Sermon Notes | 7.9.23

Psalm 46

To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A Song.

[1] God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

[2] Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,

though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,

[3] though its waters roar and foam,

though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

[4] There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

the holy habitation of the Most High.

[5] God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;

God will help her when morning dawns.

[6] The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;

he utters his voice, the earth melts.

[7] The LORD of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

[8] Come, behold the works of the LORD,

how he has brought desolations on the earth.

[9] He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;

he burns the chariots with fire.

[10] “Be still, and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!”

[11] The LORD of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah (ESV)

THE CHAOS

v. 1-3

Do you believe God is a present help?

Can you sing in the storm? 

THE CONFIDENCE

v. 4-7

The City of God

A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. – Genesis 2:10

Then he led me back to the bank of the river. [7] As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other. [8] And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. [9] And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. – Ezekiel 47:6-9

[12] And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.” – Ezekiel 47:12

[26] Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” [27] So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the LORD threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. – Exodus 14:26-27

The God of the underdogs…

The reason for this persistent story line in the Bible is not simply because the writers like underdogs. It is because the ultimate example of God’s working in the world was Jesus Christ, the only founder of a major religion who died in disgrace, not surrounded by all of his loving disciples but abandoned by everybody whom he cared about, including his Father. He was the victim of a miscarriage of justice and he died oppressed and helpless. Jesus Christ’s salvation comes to us through his poverty, rejection, and weakness. And Christians are not saved by summoning up their strength and accomplishing great deeds but by admitting their weakness and need for a savior. – Tim Keller, Making Sense of God

[6] For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. [7] For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—[8] but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:6-8

OUR CALLING

v. 8-11

Think about this. If the distance between the earth and the sun, 93 million miles, was the thickness of a sheet of paper, then the distance between the earth and the nearest star would be a stack of paper 70 feet high. The distance across the galaxy, the diameter of our galaxy, would be a stack of paper 310 miles high. Our galaxy is just one little speck of dust in the universe as it is. If there is a person who holds all that together with the word of his power, his pinky, as it were, is this the kind of person you ask into your life to be your personal assistant? – Tim Keller

What do you need to SURRENDER?

A Prayer for Salvation

“Heavenly Father, I admit that I am weaker and more sinful than I ever before believed, but through your Son Jesus I can be more loved and accepted than I ever dared hope. I thank you that he lived the life I should have lived and paid the debt and punishment I owed. Receive me now for his sake. I turn from my sins and receive him as Savior. Amen.”