When Your World Is Shaken

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When my children were little, I used to read to them a lot. We still read as a family, but then much more. Some of the children's books I read made a distinct impression on me. I mean, you can't get better literature than "Goodnight Moon". But I still remember one of the titles and those of you who have children or had them will remember a book entitled "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day". I liked that title because we've all had days like that. In fact, sometimes we've had years like that, and that shouldn't surprise us. We live in a fallen world. We live in a world that God Himself subjected to the curse. As Paul put it to the Romans, the entire universe in which we live has been subjected to vanity and futility. Because of that curse, there is trouble in the world. Each of our lives is filled with potential danger and trouble.

I was reading this last week in my journey through the Scriptures. This year, I was reading Job and, and I was struck with Job 5:7 where Job writes, "… man is born for trouble, as the sparks fly upward." As surely as the sparks fly up from a massive fire, and you can't stop it, it's certain it will happen - even so, we are born for trouble. In Job 14:1, we read, "Man, who is born of woman, is short-lived and full of turmoil." That's life. That's life in a fallen world.

It was true even for our Lord Jesus Christ when He lived here in the world. In Luke 22:28, Jesus speaks of His disciples toward the end of His life. He calls His disciples, "… those who have stood by Me in My trials." Hebrews 5:8 says that "although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered." That doesn't mean there was disobedience in His life. It means He learned an increasing pattern of obedience to God as He grew and matured through the troubles that God brought into His life.

Listen. If God didn't exempt His Son from troubles when He lived in this world, you and I should not expect to be exempt from them either. We will face trouble. If you're not in the middle of trouble right now, you have been recently, or you soon will be. That's the story of life. So how do we respond to trouble in a godly and a biblical way?

As you know, over the last two months, Sheila and I have found ourselves walking through trouble and a trial in our own lives with the diagnosis of her breast cancer. After two surgeries, they believe they have gotten all the cancer, but right now she's just letting her body recuperate, anticipating the end of this month when radiation begins and six weeks, five days a week of radiation. And of course, they're encouraging us after the radiation is done, that she needs to take a five-year regimen of a prophylactic chemo drug to hold off the possible recurrence because of her level of risk.

As we faced that trial, as we got word of that news, my mind went to this Psalm, to this favorite Psalm, Psalm 46, that I just read for you a moment ago. There are three stanzas in this Psalm and each of them is marked at the end by the word "" You'll see it at the end of verse 3, the end of verse 7, the end of verse 11. You'll notice the caption of the Psalm which, those are ancient and, and probably original. It says, "For the choir director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah, set to Alamoth. A Song." This was a song intended to be sung. It was written by the sons of Korah, the Levites who had been designated to lead the temple worship music.

And notice it's written for the choir director. That means it was intended for use in the public worship. God's people were to sing this together. And it's set to Alamoth. That expression occurs only here in the Psalms. The word means "girls". It's possible this Psalm was to be sung by high female voices or it could be referring to a higher setting of a particular tune or perhaps high-pitched instruments.

We really don't know the circumstances behind this Psalm as we do with many. Based on the second half of the Psalm, most scholars believe it was probably written after a great military victory over a foreign power, possibly even a failed siege of the city of Jerusalem – hence those verses in the middle.

Regardless of its setting, Psalm 46 is a Psalm of trust. It declares God to be completely and utterly trustworthy, especially when our lives are completely shaken by the circumstances in which we live. In fact, the key phrase to interpret this Psalm comes in verse 1. Notice the little expression "in trouble", in trouble. The Hebrew word "trouble" originally described something narrow, something tight. In fact, it was used of a place where only one person could travel at a time, where you were hemmed in on both sides. Eventually, it came to be used metaphorically to describe circumstances and troubles that hemmed you in, the personal anguish we encounter in difficult and trying circumstances. For example, this same word "trouble" is used by David as he laments the death of his friends Saul and Jonathan.

