It's amazing to think that God has given us his revelation of himself in such a simple, down-to-earth thing as a book. Let's turn to Psalm 48, which will be our passage for today. Psalm 48. A wonderful, encouraging psalm, and I trust that each one of us will be encouraged as we meditate on it together. Psalm 48. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God. His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth. Mount Zion in the far north, the city of the great king. Within her citadels, God has made himself known as a fortress. For behold, the kings assembled. They came on together. As soon as they saw it, they were astounded. They were in panic. They took to flight. Trembling took hold of them there, anguish as of a woman in labor. By the east wind you shattered the ships of Tarshish. As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God, which God will establish forever. We have thought on your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple. As your name, O God, so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is filled with righteousness. Let Mount Zion be glad. Let the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your judgments. walk about Zion, go around her, number her towers, consider well her ramparts, go through her citadels, that you may tell the next generation that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever. Amen. Now I think that we all understand that one of the most incapacitating things in life is fear. We talk sometimes about phobias, you know, there's that Greek word phobia, for those of you, phobos in Greek, which we bring into English via the word phobia, and we have all kinds of phobias. Sometimes it's just a nuisance that makes our life a little bit inconvenient, but sometimes it is a debilitating problem. For example, we have claustrophobia. It's a fear of confined spaces. Something that I'm very familiar with, having five women in my house, is arachnophobia. That's a fear of spiders. with four daughters and a wife. I often get called upon to deal with a spider. There is another kind of phobia called agoraphobia, fear of crowds. Or acrophobia, fear of heights. There is astrophobia, fear of stars and space. How about this one? Have you ever heard of pteromirhanophobia? That's a fear of flying. aircraft. And there is mysophobia, a fear of dirt and germs. But that's just by way of illustration and introduction that I talk about all these things. The reality is that very often in life we all face circumstances that we feel are too much for us. There are things that make us afraid, things that make us depressed, things that make us unhappy. Something that I think we lecturers hear quite often about is a fear of the workload and a fear of the work and a fear of exams. But that's something that makes one a bit uncertain. If you're a student, you feel there's this great amount of work and you don't know how you're going to cope with it. Another one that is common to most of us is concern about finances. How am I going to pay my rent? How am I going to pay my study fees? How am I going to feed my family? Another fear that we deal with is the fear of enemies and difficult people. Sometimes in our churches we find situations of conflict. that create for us great uncertainty and great fear. Sometimes it is difficult relationships with people we love even. And we can think of many other situations and tasks for which we feel ill-equipped. These things create fear in us and uncertainty. Now this psalm is written to encourage us not to be afraid. It was inspired by a particular act of deliverance in the life of ancient Israel. And it is a meditation on the power of God in the midst of His people, protecting them and defending them. So let's look at the psalm together. We begin with verses 1 to 3, which are a call to praise. God is to be praised for His presence in Zion. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised. Now, He is not praised here for His character as such, but for what He is to His people. And it is expressed in a celebration of Mount Zion. Look at verse 1, it says, His holy mountain, verse 2, beautiful in elevation, is the joy of the whole earth. Mount Zion in the far north, the city of the great king. And here the psalmist celebrates Jerusalem, Mount Zion, as a kind of a mountain city, which makes a very good fortress. Many ancient cities, they were either built on a mountain or they had some sort of fortress built on a mountain right next to the city. We find this even in Pretoria. There are some hills around Pretoria. If you know where the University of South Africa is, UNESA, opposite that is a very tall, high hill. It's called Fort Klaperkop. And there in the time of the Anglo-Boer War, the Boers built a fort on top of Fort Klaperkop. You can go and see it today. And they built a number of forts around Pretoria for protection. And so Jerusalem was also built on a hill, and it provided good protection. You might remember how even after the Israelites had possessed the land, Jerusalem remained a Canaanite stronghold. And when David saw it with his soldiers, he said that one would have to use a special route to go up and capture that ancient city. And he even offered a reward for the one who captured the city. And then Jerusalem became the pride of God's people because of its elevation. It was high. It was protected. It was powerful. But notice that the power is not simply because of the geographical location and position of Jerusalem. Jerusalem, Mount Zion, is to be celebrated because God is within her. It is Mount Zion, the city of the great king. Within her citadels, God has made himself known as a fortress. Even the greatest natural protection is not always very sufficient. That Fort Cloppercorp that I mentioned never served as much of a protection for the Boers during the Anglo-Boer War. It was easily taken by the British. Mount Zion is celebrated because God has made Himself known in her midst as the fortress of His people. And right