Ira Baptist Church
Sunday, August 17

      • Psalms 46.1-3ESV

      • Psalms 46.4-7ESV

      • Psalms 46.8-10ESV

      • Psalms 46.11ESV

  • Your Words Are Wonderful (Psalm 119)

      • John 14.18-20ESV

      • John 14.21-22ESV

      • John 14.23-25ESV

      • John 14.26-27ESV

  • O God Our Help In Ages Past
  • The Lord Is My Salvation
  • A Mighty Fortress Is Our God (Ein Feste Burg)

      • Romans 15.4ESV

  • What is it that, in the final analysis, you can say “this will stand and be my protection forever and ever?”
    This will stay when everyone leaves
    This will Guard me when every other wall is broken
    This will remain when all else fades
    This will give me security when all else shakes
    Luther’s Psalm
    A Mighty Fortress is our God
    Psalms, Volume 2: (Psalms 42–106): An Expositional Commentary Psalm 46: Martin Luther’s Psalm

    We sing this psalm to the praise of God, because God is with us and powerfully and miraculously preserves and defends his church and his word against all fanatical spirits, against the gates of hell, against the implacable hatred of the devil, and against all the assaults of the world, the flesh and sin.

    Other hymns
    Be still my soul
    O God our Help in Ages Past
    How Firm a Foundation
    Crown him with Many Crowns
    Why? Because there is something spiritually exhilarating about finding a source of steady confidence. Not in personal resolve or stamina, not in being reassured of our own character traits or talents or possessions, but in being reminded with the utmost assurance that God is our refuge, our fortress, and he is our confidence.

    We may be still and not fear, for God rules over all, and He is our refuge and fortress.

    1. God is our Refuge and Fortress - vs. 1, 11

    Psalm 46:1 ESV
    God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
    Psalm 46:11 ESV
    The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
    Fortress = high point. The upper hand. The high ground. Strategically superior.
    Refuge = a source of security or help, something we turn to.
    Strength = might in the battle
    All of this points to God as being everything. It leaves no piece of the battle up to our own devices. There is no part of the warfare that we are responsible for apart from our God.
    Not as though we are strong but lack a shield and position.
    Not as though we had a shield and position but lack military might.
    In God, all three are ours, because we are his, and we are in him.
    The command to be strong?
    Yes, it remains - but it is not a command in which to muster strength from nowhere, but it becomes, like all other acts of obedience, an act of faith and dependence upon the one who supplies.
    Philippians 1:6 ESV
    And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
    Philippians 4:13 ESV
    I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
    Philippians 4:19 ESV
    And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

    2. God Rules over All

    Question - God is our strength, refuge, and fortress, but in what categories or circumstances of life does that apply to?

    The Realm of Nature

    Psalm 46:2–3 ESV
    Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
    The city of God?
    Psalm 46:4–5 ESV
    There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.
    The City of God
    Jerusalem
    God’s People
    Nature is a tool in God’s hand. The earth is His.
    Job 37:5–7 ESV
    God thunders wondrously with his voice; he does great things that we cannot comprehend. For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth,’ likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour. He seals up the hand of every man, that all men whom he made may know it.
    Job 37:8–10 ESV
    Then the beasts go into their lairs, and remain in their dens. From its chamber comes the whirlwind, and cold from the scattering winds. By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast.
    Job 37:11–13 ESV
    He loads the thick cloud with moisture; the clouds scatter his lightning. They turn around and around by his guidance, to accomplish all that he commands them on the face of the habitable world. Whether for correction or for his land or for love, he causes it to happen.

    The Realm of Human Affairs

    Psalm 46:6 ESV
    The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts.
    Psalm 46:8–9 ESV
    Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire.
    Cold war Era - 40 years plus.
    Mutually assured destruction.
    Maintained peace, but leaves the world in a terrible brace of anticipation.
    God’s peace, not negotiated, not leveraged, not treatied, but assured.
    Because he is above all worldly powers, his full and final promise of peace is assured by the total removal of those powers.
    It is not the highest concern of which earthly power is greatest, but of the fact that every earthly power is temporary.

    The Realm of Spiritual Warfare

    Psalm 46:7 ESV
    The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
    This, and again in verse 11, uses a very powerful image as a name for God.
    YahWeh Sabah - The Lord of Hosts, the God of Heavenly Armies.
    Ephesians 6:12 ESV
    For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
    God of Jacob - The Lord of Angel Armies is also the God of his People.

    3. Be Still and Fear Not

    Psalm 46:2 ESV
    Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
    Psalm 46:10 ESV
    “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”
    Mark 4:37–41 ESV
    And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
    “Be Still” and “Do not Fear” are both statements of peace, and also statements that exhibit unimaginable strength and power.
    A peaceful man can say to you, “don’t be afraid - just rest.” And a soothing voice may calm you for a moment, but if that man has no strength behind his words, what good are they? What weight do they carry?
    What is it that, in the final analysis, you can say “this will stand and be my protection forever and ever?”
    This will stay when everyone leaves
    This will Guard me when every other wall is broken
    This will remain when all else fades
    This will give me security when all else shakes
    If it is less than the Lord of Hosts, then

      • Psalm 46:1ESV

      • Psalm 46:11ESV

      • Philippians 1:6ESV

      • Philippians 4:13ESV

      • Philippians 4:19ESV

      • Psalm 46:2–3ESV

      • Psalm 46:4–5ESV

      • Job 37:5–7ESV

      • Job 37:8–10ESV

      • Job 37:11–13ESV

      • Psalm 46:6ESV

      • Psalm 46:8–9ESV

      • Psalm 46:7ESV

      • Ephesians 6:12ESV

      • Psalm 46:2ESV

      • Psalm 46:10ESV

      • Mark 4:37–41ESV

Ira Baptist Church
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