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Hello, welcome back to Coffee with a Calvinist. This is a daily conversation about scripture, culture, and media from a Reformed perspective. Get your Bible and coffee ready and prepare to engage today's topic.
Here's your host, Pastor Keith Foskey.
Welcome back to Coffee with a Calvinist, I'm Keith Foskey and I am a Calvinist. As most of our listeners know, along with being the host of this program, I am also the pastor of Sovereign Grace Family Church of Jacksonville, Florida.
On today's program, I'm going to feature a portion of a recent sermon from SGFC. If this portion of the sermon is of interest to you, and you decide you'd like to hear the full message or others like it, please go to our website and you will find a library of over 1 ,000 sermons on a variety of topics.
These include messages from me, our other elders, and from special guests who have visited our church over the years. Now, without further delay, here is a clip from a recent message. I hope you enjoy.
And today as we come to the 46th Psalm, we find ourselves in one that can draw great emotion and I hope that it does. I don't preach for the purpose of emotion, but I do hope that this passage will draw from us a sense of urgency in regard to how we feel about God's presence.
Because this Psalm is about the presence of God. And do we, as a church, believe God is still here? Or do we believe that God has left us? Do we believe God is still here? Or do we feel like the Spirit has departed?
In the Old Testament, there was a time where the Ark of the Covenant was stolen from the people of God. And as a result, a woman gave birth prematurely. And when she gave birth, she named the child Ichabod.
The word Ichabod is from the Hebrew word kabod, which means glory. Ichabod is the opposite of that. She named her child no glory because the glory had departed Israel. The Ark had been stolen. You imagine that you name your child after that, that you name your kid Ichabod because on the day he was born, it was the day that the Ark, the presence of God had left.
The Psalm that we're going to look at today reminds us that God is still with us. Some Psalms are connected to specific acts of history. If you're familiar with Psalm 51, you know that because in Psalm 51, it actually says this Psalm was written because Nathan the prophet came to David when David had stolen the wife of Uriah.
Remember that? And it tells us that Psalm 51 is the prayer of David, a prayer of repentance. So we know the historical context of Psalm 51 because it tells us that. But Psalm 46, our Psalm for today, does not give us a historical account to tie it to.
However, tradition and history does tie this text to a historical account. And I want to share that historical account with you because I honestly, this week, as I was learning more about what happened in this historical account, I was overwhelmed by what God did.
I was telling Jennifer, we were talking about it yesterday as we were driving, I was telling her the story of what happened. You see, in 722, the Assyrian army decimated the northern kingdom of Israel.
And in 701, 21 years later, remember that the dates go backwards as you go forward in time before Christ. So 722, the northern kingdoms are destroyed. In 701, 21 years later, King Sennacherib of the Assyrians wanted to lay siege to the city of Jerusalem.
And as he was preparing his armies to breach the city walls of Jerusalem, King Hezekiah offered him money in exchange for safety. And if you read the story, these passages, this is in 2 Kings 18 and 19 and Isaiah 36 and 37.
So if you want to write those down to read later, you can read the whole account for.
Yourself.
But in 2 Kings 18 and 19, we have the narrative. And then in Isaiah 36 and 37, we have Isaiah's version of the narrative, but it's the same.
Story.
And what happens is, as Sennacherib is outside the city walls, Hezekiah tries to say, I'll give you money. He even took gold off of the temple and tried to offer it as a way to save his people. But Sennacherib would not be bought.
He wanted Jerusalem as his prize. So Hezekiah went to Isaiah the prophet, and Isaiah the prophet said, Jerusalem will not fall to Sennacherib. Jerusalem will not fall. I do want you to see this. Turn to 2 Kings.
I'm just going to read a few verses, but I want you to see what happens. 2 Kings chapter 19 and verse 32. I'll give you a second to get there. I know that one might take a minute. 2 Kings 19, 32. Therefore, thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, he shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there or come before it with a shield or cast up a sledge or a siege mound against it.
By the way that he came, by the same he shall return. And he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord. For I will defend this city to save it for my own sake and for the sake of my servant.
David.
So this is the words of the prophet. He will not come in here. He will go back the way he came. He will not even shoot an arrow. He will not lay siege to this city. Now look at verse 35. And that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185 ,000 in the camp of the Assyrians.
And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all the dead bodies. Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh. And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch, his God, Adrammelech and Sherezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat.
And Esarhaddon, his son, reigned in his place. What's interesting is there's a historical piece of ancient artifact from the time of Sennacherib which writes of his victories, of the victories of Sennacherib.
And the one that it does not say that he was the victor over, the one that he did not plunder.
And loot, was Jerusalem.
Now it doesn't say he lost 185 ,000 soldiers because they're not going to put that part in it. But this is how it happened, y 'all. As the enemy of God stood outside the camp and they taunted, and if you read the stories, go home and read those passages.
As you read the stories, they taunt them, your God cannot save you. Your God cannot do this. Hezekiah is lying to you because Hezekiah, he took his clothes and tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his head and he prayed to God for safety and they said, he is a liar.
Hezekiah is a liar. Your God cannot save you. And that very night, as the angel of destruction had brought death to all the firstborn in Egypt, the same angel of God passed through the camp of the Assyrians and killed 185 ,000 soldiers in one night to save the people of God from their enemies.
Beloved, I believe that's the moment, that moment of deliverance, I believe that's the heart of this psalm. Now, I will say this, it might not be, because the psalm doesn't say that, but there is internal and external evidence that suggests that these events are tied together in history.
But here's the thing about this particular psalm, Psalm 46 is not just about Sennacherib and Hezekiah. Psalm 46 is a promise for all God's people of all time. And I have a feeling that may be why it's not connected to only one historical event, but that every time God has been the refuge, every time God has brought safety to His people, every time God has stood up and been their defense, they can look to this psalm and say, God is our refuge, a very present help in times of trouble.
I hope you enjoyed that short sermon clip from Sovereign Grace Family Church. Again, if you're interested in hearing more or you would like more information about SGFC, please go to our website at sgfcjax .org, that's Sovereign Grace Family Church of Jacksonville.
And if you're in the Jacksonville area, please come visit us on an upcoming Lord's Day. Thank you for listening today to Coffee with a Calvinist. I'm Keith Foskey and I have been your Calvinist. May God bless you.
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As you go about your day, remember this, Jesus Christ came to save sinners. All who come to Him in repentance and faith will find Him to be a perfect Savior. He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him.
May God be with you.