here I want to move straight on to our position as Christians living after the coming of Christ. Because Christ is given to us as one who reigns over all things. And just as the Old Testament people of God celebrated God in their midst as their fortress and their protection, so we too, as the New Testament people of God, celebrate Christ in our midst as our power and our protection. Let's look briefly at a couple of New Testament passages. Luke 1 verse 74. Let's turn to that together. Luke 1 verse 74, the song of Zechariah celebrating the deliverance to come in Christ. And he praises God, he says that we, being delivered from our enemies, might serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days. See, this is what the coming of Christ accomplishes for us, that we can serve God without fear. And then let's look at Ephesians chapter 1 from verse 19. Paul prays that the Ephesian believers will know what is the immeasurable greatness of God's power towards us who believe, according to the working of His great might, that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, And above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. And so we might ask ourselves, over what does Jesus have power? In short, he has power over everything. Does he have power over sickness? He most certainly does. Does he have power over finances? He most certainly does. Does he have power over relationships? Absolutely. Does he have power over the rulers of our country and the rulers of our world? He does. Does He have power over nature? Yes, He does. He sustains all things by the word of His power. And Christ is the one who has power over all these things, has been given to His people, to the church, so that He should exercise His power for our sake. And so as the people of the Old Testament could celebrate and say, within her citadels, God has made Himself known as a fortress. So we can say within our midst, Christ is revealed as the head over every power that can be named in this age and in the one to come. He is ours to protect us and defend us and enable us to serve God in holiness and righteousness without fear all our days. What a wonderful celebration we have as the people of God. But now the psalm moves on to speak about a particular act of deliverance in verses 4 to 8. We read, Behold, the kings assembled. They came on together. As soon as they saw it, they were astounded. They were in panic. They took to flight. Trembling took hold of them there. Now, if we read the Old Testament, we will find that there are a couple of events from Israel's history that may be referred to here. We think of 2 Chronicles chapter 20, where the Israelites were attacked by an alliance of Moabites and other nations. And you will remember how Jehoshaphat the king called the people to pray. And then they were called to stand and to praise God. And the enemy was defeated. Perhaps that is what is being referred to. We might think of 2 Kings 19, which speaks about Hezekiah and the Assyrian army, when they came and they surrounded Jerusalem and they besieged Jerusalem, and they made the people afraid by the things that they said. They sent a letter to say, God has sent us to attack this city. And Hezekiah took the letter to the prophet Isaiah, and it was laid out before God. And the next day, the angel of God put to death 180,000 of the Assyrian soldiers. We are not sure exactly which event it is, but it is a historical event in which a number of kings' armies came against Jerusalem, and they were defeated. Look at the way the event is described in verse five. It says, they saw, they were astounded. And in Hebrew, these are just short words that describe the action very fast. They saw, they were astounded, they were in panic, they took to flight. Julius Caesar was a great Roman general, and he conducted many wars. especially in the area that was called Gaul, what is now France today. And Caesar was very proud of his achievements. And he wrote, perhaps you have heard those famous words, veni, vidi, vici. I came, I saw, I conquered. But here we have, they saw. They were astounded. They panicked. They took to flight. That is what happens when the people of God, the enemies of God, attack the people of God. They see. They're astounded. They panic. They take to flight. And there are two pictures that are used to give expression to what happened. In verse 6 it says, trembling took hold of them, anguish as of a woman in labor. Now those of you here who are fathers or mothers will understand. I'll speak about it from a father's point of view. When you know that your wife is pregnant and about to give birth, You are watching the signs. And you are ready to take her to a hospital at the first sign of labor. Because you know that when those labor pains come on, there is no turning back. Those labor pains come and they continue until the child is born. And they can be very painful. This is what happened. Trembling took hold of them. They couldn't do anything about it. They couldn't escape from it. And in verse 7, by the east wind you shattered the ships of Tarshish. Ships of Tarshish known to be very strong ships. And yet, by the power of God, they can be shattered as a ship is wrecked on the rocks. Very powerful description of a particular deliverance that the people experienced. But notice how the psalmist moves on to a theological reflection on what the people had experienced. In verse 80 says, they say, as we have heard, so have we seen. In the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God, which God will establish forever. It is as though the psalmist says now, our parents told us about the power of God. God instituted among His people certain memorials, sometimes physical memorials, like the stone Joshua set up. Sometimes it was feasts and ceremonies, like the Feast of Passover. So the children would say to their parents, Daddy, what is the meaning of this feast that we are celebrating? And the father would say, my child, that is because God brought his