Today's reading is Psalm 46.
God is within her, she will not fall. God will help her at break of day.
Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall. He lifts his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord Almighty is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress.
Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes what sees to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear.
He burns the shields with fire. He says, be still and know that I am God.
I'll be exalted among the nations. I'll be exalted in the earth.
The Lord Almighty is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress.
The word of the Lord.
The last time I was up here, I was a student.
And fast forward to today, I am so happy to have the pleasure to speak to you this morning on the topic, songs of comfort.
And I appreciate the opportunity to share these words of scripture with you.
But before we begin, let us share a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, through Christ. Amen.
Songs have the ability to comfort us. They go a long way towards resetting our mood when we go through challenging times.
Songs and music are a universal language of empathy and solace.
And you probably have a song that is kind of like your go-to song when you're feeling sad, you're down, you're distressed.
You have the blues. We all do, actually.
And the familiarity of those songs remind you that you are not alone in that situation.
It's so interesting that songs that were written long ago by people we don't even know have the way of meeting us and lifting us up when we feel low.
So today, we're going to look at one of such songs, which is also a song, as we continue our summer playlist series.
And the track that we're going to look at today is Psalm 46.
It's a song that was composed by the Sons of Korah, a musical group who used to minister in the temple in the old days.
It's believed that this song was written at a time when Jerusalem was under siege.
And Judah was being invaded by another country.
And I know that we are not under siege here today, but in our personal lives and our personal circumstances,
we sometimes face challenges that make us feel like we're under siege.
There are life issues we face sometimes, and those issues threaten to consume us.
They're so overwhelming.
And maybe you're dealing with one of those issues here today.
It could be a financial issue. It could be a health issue.
Something has happened to somebody that you care about dearly, and you're just grappling with that.
It could be that you're alone. You're far from home. It could be anything.
Because I can tell you this. If you have lived long enough on earth, you would have come through something.
You would have known that life does happen to each and every one of us.
So when life happens to us, the question is, where do we go for comfort?
Sometimes we're tempted to do the wrong thing that even worsens the problem.
But the psalmist is going to give us some tips on how to derive comfort from the Word of God when we're facing difficulties.
And this psalm actually offers us comfort by reminding us of who God is to us during times of trouble, what God is doing.
Where God is during those difficult times.
And it tells us what we should be doing so that we fully benefit from the comfort that the Word of God offers us.
So the first question that the psalm answers, which should give us comfort, is the question of who.
And it goes right off the bat. It says that God is our refuge and our strength and ever-present help in trouble.
See, the psalm begins with a very categorical and powerful statement that answers a couple of questions right off the bat.
God is our refuge. He is our strength.
He is present. He is our help.
So let's try to break this down.
If you lived in a place, in a country, in a region that experiences hurricanes and tornadoes,
you would ensure that you know where all the shelters are way before the storm hits.
And once there was the storm, there was a prediction that a storm is coming, you would go way ahead.
I would go way ahead of time into the shelter and I would stay there until the storm goes past.
To be sure of our safety, we do not seek refuge when the storm is already there.
It would be very risky to be running around when the storm has arrived.
And in a similar manner, it is something we need to do as followers of Christ to seek God and develop a relationship,
a very vibrant relationship with Him way before the storm of life comes and hits us.
That way, we will not panic when the storm hits because it would be settled already in the place of refuge.
See, Proverbs chapter 18 verse 10 says that the name of the Lord is a strong tower and the righteous,
they run into it and they are saved. So it's not even, we're not even strolling into it.
We're running there because that's where our refuge is.
And we can also take a hint from Psalm 9 to 1 that says that He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High
shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty and He shall say of the Lord,
He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.
See, what I like about that is says He that dwells.
That means God should already be a dwelling place for us as we develop a relationship with Him.
And so that's the encouragement. If we have to benefit from the comfort of having God as our refuge,
we have to continue being a part of what God is doing in our midst.
We have to continue as we all are doing to come into the place where God is
because that's where the refuge is. So allow God to be the one who guides and leads our life
because that's where we derive comfort.
To study the Word of God, to pray, to build up our faith.
Another thing to note in this verse is that God is helping us.
Again, let's go back to the storm shelter situation. If we go to a storm shelter,
you don't just get the covering and the shelter. There is help while you're there.
There's food, there's water, there's sustenance, there is interaction.
And that's kind of what it is like being in God and with God. All of that is taking place.
God is comforting us through His Word, through the things He's encouraging us,
through our community, our fellow believers. He's reaching out to us.
And verses 2-3 say, do not fear, do not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
Well, what this means to me is if I'm in a storm shelter, chances are that
it doesn't matter how bad the storm is out there, I am not going to come out of that shelter
because I'm right where I should be. It's kind of the same thing with God.
If you're working with God, if God is giving you refuge, it doesn't matter what is going on around us.
It doesn't matter how fierce that shaking is. It doesn't matter how bad that situation is
because guess what? You're not going to run out of God. Where are we going to go?
That's our refuge. That's our shelter. So we stay put.
