STUDY THEME: QUESTIONS ABOUT GOD: "9-10-00
"HOW DOES GOD HELP?"  PSALM 46: 1-11
PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO PSALM 46.

In last Sunday's lesson we began our study theme on "Questions about
God." John reminded us that God is love but we come this Sunday to
another very important question and that is how does God help us? Does
God drop food from the sky when we are hungry? Does He drop bottles of
water from the sky when we are thirsty? Obviously of course He does not
help us in this way but He does help us! The lesson this Sunday wants us
to learn about how God helps by studying one of the most famous of all
the Psalms. Martin Luther's famous hymn, "A Mighty Fortress is Our God"
was based upon this Psalm. 

He wrote the hymn in 1529 when the Protestant cause seemed to be wavering
in the balance. In 1781 when the Protestants of Linz were torn from their
families and banished, in their bitter grief they sang the last words of
the hymn: 
Take, if they will, our life.
Goods, honor, children and wife. 
Yet is their profit small.
These things may vanish all,
The city of God remaineth. 

The 46th Psalm is a song of praise that celebrates the security of 
Jerusalem as the city of God. Possibly a hymn of triumph after a great
deliverance. We might remember that Jerusalem was built on a hill with
valleys on three sides. They were natural defenses. But Jerusalem's north
side was vulnerable to armies that approached it, therefore the people
had to build a strong wall especially on that part of the city in order
to give it protection. But the writer of the Psalm knew that the city's
ultimate help and hope came from God and not from human efforts!

The suggested "Biblical Truth" for the lesson is that God is willing and
able to help people who turn to Him, no matter what their situations. The
suggested "Life impact" is to help people to turn to God and seek His
help in all situations.

1. PLEASE READ PSLAM 46: 1-3.

Everybody's parade get's rained on at one time or another. Life turns
upside down. What we never expected becomes stark reality. A child gets
sick and dies. An accident ends our ability to work and earn our living.
A spouse dies. The Company we work for down sizes us right out of our
job. A friend betrays our trust. We have nowhere to turn. Can we call on
God in times of desperation and find help available? The psalmist assures
us that we can. Why? Because it is part of God's nature to serve as a
refuge, a hiding place in time of trouble. Isaiah in Isa. 25:4 wrote,
"For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in
his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the
blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall."
The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 91: 2 "I will say of the Lord, He is my
refuge and my fortress: my God: in Him will I trust "

Vs. 1 sets the tone for the entire psalm. God is described with several
key words: refuge, strength, and help. Refuge is a favorite word to
describe God in the Psalms. Only in God is true safety found. A number of
Hebrew words are used in the O.T. to depict God's strength. The word used
here appears often in the Psalms. Strength shows that people of faith
trust God's power, not their own. Help is another favorite word of the
writers of the Psalm.

"Very present"or "ever-present" means "abundance" or "force" Derek Kidner
explained: "The term very present has implications of His readiness to be
"found...and of His being ‘enough' for any situation." 

Both of the ideas involved in very present  are important. God is not far
away and inaccessible He is near and ready to be found or sought in times
of need. Some people think of God as an absentee God, who has left us and
this world to go on its own way. No! He is near and ready to help us when
we seek Him. The other idea is equally important. The help God provides
is enough to meet the crisis we face. He is sufficient to handle whatever
we face or will face. He has promised not to allow us to be tested beyond
what His strength is able to help us endure.

Trouble is a general word for all kinds of troubles, not just the kinds
in Vs. 2-3, which describe terrible disasters to the earth...the
mountains...the waters. These may refer to natural disasters (past,
present, and future) or to future catastrophes near the end of time.
Leslie wrote, "Here are forces which mankind cannot control: the melting
of the earth in volcanic eruption, the tottering of mountains in
earthquake and the tumbling of great eroded masses of rock into the sea,
the angry roaring of the sea." We hear about disastrous earthquakes,
floods, hurricanes, and  tornadoes in our country and around the globe.
Sometimes we find ourselves in one of these.

MANY OF YOU WILL KNOW EDNA AND ALLEN WINGO. WILL YOU LISTEN TO EDNA'S
TESTIMONY.
EDNA HAS AN IMAGINARY NEIGHBOR. WILL YOU LISTEND TO MARY TELL OF THE 0
SAME INCIDENT? 
WHAT DO YOU THINK EDNA MIGHT BE ABLE TO SAY TO HER NEIGHBOR MARY? 
WHAT BASIC TRUTHS FROM PS. 46:1-3 WOULD YOU SHARE WITH MARY? 
HAVE YOU EVER HAD AN EXPERIENCE WHERE YOU HAD TO DEPEND ON THE LORD
DURING A TIME OF DANGER? 

The Psalmist did not claim that God's help meant that God would always
spare his passing through troubles. He believed that God's strength would
help him pass through the troubles without fear. Fear is the opposite of
the confident faith of the psalmist. From beginning to end, the Bible
calls on believers not to fear because the Lord's help is there for them.
 