people out of Egypt. We heard about it. We've heard about the doings of God in the past. But the psalmist says, as we have heard, so have we seen. We heard about it in the past. We knew it simply as something in our minds. But now we have experienced it for ourselves. Now it is not a report that somebody else gave us of something that God did in the past. Now it is our own experience of God's deliverance in our midst. And there is a very important application for us here, brothers and sisters. I trust that you have heard about God's acts of deliverance and His power exercised in the lives of other people. Perhaps you have heard from your parents about God's mighty acts of deliverance in their lives. Maybe you have read biographies. I remember reading about Adoniram Judson and listening to to his biography, missionary to Burma. And he began his work in Burma, translating the Bible into the language of the people. But after a short time, he was arrested. And for 18 months, he was in prison, threatened, in danger of dying. And it was only the hard work of his wife that kept him and his fellow prisoners alive. And yet, if you go to Burma today, you will see the heritage left as a result of the work of Adoniram Judson. God did a mighty work through him that still continues today. Perhaps we have heard and spoken about, we know missionaries. I think of Charles Woodrow who works in Mozambique. And really, perhaps you know him, he has some real stories to tell. One night, before he was due to go back to America for furlough, he was arrested because somebody laid a charge against him. He had to sleep the night in the police station. Many stories about how God brought about deliverance in his life. We read about the biblical characters, Paul and Silas in prison in Philippi, singing praise to God when they are in chains. But brothers and sisters, can we say, as we have heard, so have we seen. As we heard about their experience, so we have experienced the presence and the power of God in our own lives. What we hear from other people must become a reality for us. The work that we struggle with is not simply a cause for complaining, but a cause to lift up our voices to heaven and say, God, rend the heavens and come down. Enable me to persevere. Enable me to understand your word which I'm struggling with. Our struggle against sin. Dr. Bryan mentioned bosom sins in his prayer. It's a struggle. Each one of us knows the struggle against sin that clings to us. But can we say with the psalmist, as we have heard, so have we seen. We have read about the apostle Paul and how he was transformed from being a legalist and a murderer into the apostle of grace. Have we experienced that same power in our lives, overcoming the sin that is within us? What about the work of evangelism, preaching the gospel? Can we speak about those who are hardened in sin and whose lives have been changed by the power of God? Those who rejected Christ and have come to bow to Him. as Lord and Savior. We have here an invitation not to theologize, but to trust God for his victory in our own experience. In verses nine to 11, the psalm moves on to a meditation on God's steadfast love. And here the psalmist meditates on the character of God We have thought on your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple. Now, something that the ESV, the English Standard Version, has introduced, which is actually very helpful, is that it translates the Hebrew word chesed with the English steadfast love fairly consistently. In the King James, it was always loving kindness. But that word hesed is one of the most precious words in the Bible. It speaks of God's covenant love, the fact that God loves us, not because we deserve it, but because He, out of His own character and being, has chosen to love us. And this is what the psalmist meditates upon and celebrates. We have thought on your steadfast love, oh God. We think about these things that happen to us, and God, it causes us to lift up our hearts and think about who you are. that you did these things for us, not because we deserve them, but because you are a God who is full of compassion, loving-kindness, faithfulness. And so, God, we think about these things, and we think about you. But notice how the meditation spreads. As your name, O God, so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth. In verse 9, it was in the midst of your temple. In verse 10, it is to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is filled with righteousness. Let Mount Zion be glad. Let the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your judgments. And brothers and sisters, we need to take our experiences of deliverance and use them to reflect on the character and the love of God. Think of, I think it's Joseph Addison, he says, When all thy mercies, O my God, my rising soul surveys, transported with the view I'm lost in wonder, love, and praise. When worn with sickness, oft as thou with health renewed my face, and when in sin and sorrow sunk, revived my soul with grace. When we meet together as a church, informally perhaps, We need to meditate on God's love. How often are we given to complaining, given to complaining about the things that we find difficult? But we should use the opportunity to meditate on the love and kindness and the love of God. When we sit with our families at the dinner table or at devotion, to share together. This is how I've experienced God intervening in my life. Let's talk about God, our Father, and celebrate His character together. This is what we need to do in response to this psalm. We have thought on your steadfast love. We meditate. We speak about it. But finally, The Psalm ends off with an exhortation to take note of what God has done in verses 12 to 14. Walk about Zion, go around her, number her towers, consider well her ramparts, that you may tell the next generation that this is God. Our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever. He will be our guide even to the end, as the NIV puts it. You