Psalm 46:1-3 ESV
“God is our refuge and strength,
a very present
help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the
mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the
mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah”
Yesterday evening a black snake suddenly appeared on our
porch outside of our living room on the other side of our sliding glass doors.
The snake had crawled partially up one of the legs to one of
the chairs on the porch and his head was sticking out. He looked as though he was
looking into the living room straight at us. His head was raised, he looked
proud, and it seemed he was trying to intimidate us. So, I quickly took a
picture of him.
In the Bible, in the book of Genesis, the devil (Satan)
appeared to Eve and Adam (who was with Eve) in the form of a serpent (snake).
So, the snake has often been a symbol of the devil and of evil and wickedness. And
the serpent tempted Eve to sin against God, and she did, and Adam did, too.
Evil is raising its ugly head right now in many different ways.
And, the devil is causing all kinds of havoc on the earth. And, many people are
afraid and/or they are angry and/or they are wanting revenge, for someone to
pay. Some people are just wanting change, for things to be different, better
than they have been, and for there not to be injustice and inequality in the
world.
But right now we live in troubled times, and our world, as
we have known it, has been turned upside down. People are fighting with each other,
hating and killing, and deceiving, tricking and manipulating. So, we are in a
whirlwind right now, not knowing what tomorrow is going to bring. There are so
many uncertainties, for so many things are in an uproar right now.
And, Satan is tempting us to give way to fear, or to join
him. And many people are joining him, some unknowingly, because they don’t see
him in what is going on, because they are deceived. But humans are not to be
our refuge and our strength. We are not to seek human solutions to sin. Only
God can turn people’s hearts away from sin and wickedness. Not men!
Psalm 46:4-7 ESV
“There is a river whose streams make glad the city of
God,
the holy
habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help
her when morning dawns.
The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his
voice, the earth melts.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of
Jacob is our fortress. Selah”
Satan wants you to be afraid. He wants you to be angry and
fighting others. And, he wants you seeking human solutions to a sin problem.
But it is a trap of the devil. You want peace and safety? Those can only be
found in God, but not in the way in which you may want them. God’s peace is
within our hearts, regardless of our circumstances, and his safety is
spiritual, not necessarily physical, for he promises us we will be hated and
persecuted.
If you are looking to the world to solve your problems, then
you are going to get worldly, not godly solutions, and the world is under the
influence and control of the serpent, not God.
His idea of peace is to first of all cause all this chaos so
that he can bring you a false peace which is going to require you to bow to
him, and to take his mark, and to give up your faith in Jesus Christ. Why? Because
Jesus didn’t come to bring peace but a sword, and to turn family members, one
against another, because the gospel divides people as believers in Jesus and as
non-believers in Jesus, and we will be hated for our faith in Jesus.
So, with that peace, for which you are hoping, is also going
to come severe Christian persecution, because in order to bring the world into
peace with one another, they have to rid the world of everything that divides,
and Jesus and his gospel message divide, and so they will have to go.
You don’t like inequality? You want everyone to be equal?
Then you will have to renounce your faith in Jesus Christ so that we can all be
equal with one another; so that we can all be the same. You will have to give
up your freedoms, too, and your money, and your homes, and your careers so that
we all work at the same level with the same pay and in the same type of
housing. This is called socialism. And, this is where this is all headed.
And, we will all be under the same form of government, too,
which is the One World Order of the beast (of Revelation). And, it will be a
totalitarian tyrannical government, too. And, this will be the result of
looking to men to solve what only God can solve, for only God can change people’s
hearts.
So, don’t take matters into your own hands. Don’t look for
human solutions to sin and heart matters. Don’t look to men to be your refuge
and strength and your help in trouble. Look to God, and to him alone! Trust him
with your circumstances and believe him to work it all out according to his
plans and purposes and for the good of those who love him.
Let his peace fill your hearts, and trust in him to keep you
safe spiritually, and to give you the strength that you will need to endure
unjust suffering, to which you are called. And, let him be the one to bring
justice and to execute vengeance on the guilty, for he knows who the guilty
really are. And, love your enemies, do good to them, pray for them, and speak
good things to them which will lead them to faith in Jesus Christ.
Psalm 46:8-11 ESV
“Come, behold the works of the Lord,
how he has
brought desolations on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the
bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the
chariots with 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 fortress. Selah”
God is in control. He is completely sovereign over all that
he has made. And, he brings desolations on the earth when they suit his
purposes, and when he wants to draw his rebellious and adulterous people back
to fellowship with him. And, he is the one to bring wars to an end and to exact
punishment on the guilty.
And, he is the only one who can turn hearts away from sin to
him. We, as humans, are not going to remove sin from people’s hearts. Only God
can remove hate and murder from men’s hearts.
He wants us to be still and to know that HE IS GOD! And, we
have to not try to play God ourselves. That is not a good idea. It will end
badly every time.
Being still is not being silent about injustice, though. We
can expose the fruitless deeds of darkness for what they are, but then we are
to share the light of the gospel in contrast to the darkness and call people to
repentance and to faith in Jesus Christ. For, this is the only hope for the
world.
The only way this world is going to be free from hate, prejudice,
and the like is if Jesus changes their hearts. So, we need to be focusing our
energies on getting out the gospel message to people rather than in trying to
exact justice ourselves. And, we need to let God be God. For, he has this all
under his control, and nothing can thwart his purposes.
God is With Us
An Original Work / June 11, 2019
Based off Psalm 46
God’s our refuge. He is our strength,
A present help to us when in pain.
Therefore, we will not be afraid,
Although the earth beneath us gives way.
Though the mountains be moved to the sea,
Roaring waters abound so free,
And the mountains now tremble so,
We will not fear, God is near, we know.
God is with us and He makes glad
The hearts of all who to Christ have fled.
Christ is in us, so we’ll not fall
When on our Savior our hearts do call.
God will help us, as mornings arise,
To be faithful to His design.
Nations raging, and tempers flare.
Our God is with us. We know He cares.
Come and see the works of the Lord.
He’s armed for battle with His great sword.
He’s the Word, and He is the Life.
He gives us strength in all of our strife.
Be still and know that He is our God.
He’s exalted where’er He trods.
The Lord Almighty, with us still;
The God of Jacob, our citadel.
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