Our communion meditation for today will be from Psalm 46. Be focusing on verses one to three, but we'll read the entire psalm. To the chief musician, a psalm of the sons of Korah, a song for Alamoth. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling. There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. God shall help her just at the break of dawn. The nations raged. The kingdoms were moved. He uttered his voice. The earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Come, behold the works of the Lord, who has made desolations in the earth. He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two. He burns the chariot in the fire. Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, and I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. In the 1600s, there was kings in Scotland who wanted to rule the church. They wanted to be the ones who would control what the church said. They wanted to be able to tell people how they could worship God, when they could meet. The Scottish Christians who refused to go along with this were called Covenanters, and they refused to go along because they understood that Christ is the head of the church, not any ruler. Because of this, they were persecuted. They weren't allowed to meet regularly. They had to meet illegally in open fields. And anyone who would attend one of these illegal church meetings could be arrested, could be imprisoned, and could even be killed. And the king would send soldiers to hunt people down and catch them. In 1680, there was one of the Scottish preachers was a man named Richard Cameron, and he preached in an illegal gathering. And in one of these gatherings where at any time they could be surprised, and he preached on Psalm 46. And he assured his hearers that even though they could be imprisoned, they could be killed, the very worst thing that they might fear could happen that they didn't need to fear because God would be their refuge and strength. And that's the message of this psalm, that no matter what happens, we don't have to fear because God will be there for us. He will be our refuge, our strength, and our help, no matter what. This psalm gives us three reasons why we don't need to fear. The first is that God is our refuge. Refuge is a place of protection and shelter. Well, here we get tornadoes quite from time to time. And when a tornado comes, what does everyone do? Well, you go to a place of refuge, a place to be protected, a basement or a tornado shelter. And that is what is for us. He is a refuge. All of us are sinners and we deserve the wrath of God because of our sins. But on the cross, Jesus bore the wrath of God, our sins, and so that for all those who believe in him, who put their trust in him, who take refuge in him, will be delivered from the wrath of God. And Jesus not only delivers us the wrath of God, he also delivers us from all of our enemies, from the devil, from our own flesh, from the world, from any foe that would seek to overpower us. And so because he is our refuge, we need to fear The second reason we don't need to fear is that God is our strength. Let me see that. He is the one who empowers us when we're weak and we have no strength of our own. He empowers his people in their weakness. When we're afraid, it paralyzes, fear paralyzes. It saps at our energy, but God is the one who gives us the strength that we need. Isaiah 40 says that The Lord is the one who gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might, he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall utterly fail, but those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run and not be weary. They will walk and not faint. And then thirdly, God is our help. He is a very present help in trouble. No matter what God might call anyone to go through, for those who trust in him, he will never leave them nor forsake them. Isaiah 43, the Lord says, fear not, I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name and you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, nor will the flame scorch you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. In verse 11 of our psalm, it says, the Lord of hosts is with us. That word hosts means armies. And it's talking about the Lord's angelic armies. In second Kings, it talks about how Elisha and his servant were surrounded by an army of Syrians, enemies. They came and they surrounded the city and The servant said, alas, what shall we do? But Elisha told him, do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. And then Elisha prayed and said, Lord, open his servant's eyes. And when the Lord opened the eyes of the servant, what did he see? He saw that surrounding the Syrian army, there was another army, and that was the army of the Lord that surrounded that army. And those were the Lord's armies. And when it says the Lord of hosts is with us, it means the Lord of all of those angelic armies is with us. So no matter what God calls us to go through, he will be with us and we don't need to fear. The psalmist says that we don't need to fear no matter what happens. And it says, the verse, that we don't need to fear even though the earth be removed, even though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, even though the most terrible things that we might fear, even if they do happen, we don't need to fear. You see, when we fear, we're usually thinking, what if this happens? What if, you know, I could die, what if any number of things? What if the worst thing I'm fearing happens? But the psalmist says, even if that happens, even if the thing that we are fearing most happens, God will still be a refuge and strength. So even if, whatever you are fearing today, if you're trusting in the Lord, even if the worst thing that you might be fearing, even if it does happen, don't need to fear because God will be your refuge, strength, and your help. So, as you approach this table, come trusting in Jesus as the one who will deliver you from fear, as your refuge, as your strength, as your help, as a very present help in trouble. Let's pray. Our Lord, we thank you that you are our refuge, that you are the one that we can trust in that you deliver us from all our enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil. Thank you for being our strength and our weakness, and thank you for being our very present help in trouble. Thank you that no matter what happens, we don't need to fear because you are with us. Help us to approach this table today, not with fear, but in faith, trusting in you as our refuge, our strength, and our help. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.