Psalm 46
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
Come, behold the works of the Lord,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.
“Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Welcome to Getting ready for Sunday, a podcast of first Lutheran Church. Each week I introduced the readings for the upcoming Sunday with some notes and explanation so you can be ready for worship when you arrive. I look at the Old Testament, Psalm, epistle and Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday and offer a few notes and explanation. The psalm for reformation Sunday is Psalm 46. It reads, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear though the earth gives way. though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. There is a river who streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High, God is in the midst of her she shall not be moved. God will help her win morning Dawn's the nation's rage, the kingdoms totter, he utters His voice, the earth melts, the Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth, He makes or cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the chariots with fire. Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth, the Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress here ends the reading. Psalm 46, is a famous one for the Reformation, because it's the foundation for that him a mighty fortress is our God, you know how it goes. My tea for trust is our God, our trusty shield. And when Luther freely writes a summary of this psalm, in that him it's a wonderful hymn about God's strength. And this Psalm is a wonderful psalm about the strength of God and how He protects his people. Let's dive into it. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear though the earth gives way though the mountains be wrought moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, the mountains tremble added swelling. So this begins with an image of God being a refuge, a help in times of difficulty. And it then moves into the cataclysm of being thrown into the sea. For the ancient people with the sea was one of the most dangerous places you could be. I mean, it's still pretty dangerous, even with all our technology, far more dangerous than the land could ever be. But the sea for ancient people being out it was the very definition of chaos. And so God is a refuge and strength in the midst of the worst kind of chaos, chaos that is unbridled and raging, that can tear down mountains that can move away the shore that can make terrible things happen. And yet God is a refuge and strength, even if the mountains tremble at the chaos of the world around us. God is our refuge and strength, even when chaos is all around us, not just because God is powerful, but because he sent Jesus Christ to die for us. That's how we know he's a refuge. That's how we know he is a strength. Let's move on to the next section. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God the holy habitation of the Most High, God is in the midst of her she shall not be moved, God will help her win morning, Don's the river that makes GLAAD the City of God. The idea here is that ancient ancient fortresses cities needed a water supply in case of attack. And you needed a water supply if you were besieged so that you could live right if you had no water, you'd have to store it, and eventually you will die off. One of the great stories is Hezekiah tunnel for Jerusalem, where there was a siege coming. So Hezekiah digs a tunnel to move the river and a reservoir into the city of Jerusalem so they can have water rather than make it available for the enemy to block off. When we consider our own city of God the church, there is a river that makes us glad to its holy baptism. St. John actually in Revelation talks about our river being at the heart of New Jerusalem and how it it makes the city overjoyed. And that river is at the heart of every Christian. When we were baptized in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. God fills us with Christ. Psalm 40 Six continues. The nation's raged the kingdoms totter. he utters His voice, the earth melts, the Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. We return to this idea of chaos, nation's rage kingdoms totter, and then Goddard utters His voice and the earth mouths. What a powerful God that we have, that he can use his voice to bring about chaos and end it. And then it says, the Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our fortress, the Lord of hosts, god of armies. God is powerful and protects us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. Now you have to consider who that God of Jacob is, why would they use that phrase, the God of Jacob? Well, Jacob was part of that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And they weren't great people. I mean, you look at the history of that news is Jacob. He begins his life by stealing his brother's birthright and tricking his father into blessing him. And then he runs off, and he ends up working to marry this girl, and he marries the wrong girl. And then he has to work more to marry another girl. And then he ends up doing this weird thing with Esau, and he parades, his whole family ahead of them, and then falls down before Esau. And then right before that he wrestles with God, until the God finally blesses him and he won't let him go. And we get this idea of Israel. He wrestles with God being the name of the children of Israel, the nation of Israel, throughout the Old Testament. And it's the God of that guy, the guy who was weird and stole a blessing. He's the God of Jacob, which I think is great, because we're a people who often wrestles with God, we certainly don't line up behind him and do everything correctly. And yet, that God is our fortress through Jesus Christ. The last passages, talks about all the desolations that God brings, he makes war, see, see breaks the bow and shatters the spear. God is powerful. He destroys the weapons of war. And he says to us, be still and know that I'm I am God. Now, so many people use that phrase to say, here's what you're supposed to do is you're just supposed to wait and listen for God's voice. Be still and know that I am God and you'll hear it. That's not what that means. Be still and know that I am God. When wars are going on around you. When the sea is inter is erupting, and foam and the chaos of the world is shattering. We have one defense, Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations I will be exalted in the earth. What does that mean? God will be make himself famous by protecting his people. All we have to do is wait. God is in charge. He is our fortress. He is with us. That's all we have for today. We'll see you on Sunday. Bye
Transcribed by https://otter.ai