In 2 Chronicles 20:17 God said, "Ye shall not need to fight in this
battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord
with you--for the Lord will be with you." Today many people face the
future with fears and anxieties. Much of what we fear never happens, but
when it does, fear has sapped from us our faith and courage. As we begin
the 21st century, we should  face it without fear and with confident hope
based on God's help, not human potential apart from God.

In Vs. 1 the psalmist had learned by personal experience that God was our
only ultimate hope of strength and therefore was an ever-present help in
time of trouble. 
In Vs. 2, because of the certainty of God being his source of strength,
the psalmist could declare that he would not fear, even if the earth
itself fell apart.
In Vs. 3 even if the water raged like a tidal wave and the mountains were
to quake, the psalmist still could trust God. He knows the powerfully
surging and potentially destructive floods of waters will not erode God's
protective fortifications. 

These next verses show what it means for God to be an ever-present help.
God's people may be threatened by evil people and evil forces;
nevertheless, His kingdom will emerge victorious. God is with us, and His
help will arrive when it is needed. 

2. PLEASE READ PSALM 46: 4-7.

The heading of Psalm 46 indicates that it was written for public worship,
most likely worship in the temple. The "Sons of Korah" were temple
singers. When the writer celebrated God's presence, he had in mind the
temple and Jerusalem. Sometimes the Israelites abused the symbol of God's
presence among them, bringing idols into the temple or presuming that its
presence would protect them even when they sinned. Yet the temple really
was God's idea. Before the Israelites entered Canaan, God said He would
choose a place for His name to dwell. Working through David, God chose
Jerusalem,. Then when Solomon built the temple, God inhabited it
dramatically. Thus the temple was the focus of God's presence, and He
invited his people to appear before Him there. Sadly, although God had
chosen the temple as a symbol of His presence with His people, because of
their sins, according to Ezekiel 10,  He abandoned it shortly before the
Babylonians destroyed the city and the temple.

In Vs. 4 the psalmist used the phrases the city of God and the holy place
to join the city and the temple in His praise. Historically the temple
and the city often were linked. Much of Jerusalem's strategic and
economic importance lay in its connection with the worship of God. Thus,
in a sense, the temple sanctified the whole city, protecting it when the
Israelites were faithful to worship and life. Both the temple and the
city were blessed by a constant water supply. 

Water in the middle-east was a source and symbol of life its self and
since Jerusalem had a life-giving spring of water, the psalmist could
declare there was a river that gave great joy to the city of God. 

No city or village could survive without a source of water. An
ever-flowing spring or stream, not cisterns or pools, was the best in
times of military threat and even in everyday life. Probably the psalmist
had the Gihon spring in mind as he reflected on God's provision. Gihon
was Jerusalem's main source of flowing water. Linking a stream and God's
presence expressed the reality that the real source of the city's
endurance in peace and war was God, not its natural or humanly devised
defenses. 

Jerusalem needed a warrior to fight for it because Israel was a
land-bridge between Asia and Africa. Often nations roared out their lust
for land, wealth, and power. When Assyria, Babylon, or Egypt assembled
for war, small nations melted. How could Jerusalem and Israel endure
unless a champion fought for them. God was the city's champion, not from
afar but from within the city.  Her refers to Jerusalem. 

The people had no need to flee to a remote refuge. God was present and
ready to act. His intervention at break of day could refer to His coming
at the moment of threat because dawn often was the time of attack.  In
2nd Kings 19:35 the deliverance of Israel from Sennacherib came when it
was discovered "early in the morning" that in the camp of the Assyrians
were 185,000 dead corpses. Pagan nations might be in an uproar and human
kingdoms fall but God was still mightier than them all. Imagine a God who
subdues His enemies by His voice. He spoke the world into being. In Psalm
46:6 He spoke again and the earth melted. Who could do that except the
Lord Almighty? He was present and ready to help. 

Vs. 7 is the chorus to the hymn, and Vs. 11 repeats the words. Yet the
psalmist was not simply following rules for poetry or hymn writing when
he used two tittles for God and then repeated them. Rather, God led him
to stress first His identity as a Commander and then His relationship
with His worshipping people. When invaders threatened, the Lord Almighty
was needed. 

God's love is unconditional. He loves us the way we are even as He works
to shape us into what we should be. That understanding should keep us
from reading the word is with us and is our fortress in a proud fashion.
Otherwise, we can confuse assurance with presumption. God is not with us
because we are better or more deserving than others. He does not help us
because He must. That is presumption. God is with us because He has
chosen us and has established a relationship that allows us to call on
Him in the confidence that He responds out of love and faithfulness. The
psalmist had learned what every  Christian ought also to know and that is
that God is with us and He is our fortress. 

