On this Sunday before the holiday of Thanksgiving, I would like to turn our thoughts toward thankfulness. And as I said this past Wednesday, if you were with us Wednesday evening when we talked about this subject also, this is not a biblically mandated holiday, but we are commanded in God's Word to be thankful and to give thanks to God specifically. And so any opportunity we have to stop and focus specifically on that subject, we should do it. So whoever it was who takes credit for the Thanksgiving holiday, they had a great idea. We should celebrate, we should observe a time of thankfulness toward God. we are to always be thankful toward God. To not be thankful and fail to give thanks to God is sin. Romans chapter 1 tells us that it is a characteristic of a rebel against God to not give thanks. And so it's important to think about, important to realize all the reasons we should be thankful toward God. Sometimes around this time of year we look at a passage specifically about giving thanks to God. Sometimes we look at a scripture that gives us reasons to be thankful. This morning we're going to do the second of those. We're going to be in Psalm 46 and part of the reason for that is that it's the psalm that we are currently focusing on for this part of November. And we're looking at Psalm 46 this morning because it is one of my favorite Psalms out of the Psalms, Book of Psalms, and because it gives us some major reasons to be thankful. Commentators tell us that Psalm 46 was the favorite Psalm of Martin Luther. During a time when life was particularly difficult, and dangerous in those early days of the Reformation. Luther would sometimes become discouraged. He would get depressed, probably a little afraid. And in those times, he would say to his friend Philip, come, Philip, let's sing the 46th Psalm. And what he meant by that was the song that he wrote that was inspired by the 46th Psalm. We know it as a mighty fortress is our God. Luther said, 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. Psalm 46 has been used by many, including myself, for encouragement in times of trial, for hope in times of uncertainty, And even though we don't know for sure the circumstances behind the writing of this psalm, the specific circumstances, it was either what I'm about to read about to you, or something very similar to it. Many commentators believe it was written probably as a response to the events of 2 Kings chapters 18 and 19. I'm not going to I'll read those full chapters, but I'm going to read a summary of 2 Kings 18 and 19 summarized well in a commentary by John Phillips, slightly edited by me. Now, as I read this, try to imagine if you were there. You and your family in Jerusalem around 2,500 years ago. Imagine you were there. the dreaded Assyrian army had come marching out of the north, pushing southward through Syria into Israel and on south to Judah. Before them, the fields were green or golden with grain. Behind them, they were bare, swept clean by foraging troops or wantonly burned to the ground. Before them, the great cities of Syria and Israel and the outposts of Judah stood strong and sturdy. Behind them were smoke blackened ruins strewn with the corpses of the dead. They had marched on to Jerusalem and drew up in battle array before its towering ramparts. Hezekiah first sought appeasement by paying enormous tribute to buy the invader off. Then Sennacherib had second thoughts. How could he afford to leave in his wake as he marched to further conquests such a formidable fortress as Jerusalem ungarrisoned by loyal Assyrian troops? How could he afford to leave behind a vassal of such doubtful loyalty as Hezekiah? He decided he could not do so and sent Rabshaka with a demand that Hezekiah open the gates of Jerusalem and submit to the Assyrian army. Buoyed by the inspiring messages of Isaiah the prophet, Hezekiah refused to comply with the demand. We know what happened. Rabshakeh mocked and taunted Hezekiah and the Jews, and the Assyrian army surrounded Jerusalem. Then, God sent down an angel to deal with the besieging army. One angel, one night, 185,000 soldiers were dead and Jerusalem was saved. The jubilant city rang with hymns of thanksgiving and praise and Psalm 46 may have been one of those hymns. Now could you imagine if you had been there in Jerusalem with your family that night and the days and nights leading up to that night. From what we know from scripture about the Assyrian army, no one could stand against them. The Israelite army did not stand a chance. From man's perspective, there was no hope. Everyone around you, had you been there, would soon be slaughtered or captured. And from the way the Assyrians treated their prisoners, the first option would probably be preferred. But God. God decided it was going to turn out differently. He has the power, He has the authority to make that decision. And He was watching over His people. They had huge reasons to thank and praise God for His deliverance. So with that kind of background in mind, if it wasn't that specific event, it was one very much like it. We're going to look at Psalm 46, beginning of verse 1, which says, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Now a refuge, it's a place you go for safety. So something like a mighty fortress or Bringing it a little more modern day, a bomb shelter. Bringing it to Kansas, a tornado shelter. Or maybe it could be a parent's leg when you're a toddler and some big old person talks to you at church. That leg becomes a refuge. It's a place to go when there's potential danger. Some situation you can't handle it yourself. You're afraid. You need protection. You need comfort. You can't withstand a tornado on your own. You need somewhere to go. Like that, God is our refuge and strength. When we don't have the strength ourselves, God is our strength. Now, this is supposed to be our theology. This is supposed to be how we think about