WEBVTT 00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:08.640 Hello, I'm Pastor Creighton, and thank you for tuning in to New Sun Churches Podcast. 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:15.359 We're a gospel centered church in Port Perry, Ontario, proclaiming the true and life-giving word of Jesus as we love and serve our neighbors. 00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:18.320 May God bless you today through his life-giving word. 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:23.199 The Psalm this morning is Psalm 46, which we will read responsively. 00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:26.239 I invite you to respond with the text in bold. 00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:30.239 God is our refuge and strength. 00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:32.880 Our very present is heaven. 00:00:33.200 --> 00:00:36.560 Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth be moved. 00:00:36.880 --> 00:00:40.240 And the hold of the evil speech is the faces of the sea. 00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:42.960 Though its waters rage and swell. 00:00:54.479 --> 00:00:58.799 God is in the midst of her, therefore she shall not be moved. 00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:05.920 The nations are in an uproar, and the kingdoms are moved. 00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:13.040 The Lord of hosts is with us. 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:25.599 He makes wars to cease in all the world. 00:01:31.680 --> 00:01:34.959 Be still then, and know that I am God. 00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:42.959 The Lord of hosts is with us. 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:50.879 The Lord of hosts is with us. 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:55.120 The God of Jacob is our refuge. 00:01:55.599 --> 00:01:56.799 Let's pray. 00:02:06.959 --> 00:02:20.800 Most loving Father, you will us to give thanks for all things, to dread nothing but the loss of you, and to cast all our care on the one who cares for us. 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:41.840 Preserve us from faithless fears and worldly anxieties, and grant that no clouds of this mortal life may hide from us the light of that love which is immortal, and which you have manifested unto us in your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. 00:02:42.159 --> 00:02:42.800 Amen. 00:02:43.199 --> 00:02:47.680 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of all of our hearts be always pleasing. 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:50.879 In your sight, O Lord our Rock and our Redeemer. 00:02:51.199 --> 00:02:51.759 Amen. 00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:53.439 Please be seated. 00:03:03.680 --> 00:03:04.319 Amen? 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:13.120 Christ is the king, not just of our lives, not just of our world, but the entire universe, all of creation. 00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:14.000 Amen. 00:03:15.599 --> 00:03:28.080 The Apostle Paul puts it this way: He writes to the church and Colossae that the Lord Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:40.960 By him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. 00:03:41.520 --> 00:03:56.000 And he goes on to say that all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and through him to reconcile all things to himself, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 00:03:56.319 --> 00:03:57.919 Christ is king. 00:03:58.240 --> 00:03:58.879 Amen. 00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:08.400 Now we're going to explore the significance of what Christ's kingship means for us and how we understand the Lord Jesus in the coming weeks. 00:04:08.479 --> 00:04:17.279 As we head into Advent, I want us to explore in three parts Christ's threefold office as prophet, priest, and king. 00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:34.639 But today on Christ the King Sunday, as we crown the Christian year and as we prepare ourselves to head into Advent and relive the story of the gospel all over again, I want us to recognize this truth that Christ is king. 00:04:35.600 --> 00:04:40.079 But I want us to ask an important follow-up question, which is this. 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:45.360 If Christ is king, why doesn't it always feel like that? 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:47.120 Hmm? 00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:55.680 Why doesn't it always feel like Christ is king over the universe, over my life, over our world? 00:04:57.040 --> 00:05:02.959 I wonder if the word for our moment is either anxiety or fear. 00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:10.240 When we look at the world today, do we see, are we quick to see evidence of Christ's kingship? 