The Hymns: A Mighty Fortress Is Our God: Psalm 46 Sunday Evening, Aug. 24, 2008

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1 Note: This is the sermon manuscript that Ben carried into the pulpit. Feel free to use it in any way to advance the kingdom of God. The Hymns: A Mighty Fortress Is Our God: Psalm 46 Sunday Evening, Aug. 24, 2008 Please open your Bibles to Psalm 46. Read the Scripture. If you live in Jackson, TN, you know how important it is to have a safe place to go in times of storm. Every time the tornado activity begins, the weather man comes across the television and pleads with people. If you live in a mobile home, please seek shelter now. Do not wait another minute. Go and find a safe place. Everyone needs a safe place to run in perilous times. In a storm, you need to seek shelter and that shelter needs to be strong. That s what this psalm is about. That is what this hymn is about: the mighty fortress that is found in God. Every preacher has certain catch phrases and illustrations that seem to stick and if there is one image that Dr. Jett is famous for, it is the analogy he often used in this pulpit about storms. For those of you who are long time members, you know what I m talking about. When he was preaching, Dr. Jett always used to say that there are three types of people. There are those who are going into a storm. There are those that are in the midst of a storm. And there are those that are coming out of a storm. And that will always stick with me because it is true. Life is full of problems. It has been said that the only people without problems are in cemeteries. I would argue that most of those people have bigger problems now than when they walked the earth. But it is true: if you are alive and breathing, you are likely dealing with some kind of stress and problem. If not, you will be soon. This is why the parable of the two builders has always been so memorable for people. Jesus told the story about the man who built his house upon the sand and the rains came down and the floods came up and the house on the sand went splat. But there was another man that built his house on a rock. The rains came down, the floods came up, and the house on the rock stood firm. It was like a mighty fortress. The point of the parable is simple: the rains are going to come down on your life. Problems, struggles, stress, unexpected tragedy these things will happen, and the jury is out will your shelter stand? You need to seek shelter, and that shelter needs to be strong. God is that shelter. Let me read this Psalm to you. This Psalm inspired the pen of Martin Luther. Read Psalm 46. 1

2 There are several truths in this Psalm that I want to pull out for you. All of these truths have a common theme. They support the idea that God is A Mighty Fortress. Why is He A Mighty Fortress? (Psalm 46) 1. He can be trusted in the worst imaginable crisis. (vv.1-3) Look at the first few verses In the ancient world, the mountains symbolized the pillars of the earth. They were the strength of the earth. They held it up over the chaotic waters. The mountains are like the foundation of all that we see. And what the psalmist does here is paint a picture of the whole world falling apart. The foundation is sliding into the sea. Life is crumbling. It is like Samson, pushing over the central pillars of the temple, and bringing the whole place down. Sometimes in life it seems that way. The things we put the most faith in fall apart and the whole earth seems to be giving way. The mountains are falling into the sea. The waters are foaming and roaring around us, and it creates a great fear in our hearts. All that we have trusted in is unstable. Years ago, I worked at a summer camp in Branson, MO, and I was a camp counselor. One of the kids in cabin was a little boy named Aaron Aaron Stewart. Aaron was fun-loving, active, blond-haired comedian and his dad was famous. His dad s name was Payne Stewart one of the great golfers of our time. A few months after Aaron left the camp, I was sitting in a front of a television one day when the headline hit: Payne Stewart tragically killed in a plane crash. And the first thought that came to my mind was, This young man s world has just crumbled. All summer long, we had snapped each other with towels and we had ridden in canoes and we laughed in our bunk beds and all the while, a storm was brewing ahead for this little guy. Nobody saw it coming. And you are not immune from the same type of catastrophe. This world is unsafe and unstable. The things we put our hope can disappear in a snap. But I want you to notice v.1. It says that God is an ever-present help in times of trouble. That means he is always available. He is always on call. He is always waiting for you to run under his wings. A rabbit chased by a fox scurries into his hole. A fox chased by the hounds hastens to his den. An antelope pursued by a lion searches for a body of water to leap into. Everyone needs a place to go in times of trouble. And there is coming a time, when you will need to run into a safe place, and that place is in the fortess of Almighty God. You can trust Him in the worst of times. He is an ever-present help. When I see that phrase ever-present help, I think about the prophet Elijah. In 1 Kings 18, he confronts the prophets of Baal. He proposes a duel. They call on their gods. He calls on his God, and the one that responds quickly with fire, He is the one and only true God. 2

