There Is A Reassurance
Introduction
There Is A Reassurance (Psalm 46:5–11)
It was G. Campbell Morgan who wrote…
Comment on this great song of confidence seems almost unnecessary, so powerfully has it taken hold upon the heart of humanity, and so perfectly does it set forth the experience of trusting souls in all ages, in circumstances of tempest shock.
Having reminded us that “There Is A Refuge,” and “There Is A River,” the psalmist now sets before us the truth that “There Is A Reassurance.” And certainly, contained in these lines in verses 5 thru 11 are words that reassure the distressed child of God. Observe how…
I. We Can Find Reassurance In The Declared Presence
(Psalms 46:5-7) God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early. {6} The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted. {7} The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
A. God’s Presence Was Demonstrated In The Midst Of His City
(Psalms 46:5-6) God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early. {6} The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.
Note verse 5.
midst – Hebrew 7130. qereb, keh'-reb; from H7126; properly it means the nearest part, i.e. the centre.
help – Hebrew 5826. 'azar, aw-zar'; a prim. root; to surround, i.e. protect or aid:--help, succour. Albert Barnes said…
God is in the midst of her] God is in the midst of the “city” referred to above-the “city of God.” That is, He dwelt there by the visible symbol of his presence, the Shekinah; He was there “actually” as a help and a protector. It was his chosen abode, and as long as such a Being dwelt in the city, they had nothing to fear.
The Pulpit Commentary states…
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved] While the world is being turned upside down (verses 2, 3, 6), the Church is unmoved – since “God is in the midst of her.” [God shall help her, and that right early]; literally, at the turning of the morning, or, in other words, “at the break of
day” (compare Psalm 30:6; 49:14; Isaiah 17:14). The deliverance of Israel from Sennacherib came, it is to be remembered, when it was discovered “early in the morning” that in the camp of the Assyrians were 185,000 “dead corpses” (2 Kings 19:35).
Cf. (2 Kings 19:35) And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
The Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary says…
“Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” (Psalm 49:14). Affliction may pass a night with the Lord’s people; but with the morning dawn Yahweh dislodges it from its resting-place, and gives in its stead abiding salvation.
Note Verse 6.
The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved - Cf. Isaiah 36:18-20 - he uttered his voice, the earth melted - Cf. Isaiah 37:36
Charles Spurgeon explained that…
The heathen raged. The nations were in a furious uproar, they gathered against the city of the Lord like wolves ravenous for their prey; they foamed, and roared, and swelled like a tempestuous sea. The kingdoms were moved. A general confusion seized upon society; the fierce invaders convulsed their own dominions by draining the population to urge on the war, and they desolated other territories by their devastating march to Jerusalem. Crowns fell from royal heads, ancient thrones rocked like trees driven of the tempest, powerful empires fell like pines uprooted by the blast: everything was in disorder, and dismay seized on all who knew not the Lord.
He uttered his voice, the earth melted. With no other instrumentality than a word the Lord ruled the storm. He gave forth a voice and stout hearts were dissolved, proud armies were annihilated, conquering powers were enfeebled. … How mighty is a word from God! How mighty the Incarnate Word. O that such a word would come from the excellent glory even now to melt all hearts in love to Jesus, and to end for ever all the persecutions, wars, and rebellions of men!
The Keil and Delitzsch Commentary says…
If peoples and kingdoms become enraged with enmity and totter, so that the church is in danger of being involved in this overthrow – all that God need do is to make a rumbling with His almighty voice of thunder.
B. God’s Presence Was Definite In The Midst Of His Children
(Psalms 46:7) The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
The word “is” in the King James Version is italicized indicating the word has been added twice in this verse by the translators. But the addition by no means diminishes what the psalmist is conveying.
Rather, it enhances the statement. He is with us; He is our refuge!
Barnes says…
“Of hosts” - the word (hosts) sometimes translated “Sabaoth.” The word means literally armies or military hosts. It is applied, however, to the angels which surround the throne of God; and to the stars or constellations that appear to be marshalled in the sky. … God is called Yahweh of hosts because He is at the head of all these armies, as their leader and commander; He marshals and directs them – as a general does the army under his command. … (This name) represents Him as the ruler of the hosts of heaven, that is, the angels and the stars.