Now if we had our way, threats never would intrude into our lives. None
of us likes to be afraid or pressured. Yet if these elements did not
intrude, we might never discover God's willingness to be with us. So God
has permitted  fearful, chaotic situations. He has allowed them to come
so we might know His presence--a comfort to us and a witness to others.
God's presence may come in the form of a friend, the Spirit, or a
comforting message or hymn. 

These next verses show what it means for the Lord to be an all-sufficient
help. The Lord defeats the forces of evil and imposes His peace by
destroying their weapons of war against Him and His people. He calls evil
people to cease struggling  against Him and calls His people to entrust
themselves completely into His hands. In this way, they will learn of Him
and expect to see Him exalted in all the earth.

3. PLEASE READ PSALM 46: 8-11.

Vs. 8-9 elaborate on God's victory over the evil that is implied in Vs.
6. The works of the Lord include all the acts of God in the history of
salvation: the exodus, the conquest, the period of the judges, and the
monarchy. The desolations refer to His judgments in history. Symbolic of
this is the picture in Exodus 14:30-31 of the dead Egyptians and their
equipment washed ashore after God parted the Red Sea to deliver His
people and destroy their enemies. Also compare the gruesome picture of
the defeated armies of evil in Rev. 19:17-18. Vs. 9 looks ahead to the
era of peace when God will have put down all rebellion and impose His
peace on the earth.  
 
"Be still" means to "cease striving."  "Relax", let the reins of your
life fall into God's hands. If this imperative was directed to enemies of
God, it was a call to cease striving against God. If it was directed to
the people of faith, it was a call to quit striving in human strength. As
God's people, we are called to cease our fears, anxieties, and attempts
at self-sufficiency. In our busy and hurried way of living, we need to
hear what God commanded through the psalmist when he said in Vs. 10, "Be
Still and know that I am God, I will be exalted." 

"And know that I am God" is a call to realize that the Lord is the one
true God. People need to come to know Him as God or to come to know Him
better as God. They were also called to realize that He would be exalted
among the heathen and be exalted in the earth. All glory is due Him. His
kingdom will come and His will shall be done. People need to trust Him to
bring in His kingdom, and they need to become willing subjects who
glorify His name. 

Most people have heard the proverbial saying, "God helps those who help
themselves." Many people even think that it's in the Bible. Well it's not
. Actually the proverb is a half-truth. The true part is that God does
expect us to do our part in allowing Him to work out His will in and
through our lives. The false implication, however, is that the only time
God helps us is when we first help ourselves. 

That is, we must rely on ourselves first before we turn to God for His
help. But God helps those who cannot help themselves. And in handling the
deep issue of life, all of us need His help. We must rely on Him and not
on ourselves or anyone or anything else to do what only God can do. We
all need to learn to pray: "Lord, forgive my impatience. Teach me to wait
on Your timing, to trust in Your wisdom, and to rest in Your strength."  
   
Vs. 7 and 11 mention the God of Jacob. God had to teach the patriot Jacob
the lesson of Vs. 10. In his early years Jacob was a man who felt that he
could handle every situation. He was something of a wheeler-dealer. This
characteristic was sharpened in his year years of coping with the wily
Laban. However, when Jacob headed back home, he remembered his brother
Esau's vow to kill him. 

Thus when Jacob heard that Esau  was coming to meet him with several
hundred men, Jacob did all he could do to prepare. However, he realized
that he could not do enough in his own strength. He emerged from this
crisis as a man who trusted the Lord in a new and deeper way. This was
when his name was changed to Israel in Gen. 32. 
CONCLUSIONS:
1. Because all created things, including human beings, are finite and
mortal, we need                                            to truly know
that God is our ultimate source of help!
2. Inordinate pride can blind us human beings to the above reality. 
3. Genuine humility should make us accept the fact that we are totally
dependent upon the power and sustaining grace of God. 
4. The type of faith which produces this deep assurance does not come
easily; it only comes by years of  Bible study, prayer, and sincere
worship of the true God.
5. Christians should not expect God to do everything just like we think
He might or that we think we might prefer that He do them! We must trust
Him even when He does things differently than we expect!
6. We must trust God's word and not trust our human feelings!
7. People who have meaningful daily devotions seem to have that deep
inner sense of                                    God's sustaining power!
 
I'm sure you have all heard the Christian's Prayer of Commitment and
Serenity: 
God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be
changed,
Courage to change the things which should be changed, 
And the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.

A paraphrase that applies to faith might be this prayer:
God grant me the faith to trust You to do what only You can do, 
The strength to do what only I can do with Your help,
And the wisdom to know the difference. 

NEXT SUNDAY IN 1 KINGS 18 WE WILL SEE "HOW POWERFUL GOD IS." 
THIS IS THE CONTEST BETWEEN ELIJAH AND THE PROPHETS OF BAAL AT MT.
CARMEL.                                                 A.V. DAUGHERTY   
 9-10-00