God, how we understand God, how we know God, if you belong to Him, by grace, through faith, in the Lord Jesus Christ. If that is your position, you have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive you for your sins, you have a relationship with God the Father, God is your refuge and your strength. Now think about what that implies. God is your refuge and your strength. That means the creator of the universe, God, who is all-powerful. That word, omnipotent, you think about what is included in that, what that means. It means there are no limits to God's power. He is all-powerful. The one who could simply speak the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars, the whole universe into existence. God who is all-knowing, who owns everything, so every resource in the entire universe is at his disposal. That is who has committed himself to be your refuge and your strength. But with those examples of a more down-to-earth type of refuge way of thinking, like a bomb shelter, tornado shelter, those kinds of things, they only do you good if you are close enough to get to it before the disaster strikes. So where will God be when you really need Him? According to verse 1, He's right with you. He is a very present help in trouble. And we know from God's Word that God is omnipresent. So everywhere you could possibly go, God is already there. If you were to be one of those few people who colonizes Mars, God's already there. And He's here. As believers in Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit lives in us. So He's not just around us. He's not close by. He's in us. And that means there is no delay. People could be comforted. I used to live a few blocks away from the police station. or a few blocks away from the hospital. If I need help, it's close by. That's not true if you live immoral, but for some people it might be. We don't live fairly close to God. He's already here. Everywhere we go, we take Him with us. He's not just a present help in trouble. He's a very present help in trouble. Now as you think about that phrase, that God is a very present help in trouble. Do you notice something that is presupposed there in that phrase? There's going to be trouble. Now, since there is going to be trouble, we are going to need help. We are going to need a refuge. We will need strength that we cannot provide for ourselves at one time or another. We will need it. But the provision has already been made. All that we are going to need is already with us. Because God is with us. And so when the need arises, there's a solution. Because He's a very present help. We don't have to wait any longer than God decides we need to wait. So our hope Our reason for being thankful, as we are to always be, according to 1 Thessalonians 5.18, in everything give thanks. In every situation, every circumstance, we are to give thanks. We are to be at peace because of who our God is. Our hope, our reason for thankfulness, is not in our circumstances being good. If things are going well, the way I want them to, and so therefore I'm thankful. Maybe I'm not thankful now because things aren't going so good, but I have hope things will get better, my circumstances will improve, then I'll be thankful. That is not our hope. That is not our reason, our enduring reason for being thankful. Because circumstances are not always good. We do have trouble. But God, is our very present help when that trouble comes. Now the next verses in Psalm 46 show us how that can be applied. How significant is it that God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. It's this significant. Verse two, therefore we will not fear. This is application of verse one. Because verse one is true, therefore, this is how we apply. We will not fear. Because God is our refuge and strength, a very present help. What we see in these verses is that fear is never a right response. Always thankful, never afraid. If we have our theology right, if we understand God correctly, that should be our position. Always thankful, never afraid. Therefore, we will not fear. Though the earth should change, and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride, That word, sila, likely means something like, this would be a good place to pause and think about this. Okay, so let's do that. Pause and think about what this is saying. Now, every time you see the word though, as you read verse two and three, think even if. The psalmist is giving examples of the worst case scenario. Even if it came to this, we will not fear." Now, when you read through verses two and three, at first glance, it gives the idea that he's talking about earthquakes and tsunamis. Slightly funny story. When I was typing up my notes and I was thinking about earthquakes and tsunamis, I realized I didn't know how to spell tsunami. I was very thankful for spell check. And the thought occurred to me, it's interesting that the word tsunami has a silent T and not a silent C. Tsunamis make for not silent C's, right? OK. Whatever that's worth. No. What it seems like he's talking about in these earthquakes and tsunamis are pretty bad ones, right? mountains Quaking and sliding and falling and but the more you look at it the worse it gets This is no average earthquake Even for a place that commonly has earthquakes. This is bad. This is severe He's talking about worst-case scenario event that would cause the earth to change a Worldwide seismic event Like the world is breaking apart beneath you That's bad Even if Because God is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble. You have all the resources you need. So even if it came to that, the world is falling apart beneath your feet. That is not an acceptable reason to be afraid. Isn't that amazing? Even that would not be an okay time to be afraid. because you are taken care of by your Creator. It seems to be not all that uncommon in our day, even among Christians, to think that