First Baptist Church Litchfield
August 10, 2025

      • 1 Chronicles 29:11ESV

  • O Worship The King
  • Glory To His Name
  • Hymn Of Heaven

      • 2 Corinthians 3:18ESV

  • Shine Jesus Shine
  • Give Me Jesus

  • Unbelieving Fear

    Psalm 46 was the psalm that inspired Martin Luther to write A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. It’s a song of unshakable confidence when everything else gives way. Matthew 11 is Jesus’ personal invitation to rest: “Come to me… and I will give you rest.” These are not separate ideas — Psalm 46 describes the kind of life Jesus offers to weary, burdened souls.
    We live in a world that trembles — politically, economically, morally, even personally. Psalm 46 describes a world filled with chaos, strife, and fear. It’s the same world you and I wake up to every day. Natural disasters rattle the earth — wildfires sweeping the West, dangerous storms tearing across the South. Political turmoil rises — from unjust laws to reckless economic policies that divide communities and deepen poverty. Wicked rulers seem to thrive while the righteous suffer.
    And what is our default response to such chaos? Unbelieving fear.
    Unbelieving fear wears many masks — frustration, anger, exhaustion, bitterness, worry, and despair. Fear doesn’t just stalk unbelievers. It can thrive in the hearts of those who have been rescued from the greatest danger of all — those who know Jesus died for them, rose again, removed the wrath of God, gave His Spirit, and promised eternal life. When we fear, our tendency is to grab for something that feels solid: a job, a relationship, a leader, a bank account. But all these things can shake. Only one refuge remains unshaken: God Himself.

    But here’s the problem: Fear shrinks God in our eyes.

    Fear Shrinks God’s Power and Goodness

    Fear whispers unbelief into your soul. It says: “God is not who He says He is… He’s not as good as He says He is… and He won’t do what He says He will do.”
    Let me show you what that looks like from Scripture.

    Example 1: The Red Sea Crossing

    God successfully led his people out of Egypt to the Red Sea. Pharaoh changes his mind about letting the Hebrew people go. He rallies his chariots and pursue them to the coast. God intervenes on behalf of his people with a pillar of cloud as a barrier between Israel and Egypt. After seeing God miraculously deliver pounding Egypt with ten plagues they prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that Yahweh is the one true God who destroys all of Egypts false gods, that the people of Israel would rest in God’s power and provision, even when they faced chaos and uncertainty. That is not the case. The word of God says,
    “10 When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. 11 They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”” Exodus 14:10–12
    The people of Israel greatly feared their circumstances more than God who ordained their circumstances. It was God who hardened Pharaoh’s heart to pursue Israel because it was God who was going to judge Pharaoh and secure Israel’s deliverance once for and for all. Instead of resting in God’s power and goodness to deliver them, they strived to deliver themselves. That is the epitome of working for your rest not from your rest. Israel, working for their rest, meant going back into slavery; “leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians…for it would be better to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” They thought yoking themselves to slavery in Egypt was better than trusting the Lord in the wilderness.

    That’s what unbelieving fear does — it convinces you that bondage is better than faith.

    Example 2: The Promised Land (Numbers 13)

    God tells Moses to send out 12 spies to scout the land of Canaan that he was going to give to Israel. All the men were leaders in their ancestral tribe. After forty days of scouting the land, the men returned and gave a report to Moses, Aaron, and the entire Israel community.
    “27 And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.” Numbers 13:27
    Everything God had promised is true. They verified God’s promises with the fruit of the land. But then unbelieving fear raises its head and says,
    “28 However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large.” Numbers 13:28
    Caleb says, regardless, let’s take the land (Numbers 13:30). Then the other men respond to Caleb,
    “31“We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” 32 So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. 33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”” Numbers 13:31–33
    How does fear rooted in doubt that diminishes God’s power and goodness react?
    “1 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” Numbers 14:1–4
    Unbelieving fear’s message, which belittled God's power, discouraged the people from entering the Promised Land where they could fully experience his rest. God had promised them the land, and their only task was to cross the Jordan River to claim it. If they had trusted in God as their refuge, they would have recalled his mighty works and promises, and God would have given them the strength and support needed to step out in faith. 