00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:13.519 Or does it feel like things are spiraling out of control? 00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:16.240 Does it fill us with dread? 00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:18.879 Does it fill us with anxiety? 00:05:19.199 --> 00:05:25.120 See, this is the question that I think the psalmist in Psalm 46 is wrestling with. 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:39.439 If God really is our king, if we really can rely on him to be true to his character, true to his word, true to his power, then what do we do when everything looks like it's spiraling out of control? 00:05:40.240 --> 00:05:47.680 Psalm 46 is written by a collective of authors called the Sons of Korah, and they were worship leaders. 00:05:47.759 --> 00:05:55.279 And if you've got a Bible and you've got a little heading in front of you, give you some details, this is a psalm that's written for corporate worship, right? 00:05:55.439 --> 00:05:56.480 We sing every Sunday. 00:05:56.639 --> 00:05:58.160 We just finished singing a song. 00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:02.800 We'll sing the next worship song after we're through looking at Psalm 46 here. 00:06:02.959 --> 00:06:14.079 But Psalm 46 was itself composed to be a song sung by God's people in God's temple, magnifying God's name. 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:23.839 And the purpose of Psalm 46 is to remind us where true confidence can be found in the midst of life's chaos. 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:32.079 When everything around us seems to be spiraling out of control, can we find true confidence? 00:06:32.319 --> 00:06:34.160 And if so, where? 00:06:34.639 --> 00:06:37.360 Here's what Psalm 46 wants us to know. 00:06:37.680 --> 00:06:48.000 Psalm 46 wants us to know that true confidence is found in the God who rules over everything. 00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:55.360 True confidence is found in the God who rules over everything and nowhere else. 00:06:57.199 --> 00:07:06.560 And it's almost as if the psalmist takes that proposition and runs it through a couple of case studies, runs it through a couple of scenarios. 00:07:07.439 --> 00:07:20.800 In the midst of facing the threat of the forces of nature or the threat of the fury of the nations, do we find true confidence in the God who rules and reigns over everything? 00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:24.639 So here's what I want to say. 00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:35.040 As we look at Psalm 46, probably a right reading of Psalm 46 is not going to be the once-for-all solution to all fear. 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:40.079 Probably we're still going to feel fearful and anxious when we watch the news. 00:07:40.879 --> 00:07:48.879 But Psalm 46 is not so much an antidote or the solution, mechanical solution to all feelings of fear. 00:07:49.120 --> 00:07:55.439 It's asking us a more important question: that in our fear, where do we go to find confidence? 00:07:55.600 --> 00:07:58.000 Where do we go to find a solid footing? 00:07:58.240 --> 00:08:01.199 Where do we go to find solid ground? 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:19.120 It's not we'll never feel fear again, but I want to suggest this: that Psalm 46 offers us a gospel, good news, which can reframe the fear and anxiety and dread that we so often fear, or that we so often feel. 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:20.560 We do fear it. 00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:22.560 We can fear fear. 00:08:23.360 --> 00:08:32.799 Psalm 46 might suggest that there is a godly sort of fear, which can reframe an ungodly fear that we are so prone to. 00:08:33.039 --> 00:08:35.600 So, if you will, pull out your order of service. 00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:44.240 Let's look at Psalm 46 together, and let's discover where true confidence can be found in the God who reigns and rules over everything. 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:48.000 This is the God who reigns and rules over the forces of nature. 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:49.759 That's what the psalmist wants us to see. 00:08:49.919 --> 00:08:50.879 Verse 1. 00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:58.240 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:01.759 Therefore, we will not fear. 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:03.679 Now I'm just going to pause there. 00:09:04.240 --> 00:09:09.840 Any text that tells me the main idea in its principal application right off the bat, I'm a fan. 00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:10.320 Right? 