So, the psalmist isn't talking here about being unable to find a parking place at the mall. He's talking about those times when your circumstances are constricting, when they're confining - to use our terminology, when you find yourself between a rock and a hard place, and you just don't see how you can survive the circumstances in which you find yourself. When you say to yourself, "I just don't know if I can do this." When life is pressing in on every side and you don't feel like you can move or even breathe.

There are a number of folks in our church family who find themselves right now in trouble. My mind goes to a little boy who was born with a serious heart issue who right now is fighting for his life; to a young adult woman for whom the medical community apparently has few answers even after numerous surgeries; for a dear friend whose lifelong battle with debilitating arthritis has meant countless surgeries and constant pain; for a man with a young family who's fighting the recurrence of a brain tumor and all that that brings; a number who are fighting cancer of various kinds and at various levels; parents whose hearts are broken over the choices their children have made; a number of folks who have lost jobs and on and on and on it goes. That's the kind of trouble the psalmist is talking about.

The psalmist identifies two sources from which the disasters in our lives come. First of all, in verses 1 to 3, there are natural disasters we could call them. By that, I mean disasters that come out of the fallenness of the created world around us. These may be catastrophic natural disasters like earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, hailstorms. Or they may be personal disasters that are linked to the fallen created world like a fire or a flood that destroys just our home or some physical problem such as cancer or a heart attack or some debilitating disease - disasters linked to the fallenness of the created world.

There's a second kind of disaster that comes into our lives though in verses 4 - 11. They're man-made disasters, man-made disasters. In verses 4 - 7, it's an army attacking apparently the city of Jerusalem, besieging the city of Jerusalem. In verses 8 - 11, it's the entire world at war which is only too recent in our memories. Again, these man-made disasters that come into our lives may be national or international disasters like wars, genocide, riots. Or they may be more personal man-made disasters, disasters brought into our lives because of the sinfulness or carelessness of the people around us; violent crime against you or someone you love, abuse, hatred, anger, accidents caused by carelessness like a drunk driver, persecution - trouble that comes into our lives not from the fallen created world, but from fallen men and women.

So, in the end then, this Psalm addresses all of the potential disasters, both personal and national, that come into our lives. Listen. Did you read the paper this week? If Greece's economy collapses and throws the world into recession, that's included in what the psalmist is talking about here. If the next 09/11 comes; if this week your spouse loses his job or his retirement; if a child that you dearly love turns from the faith that you have taught them your entire life; when someone you love or when you hear the word "cancer", "malignant", or when trouble comes into your life in countless other ways. When we got the news about Sheila, it was to this Psalm that my mind immediately ran.

When disaster strikes, whatever form it takes, here is how we should respond. This Psalm was written almost three thousand years ago, but the same truths about God that supported the psalmist who wrote it, the people of Israel who sang it originally – those same truths are also our mighty fortress in the middle of life's greatest storms. What the psalmist wants us to see, folks, is that whatever trouble comes into our lives, our hope is not in ourselves. Our hope is not even in getting rid of the circumstances. Our hope is in the person of God. That's where our true security lies.

Specifically, the first stanza of this great Psalm that I want us to briefly give some thought to this morning presents three great truths about God on which we can base our confidence when we find ourselves in trouble. The stress in this psalm is not really on our faith, but it's on God's faithfulness, not on our trust but God's trustworthiness. The first great truth about God that stabilizes our souls in the midst of trouble is this, God is our refuge in trouble. That speaks of His protection. Notice verse 1, "God is our refuge…." I love that word. The Hebrew word for "refuge" simply means "shelter". It's used of a fortress. It's used of a walled city. It's even used of a simple lean-to that protects someone from a storm. In Isaiah 4:6, it occurs in this context, "a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and a refuge and a hiding place from the storm and the rain." God is our shelter, our place of protection, a place where the danger is all around us but can't hurt us.

In verses 7 and 11, the psalmist uses a similar Hebrew word. Notice the word "stronghold". It describes God as our stronghold. That word means something, a place of safety that is inaccessibly high. It describes a fortress built on a cliff or on a mountain where, in the ancient world when there were no air forces, you couldn't get there. You were safe if you were in that fortress, that inaccessible high place. This word "refuge" when it's used metaphorically describes a place of safety that the danger can't hurt you, and your enemies can't get to. That's God.