    Fear turned them away from God’s rest — a rest that was only one river crossing away.

    They nearly experienced a unique closeness to God, unlike any other on earth. However, their fear lied to them. It belittled God's power and goodness, making slavery in Egypt seem secure and the giants in Canaan appear divine. Consequently, they lost the joy of truly knowing God in the Promised Land. The regret from God's discipline brought them immense sorrow. When Moses announced that this generation would not enter God's rest, they mourned deeply (Numbers 14:39). This serves as a warning to us all.
    Those who refuse to make God their rest will fall prey to ruin; those who faithlessly abandon God, and choose to find refuge in the idols of this world, rather that His love, fall prey to destruction.

    God is your refuge (Psalm 46:1,11)

    Psalm 46:1 “1 God is our refuge…” He further describes His refuge as an impenetrable fortress in verse 11. Martin Luther understood this when he wrote A Mighty Fortress Is Our God during the chaos of the Reformation. He called God a “bulwark never failing” — a strong wall that holds against the storm.
    God’s refuge is a place of strength because He is able to protect and save you. Its the kind of strength you rejoice in because it always prevails to bring peace (Psalm 21:1; 29:11). The word for ever present help conveys the idea that God’s help is always accessible to you and can be found when you need it. Notice how the Psalmist does not say God gives refuge. He says he is the refuge. The Old Testament jews looked for refuge in a place. We look for refuge in a person, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He is our refuge and rest.
    When a tornado approaches, people run to a storm shelter. The wind may roar, the trees may break, but inside the reinforced walls, you are safe. The shelter doesn’t stop the storm from raging outside, but it keeps you from being destroyed. In the same way, God’s presence doesn’t always remove the trial, but it keeps the trial from removing you. Jesus says to build your house, build your refuge, upon the rock so that when the waves come, it will not be destroyed. Jesus is the rock and the refuge upon you find shelter.
    What’s your “shelter” when fear hits? Where do you instinctively run? If it’s not Christ, it is not a refuge. Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Fear flees where Christ is near.
    The psalmist doesn’t stop at telling us who God is — he calls us to a certain posture in His refuge.

    Do not fear-Be still and know (Psalm 46:2a,10)

    If we are going to truly rest in the refuge of God, Psalm 46 gives us two clear commands.
    First, negatively — “Do not fear.” Scripture tells us this not once or twice, but 365 times — one for every day of the year. Why? Because fear is our natural drift. Left to ourselves, we slide into it without even trying. Faith, on the other hand, is an intentional choice. Faith looks fear in the eye and says: “I will trust God to be who He says He is. I will believe He is as good as He says He is. I will rest in the certainty that He will do what He has promised. He is my refuge. He is my strength.”
    Second, positively — “Be still, and know that I am God.” That doesn’t mean passivity; it means cease striving. Stop your frantic attempts to secure yourself, to control what belongs only in the hands of God.
    Think of Israel at the Red Sea. Pharaoh’s army thundered behind them, the sea stretched out in front of them, and panic took over. They cried out to the Lord — but it was the cry of unbelief. Their fear of Pharaoh outweighed their confidence in God. They forgot the plagues. They forgot the pillar of cloud. They forgot the promise. And in that moment, their hearts traded the safety of God’s refuge for the slavery of fear. Moses has to tell them, The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent (Ex 14:14).
    Moses’ words to Israel were far stronger than a polite, “Be silent.” They were closer to, “Close your mouths and stop your complaining.” In other words — Be still.
    Being still means you cease and desist from fighting to save yourself. This is God’s fight, not yours. He doesn’t need your advice, your strategies, or your strength. He is perfectly able to accomplish His purposes without your assistance.
    But here’s the truth — we often treat God’s plan as if it were a team project, with Him doing part and us doing the rest. And when we wrestle with Him, it’s usually because we’re unwilling to release control and let Him be God.
    Sometimes the most faithful thing you can do is stop talking, stop scheming, and simply let God be God. Trust that the One who brought you to this moment is the One who will bring you through it.
    So, the Psalmist gives you two truths about God’s good and powerful sovereignty to support your posture in his refuge.

