must learn to turn our troubles over to the Lord first, not after we have tried everything else.
II. OUR GOD IS AN ACCESSIBLE REFUGE!
Trouble—that’s a word that we don’t need an introduction to: Job 5:7. The word trouble means “tight places.” Every one of us have been in some very tight places. In those tight places God is: Psalm 46:1 “an ever-present help in trouble.” God told Moses when he came into a tight place: Exodus 33:12-14. Our God is not only accessible but He will always be with us: Psalm 46:2-3. Yes, our world is ancient but our God is ageless. No problem we will ever face is beyond our God’s ability: Jeremiah 32:27. Our Lord has promised to meet all our needs: Philippians 4:19; John 14:13-14; John 7:37-39. Our Lord was with the children of Israel and said: Psalm 46:4-7. The nation of Israel was outnumbered and out armored but God was with them! When God is with us we have nothing to fear: Daniel 3:24-29. Just as God was with these three young Jews, God with us is more than enough for any problem we will ever face: Hebrews 13:5-6.
III. IN OUR TIGHT PLACES WE MUST TURN TO OUR LORD!
We must learn to go into our times of trouble looking to our Lord: Psalm 46:7-9. We also must remember what our God has told us: Psalm 46:10-11. We also must learn to be still and wait upon our God for His deliverance: Isaiah 40:28-31. When we seek safety from our Lord our silence is our friend: it hides us from the enemy and allows us to listen to our God and regain our strength. Two times in this Psalm it is stressed “The Lord of Host is with us!” Just one angel of the Lord destroyed 185,000 Assyrians. The word “Immanuel” l means “God with us! Matthew 1:20-23: Yes we are truly more than conquerors through our Lord Jesus Christ, no matter what our tight place may be! Romans 8:37-39.