During the early evening of August 17^th, 1969, Hurricane Camille unleashed her full fury on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The eye of that huge storm with its two hundred plus mile per hour winds passed over a little Mississippi town called Pass Christian. Two hundred and fifty-six people died that night. About forty-five miles away from the landfall, from where the eye, the center of the eye passed landfall but well within the scope and fury of the storm - about forty-five miles away on the west side of Mobile not far from the Mississippi border, I huddled with my mom and my dad and about five other members of our family in our little nine hundred square foot home.

The problems had begun that morning. Early that morning, bands of wind and rain had begun to come ashore, and each band came with more intense rain and higher gusts of wind. By late afternoon, you could hardly go outside. By early evening, the core of the storm had finally arrived. It didn't take us long to lose power. That happened almost immediately. And we all gathered around our little dining room table with a lone kerosene lantern in the middle and my dad desperately trying to tune the radio to catch the snatches of news about what was happening in the world around us. I'll never forget the massive fury of that storm. For six hours, we sat there hardly able to hear one another over the rain and the wind. Several times, there were explosions as transformers blew up nearby. We heard what we later learned were trees snapping and falling.

As a nine-year-old boy, it seemed like the world was coming to an end. I eventually fell asleep I think about two or three that morning. And when I woke up, the sunlight was streaming in the window. The storm had passed. I had survived. For me and my family, that little home had been our refuge from the storm - the danger passing by on every side, trees falling and breaking. We learned the next morning that our little refuge almost wasn't because the wind, the violence of the wind had literally picked up a couple of corners of the roof, exposing us to potential harm.

As believers, we have a shelter that will never fail. The person of God Himself is our shelter from the storm. Sometimes, I don't think we know how many times, I think it happens all the time, God protects us from the storm – storms that might have come He turns the other way. But many times, God protects us in the storm. But regardless, He is always our refuge. If you belong to God, He is your shelter in the midst of trouble.

But while that's true, you have to own that as a reality for it to be a source of comfort and encouragement to you. Psalm 73 says, "I have made the LORD God my refuge." In other words, I've decided that God is going to be my refuge. How does that happen? He is our refuge, but how is it that that becomes a source of comfort and encouragement to us? Well, the answer's found over in Psalm 62. Look at Psalm 62. David finds himself in a different kind of trouble and storm here. It's a storm caused by people. And in verse 5, he says,

My soul, wait in silence for God only, For my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be shaken. On God my salvation and my glory rest; the rock of my strength, my refuge is in God, [So how do you respond to that? How does that become a source of encouragement?] Look at verse 8, Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us."

How do you make God your refuge? By actively trusting His providence, by accepting the circumstances He brings into your life as good and His purpose and His plan, and in the middle of those circumstances, pouring out your heart to God. Listen. It's okay to ask God to remove the trial, but don't forget to ask Him to sustain you in it, to protect and shelter you from danger. Listen. Here's the promise to you. If you're in Christ, there won't be a single storm of life that will truly put you in danger. Your faith is safe. It will not fall. He will keep you. He is your refuge.

When your world is shaken, you are in an inaccessible place of safety and that is sheltered by God Himself. He will not let your faith fail. He will not let your soul be devastated. He is your refuge. So, put your trust in Him. Accept the circumstances that He brings. And demonstrate that trust by pouring out your heart before Him and asking Him, 'O God! Shelter my soul! Protect me from danger! Don't let this wreck my faith. Don't let me destroy Your name through this circumstance.'

So, God is our refuge in trouble. It speaks of His protection. But there's a second great truth about God that makes Him our fortress in time of trouble, and it's this, God is our strength in trouble. That speaks of His provision. Look at verse 1 again, "God is our refuge and [God is our] strength." That word "strength" is used throughout the Psalms of God's power and His omnipotence. In fact, in the Psalm we were just looking at, Psalm 62:11, it says "… power belongs to God…." That's the same word. So, in other words, this word "strength" describes the power of God that is completely, as we sang about this morning, untamable, unstoppable, uncontrollable. God can and does whatever he chooses. That's the power and strength we're talking about.

