Psalm 46

So last week, Guy spoke to us from Psalm 27, reminding us that God is our light and salvation.

And as it was being read, one verse really did stick out for me.

And it was verse 14, wait for the Lord, be strong, take heart and wait for the Lord.

And today we're looking at Psalm 46 as we continue our mini series in Psalms.

And it tells us towards the end of verse 10, be still and know that I am God.

And it seems to me, I don't know about you, but it seems to me that God is speaking not only to wait, but to be still.

Now, Psalm 46 is known widely as a Song of Zion, which is another word for Jerusalem, where the cherished sacred temple was.

It being the earthly dwelling place of the Most High God, a secure and unshakable fortress, protected by God's presence.

And this is a powerful communal song of ultimate, ultimate confidence in God, celebrating deliverance from some great foe.

That may have been alluding to when the Assyrian army invaded the land and surrounded Jerusalem.

And that story can be found in 2 Kings, chapters 18 and 19. but it's also a call to his people to return to him whom they trust.

So I've broken it down into the three proverbial sections, three theme sections, short ones, and I've named them the three Ps.

The power of God, the presence of God, and the peace of God.

And there are many themes that can be taken from this Psalm, but when I was preparing this, because I pray, when I pray for people or even write to people, I often refer to the power, the presence and the peace of God.

But before we look at the three Ps, let's look at that very first, the very first words that it says, that the Psalmist uses.

God is our refuge and strength and ever-present help in trouble.

So the starting place for the Psalmist isn't the turmoil of life.

but on an amazing declaration of faith.

And a refuge is not a place we build for ourselves.

It's a place that's already near.

place when we turn to, when strength isn't something that we have to gather up ourselves on our own.

It's already there, offered to us freely.

Our help isn't a distant help, or a help that turns up eventually, but it is an ever-present help.

So my hope this morning is that by repeating that God is our refuge and strength and ever-present help in trouble, that we will not, in the words that Charles used a few weeks ago, we will not forget to remember, or even remember not to forget.

Believe it or not, I can't remember which way round he said it, but there we go.