    God rules over natural calamities (Psalm 46:2b,3-4)

    The Psalmist is speaking is reaching back to Genesis one when the earth was in chaos at its very beginning. The Spirit hovered over the torrent waters. Mountains were rising forth from the sea to create a separation between land and water. God was crating stability and creational order from chaos. In Psalm 46, he is speaking of an unraveling of creational order. Everything that happened in Genesis 1 is reversing in our text. The earth is giving way and the mountains are returning the sea. The waters are returning their chaotic roaring and foaming, as when the Spirit of God hovered over them.
    I cannot help but think of the Flood in Genesis 6. Noah’s day, the world was filled with violence and corruption. God sent a flood that unmade creation — the fountains of the deep burst open, the windows of heaven poured down, and the mountains disappeared beneath the waters. The solid ground people trusted in vanished; the seas they thought were contained roared without restraint.
    Yet in the midst of that chaos, Noah and his family were safe inside the ark God commanded him to build. The same waters that destroyed the world lifted the ark and carried it to safety.
    Even when the earth seems like it is coming undone and creation erupts in chaos, God says to you, in my refuge, you still have nothing to fear. For your rest is not in an ark made of wood, but One who died on a wooden cross to be the refuge that saves you from God’s wrath and the unraveling of a world that groans from sin. Just as Noah was safe in the ark when the flood erased the world, you are safe in Christ, the One who spoke creation into being and sustains it by His power until he comes to receive his people and create a new heavens and earth (Col 1:15-23).

    God rules over political calamities (Psalm 46:8-9)

    Since the fall of Adam in the Garden of Eden, we have had sinful men rise up who want to rule the world with military might. Wicked men war with each other bringing desolation upon the earth. They bring desolation with their heavy handed rule and corrupt policies that make living in their societal make unbearable. Lot felt the burden of living in the corruption of Sodom. Peter describes Lot as “greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard (2 Peter 2:7–8).
    In the old days of coal mining, miners would bring a small canary down into the mine shaft with them. The canary’s song was not just a pleasant background tune—it was a warning system. Canaries are far more sensitive to toxic gases than humans. If poisonous fumes began to seep into the mine, the canary would stop singing, struggle, and sometimes die long before the miners felt the effects. The bird’s distress signaled that danger was present, even if the air looked clear.
    In a similar way, Lot in Sodom was like that canary in the coal mine. His spirit sensed the poison in the air long before others did. Every injustice, every shameless act of the city’s leaders, every law that celebrated evil rather than punished it—it weighed on him. He couldn’t simply “breathe the same air” as everyone else without feeling the suffocating effects of their wickedness.
    And so it is for the righteous living under wicked rulers today. A man or woman who fears the Lord will feel the moral atmosphere change. They will sense the creeping spiritual toxicity in policies, in laws, in cultural celebrations of sin. They may still live in the same city, walk the same streets, and even participate in civic life—but like the canary, their soul registers the danger long before others notice, and they bear the heavy burden of knowing what it means for their people. The hope for the righteous, as with Lot, is that God is a refuge for his people and knows “how to rescue the godly from trials.”
    In verse 8-9, the Psalmist urges you to see that, despite wicked men striving for power through violence, God governs the world. Just as God has established creational order, so he establishes a political order to the world. Daniel clearly teaches us that God is the one who changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings as he pleases (Dan 2:20-21). He tells the warriors of the world: Be stoll, stop your fgihting. The One True Warrior King has come to put an end to all wars on earth, breaking the bows, shatteirng the spears, and brining the chariots (9). His reign is eternal, exalted among the nations, and al the earth. For those who are in God’s kingdom, King Jesus, who conquered death and the powers of Satan, rules over all dominions and powers, those seen and unseen. You have no need to fear.