But notice in our trouble, I love this, God doesn't give us strength. It's true to say that He does give us strength, but that's not what this Psalm is saying. He doesn't give us strength. He is our strength. In other words, He infuses us in the middle of our trouble with His own personal strength. What's the very thing we feel like we lack when we find ourselves in the middle of life-devastating trouble? "God, I just don't know if I can do this. I don't know if I can survive this." You can.

It's interesting. The first word "refuge" speaks of God protecting us from external danger. He is our shelter from external danger. But this second word "strength" speaks of God working in us as we go through the trouble to protect us from the danger of our own souls collapsing, empowering us to endure through the trouble. And it's His strength that enables us to do it. It's like Isaiah 40. I remember early on in my Hebrew training, I was sitting in class and, and I came to that word in Isaiah 40 where it says, "… those who wait on the LORD [those who wait on God to act in the middle of their trouble, who put their trust in God to alleviate their problems, they] will [and it says in our Bible] renew their strength." The word "renew", the Hebrew word, is actually the word which means "exchange". Think about that for a moment. You wait on God, you trust Him in your circumstances in the midst of your trouble, and you exchange your weak, puny strength for His omnipotent power. His strength becomes yours.

Isn't that what Paul said in Second Corinthians when he was asking God to remove that thorn in the flesh? Whatever that thorn was - there was a lot of debate about that, and we'll talk about that at some point. Regardless, it was debilitating in his mind. He says, "God, remove it!" And he asked God three times to remove this thorn from his life and what did God say? "No, My grace is sufficient for you." And Paul says, "I've learned that in my weakness, His strength is demonstrated." That's exactly how it is. When you acknowledge your weakness in the middle of life's traumas, and you cry out for God's strength, He doesn't just give you a little dose of human strength. He exchanges your weak, puny strength for His eternal strength.

Listen. Do you find yourself right now in the middle of circumstances that you just don't know how you're going to get through it? Or perhaps there's some circumstance you terribly fear that you're not in the middle of? You know, it's interesting to me. Next to public speaking (which is a fear I certainly don't understand), but next to that fear the fear that is most common is the fear of cancer. That's why when people hear that someone else got cancer, they just are terrified. What if my next test comes back positive? What if the doctor says to me, "I'm sorry, you have cancer." Listen. You don't need to be afraid. You don't need to fear that. In that moment, God will give you His strength. He is our strength.

There's a third great truth about God that's the source of our confidence in the midst of trouble. God is our present help in trouble. This speaks of His presence. Look at verse 1 again, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." Listen. God not only gives you the resources you need when you find yourself in trouble. He's there with you. When we find ourselves in that narrow, constricting place of trouble, where there's only room for one to squeeze through, God is there. He is instantly available to His people. In fact, that's one of the key points of this Psalm. The point is made here in verse 1, but it's also a point he comes back to in the refrain of stanza 2 and stanza 3. Look at verse 7 of Psalm 46, "The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold." Look down at verse 11, "The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold."

By the way, "LORD" is God's personal name. When you see that, the word "LORD" in all caps like that, that's God's personal name. When He says it, it's "I am". When we say it, when we say Yahweh, it's "He is" - the eternally self-existent One. He says I am the God of hosts. That word "hosts" is simply another word for "armies". God says I am the God of armies. And the God of armies, the eternally self-existent One who needs nothing or no one, who does whatever He pleases, who has countless armies at His disposal of powerful beings we call angels, one of whom killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers – that God is with us. It's incredible. The God who has infinite armies and resources at His disposal is present with us in the midst of our trouble.

Whether it's a hospital room, or whether it's a home where you find yourself alone, or whether it's an accident on a lonely road, or whether it's financial trouble, whether you find yourself sitting alone in your office at work having just gotten the news that you've been let go – wherever you are, whatever that lonely, restricted place may be, He is present. He is with us. It brings back to mind the passage John was talking about last week from Romans 8, doesn't it? "If God is for us, who can be against us?" He's not only for us. He's with us.

