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 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, I will be exalted in the earth! The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. -Psalm 46:1-11 I love this Psalm. Did you know that the Lord of Hosts is Jesus? The same One who spoke with Abraham as a friend. The same One who was with the three Hebrew children in the fire. The same One who wrestled Jacob, who finally conquered him. He is our defender. He does great and mighty things. He destroys armies. He stops people in their tracks. He makes all things work together for our good. Why, then, do we give in to fear? Fear, my dad once said, reveals that we are walking by sight. In verse 1, we see the power of God. In verse 2, in light of the awesome power of our God, we will choose to trust in Him, even though. Even though the earth is giving way beneath our feet. Even though the mountains are crumbling all around us. Even though the water is raging and the earth is shaking. Elisabeth Elliot said that faith’s most severe tests come not when we see nothing, but when we see a stunning array of evidence that seems to prove our faith vain. And so we must choose. Do we look at our circumstances, the supposed evidence that seems to contradict the promises of God? Or will we choose to fix our eyes on the Lord of Hosts? Will we call to mind his great and mighty works, not only for those in scripture, but even on our own behalf? With a God like this, why should we ever give in to fear? He is not affected by our circumstances. He is not affected by our enemies. He alone can act around and above and through all of these things to accomplish his purposes for us. The problem is that when we look on what we can see, what we can feel, we become obsessed with what we can do, much like Jacob. Jacob, who fought everyone in his fight against God. Jacob, who manipulated his circumstances and the people in his life because was afraid God would fail him. Jacob, who the Lord of Hosts finally brought to a breaking point when they wrestled through the night — and the Lord won. Jacob, whose name was wonderfully, graciously changed to Israel that very night. Israel, which means God fights. God wants to fight for us. He wants to deliver us. But we must let Him. The one thing we must remember is that deliverance never looks like we expect. This beautiful Psalm was written in response to the work of God in 2 Kings 18-19, when Hezekiah was king of Judah. Hezekiah was an incredible man of God, second only to David in his devotion to God. As a result, the Lord was with him and he was successful in everything. Even so, a time of trial and testing came. Assyria came against Judah, and Hezekiah was caught in a terrible place. The king of Assyria taunted him, taunted God. He told the people not to believe Hezekiah, not to believe that God would deliver them from his hand. Overwhelmed, Hezekiah cried out to the Lord and sent word to the prophet Isaiah, begging for direction and help. Isaiah sent a letter back. “Don’t be afraid of what you have heard.” God promises to deliver. Hezekiah praises God for this, again asking Him to do what He has promised. And then Isaiah sent another message. A beautiful prophecy and incredible promise. It ends with these words: “I will defend the city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.” What will this look like? No one knew. And I’m sure no one expected what happened next. The very next verse (19:35) says that the angel of the Lord, that Lord of Hosts, Jesus himself, went out and put to death 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. The next morning the people woke up and discovered all that the Lord had done for them. The dead all around. The rest of the army fleeing. The chariots burning. Deliverance. And they did nothing but cry out to the Lord and wait. “He will burn the chariots with fire.” So be still.
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bethany HARRISIn a word: passionate. Archives
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