3 You remember what happened. The prophets of Baal call out to their god and he is nowhere to be found. Elijah speaks up with sarcasm and says, "Shout louder!" "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened." But their god was not present. And hours later, Elijah steps up to the plate and He calls upon His Almighty God and the Lord was ever-present. The Lord was there when He needed Him. And the Lord will always be there for you. He will be there when you need Him. Just be still and know that he is God. I know that I provide strength and stability for my wife. I am there for her when she needs me. She knows that she can run to me and interrupt me any time that she wants. But, I don t want her to make me the God of her life because guess what? I can t promise that I will be her strength tomorrow. The Lord may call me home tonight. She needs a strength that goes far beyond a mortal man. She can t build her life solely upon me. She needs a more firm foundation. She needs a better fortress. A Practical Note So how do we make God our fortress? How do we make Him our strength so that we are prepared for the day when the mountain slides into the sea? In his book, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Don Whitney shares a quote from a pastor concerning the importance of our time with the Lord. One pastor says this: Unless I m badly mistaken, one of the main reasons so many of God s children don t have a significant prayer life is not so much that we don t want to, but that we don t plan to. If you want to take a four-week vacation, you don t just get up one summer morning and say, Hey, let s go today! You won t have anything ready. You won t know where to go. Nothing has been planned. But that is how many of us treat prayer. We get up day after day and realize that significant times of prayer should be a part of our life, but nothing s ever ready. We don t know where to go. Nothing has been planned. No time. No place. No procedure. And we all know that the opposite of planning is not a wonderful flow of deep, spontaneous experience in prayer. The opposite of planning is the rut. If you don t plan a vacation you will probably stay home and watch TV. The natural, unplanned flow of spiritual life sinks to the lowest ebb of vitality --from Spiritual Disciplines For The Christian Life, Donald S. Whitney I want to encourage you with that tonight. If God is not fortress, that is not going to happen by accident. It takes intentional effort on your part to develop a close relationship with the Lord. Maybe you are here tonight and you know that your spiritual life is dry. Here is what I want to challenge you to do. Wage a 30-day war on mediocrity. 30 days. In that time, develop a daily plan for bible reading and prayer. If you need some ideas, talk to me afterwards for personal 3

4 bible study. Set a time every day that you are going to read the word, meditate on its meaning, and pray for personal renewal. Plan to do that for one month and see how the Lord blesses. Maybe you want to commit to doing something for the rest of this year, or for longer. I leave that up to you, but I encourage you, plan time with the Lord so that he will become your Rock and fortress and then protect that time fiercely. As the old saying goes, When you fail to plan, you plan to fail and this is one area that you cannot afford to fail. Start building your house on the Rock. Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. 2. Only He can keep you safe. (vv.4-7) Look at these verses This is poetic language that emphasizes God s protecting hand over his city. This is one of those passages that has two shades of meaning. The first is the earthly city of Jerusalem. When this Psalm was written, there was probably some great intervention of God to destroy enemy armies that were marching against Jerusalem. In this time of danger those who resided in Jerusalem were secure, because God was in their midst. He was with them. In this setting the river of verse 4 is the stream of Siloam, the only natural supply of fresh water in Jerusalem. The holy place is the temple mount. Thus, with great poetic beauty, right against the picture of chaos in verses 2 3 with mountains falling into the seas, the picture comes shining through of the perfect peace and safety of Jerusalem in verse 4. The people were safe not because they have 100,000 chariots, or advanced weaponry but because they had God on their side. He was on His throne and He would defend them. So, one shade of meaning for these verses is that of the earthly city of Jerusalem. The people are under attack, but they know that they are safe. Yet no one can read this psalm without sensing that this earthly reference fails to exhaust its meaning. This is because the city of God, the theme of verses 4 6, is also a major theme of the whole of Scripture. The City of God has its culmination in the new spiritual Jerusalem, a symbol of heaven, which has been prepared by God as the final safe place for the saints. This is the city for which Abraham looked, not a mere earthly Jerusalem but the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God (Heb. 11:10). And this is the city that we should put our hope in. It is the place where we will be safe, once and for all, from death and sin and pain. Our ultimate security does not rest in this world, but in the next one. In Bible times, the great fear of a city in time of war was that the water supply would be cut off during a siege. Foreign armies would wrap around the wall of the city. They would not try to climb the wall or beat down the doors. They would find an arrow in their chest if they tried that. Instead, they would stop up the water and wait. Once water was cut off, it wouldn t take long for a white flag to be flown. The city could not hold out against the attacks of the enemy. So, water was the lifeline and the hope. 4

