Our Refuge in Times of Trouble

Benenz Hitchcock

Holiday (Reformation Day 23) • Sermon • Submitted 7 months ago • Presented 7 months ago

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God is our refuge and strength in times of trouble.

Notes

Transcript

Introduction

My two favorite holidays are Christmas Day and Reformation Day. As this week draws close each year, I feel the excitement and the appreciation that I have for this very special day. For some of you, it is no surprise that we sung “A Mighty Fortress is our God” seeing that it is Reformation Sunday.

I want us to take a step further and look at the Psalm that inspired the Augustinian monk, Martin Luther, to write that hymn sometimes labeled as the battle hymn of the Reformation. Luther wrote this hymn in 1527 as the Bubonic plague approached Wittenburg, where he was staying. He had been excommunicated from the Catholic church 6 years earlier and he was on the run often because in some states they would have tried him if they had caught him.

He was and still is well known. He is known as the “Monk who changed the world.” And rightfully so as he changed the way that the Catholic church was viewed. The idea that you would have to pay for loved ones in purgatory was completely flipped on its head, the view of the Pope as a little god, and other beliefs were included in this.

All this being said, I want to be clear about one thing. I love the Reformation and I bubble up inside when this comes around each year. But who is it that we are here to worship? That’s right the Lord Jesus Christ. My hope is to worship him by looking through Luther’s eyes as we consider the 46th Psalm. Turn there with me, please.

We are going to jump around a little bit. I am going to read all 11 verses, but we are only going to look at the 5 that Luther based this hymn upon. That being said we are going to complete a sentence with the sermon points this morning. First, “God is our Refuge” (v.1), second “When the Earth gives way (vv.2-3), and third “We will not be moved” (vv.7, 11). In short order, God is our refuge when the earth gives way, therefore we will not be moved. Read all 11 verses.

1. God is our Refuge (v.1)

I do not want us to look at this Psalm in a negative way. What I mean is by looking at all the terrible things that are occurring in our world and keeping our focus there. It is easy for us to center our minds on what is going on. My hope is that we will see this text in the light of who God is amid our circumstances. For this is what Luther had done during his time of difficulty.

With that being said, look with me at verse 1. The Psalmist begins with the reality that God is our refuge and strength. I want to point out some observations that will be helpful as we go through this text. Notice with me how this is written. Do you see the ‘is’ in the beginning? What does this tell us? It tells us that the Psalmist is speaking in the here and now of his day. It means that the Psalmist was convinced that God was alongside of him in the moment of writing this Psalm.

I want us to spend some time considering this because the implications of the reality of God always existing is massive. It is a difficult thing for a human to fathom God always existing. The first four words in the Bible give the most trouble for people. How can God be in the beginning? Wasn’t there someone who had to create God, since he created us? This is where we believe in Scripture alone, as Luther did. Why do we believe that God was in the beginning and has continued to ‘be’ until this very moment? Because the Bible tells us so. We believe in the authority of the Bible as we are told in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is breathed out by God.” Why does this matter? Let me tell you. If 2 Timothy 3:16 was written only by human hands, it would have as much merit as any book that you find on the library shelf. This means that the Bible a non-fiction fairy tale, storybook that has a somewhat decent ending.

God always being has more significance for us. The Bible tells us that God is omnipresent, or he is everywhere all the time. So, is God a refuge for certain people at certain times? No! God is a refuge for his people wherever they are. For the brother who is under intense persecution in a foreign nation or the person who is taken away by police because he is preaching the gospel outside, God is a refuge for both. In fact, God has ALWAYS been a refuge for his people. And he will continue to be a refuge for his people as long as the material world exists.

Jesus’ words in Luke 13:34 are helpful for us to see that God has been and always will be our refuge. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” See what Jesus is saying? In the past and in the present day in which he lived, the invitation to come to him as their refuge was there. It was because of the hardness of heart as to why they could not come to him. What I want for us to see is that God as a refuge is continual. Today, dear sinner, you can turn from your sins, trust in Christ, and come to him as your refuge, your safe place where hope lies!