see, the hearers of the psalm are exhorted. Now, come. Come and walk with me around the city. Let me show you this big wall that we have. See how strong it is. See how difficult it will be for the enemies to get over this wall or through this wall. Come with me and look at this tower here. See how we can put our archers in the top of that tower and they can shoot arrows on the enemy if the enemy surrounds the city to besiege us. Just look at the strength that we have. But understand that the strength does not come from the walls. It comes from God. This God is our God forever and ever. He will guide us to the end. Brothers and sisters, come with me and look at the walls of the New Jerusalem. Look at her ramparts. Look at her towers. Look at Jesus Christ dying on the cross. He's the picture of helplessness. He's the picture of one who can do nothing to help himself, let alone anybody else. But what does Paul say about him dying on the cross? Paul says in Colossians chapter 2 that on the cross he made a public spectacle of his enemies, the devil, the demons. He put them to shame by His death on the cross, so that Satan cannot come to you with an accusation, because you will overcome him by the blood of the Lamb. Look at the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Can you raise the dead to life? Can you raise the dead? Do you know anybody who can raise the dead? But the power that God gives to His people is like the working of His mighty strength which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead. That is the power that is ours. Who can stand against it? Look at the ascension of Christ. Look, ye saints, the sight is glorious. See the man of sorrows now. From the fight returned victorious. Crowns become the victor's brow. There he is, seated at the right hand of God. Who can stand against Jesus? See how He poured out His Holy Spirit, that the very third person of the Trinity should dwell within us, to give us power to know God, to overcome sin, to live for Him. Think about how God brought you to a knowledge of Christ, and how He has changed your life since then. And then say with me, This God is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide even to the end. Friends, I bring you good news today. God does not purpose that His children should be nervous, quivering, defeated, depressed, despondent, and discouraged disciples of Jesus Christ. His resurrection and ascension must make a difference to us. Just like those disciples after Jesus' death were hiding away for fear of the Jews, but after the resurrection, after they knew Jesus was raised, and after He had ascended and poured out His Spirit, Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost and he addressed the people. And when he was arrested later by the Jewish authorities, He said, judge for yourselves whether it is right to obey God or man. We face daily issues that make us fearful, depressed, or just plain unhappy. And we must ask ourselves, why do we feel like that? Isn't it because we are often We feel so powerless to do anything about our circumstances. And so the psalm reminds us that we need to rise up in the strength of the Lord, to take control of ourselves and our circumstances and commit ourselves to God. Sometimes God will work a mighty victory in a miraculous way. Other times he will give us victory in the midst of those circumstances. Let me end by two illustrations showing both of these experiences. There's a church in New York, I understand, where the weekly prayer meeting was a very important gathering for the church. And there came a time when relatives or friends of some of the church members were kidnapped. There was great concern about these people who were in the hands of kidnappers. And as the church came together, they said it was like giving birth in their prayers, praying that God would intervene. And the next day, miraculously, those people were released by the kidnappers. Another example. with a different sort of an ending, but which illustrates God's power. Some weeks ago, as we were leaving home to go to the church where I preach on a Sunday morning, my wife received an SMS from a very close friend to say, I have breast cancer. And yet in that very SMS, she said, but I know. God is in control of every cell and every brain. Now in the weeks that have followed, she has undergone surgery. The cancer which she thought was only grade one and very insignificant turned out to be grade three cancer. Although we trust that that has all been removed, she still has chemotherapy lying ahead of her. And yet her testimony throughout is, God is in control. I am trusting in God. And in the midst of those very trying circumstances, she is in effect able to say, this God is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide even to the end. Let's pray together. Oh God, we thank you that you give strength to your people. We thank you, Father, that you have not left us to fend for ourselves, to trust in our own strength, in all the various circumstances that we face in life. Father, we confess that we have many challenges and many enemies. And we do sometimes battle and we become fearful and afraid, depressed. We thank you God that today you have encouraged us from your word. You have reminded us that glorious things are spoken of Zion. It is the city of God and in her midst God dwells to be her fortress and to protect her and defend her. We thank you, Father, that you have set Christ in our midst, the one who is ruler over all, to protect us and defend us, and to be our guide even to the end. Lord Jesus, we thank you that your power is revealed not only in strength, but even more in our own weakness. We pray, Lord Jesus, that you would help us in the midst of our weakness, to experience and trust in and rely on your power and your strength. Lord, we ask for your grace. Forgive us our sins, forgive us our lack of trust. Help us with our unbelief that we may truly rest in you and trust in you. We ask this for your name's sake, amen.