5 Now, I want you to notice that in this city of God there is a river that brings joy and gladness. Now look with me in Rev. 22. This is a picture of heaven, our final resting place. It is a still shot of the City of God. Look what it says: Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. Rev. 22:1 What is that a picture of? It is a picture of safety and tranquility and eternal life. No one can siege that city. No one can cut off the water supple. Once we get there, we shall live in perfect peace. That will be life as God intended it. This is why we should be careful, as a church, how invested we become in social issues. I am all for improving our society and making the world a better place. We work with the homeless through the Room in the Inn Ministry, but giving a man a place to lay his head is only a temporary fix. What he truly needs is a reservation in the City of God. Providing a cup of water to a beggar is important, but what he really needs is to meet the Savior of the World so that they will never thirst again. People are only safe and secure when they have God on their side. God is a Mighty Fortress...how? 3. He has the future under control. (vv.8-10) The main thrust of these verses is simple: God is over the nations. He controls the affairs of the universe. When world peace is nowhere to be found, God can still be trusted. When wars are breaking out and desolations take place, God can still be trusted. He will impose peace and He will shatter the weapons of war. In the prophecy of Isaiah, we find a promise concerning the future for God s people. There will be peace. This is what it says They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Is. 2:4 That day is coming, says the Lord. He will turn weapons into agricultural tools. Why? Because there is no need for weapons when evil is exterminated from the earth. No need for bows, or spears, or shields. War is over. So what does v.10 mean? Be still and know that I am God? For years, I have always assumed that this verse was a challenge to turn off the tv, the computer, the cell phone, and slow down to pray. That is certainly a right thing to do, but that is not what this verse is saying. So what is it saying? Let me share with you a few lines from a great biblical scholar, James Montgomery Boice, 5

6 In this setting, be still, and know that I am God is not advice to us to lead a contemplative life, however important that may be It means rather, Lay down your arms. Surrender, and acknowledge that I am the one and only victorious God. Of course, the time to do this is now, while a desirable peace can be yours through the work of Jesus on the cross. If you will not surrender now, you will do so one day in spite of yourself, though it will be for judgment rather than blessing. This is because God is God, and in the end it will be his power and holiness that are exalted. No one can hope to resist him. Be still and know that I am God means, Stop running from the King. Come and see His Works. He will be exalted in the nations and on the earth. He will be exalted by you. And so, what is this? It is a salvation plea. Martin Luther was in a desperate place when he wrote this song. He was unsure what the future had in store. Like David, men wanted to take his life and steal his joy. It seemed like the mountains were crashing into the sea. So, he took a pen, and wrote the words to this song. These words were based on Psalm 46 and they were intended to stir up a great confidence in God. A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing; Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing: For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe; His craft and pow r are great, and, armed with cruel hate, On earth is not his equal. Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing, Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God s own choosing: Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He; Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same, And He must win the battle. And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us; The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him; His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure, One little word shall fell him. That word above all earthly pow rs, no thanks to them, abideth; The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth; Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also; The body they may kill: God s truth abideth still, His kingdom is forever. 6

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