So, what does God as our refuge mean? The word refuge in the Hebrew means the “source of.” It is “something or someone turned to for assistance or security” (Logos). In other words, God is our shelter, trust, and hope. Do you ever think of God as a refuge? Many people today do not. They think of God as a ‘daddy’ or a ‘best friend.’ Brothers, our God is our safe place to go. We can always run to him, and he will always be there. Just like his love is not conditional, nor is he being our refuge. He does not put us out because of our sin, he does not put us out because we did not evangelize to certain people, he does not put us out because of an impure thought. God continues to be our hope.

Look with me at the second line of verse 1. The text tells us that God is “a very present help in trouble.” Thanks be to God, that we have someone to go to in the hard times! God has not only existed since the beginning, but he with us today as much as he was in the days of the Psalmist. God was a very present help for the Psalmist when trouble came upon him.

God was a very present help in the days of Martin Luther. He had already gone through much trial and difficulty surrounding the posting of the 95 Theses on the Castle door at Wittenburg. And now, the plague was coming. Luther ran to his God in his time of trouble because he knew that God would be with him. He had a high view of Scripture and believed it to be truth. Hera Luther’s own words, "From the beginning of my Reformation I have asked God to send me neither dreams, nor visions, nor angels, but to give me the right understanding of His Word, the Holy Scriptures; for as long as I have God's Word, I know that I am walking in His way and that I shall not fall into any error or delusion."

Christian, what is the trouble that you face today? What is it that has you down? What is it that might be enslaving you? Know this, that whatever it is that you are facing, you have “a very present help in [your] trouble.” God is with you, and he will never forsake you. Turn with me to Isaiah 41. We are going to read verses 8-10. In the same way that God was with Israel, so is God with us today through Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit within us. Read the verses. After reading this there may be some who say, wait a minute this is addressed to Israel. And you would be correct. May I ask you, who are the offspring of Abraham? That’s right you and me. We have the glorious promise from the Old Testament that is made true in Jesus Christ our Lord who is with us now as he was in Israel’s days.

2. When the Earth gives way (vv.2-3)

Turn back with me to Psalm 46 and we move, now, to verses 2 and 3. Verse 1 has given us the foundation for what we are going to see here. Notice the ‘Therefore’ at the beginning of verse 2. The Psalmist is now moving from statement of fact to acting upon that fact. What is the action? That we will not fear. See, the Psalmist sets this up by telling us that due to the fact that God is our refuge we have zero reason to fear.

What are we not to fear? We could answer this question in an open-ended way. But to keep this in context, notice what the verse says. We are given three scenarios under one general heading. The general heading is what we see in the first line. That is ‘though the earth gives way’ which is our second point. What does it mean for the earth to give way?

Today, we see this played out in natural phenomena. Earthquakes, fires, floods, and tsunamis are all examples. For many people today, they are afraid when these things occur. There is concern, thinking, “what if it were happen to me?” The earth giving way is physical changes on the earth. As we will see, it is in the negative. This, of course, is due to man’s sin in the world.

I want us to look at the three scenarios in order of appearance. The first of which is the mountains that are moved into the heart of the sea. Look with me at the second line of verse 2. Now, is a mountain being moved into the sea something that is even imaginable? Think about this for a moment. A mountain being entirely relocated from its current spot. It seems impossible when we think of such a thing as humans. Listen here, just as God is our powerful strength and refuge, so he is terrifying in his power to move any created thing on this earth at any time he desires. Yet, as Gloria Furman reminds us, “The assurance of God’s help is our hope even if the mountains crumble into the sea.”

How do mountains move into the sea? One way is by earthquakes. Earthquakes can cause much damage including tsunami activity. On March 11, 2011, an earthquake on the Japan Trench “generated a tsunami with a maximum wave height of almost 130 feet…As of December 2020 it was reported that 15,899 people died, 2527 were presumed missing or dead, and an additional 6157 injuries” (National Centers for Environmental Information). Did anyone expect this disaster to take place? No. God knew it was going to happen. Why? Because this created world is his and he does what he wants with it.

