FBC Morning Light – May 6, 2022

Psalm 46 as Comfort for Grief and Trouble

Well, a good Friday morning to you. I hope you're looking forward to the weekend, to this coming Lord's Day. Of course, this Sunday is Mother's Day, and we like to honor the moms who are with us on Mother's Day at church.

We're looking forward to doing that. That's not going to be the focus of the day, though. The focus of the Lord's Day is the Lord, and so we turn our attention to his word and we worship him and we praise and exalt him.

We'll recognize mothers, but we'll honor and worship our Lord. So, if you can make it this coming Sunday, I encourage you to do so at 10 .30 for the morning service. 9 .30 we have a Bible study time, a Sunday school hour for all ages, really, and in this adult Sunday school time we've been focusing on the whole subject of the Lord's Day.

I have a video teacher that's teaching us about that. So, I encourage you to join us at 9 .30. Then we have an evening service at 6 o 'clock. Again, I encourage you to be back for the 6 o 'clock service Sunday evening and be in the gospel of Mark.

So, I encourage you to join us for this special time together this coming Lord's Day. Today, I want to turn to Psalm 46. This is one of my favorite psalms, and I use it a lot when people are especially in distress.

I found myself turning to this psalm a lot of times when I'm hoping the Lord will give some comfort to a grieving widow or widower, a loved one is near death or has just passed away, and particularly because the psalm begins with this verse, God is our refuge and strength.

A very present help in trouble or an abundantly available help in trouble. I like the psalm because it begins with a statement of fact. It's a good psalm to turn to when we're grieving, when we're distressed, because it confronts us with a fact that we need to hear, a truth that we need to hear.

This is objectively true, that God is our refuge and strength. He is an abundantly available help in trouble. The question is, it's an objective truth. It is true, but is it a subjective truth? In other words, do I find God to be the refuge and strength and abundantly available help in my trouble?

The reality is that he is who he is. If you're a child of God, he is your refuge and help. He is your strength. He is. But, do you experience that? You say, how do I experience that? A couple things come out in this psalm.

The Lord's Presence in Suffering

One of them is to acknowledge again the presence of the Lord, that he is with you in this. Verse 7 and verse 11, right in the middle of the psalm and at the end of the psalm, the psalmist says, the Lord of hosts is with us.

The God of Jacob is our refuge. He says the same thing twice in this psalm. He's emphasizing the presence of the Lord. So, when you're going through that difficult time, a time of grief or heartache, when you're going through that time, realize you're not going through it alone.

The Lord is present with you. Another thing that the psalmist brings out is this exhortation to be still, be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted, he says, among the heathens, the nations.

I will be exalted in the earth. Know, be still, and know that I am God. Here you are, you're tossed and you're trembling and you're upset and you're grieving and you're in deep turmoil. Be still and know that your God is God.

Know who he is, he who is present with you. Know who he is. He says, I am God. Be still and know that I am God. I'm not just a friend to come alongside you that can't really do anything about anything.

I'm not just a good luck charm. I'm God, the God who made the universe, the God who made all things. I am with you. Be still and know that I am God. When we go there in our affliction, in our trials, in our troubles, in our griefs, when we go there, we go to this truth that God is with me, God of Jacob is with me, when I quiet my mind and my heart and bring stillness to my soul in the knowledge and the awareness that the one who is with me is the God of the universe, then, then, as the psalmist goes on in verse 2 to say, therefore, we will not fear.

Even though the earth be removed and the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though its waters roar and be troubled, though its mountains shake with its swelling, we will not fear. Why? Because God, who is with me, is my refuge and strength.

He is a very present, available help in this trouble. Therefore, I will not fear. I will not fear. The psalmist talks about, in a very practical way, some things that are connected to being a political leader in Israel, a king or whatever, who has to fight battles and face enemies and so forth.

So he says in verse 8 and 9, he says, Come behold the works of the Lord who has made desolations in the earth. He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two.

He burns the chariot in the fire. What is the enemy that is assaulting your soul? The Lord who is your strength and your refuge, he makes those wars to cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow, cuts the spear in two, burns the chariot in the fire.

Be still, be still, and know that he is God, and he who is God is with you. He is your refuge and strength and abundantly available help in your time of trouble. Go to him, look to him, plead to him, count on him, and go to this psalm.

Refer to it often. Memorize it. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Be still and know that I am God. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. May he be yours today.

Our Father and our God, we pray that we would experience this objective truth that you are our refuge and strength. May we find in you the abundantly available help that we need in our troubles. This we pray in Jesus' name and for his sake.

Amen. You have a wonderful weekend, and I trust if you can make it out to the Lord's house on Sunday, we'll see you. We'll see you with us on the Lord's Day. Have a good day, and God bless.