It’s a fair question, and there is no
shortage of things that cause us to ask it. Whether the whole world is a mess
or your whole world is a mess, what
has driven you to echo the psalmist’s cry and say, “I lift up my eyes to the
hills—where does my help come from?”
That’s a question that reverberates
throughout the halls of history, building to a
crescendo during times of local or global distress, and when that distress or
disaster strikes on a personal level then it’s a question that deafens us with its
silent presence. It is an accusation and it is a desperate plea. It is a
question that you may not have even known was there until you heard it voiced
by another, at which point you recognized its residency within your own heart.
Where
do we turn for shelter and security from the surging and strife? Is that
security sure and certain, or is fleeting and unattainable? How and when do we
experience it?
Psalm
46 was Martin Luther’s favorite psalm—it inspired his famous hymn, “A Mighty
Fortress is our God”—because it speaks unequivocally to the shelter that we
find in the arms of the Most High. The LORD presides over the earth, even in
its furor and cataclysmic upheaval, and He gives strength to His people until
the day He conquers and brings peace, at which time His name will be exalted in all places among all peoples.
Until the day that the LORD speaks
stillness into the surging strife, we can rest assured knowing that He is in
control, and that shelter is found in the Savior. The chaos of this world should not
embarrass believers and cause them to keep their mouth shut, but should
embolden believers and cause them to open their mouths and share the good news
of the only one who can provide sovereign security in the midst of the storm.
We’ll
dig into the grand truths of Psalm 46 this Sunday and address these questions:
·
What kinds of unrest face this world,
and why?
·
How does God address this chaos and
conflict?
·
What does God provide in the midst of
these storms, and how do we experience it?
·
In what does God’s secure shelter
result and what should it produce in the lives of believers?