But notice back in verse 1 He's not only present, but He's present to help. The Hebrew word for "help" is "ezra". You recognize that name obviously. It means to provide support or assistance for someone who is helpless. God recognizes that we're helpless in the midst of our trouble and He responds with assistance, with support, with literal help.

In fact, let me, let me share with you the literal rendering of the Hebrew. I don't know if, maybe, maybe this doesn't do anything for you. Sometimes I like the way it's worded in the original language because it just hits me differently. Listen to what it literally reads in the Hebrew text, "A help in troubles, He has let Himself be found in abundance." A help in troubles, He has let Himself be found in abundance. The Hebrew really includes two ideas. One is He's present and ready and willing to be found. And the other is that when He's present, He has enough help for any situation. He has it in abundance – never any shortage of God's power or ability to help.

Listen. When you find yourself in trouble, when your life is turned upside down, when it feels like God has abandoned you, don't believe it. He has promised not to do so. He is still present in your life to help. Psalm 145:18 – "The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth." And that promise hasn't changed.

How should we respond to the knowledge of who God is to us in the midst of our trouble, that He is our refuge, our strength, a very present help in trouble? How do we respond to that? Look at verse 2, "Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride."

The picture in those verses is of a devastating earthquake, something Israel experiences too often. But the psalmist here pictures the worst possible outcome – an earthquake so devastating that it changes the faith, face of the land. It actually causes some of the land of Israel to slough off into the Mediterranean Sea. You know what the psalmist is saying? If the two things in our world that seem most dependable and immovable – the earth and the mountains – are shaken, we're still secure.

If the entire created order begins to collapse around us, we don't need to be afraid. In other words, even if our world is completely shaken, if it's turned upside down - because God is our refuge, because He is our strength, because He's our very present help in that trouble, therefore we will not fear because He's in control. It may feel out of control, but we know it's not because He's in control. That is the clear theological foundation of this Psalm. You see it down in verse 10, "Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." In other words, whatever disasters may come, I'm in charge. I'm God. And I'll be exalted in the created earth, and I'll be exalted among the nations. So, there is nothing that can come into your life that I'm not in control of. Your trouble is a perfect part of God's perfect plan. It's part of His sovereign plan for you.

Listen. Sheila's cancer and every detail of how that cancer and the necessary treatment has unfolded is God's absolute best for Sheila. It is God's absolute best for me. It is God's absolute best for every one of my children. And it is God's absolute best for every single life we touch. Often in the middle of our trouble, either our own trouble or the trouble of those we love, we're tempted to doubt God, aren't we? We're tempted to doubt His power. We're tempted to doubt His wisdom. Oh, we would never say that. At least I hope you wouldn't say that. But when we question His providence in our lives, when we question the specific circumstances of our lives, we are really questioning God's wisdom because we're saying something like this,

"Listen. You know, God's trying to do good in my life, and I think God is trying to accomplish worthy goals, but the means that He's chosen to get me there are certainly not the best to reach those goals. I know God's trying to make me like Jesus Christ, but if I were God, I would never have tried to do it this way. I think I could've found a better way to accomplish God's purpose in my life." That's what we're saying when we chafe at God's providence in our lives.

Not long after I became a Christian, I read A.W. Tozer's book "The Knowledge of the Holy" and I've never forgotten a section from that book on the wisdom of God. Listen to what Tozer writes, "Wisdom among other things is the ability to devise perfect ends (you got that, the end is perfect) and to achieve those ends by the most perfect means." So, wisdom not only says those are the best ends and goals, but here is the best way, the best path to get from where that person is to the ends I have in mind. Tozer goes on, "All God's acts are done in perfect wisdom. Not only could His acts not be done better. A better way to do them could not be imagined."

Do you believe that? When you look at your life and the trouble and circumstances in which you've found yourself, do you really believe that there is not a better, more perfect way for God to get you from where you were to where He wants you than that path? That's what the Scriptures teach about God. It's perfect.