our problems are more sophisticated now than they were in the olden days. Things have gotten worse. We have trauma, PTSD in our day. Maybe these Bible solutions were sufficient back then when they didn't have real problems. But they're too simplistic for today. Now we need something more. We need professional help. We need man's wisdom. So common for people to think. They never had to deal with Wi-Fi being down. It's so much harder today. They don't know what real trouble is. Now do we really think, we're being honest, that people in the sights of or in the aftermath of an attack by the wicked Assyrian army, that they didn't understand real suffering? Things like crucifixion, was invented by the Assyrians. They knew about suffering. On a recent Wednesday evening, I came across a passage and we talked about how the Assyrians and others, militaries at that time, would sometimes surround cities, not attack. They would starve the people out. And it could get to where people would turn to cannibalism. to try to survive just a little longer. That's what they may have tried with the city of Jerusalem when they had it surrounded. But this tells us, even if, even if it gets that bad, our God is sufficient. Even if it came to that. And even if the earth began to crumble, Worst case scenario. Now there's no denying that people today can go through some really hard times. That has always been the case for all time post Garden of Eden. People go through some really hard things. But God has always been sufficient. We haven't experienced the earth coming apart yet. Seems like that would be pretty terrifying. But even then, we should not be afraid. Because our God is sufficient for that. And for that, can't we be, shouldn't we be, thankful? If our God is that sufficient, shouldn't that be a steady state of mind for us? That we're thankful? The next section of the Psalm is verses 4-7. Let's read verses four through six. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy dwelling places of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She will not be moved. God will help her when morning dawns. The nations made an uproar. The kingdoms tottered. He raised his voice. The earth melted. The city of Jerusalem has been in the past and will be again in the future the city of God and the dwelling place of the Most High. Now the psalmist probably had the temple in Jerusalem in mind as he wrote these verses. And as long as God's presence was there, that place was protected. Do you remember the vision that was given to Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter 8 through 11 of God's glory leaving the temple. You remember reading that? Do you remember what that signified? Ezekiel saw God's glory, kept getting a little further away, a little further away, a little further away. Part of what that signified was God's protection leaving. and the Babylonians were coming. The people were going to be taken out of the land. But before that, in 2 Kings 18-19, when the Assyrians were so certain that no one could stand up to them, they were taunting and mocking God and King Hezekiah, the people in Jerusalem. They would easily conquer Judah. From man's perspective, that is the case. But God's glory was still in the temple when Hezekiah was king. There was also a physical provision in Jerusalem that helped in that situation. There was a spring in the mountains near the city that provided fresh water for the people. Before the Assyrians got there, Hezekiah had some tunnels dug under the city walls and to that spring. And when that spring was covered, it was hidden. Water flowed through those tunnels and filled a pool within the city walls. Now that spring of water was God's provision for his people. He was providing for them and had a way through the wisdom he gave to Hezekiah that that provision would be steady. The Assyrians couldn't take that away. And that's a big part of the reason many commentators think that this psalm is in reference to that event in Hezekiah's day. Because of the importance of that water and God's provision of it. Well, there are things about the future Jerusalem in the Bible that relate rivers of water flowing out of Jerusalem. There's a river flowing from God's throne in the book of Revelation. We read in the Gospel of John, chapter 4, about Jesus providing living water. Part of what all of that signifies is that where God is, there is protection and provision. If He is in the midst of Jerusalem, Jerusalem is going to be protected and provided for. For us today, consider 1 Corinthians 3, verses 16 and 17, where Paul writes, Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are. But if God is in you, He is going to protect us. He is going to provide for us. But if that is the case, why do bad and hard things happen, even to Christians? If God is our refuge and our strength, very present help in trouble, He being so powerful, so capable, if anyone or anything gets through to you, It's only because God led it through. And if He led it through, it's only because He had a reason. And it was for your good. As we are promised in Scripture, God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love Him. Think of God allowing Satan to get to Job. God had a reason. And He turned it out for Job's good. Can we thank Him for that? Even when the hard times come, can we thank Him for knowing that if God allowed it, He's got a reason for it. And that reason is good for you. We should thank Him for it. Looking back in verses 2 and 3, those were about the worst case scenario nature. Verse 6 is a worst case scenario with nations. And when we think of nations today in the world, world powers that have nuclear weapons, some of those nations are often not on the best of terms with our nation. Things can get a little concerning at times. But there is no nation that is so powerful that it can overturn God's perfect plan, whatever that plan is. Now