Amazingly, the Bible speaks about different disasters that occurred in the times of the patriarchs, judges, kings, and prophets. There were famines, earthquakes, and floods. This is no surprise, for God has created the earth and because of man’s sin, the current natural disasters have been in existence since sin entered into the world.

Move with me to verse 3. The second scenario listed that we are called not to fear is when the “waters roar and foam.” I love the language of the Bible. It gives us much to think about. After reading this initially, I asked what in the world does this mean? When I think of something roaring, I think of a lion or some big cat. I do not picture the waters roaring like a lion. I am thankful to God that it is the Holy Spirit that is implanted in each one of who believe who gives the clarity and ability to study the Bible effectually. Without him, it would be impossible to derive the meaning from the text. Now, the waters roaring is a “loud sound” or “to be in great commotion…to rage, to befoul (or to violate or desecrate), war, be in an uproar.” Both to roar and foam both refer to a kind of trouble. As was seen earlier with the tsunamis, we could picture this loudness and commotion as hurricanes. Have you ever looked out your window or door and you could hear the rushing of the wind? Or maybe how hard the water hits the roof or siding of your home as it moves on through? Tropical storms and hurricanes are not quiet events, they are loud and cause quite a commotion. Remember Hurricane Sandy and the widespread destruction it caused? In whom was your hope in, the Psalmist would ask. Or maybe you were like the disciples in Matthew 8 as they fear for their lives during the wicked storm in which Jesus was asleep. The Psalmist would say to you today that there is no reason to fear no matter how bad it gets.

The foam that is described in verse 3 is no small matter. This is cataclysmic as well. Foam in this verse is pictured as a boiling up of scum. For those in the Psalmist’s Day, clean water was much harder to come by. If there was a natural disaster that wiped out a town and took the debris with it, there was a good possibility that the drinking water would be affected. They didn’t have the water treatment facilities that we have today, so clean drinking water was of utmost importance. Yet he is telling the people of his day and to us as well, that even if the water we depend on for our earthly existence were to go south, we can still depend on our everlasting hope and his name is the Lord Jesus Christ.

We move on to the third scenario and that is found on the last line of verse 3. Look there with me. We are told to not fear “though the mountains tremble at its swelling.” The amazing power of God is on display as the mountains quake at the swelling of the waters. The great big mountains of the earth, quake at the rushing of waters but the believer in Christ does not fear. For he is kept secure by his refuge who is God. Notice that it is the mountains that tremble. If the mountains tremble, you know that the people who are inhabiting the earth that have not trusted in Christ are trembling too! They have nowhere to run. All they are able to do is cower in fear.

As we see more natural disasters, the nations raging against one another (v.6), and confusion every which way let us not fear. For the one in whom we find our strength is the one who “utters his voice and the earth melts.” We serve a powerful God; Christian do not fear!

3. We will not be moved (vv.7, 11)

Our final point is the end of our sentence. God is our refuge, when the earth gives way, thus “We will not be moved.” We find this in verses 7 and 11. This is where Luther found the courage to trust in the Lord when terrifying circumstances, such as the plague, were on the way. A note before we jump in, you will notice that verses 7 and 11 are exactly the same. This is a common way in which the authors in the Old Testament wrote. There are many examples, but here are a few (Psalm 42:5, 11, 43:5; Jeremiah 3:12, 22; Ezekiel 32:20-32).

Verse 7 and 11 begin with calling God by his eternal name that is Jehovah. We will see another name for the Lord in a few moments. I want us to see the majesty of the name Jehovah as he is the Lord of hosts. The ‘of hosts’ refers to an army that is ready for war. It can also mean a mass of people. However, the reference, clearly, is to the army of the Lord. “The phrase “Lord of hosts” communicates God’s role as a warrior who fights both in the cosmic conflict against divine forces and through human historical events for his people Israel” (Logos).