Sometimes it's not God's wisdom we doubt. It's His goodness. Again, we would never say that. But that's what we're thinking when we're tempted to identify our circumstances as bad. We're thinking something like this, "You know, if I were God, I just would never let that happen to that little boy. I would just never let that wonderful young woman get debilitating arthritis. If I were God, I would just be too compassionate to put me or those I love through this circumstance." But the truth is not only God's ends are good, but His means are good as well. Romans 8:28 that John touched on last week – "God causes all things [that is, every event in our lives] to work together for good to those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose."

Psalm 46 has been a favorite Psalm of many down through the history of the church. It was a favorite of Martin Luther's. If you're familiar with Martin Luther, you know that there was one year in his life that was by far the most difficult. It was the year 1527. He had by that time served as a key leader in the Reformation for some ten years. But that year, 1527, on April 22^nd of that year while he was preaching a sermon like I am this morning, he was suddenly overcome with dizziness – so much so that he had to stop preaching, which is a terrible thing for a preacher. The symptoms were so severe that he feared he was dying.

A couple of months later on July 6^th, he was having dinner with some friends when similar symptoms returned and forced him to lie down. And again, he believed that his death was near. Adding to all of this was his ongoing heart problems and his severe intestinal issues. This is how he described his condition during that time. He wrote, "I spent more than a week in death and hell. My entire body was in pain. Completely abandoned by Christ, I labored under the vacillations and storms of desperation and blasphemy against God." That's a pretty bad week, wouldn't you say?

It was during that same year that the Black Plague swept across Europe and into Wittenberg. Many people evacuated the city, but he and his wife Katie felt they needed to stay there in order to care for the sick and dying although Katie was pregnant with their second child. So, they transformed their home into a hospital. And sadly, they cared for and watched many of their dear friends die. Suddenly, their one-year-old son Hans became violently ill. That's a horrible, very bad, no-good year.

Luther tells us that as he was surrounded by and threatened by death on every side, he found his only refuge in the character of God and Psalm 46 was the foundation of his confidence. It was this Psalm that got him through. And out of his reflections and the lessons he learned from this great Psalm came one of the most beloved symbols of the Reformation, "A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing; our helper He, amid the floods of mortal ills prevailing."

Listen. When your world is shaken, remember that God is our refuge. He is our protection. He is our strength. He is our provision. He is a very present help in trouble. He is with us in His presence. Therefore, we will not fear, even if the world as we know it is turned on its head. The only way those realities have become ours – if you're here this morning and God really is your refuge, and He really is your strength, and He really is your very present help in time of trouble, there's only one way that happened, and that's through what Jesus Christ did on the cross because otherwise He would be your enemy, your judge and, someday, your executioner. But because of Christ, because of the cross, He has become our refuge, our strength and a very present help in time of trouble.

That's what Paul meant in Romans 5. I was reading it this week, when he said, "… having been justified by faith, [not only do] we have peace with God, but (he says) now we rejoice in our tribulations, knowing that they produce positive results in our lives." They produce endurance and ultimately hope." Do you understand it's only the death of Christ that makes your trials and troubles in this life of spiritual value to you? It's only what He did for us that means our troubles and trials are not like the people of the world for whom they mean nothing but anticipation of more trouble and eternal torment; for us, they work spiritual good.

Let's pray together.

Our Father, we thank You for our Lord Jesus. Thank You for Your grace in sending Him. Thank You that He willingly, voluntarily came to pour out His life to secure our redemption. Thank You that You raised Him from the dead. And Father, thank You that, even as we sang together this morning, that He's coming again, that this world has not seen the last of Jesus Christ. Even so, come Lord Jesus.

Until then, Father, keep us faithful. And when we go through the troubles that are a part of life in this fallen world, Father, remind us that the death of Christ has sanctified those troubles to our spiritual good and that in them You who were once our enemy, our judge, our executioner have become our refuge and our strength and our very present help in time of trouble; therefore we don't have to fear.

We thank You and bless You in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.