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:12.480 Because I'm a little bit slow sometimes. 00:09:12.639 --> 00:09:16.320 And Psalm 46 wants us to know exactly what it's about. 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:18.720 Where is confidence found? 00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:24.720 It's found in God, who's our refuge, who's our strength, who's our very present help in trouble. 00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:37.200 When you think about the culture in which Psalm 46 is written, having a refuge, having a stronghold, having somewhere that you can retreat when you are under siege can be the difference between life and death. 00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:38.799 And that is what God is. 00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:41.919 God is our refuge, God is our strength. 00:09:42.159 --> 00:09:52.080 Having strength is important when you're being invaded and on the defensive, but it's also important as the armies went out, right? 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:54.159 And as the armies conquered. 00:09:54.320 --> 00:10:00.960 God is the strength that empowers God's people to go out and to accomplish what He's called them to do. 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:07.360 And all the while it says God is a very present help in trouble. 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:12.159 A thoroughly present help in trouble. 00:10:12.799 --> 00:10:18.240 It's almost as though God's presence is more real than the trouble itself. 00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:19.919 That's the idea here. 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:27.919 And because all of this is the case, therefore, the psalmist says, we, God's people, will not fear. 00:10:28.559 --> 00:10:35.360 God fills us with that sort of confidence, recognizing who God is towards his people. 00:10:36.240 --> 00:10:42.159 And we won't fear even if everything else flies apart, and that's what verses two and three are all about. 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:53.279 Though the earth be moved, and though the hills be carried into the midst of the sea, though its waters rage and swell, and though the mountains shake at its tempest. 00:10:53.919 --> 00:11:03.120 It's an image of the collapse of all creation, creation coming undone, chaos enveloping everything that we know to be orderly and good. 00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:07.840 The mountains are its principal image of security and stability. 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:11.919 There's nothing more solid in the psalmist's mind than a mountain. 00:11:12.080 --> 00:11:14.799 If we've climbed a mountain, we might know the same, right? 00:11:15.120 --> 00:11:18.480 And the sea is this primordial symbol of chaos. 00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:24.720 It swallows, it envelops, it's tempestuous, it's unpredictable. 00:11:25.279 --> 00:11:26.879 One has to be careful on the sea. 00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:33.840 And here's an image of the most stable, solid things imaginable being swallowed up by chaos. 00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:38.480 Maybe we can relate in the course of our lives. 00:11:38.639 --> 00:11:44.879 Maybe we know what it's like to see what we considered most stable get swallowed up by chaos. 00:11:45.679 --> 00:11:49.440 Maybe that's one pink slip away, one diagnosis away, right? 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:53.120 And here's what the psalmist is trying to say. 00:11:53.519 --> 00:12:01.759 Despite the ever-present threat of a nature coming undone, God is more powerful still. 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:04.720 And that's where confidence can be found. 00:12:05.840 --> 00:12:08.320 Church reformer John Calvin has this to say. 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:17.360 He says, Our faith is really and truly tested only when we are brought into very severe conflicts. 00:12:17.840 --> 00:12:23.440 And when even hell itself seems to open, seems opened to swallow us up. 00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:41.200 Although the whole creation seemed to be banded together and to have conspired for the destruction of the faithful, the help which God has promised the faithful more than overbalances all the evils which inspire them with fear. 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:43.360 What's Calvin saying? 00:12:43.519 --> 00:12:54.000 He's saying, in the face of creation coming undone, considering God's power over creation, tips the scales far over in God's favor, doesn't it? 00:12:54.159 --> 00:13:01.200 Whatever power creation might have to envelop us in chaos, God is more powerful still. 