Joshua 5:13-15 is an example of this. When the commander of the Lord’s army presents himself before Joshua, Joshua bows and worships him. Going further, the commander tells Joshua to take his sandals off because he is standing on holy ground. If you were to read the entire passage, you would note that the commander does not tell Joshua to lift his face as a means of improper worship. The NKJV displays this in the English the best. It speaks of the commander in each instance with a capital letter to show that he is God. The commander receives the worship. This is an instance of God being a warrior on behalf of his people and we see his power on display when the Israelites do not lift a finger and the walls of Jericho come down.

David came to Goliath in “the name of the Lord of hosts” (1 Samuel 17:45), knowing that the power to defeat the giant was not in his hand but in God’s hands. Some translations say, “The Lord Almighty.” This is merely a modified translation from the Greek word that means ‘almighty.’ What is important for our consideration is that God is Almighty. He is the commander of the heavenly armies.

What these two Old Testament examples show us is that these men did not cower in fear. They trusted in the word of the Lord. How ridiculous does it sound to walk around a large wall for seven days and then yell at it to come down? It is ridiculous if you do not have faith. Joshua believed. The same is true of David. One small stone was going to kill the large giant? And then to have the accuracy to hit it in just the right spot? David did not have faith in himself, but he knew God was right there with him.

This is what the Psalmist is telling you this morning. He is telling you and me that God is with us and that he is a militant God. He is not God who sits back and just watches the world go on. He is a military commander who is more powerful and great than anyone else. His army is greater than any other army. Why? Because he is the leader of it.

Now, God is with us as a military commander, but he is also with us as an immovable stronghold. Hence, the Psalmist calling the Lord ‘our fortress.’ A fortress, just like one made today, is a defence, high tower, or high fort. The idea is that it is an immovable structure. God is our fortress in times of trouble. He will not be moved. Because he will not be moved, we will not be moved.

So, why is it important to celebrate Reformation Day? Permit me to tell you. The men who fought to reform the church did not do so over a friendly YouTube debate. They did not do it with a crowd that was watching in suspense and wonder, but with hatred. These men did not do it thinking that they could go home afterward, and everything would be ok. No! These men suffered a great deal for what they believed in. Many of them went into hiding, were burned at the stake, excommunicated from churches, declared enemies of the state, and labeled as heretics. Through all of this, they were bold in their proclamation of the truth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that the Bible, and the Bible alone was the Word of God. Men such as John Hus come to mind.

May I read to you a short excerpt of his last days. “Hus’s enemies succeeded in having him tried before the Council of Constance as a Wycliffite heretic. All that the earnest intervention by the Bohemian nobles could obtain for him was three public hearings, at which he was allowed to defend himself and succeeded in refuting some of the charges against him. The council urged Hus to recant in order to save his life, but to the majority of its members he was a dangerous heretic fit only for death. When he refused to recant, he was solemnly sentenced on July 6, 1415, and burned at the stake” (Britannica).

Might you, this Tuesday, as you watch the world dabble in Halloween or maybe you do yourself, I ask you to remember these men who literally gave there lives so that we could sit here, have the Word of God before us, and hear of the wondrous truths of the gospel.

Conclusion

Where do you find your comfort in times of trouble? Do you find yourself running to the Lord? Or do you find yourself, maybe, cowering in a corner not knowing what to do?

When the world seems to be spinning off its axis, to whom do you turn? Are you a person of prayer? Do you think about the power and majesty that our great God has?

Brothers, our God has promised to put an end to all things that cause pain, destruction, and death and make all things new. Our God makes wars cease, he shatters the enemy, they stand no chance.

In times of persecution when it seems as though God might be far from us, remember that he is near us. He is our “very present help” in whom we can rely on without fail or trepidation. There is nothing that the enemy can do to discredit us, because we are found to be in Christ. This is the great hope that the Reformers had. They trusted in Christ alone for salvation and it was and is in him, whom we trust.

Praise be to God, that we do not have to climb a measuring stick of works that lead to approval in the sight of God. Praise the Lord that he continues to walk alongside us on our earthly journey through this foreign land. Praise be to the King, that he has provided us with a safe place to go amid our infirmities.

You can rest in the mighty fortress who is our God.

Benediction

Psalm 62:1-2 “For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.”

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