Even though He is “the Lord of hosts,” and even though He is with the myriad of angelic beings and the millions of astrological bodies, the psalmist said He “is with us”! The promise in this Psalm is that “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.” This is not a dime store promise, but it is a 7-11 promise because it is stated both in verse 7 and verse 11.
In his “Guide to the Psalms,” W. Graham Scroggie said, “It must be observed that references to ‘Jacob’ in the psalter are generally, if not always, to the nation and not to the individual.” As the Pulpit Commentary says, He is “our covenant God.”
However, G. Campbell Morgan said…
The twice repeated refrain (verses 7, 11) is full of beauty as it reveals the twofold conception of God which is the deepest note in the music. He is the King of all hosts. He is the God of the individual.
II. We Can Find Reassurance In The Divine Power
(Psalms 46:8-9) Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth.
{9} He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.
A. Through God’s Power - There Is An Evidence Of Devastating Works
It’s almost as if one is summoning all of Hezekiah’s men to come see what had taken place in the Assyrians camp…
Cf. (Isaiah 37:36) Then the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament says of the word “corpses” (OT:6297 – peger) that it…
refers to the corpse of men, never of animals (except Genesis 15:11), and not just the body immediately after death, but the corpse in which decay and stench have started (Isa 34:3; cf, John 11:39). The idea of “dead/death” is contained in peger, though twice it is qualified by the word metîm – “dead” (2 Kings 19:35; Isaiah 37:36).
desolations – Hebrew 8047. shammah, sham-maw'; from H8074; ruin; by impl. consternation:-- astonishment, desolate (-ion), waste, wonderful thing.
The word “desolations” refers both to the ruinous action of heaven and the response of appalment and horror.
I watched a broadcast of David Jeremiah preaching through his series on “What In The World Is Going On.” And he was talking about the Battle of Armageddon in Revelation 19 when the armies are defeated by Christ and the fowls of the air come to feast upon the dead bodies. And as he was talking about this graphic, gory scene, Dr. Jeremiah simply said, “Don’t mess with God!”
Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words says of the word “earth” (OT:776 – erets) that it can refer to “the temporal scene of human activity, experience, and history.”
B. Through God’s Power - There Is An Ending Of Different Wars
(Psalms 46:9) He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.
Barnes said…
The overthrow of the Assyrian army would probably put an end to all the wars then raging in the world. The Assyrian empire was then the most mighty on the globe; it was engaged in wide schemes of conquest; it had already overrun many of the smaller kingdoms of the world (Isaiah 37:18-19. … When the vast army of that empire, engaged in such a purpose, was overthrown, the consequence would be that the nations would be at rest, or that there would be universal peace. [He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder] That is, He makes them useless, as a bow that is broken is of no value, or a spear that is cut into parts. [He burneth the chariot in the fire] … The expression here may refer to a custom of collecting the spoils of war into a heap, and setting them on fire. This was particularly done when the victors were unable to remove them, or so to secure them as to preclude all danger of their being taken again and used against themselves. … The idea here is that God had wholly overthrown the foe, and had prevented all danger of his returning again for purposes of conquest.
What have you been trying to use to fight against God? It is pointless.
III. We Can Find Reassurance In The Deliberate Pause
(Psalms 46:10-11) Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. {11} The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
A. Recognition And Reverence
There Is A Pause For The Purpose Of Recognition And Reverence (and even Relaxation)
Be still, and know that I am God
be still – Hebrew 7503. raphah, raw-faw'; a prim. root; to slacken (in many applications, lit. or fig.):-- abate, cease, consume, draw [toward evening]
know – Hebrew 3045. yada', yaw-dah'; a primary root word meaning to know (properly to ascertain by seeing); used in a great variety of senses, fig., lit., euphem. and infer. (including observation, care, recognition, and causat. instruction, designation, punishment, etc.).