00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:04.399 Now, maybe you're thinking this, taking all this in. 00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:12.080 You're thinking, this is how I know the Bible was written by such unenlightened authors to such primitive people, right? 00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:19.840 Because in the 21st century, we never give thought to, say, environmental collapse, right? 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:23.200 We never think about creation coming undone imminently. 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:25.840 That's not something that we're worried about, right? 00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:27.759 I mean, of course not. 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:29.039 Of course we are. 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:35.039 Of course that's an ongoing discussion, and of course that's an ongoing source of anxiety, isn't it? 00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:43.840 I mean, the threat that the psalmist perceives is exactly the threat that we feel existentially when we turn on the news. 00:13:44.960 --> 00:13:46.720 So what do we make of that? 00:13:47.039 --> 00:13:51.840 Is the psalmist saying we should never have any concern for our environment, something like that? 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:55.840 I actually think that a biblical worldview invites us to at least two things. 00:13:56.080 --> 00:14:11.039 A biblical worldview invites us to recognize that God has given us responsibility in creation, that He's called human beings, men and women, to exercise dominion over the earth, to cultivate the earth for his good purposes. 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:16.080 And that part of our responsibility towards God is to care for our creation. 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:22.879 And so, whatever the political conversation might be, we have a mandate to care for that which God has created. 00:14:23.919 --> 00:14:35.840 The second thing we can recognize is this that having responsibility for creation can mean that by sin we can introduce a chaos into creation, right? 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:46.720 That God does allow for the consequences of our actions to play themselves out and invites us to take actions in cooperation with His will. 00:14:47.360 --> 00:14:53.279 But the thing a biblical worldview also offers is something that no other worldview does. 00:14:53.440 --> 00:15:10.559 Even while we have frantic, fearful conversations about environment collapse or mass extinction events, the thing that the biblical worldview offers us is a sense of reasonable reassurance that there is a power greater still. 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:13.759 And that is not an unthinking thing, right? 00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:15.519 That's not wishful thinking. 00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:30.399 That's recognizing that there is a God who has created the world that I live in, in whom this creation subsists, and a God who has committed himself to care for this creation and will not forsake us in the midst of his creation. 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:33.919 That's not an unthinking, wishful thinking sort of thing. 00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:38.000 That's recognizing that God's power to create is power to sustain. 00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:47.759 And yes, whatever difficulties we have in caring for a creation and chaos, God is the power that we need. 00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:57.759 Not technological progress, not whatever it is we think we can supply, not us trying to be God, us trusting in God to do what only God can do. 00:15:57.919 --> 00:15:59.039 Does that make sense? 00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:03.600 So the invitation here is to find peace. 00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:14.559 Find peace not in our mastery of creation, but to find peace in God's presence in the midst of creation in chaos. 00:16:14.960 --> 00:16:16.240 Verses four and five. 00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:28.799 God is in the midst of her, therefore she shall not be moved. 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:32.159 God shall help her at the break of day. 00:16:32.320 --> 00:16:34.480 Okay, so that's very interesting to me. 00:16:34.799 --> 00:16:45.120 Because what we have in verses two and three are waters that are raging and swelling and swallowing up the most stable, solid things we can think of. 00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:47.279 And yet here's another kind of water. 