the Assyrians had every confidence they could wipe out Jerusalem. God had other plans. He didn't let it happen. King Hezekiah was exactly right when he said in 2 Chronicles 32 7-8, Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria, nor because of all the hordes that are with him. For the one with us is greater than the one with him. With him is only an arm of flesh. But with us is the Lord our God to help us and fight our battles." And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah. The United States of America cannot claim that same position as Judah had with God, but followers of Christ can. With us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles. With the enemy, whatever enemy it is, no matter how powerful they may seem, is only an arm of flesh. nuclear bombs. That is nothing in comparison to the power of our God. Now, this basically is the chorus of this psalm, verse 7, The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our stronghold, Sila. What Hezekiah encouraged the people with, what they took as encouragement, is the chorus of this psalm. the Lord of Hosts is with us." Now, that word Sela is there again, so stop and think about that. Consider what this means. What does it mean that Yahweh of Hosts is with us? LORD, all capital letters, do you see that? In verse 7, it's God's personal name, Yahweh. Yahweh of Hosts is with us. Well, that means that the promise-keeping God who reigns over the universe as its creator and sustainer. The One who is. Who depends on no man and no thing. He is self-existent. The God who is commander of the armies of heaven. That's what it's meant by hosts. Yahweh of hosts. All the armies of heaven. He is with you. What do you have to be afraid of? if Yahweh of Hos is with you. There's got to be something there to thank God for, isn't there? If Yahweh of Hos is with you. So God had said the word, raised His voice, as it says in verse 6, one angel was sent, and when morning dawned, 185,000 enemy soldiers were dead. Now if God can do that, In verse 8, come, behold the works of the Lord, who has wrought desolations in the earth. Here, God wants us to study history. There are times in the Bible that God wants us to study creation. Here, He wants us to study history. Look back. Look at what God has done. And seeing what God has done should give us every confidence for the present and the future. You think of the worldwide flood in Genesis. When God took out all of humanity, except for one family, that God decided He was going to save that one family. He has the power to do that. If God has the power to do that, does He have the ability to get you through whatever you're facing today? Of course He does. Thank Him for that. Verse 9, he makes wars to cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two. He burns the chariots with fire. If you pay attention to news at all, I'm sorry for one thing, but you may have seen that our president has been trying to negotiate peace deals to end some wars. Now, some of those have been more successful than others. But God does not negotiate peace deals. To negotiate means there's some compromises made. Some areas of give and take. There might be some areas where two sides are just going to have to agree to disagree. God doesn't compromise. And if anyone disagrees with him, they're wrong. You can't just agree to disagree with God. If you disagree with God, you're wrong. He doesn't compromise. So when God is ready for a war to end, He ends it. It's done. No nation has enough power to question His decision. The bows and spears, those were common weapons of war when the psalm was written. The chariots, those were the signs of power. The more chariots a nation had, the more powerful they were. It doesn't matter how many chariots, how many nuclear warheads, how many aircraft carriers, how many submarines, whatever it is, when God says it's time to be done, He'll break it, He'll burn it, and it will be done. That's His decision. So, verse 10, cease striving and know that I am God. I will be exalted in the nations, among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. This is probably the most well-known verse of this psalm. One of my favorite verses in the Bible. It is both a warning and a comfort. You look at this verse in two different directions that are both true. To the nations that are raging against God and against God's people, this is a warning. because of who God is, and what He is capable of, and what He will one day guaranteed do. You better stop. You better cease your striving. You better be still, and think about who the God is that you are going up against. And understand this, God always wins. His enemies always lose. To those who have taken refuge in God, the message of verse 10 is, don't fret, cease striving, be still, rest comfortably, because no matter what the world may look like around you, God, your God, your refuge, your strength, always wins. His enemies always lose. Whatever you're worried about, know this, that God is God, and be still. He wins in the end. Whatever anxieties you have, there's no reason to be anxious, because God is God, and He always wins. There is no reason to ever be afraid if God is your refuge and your strength. He always wins. And back to the chorus of the psalm comes again in verse 11. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah. Think about that. Think about the implications of what that means. Are you afraid? Are you worried? Why? The Lord of Hosts is with us. What does God lack that you need? There is nothing. So fear should be replaced by thankfulness. Because of who God is, never afraid, always thankful. Because Yahweh is our refuge. He is our provider. and He is our peace. We lack nothing. This week, you're thinking about, do you have anything to be thankful for? Do you have anything to not be thankful for? God is your refuge and your strength. You lack nothing. Give Him thanks.