And we have the confidence that it doesn't matter how long it lasts,
when it's all said and done, God will see us through it.
So we remain there. And we know, just like 1 Corinthians chapter 10 says,
it says that no temptation we face is uncommon to man.
It may look to you, it may be very challenging, it may be difficult,
but that's to you. It's not uncommon to man. It's not the first time it's happened.
It's not going to be the last time. God has seen other people through similar things.
And He's going to see you through it. He's going to see me through it.
He's going to see all of us through it.
Another important question that this psalm answers is,
where is God while I'm going through this trouble?
We tend to say that a lot. If God is with me, why am I going through all of this?
Why is this happening to me? Why me? Well, I'd rather it's not me,
but that's what we tend to say.
Verses 4 to 5 say that there is a river whose streams make light the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her.
And guess what? God is within you. The Holy Spirit is in you.
God is within you. God is in our midst. God is in the city.
Look at it this way. God is in the city.
God is in our midst. God is in the city. Look at it this way.
We run to God. God is our refuge. But God is already dwelling in his city.
So actually we're running to the presence of God.
And so in all our challenges, in all our tribulations, in all our situations,
God is present.
This reminds me of a parable in the Bible, or a narrative,
when Jesus was going after a day of teaching, he told his disciples,
let's go to the other side. And they all got into the boat and started going.
Halfway on the sea, the storm arose, and the disciples started panicking.
And they did what we would do. They felt they could fix it.
So they started bailing out the water that was coming into the boat,
until some smart person among them said, no, we actually have Jesus here.
Let's wake him up. Jesus was in the boat, and yet they faced a storm.
So the fact that you have a situation, a circumstance, a challenge in your life
does not mean that God is not with you. Actually, he is present. He's there.
And so we should take comfort when we know and we read that God is with us.
And for those of us that are watching online or if you get to hear this message
at a later time, feel free to join us here in Trinity.
This is a place where we actively seek God.
This is a place where we actively seek to follow him, to make sure that he's in our midst.
He's present with us. We have a vibrant community that we support one another.
We love one another through the challenges of time.
And so we are comfortable and we are confident to say that God is always in our midst here at Trinity.
Another thing we learned from this time is what God has done.
It talks about desolations, yes. We live in a broken world.
And sometimes we don't know how God acts, but our brokenness causes conflict and things like that.
But beyond the conflicts and the desolation, God makes wars to cease to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and he shatters the spear and he burns the shield with fire.
What that means to me and it should mean to all of us is that no matter what that situation is,
God will break it. That situation that looks like it's going to break you, God will break it.
The problem is always the timing. We want it now.
But sometimes that's not how it works.
We have to trust God and believe that he will come through in his time and make all things beautiful.
See, if God can handle conflicts in nations and cause wars in nations to cease,
then I am very confident that our individual lives, the problems we face in our personal lives,
cannot be that much of a challenge to God.
And so let's take comfort in that knowledge.
And finally, we've been talking about what God has said he's going to do, he's doing, and will do.
Let's talk about what scripture says that we should do.
It says we should be still. We should be still and know that he is God.
I don't know whether you know how difficult it is to keep still when you are facing challenges.
The tendency is you want to fix it, you want to do this and do that and do the other one.
There's a lot of activity going on. There is a lot of effort to get this done.
And when we've gone through the first round and it hasn't worked, we start again and we're doing the same thing over and over again trying to fix it.
Now, the Bible says be still and know that I am God.
And being still does not mean abdicating our responsibilities.
If it's a financial situation, we still have to make that call to the bank.
We still have to take responsible steps to get it fixed.
Being still means after you've done all the needful things, let's stop panicking.
Let's stop behaving like we don't have a God that we are praying to and we are confident that he's going to help us resolve that issue.
Let's stay still. Let's stay confident.
Ephesians 6, chapter 6, verse 13 says this in a very nice way, a way that I enjoy.
It says put on the full armor of God so that when the evil day comes, you may be able to stand your ground.
And having done all to stand, stand.
So do all you can do and then be confident that God will see you through that situation.
Sit still in the shelter under the refuge of the most high God.
So in closing, verse 11 tells us the Lord Almighty is with us.
The God of Jacob is our fortress.
Truth is that has been the running theme in the Psalm.
We saw it in verse one when it says when he said that he's a very present help.
We saw the same concept in verse five when it says God is within the city.
God is with me. God is within me as in the form of the Holy Spirit.
It is in a mist here as a Trinity community and will not let us fall.
We saw it in verse seven that says the God of Jacob is with us.
And now it's also a reminder that the Almighty is with us.
So in summary, how do we navigate trying times and derive comfort from the word of God?
We seek and remain in God.
We recognize him as our refuge, as the source of our strength and our help.
We recognize that God is present with us in that situation.
We keep still and know that he's going to help us and that he continues to be God.
My prayer is that the Psalm will make it to your personal playlists as a song of comfort
that you can go to when you need it and walk through the words of comfort and encouragement that are buried in this.
Thanks be to God. Amen.