00:16:47.519 --> 00:17:02.240 Here's a river whose streams flow gently and consistently and constantly into the city of God, the holy dwelling place of the Most High, the place where God makes his presence known. 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:09.039 And yes, in the psalmist's mind, this is Jerusalem, this is where God people are gathered together in worship. 00:17:09.599 --> 00:17:17.599 But even more so, it's the place where God reveals himself to his people by his word of grace. 00:17:17.920 --> 00:17:27.839 Where God reveals himself, where God's people gather, that is the most solid place imaginable, is what the psalmist is trying to say. 00:17:28.319 --> 00:17:35.519 God refreshes us and restores us by constant streams of grace which make us glad. 00:17:36.720 --> 00:17:39.200 God is in the midst of his people. 00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:41.359 His people will not be moved. 00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:46.799 Even if mountains quake and shake and get thrown into the sea, God's people are not moved. 00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:47.119 Why? 00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:50.480 Because God will help his people at the break of day. 00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:58.960 It's almost as if the psalmist is saying, God's first thought when he puts his feet to the floor in the morning is, How will I help my people today? 00:17:59.200 --> 00:18:00.480 Something like that. 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:04.000 We find peace in God's presence. 00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:11.279 We go to where God makes himself known and we remember the security that only he offers. 00:18:11.680 --> 00:18:14.960 That's why we gather as God's people on Sundays. 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:20.480 It's why we come to open up his word, to hear fresh his word of assurance to us. 00:18:20.559 --> 00:18:26.880 It's why we come to the Lord's table to enjoy the signs and seals of his covenant love towards us. 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:37.200 We need to hear this is my body broken and my blood shed for you, because that is a reminder that God does not forsake his people, but he will provide for them. 00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:46.160 God rules, even though the forces of nature which threaten to undo us, and that gives us confidence. 00:18:46.880 --> 00:18:56.880 There's a second image that the psalmist gives us this God who rules over everything rules also over the fury of the nations. 00:18:57.119 --> 00:19:00.559 Let's look at verses six to nine here. 00:19:01.039 --> 00:19:13.359 The nations, the psalmist says, are in an uproar, and the kingdoms are moved, but God has lifted up his voice, and the earth shall melt away. 00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:15.519 And here's the chorus. 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:29.359 So it's a psalmist saying, verse 6 nations have a way of rising and falling, don't they? 00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:37.440 And the psalmist's memory and the collective memory of the people of Israel, perhaps they can think of this once great Egypt that ruled over them. 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:45.440 God's people will be taken into exile by the Assyrians and then the Babylonians, and yet they will see those empires fall as well. 00:19:45.839 --> 00:19:50.160 God's people, New Covenant people, will see the Roman Empire rise and fall. 00:19:50.400 --> 00:19:58.160 Even in this last century, we have seen world dominating powers rise and fall. 00:19:58.799 --> 00:20:00.559 This is what nations do. 00:20:01.359 --> 00:20:07.279 And they are no match, the psalmist says, for God's simple word. 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:10.799 God has lifted up his voice. 00:20:11.039 --> 00:20:12.880 The earth shall melt away. 00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:18.400 I grew up knowing always that my parents loved me and they were wonderful parents. 00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:22.720 And wonderful parents sometimes have this way of saying, enough. 00:20:23.119 --> 00:20:24.319 You ever get that? 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:28.400 And that's when you know that's enough. 00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:39.680 It's almost as if God is saying that to nations that are furiously raging, up to their own interests, vying for power, vying for domination. 00:20:40.319 --> 00:20:43.440 All God has to say is enough. 