    Do not fear, God is with you (Psalm 46:4-5,7)

    The phrase “City of God” appears only seven times in the Old Testament, mostly in the Psalms — especially between Psalms 42 and 47. In Psalm 48, it is identified as Jerusalem, specifically Mount Zion. In the ancient world, a river meant life — it was the source of food, trade, and security. But Jerusalem had no river. Instead, God Himself was her source of life and joy.
    Psalm 46 says, “God is in the midst of her.” The river is a picture of His presence — a stream of peace flowing into His people even when the city is under siege. In the Old Testament, Jerusalem was the place where God’s presence dwelt. But now, through Christ, that presence is not bound to a building — it resides in the heart of every believer.
    Jesus says in John 7:37–38: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
    When Jesus came — lived a sinless life, died on the cross, rose from the dead, and ascended to the Father — the temple was no longer necessary. By faith in Him, your heart has become His dwelling place. The Christ who rules the nations and holds the universe together is not only with you — He is in you. He has given you His Spirit as a fountain of life, a river of living water, so that your soul can rest without anxiety about tomorrow — about what you will eat, what you will drink, or what you will wear. You cannot add a single hour to your life by worrying. Instead, Jesus says: “Seek first the kingdom of God… and your Father will take care of you.” (Matt. 6:25–33)
    In the Middle Ages, some cities were built around rivers with fortresses at their center. The river brought life; the walls brought protection. Even when the river swelled, the fortress stood unmoved. So it is with Christ — the living water within and the walls of His salvation around you. When you live within the walls of His protective presence, you can echo the psalmist: “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”
    The psalmist sums it up in Psalm 46:6: “The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts.”
    The same God who spoke the world into existence by His Word can also bring it to an end with that same Word. There is no power in heaven or on earth that can rival His. And the New Testament pulls back the curtain to reveal who that Word is.
    John tells us that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… All things were made through Him… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:1–3, 14). That Word is Jesus Christ — the One Paul describes as “the image of the invisible God… by whom all things were created… and in whom all things hold together” (Col. 1:15–20).
    Christ rules over all creation and every political kingdom for His own glory. And this same Christ is your refuge, your strength, your very present help in trouble. When He says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” He is saying, “I will be your fortress. I will be your river. I will carry your burdens. Take my yoke upon you, be still, and know that I am God.”

    What to do when your soul faces unrest…

    Memorize Psalm 46:1 “1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

    When fear strikes repeat it and pray it out loud.

    Practice “coming to Jesus” daily — Begin each morning in prayer, consciously bringing your burdens to Him. Pray Psalm 46.

    Refuse false refuges — Identify the places you run for security apart from Christ, and repent of them.

    Drink from the River — Spend time in the Word as your source of refreshment, not just news, social media, entertainment, or escape. Jesus says every believer has a river of life within them.

    “37Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” John 7:37-39
    The rest that Jesus provides is not just about getting away from your circumstances as it is about God being with you midst it all.

    Be still — Set aside at least 15 minutes a day to sit in God’s presence without an agenda, resting in His sovereignty.

    “Be still” means releasing the illusion of control. Rest in God’s good and powerful sovereignty. Rest in Jesus’ final victory now, especially when you feel the anxiety of uncertainty. Stop trying to

      • Psalm 46ESV

      • Matthew 11:28–30ESV

      • Exodus 14:10–12ESV

      • Numbers 13:31–33ESV

      • Numbers 14:1–4ESV

      • Psalm 46:1ESV

      • Psalm 46:11ESV

      • Psalm 46:2bESV

      • Psalm 46:3–4ESV

      • Psalm 46:8–9ESV

      • John 7:37–39ESV

  • Wonderful Merciful Savior
First Baptist Church Litchfield
pastorjason.fbcl@gmail.com
217-324-4232
http://www.firstbaptistlitchfield.org/
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