Albert Barnes wrote…
[Be still] The word used here – from ?raapaah ?– means properly to cast down; to let fall; to let hang down; then, to be relaxed, slackened, especially the hands: It is also employed in the sense of not making an effort; not putting forth exertion; and then would express the idea of leaving matters with God, or of being without anxiety about the issue. Compare Exodus 14:13, “Stand still, and see the salvation of God.” In this place the word seems to be used as meaning that there was to be no anxiety; that there was to be a calm, confiding, trustful state of mind in view of the displays of the divine presence and power. The mind was to be calm, in view of the fact that God had interposed, and had shown that he was able to defend his people when surrounded by dangers. If this is the divine interposition when Jerusalem was threatened by the armies of the Assyrians under
Sennacherib, the force and beauty of the expression will be most clearly seen.
In the stillness, come to the realization of Who He is.
(He said that He would be exalted even among those who do not know Him.)
B. Repetition And Reflection
There Is A Pause For The Purpose Of Repetition And Reflection
(Psalms 46:11) The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
There is a repetition of pausing throughout this psalm as seen in the word “Selah” (verses 3, 7, 11). And in fact, there has been a repeating of the entire statement in verses 7 and 11, which some commentators believe should also have been included in its entirety at verse 3 as well.
The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament says of this word “selah” that it is…
A term of unknown meaning, probably of musical significance. … Many are the conjectures as to its meaning, but nothing certain is known. … The primary meaning of the words seems to be “cast up.” (One of the derivative words has the idea of building a road or highway higher than the adjacent terrain.)
Perhaps the idea is to pause when the song or psalm comes to an intersection of thought, and be raised up (or cast up) taking a higher road of contemplation.
Strong’s Concordance offers this definition…
selah – Hebrew 5542. celah, seh'-law; from H5541; suspension (of music), i.e. pause:--Selah. Fausset’s Bible Dictionary says this word is found…
Seventy-one times in the Psalms, three times in Habakkuk (3:3,9,13). From shelah, “rest.” A music mark denoting a pause, during which the singers ceased to sing and only the instruments were heard. … It is a call to calm reflection on the preceding words. … The selah reminds us that the psalm requires a peaceful and meditative soul which can apprehend what the Holy Spirit propounds.
Spurgeon said of this word “Selah”…
Here as before, lift up the heart. Rest in contemplation after praise. Still keep the soul in tune. It is easier to sing a hymn of praise than to continue in the spirit of praise, but let it be our aim to maintain the uprising devotion of our grateful hearts, and so end our song as if we intended it to be continued.
Selah bids the music rest. Pause in silence soft and blest; Selah bids uplift the strain, Harps and voices tune again; Selah ends the vocal praise, Still your hearts to God upraise. (From The Treasury of David)
Regarding the fact that the Lord is with us, Spurgeon quotes from the biography of Charles Wesley by Rev. William C. Larrabee saying…
On Tuesday Mr. Wesley could with difficulty be understood, though he often attempted to speak. At last, with all the strength he had, he cried out, “The best of all is, God is with us.” Again, raising his hand, and waving it in triumph, he exclaimed with thrilling effect, “The best of all is, God is with us.” These words seem to express the leading feature of his whole life, God had been with him from early childhood; his providence had guided him through all the devious wanderings of human life; and now, when he was entering the “valley of the shadow of death,” the same hand sustained him.
Conclusion
Last Monday marked the 61st anniversary of the death of Civilla Martin. She passed away at the age of 81 on March 9, 1948 in Atlanta, and she is buried in the Westview Cemetery in Atlanta.
When she was in her mid to late thirties, she said…
I was confined to a sick bed in a Bible school in Lestershire, New York. My husband (Walter Stillman Martin) was spending several weeks at the school, making a songbook for the president of the school. “God Will Take Care of You” was written one Sunday afternoon while my husband went to a preaching appointment. When he returned I gave the words to him. He immediately sat down to his little Bilhorn organ and wrote the music. That evening he and two of the teachers sang the completed song. It was then printed in the songbook he was compiling for the school.
In that place of stillness, on the sick bed, she wrote these words… Verse 1
Be not dismayed whate’er betide, God will take care of you; Beneath His wings of love abide, God will take care of you.
Chorus
God will take care of you,
Through every day, over all the way;
He will take care of you,
God will take care of you.
That is the message and truth of this psalm. God will take care of you. Be still and know Him today!