00:20:44.240 --> 00:20:45.680 They melt away. 00:20:47.119 --> 00:20:49.359 One little word shall fell him. 00:20:49.440 --> 00:20:53.200 That's what Martin Luther wrote in his hymn, The Mighty Fortress is Our God. 00:20:53.839 --> 00:20:55.119 Nations rise and fall. 00:20:55.279 --> 00:20:59.920 Nations also have a way of causing great violence and warfare. 00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:01.519 Verses 8 and 9. 00:21:01.759 --> 00:21:07.279 Oh, come, behold the works of the Lord, what devastations he has brought upon the earth. 00:21:07.440 --> 00:21:09.759 He makes wars to cease in all the world. 00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:15.599 He breaks the bow, shatters the spear, burns the chariots in fire. 00:21:16.559 --> 00:21:18.880 Come, behold the works of the Lord. 00:21:19.039 --> 00:21:22.640 Nations have a way of raging against one another. 00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:24.640 Twas always so, wasn't it? 00:21:24.880 --> 00:21:39.920 Great empires combat one another, compete with one another, try and outmatch one another, and yet no nation is a match for God's marvelous, powerful work. 00:21:41.039 --> 00:21:45.119 Behold the works of the Lord, is what the psalmist says. 00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:52.640 See with the eyes of your heart what God is capable of doing in a world full of chaos. 00:21:52.880 --> 00:21:54.640 And here's what's really interesting to me. 00:21:54.720 --> 00:21:56.000 This comes as a bit of a surprise. 00:21:56.079 --> 00:21:57.680 I wonder if it's a surprise to you. 00:21:57.920 --> 00:21:58.960 Behold the works of the Lord. 00:21:59.039 --> 00:21:59.839 What would you expect to do? 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:00.880 Come next. 00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:07.359 You know the great redemption he's worked, the great deliverance he's worked, the great salvation he's worked. 00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:09.519 This is what the psalmist says. 00:22:09.920 --> 00:22:14.000 What devastations he has brought upon the earth. 00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:17.839 Maybe other translations say something like desolations. 00:22:19.119 --> 00:22:28.160 In other words, it's not immediately a comforting thought, is it, to behold the devastations that God is capable of working. 00:22:28.319 --> 00:22:31.519 But here's the idea I think the psalmist is trying to get at. 00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:47.039 If we want God to rule in such a way that he brings order out of chaos, that he brings justice out of injustice, then his justice is going to have to push up against everything that opposes it, right? 00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:53.359 That yes, there will be a, there is a place for God's people to dwell secure in his presence. 00:22:53.519 --> 00:22:58.960 And yet for us to oppose God, well, that's the flip side of grace, isn't it? 00:22:59.200 --> 00:23:08.880 And we're met with God's wrath, we're met with God's judgment, we're met with God's justice against all that opposes his good will for his people. 00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:14.720 So when we behold his devastations, we're seeing the flip side of his grace at work. 00:23:14.960 --> 00:23:21.440 We're seeing his justice meet all injustice finally and completely. 00:23:21.759 --> 00:23:24.400 And that's why he makes wars to cease the world. 00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:35.359 He breaks the bow, shatters the spear, burns the chariots and fire, whatever sophisticated weapons of warfare we have come up with, God's work is greater still. 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:37.759 And his word suffices. 00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:45.839 Even while the nations rage, our confidence is in the God whose word and work overwhelms all of them. 00:23:46.880 --> 00:23:52.240 Now maybe you're thinking, boy, that sounds like such a primitive idea. 00:23:52.480 --> 00:23:55.359 We're not afraid of geopolitics anymore. 00:23:55.599 --> 00:23:58.720 3,000 years of political progress, right? 00:23:58.799 --> 00:24:00.319 We've got this all sorted out. 00:24:00.480 --> 00:24:02.079 A collective interest and peace. 00:24:02.160 --> 00:24:04.559 We're not worried about this sort of stuff anymore, right? 00:24:04.960 --> 00:24:09.200 You guys need to catch my jokes more than you're doing right now. 00:24:09.440 --> 00:24:10.799 Of course we're afraid of that. 00:24:10.960 --> 00:24:12.480 Of course that occupies our mind. 00:24:12.559 --> 00:24:14.640 Of course it occupies the news cycle. 00:24:14.880 --> 00:24:20.880 We are very fearful and anxious about the state of national security, aren't we? 00:24:21.680 --> 00:24:24.799 Because it threatens our lives, it threatens our communities. 00:24:25.359 --> 00:24:27.200 And so, what's the invitation here? 00:24:27.440 --> 00:24:28.799 To bury our head in the sand? 00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:30.240 I don't think so. 00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:41.519 But I do think the psalmist is trying to suggest something here that God is sovereign over the nations in a way that we are not, and cannot be. 00:24:42.720 --> 00:24:56.559 And for all our aspirations to try and master world peace, or try and come up with all the solutions for ourselves, we are still no closer to achieving the goal that we all desire, which is peace. 00:24:57.039 --> 00:25:01.599 Because perhaps that's only God's goal to accomplish. 00:25:01.839 --> 00:25:04.000 Or only God can accomplish that. 00:25:04.160 --> 00:25:12.880 You know, I'm reminded of the uh king we meet in the Old Testament, King Nebuchadnezzar, and we read about him in Isaiah, and we read about him in the book of Daniel. 00:25:13.119 --> 00:25:17.279 And we have a name and Bucky, that we named after Nebuchadnezzar, because Bucky's crazy. 00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:19.440 And if you've met Bucky, you know that he's crazy. 00:25:19.599 --> 00:25:21.279 And King Nebuchadnezzar goes crazy. 00:25:21.359 --> 00:25:29.519 And here's the thing about King Nebuchadnezzar is he's ruling over Babylon, which at the time is the single largest empire that's ever existed. 00:25:29.759 --> 00:25:37.839 You know, and the thing about empire is you quash all your enemies and you kind of guarantee your own security, at least for the time being, right? 00:25:38.000 --> 00:25:41.359 I mean, that's at least the upside in Nebuchadnezzar's mind. 00:25:41.519 --> 00:25:47.759 And so here he is walking around his capital city and looking at all the things he's accomplished and going, boy, I'm amazing. 00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:49.519 Like, I'm really great. 00:25:49.759 --> 00:25:51.200 Like, isn't this incredible? 00:25:51.279 --> 00:25:54.240 And look at all the stability that I've achieved. 00:25:54.400 --> 00:25:57.519 And look at all of the things that I've preserved. 00:25:57.920 --> 00:25:59.519 And how does God respond to that? 00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:02.319 Well, he strikes them with a madness, doesn't he? 00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:04.319 He lives amongst the wild animals. 00:26:04.480 --> 00:26:08.160 It's almost like he's been denatured, dehuman, dehumanized. 00:26:08.559 --> 00:26:35.519 But here's the thing: in the book of Daniel, we read about King Nebuchadnezzar coming to his senses, and he says this at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation. 00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:51.680 Nebuchadnezzar was busy magnifying himself, praising and honoring himself, and all of the peace and security that he's earned for himself, but now coming at what results is a sense of madness. 00:26:51.759 --> 00:27:05.200 And I wonder if God's word is suggesting to us that there is a type of insanity that results from us constantly thinking that peace and security is ours to achieve rather than to receive as a gift and trust. 00:27:05.440 --> 00:27:06.559 Does that make sense? 00:27:06.799 --> 00:27:18.799 When Nebuchadnezzar is restored to his right mind, he recognizes the one who is large and in charge, the one who commands the nations, the one who is to be praised and honored. 00:27:20.240 --> 00:27:28.240 And that's why I think the invitation that we conclude with in the psalm, in Psalm 46, is verses 10 and 11. 00:27:28.559 --> 00:27:35.440 Be still then, and know that I, this is God addressing us, know that I am God. 00:27:35.839 --> 00:27:40.480 I will be exalted in the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. 00:27:40.720 --> 00:27:47.440 And here's the chorus again the Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge. 00:27:47.839 --> 00:27:56.799 For all that opposes God, for all that thinks that peace and stability and security will be ours if only we can try a little bit harder. 00:27:57.440 --> 00:28:00.880 God addresses all that opposes him and says, Be still. 00:28:01.759 --> 00:28:06.559 Know that I am God, which is to say, you're not. 00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:08.720 Creighton is not. 00:28:09.359 --> 00:28:10.319 You are not. 00:28:11.200 --> 00:28:12.720 Know that I am God. 00:28:13.119 --> 00:28:18.559 That's an invitation to repent of trying to be God whenever we think this is ours to master. 00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:26.319 And perhaps this is an invitation to come to God with empty hands and let Him be the God of history. 00:28:26.559 --> 00:28:28.000 Let Him be the God of our world. 00:28:28.160 --> 00:28:36.880 How much time do we spend fretting over the news when we could be coming to God in prayer, recognizing His sovereign power? 00:28:38.640 --> 00:28:43.279 Christ is the King, but it doesn't always be like that, does it? 00:28:43.519 --> 00:28:44.559 And why is that? 00:28:44.799 --> 00:28:48.319 I wonder if Psalm 46 is helping us to diagnose the reason. 00:28:48.480 --> 00:28:57.119 Perhaps there is an ungodly fear that results from me trying to be God in what I perceive to be the absence of God. 00:28:58.559 --> 00:29:06.559 But if God is present, then perhaps I can have a godly fear that He will do for me what I cannot do for myself. 00:29:06.880 --> 00:29:16.319 When Jesus' disciples are out on the Sea of Galilee in Mark chapter 4, as is known to happen, a storm whips up out of nowhere, and they are terrified out of their minds. 00:29:16.480 --> 00:29:20.319 And they're screaming at each other and they're doing what sailors do. 00:29:20.400 --> 00:29:23.119 I don't know what sailors do in those situations, but they're doing it. 00:29:23.359 --> 00:29:24.880 And where's Jesus? 00:29:25.119 --> 00:29:27.200 He's asleep in the back, isn't he? 00:29:27.519 --> 00:29:29.359 Unfazed, right? 00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:31.279 Undisturbed. 00:29:31.519 --> 00:29:34.640 They wake Jesus up and they say, Don't you know we're about to die? 00:29:35.200 --> 00:29:36.960 And what does Jesus have to say? 00:29:37.680 --> 00:29:41.519 He turns to the winds, he turns to the waves, and he says, peace. 00:29:42.319 --> 00:29:43.279 Be still. 00:29:43.599 --> 00:29:48.400 And surely, surely Jesus is calling to mind Psalm 46. 00:29:49.119 --> 00:30:07.039 Surely Jesus is signaling to his disciples that he is the God who brings stillness to chaos, that he is the one to trust, and not whatever resources they think they can muster up for themselves. 00:30:07.279 --> 00:30:10.640 And here's the thing I love about that passage. 00:30:10.960 --> 00:30:17.759 The disciples are fearful of the storm, but when it concludes, they have a new sort of fear, don't they? 00:30:18.000 --> 00:30:22.319 Who's this guy whose word controls the wind and the waves? 00:30:22.559 --> 00:30:26.720 A godly fear has displaced an ungodly fear. 00:30:27.440 --> 00:30:36.720 And now with a right reverence for Christ, it's reframed their worldly fear, this creation becoming undone, hasn't it? 00:30:38.160 --> 00:30:51.279 Again, Calvin writes that when the psalmist says, We will not fear, he is not to be understood as meaning that the minds of the godly are exempt from all solicitude or fear, as if they were destitute of feeling. 00:30:51.599 --> 00:30:56.240 For there is a great difference between insensibility and the confidence of faith. 00:30:56.559 --> 00:31:06.640 He only shows that whatever may happen, they are never overwhelmed by terror, but rather greater strength and courage. 00:31:07.279 --> 00:31:15.039 Pardon me, but rather gather strength and courage sufficient to allay all fear. 00:31:16.240 --> 00:31:20.799 The God of Jacob is our refuge, is what the psalmist keeps repeating. 00:31:20.960 --> 00:31:23.680 And that's to remind us of God's covenant love. 00:31:24.079 --> 00:31:29.680 This covenant he's made with Jacob, Israel, is the covenant that points us to what he fulfills in Christ. 00:31:29.839 --> 00:31:38.079 And when we behold the cross and the resurrection of Christ, we're beholding the God who has made a solemn promise that he will not leave us or forsake us. 00:31:38.240 --> 00:31:50.559 And even in the midst of life's chaos, even in the things that we fear the most, if we have a right fear of the God who reigns and rules over everything, an ungodly fear can be displaced. 00:31:51.519 --> 00:31:58.319 And we can rest in the still and certain knowledge that He is God. 00:31:59.039 --> 00:32:11.359 True confidence that banishes ungodly fear is found in the God we know in the Lord Jesus Christ, who reigns and rules over everything. 00:32:11.759 --> 00:32:13.680 He is our refuge. 00:32:14.000 --> 00:32:14.640 Amen. 00:32:19.119 --> 00:32:21.680 We hope that you've been blessed by God's Word today. 00:32:21.839 --> 00:32:27.279 If you live in the Port Perry area, we hope that you'll come and worship with us in person on Sunday at 10 a.m. 00:32:27.599 --> 00:32:30.960 If you'd like to learn more about Newsong Church, we'd love to connect with you. 00:32:31.119 --> 00:32:36.000 Please find our contact information at newsongportperry.ca and reach out to us. 00:32:36.240 --> 00:32:41.359 Newsong's ministry is entirely funded by the generous giving of those who worship and journey with us. 00:32:41.599 --> 00:32:49.680 If you feel called to support our ministry with a financial gift, please go to newsongportperry.ca slash giving to make your contribution. 00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:52.720 Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.