Followed By Mercy

Refuge In The Storm

• W. Austin Gardner

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What if you stopped begging God to show up and started living as if He has already? In this episode, we dive into Psalm 46 with honesty and practical faith, tracing the path from anxious thoughts to a steady heart. From a late-night nudge to read the Psalms to the backdrop of a category-five hurricane, we explore how “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” becomes more than a verse. It becomes a way to move through hard days.

We talk about the power of Selah, those sacred pauses that train your mind to breathe and your heart to remember. We revisit Israel’s cities of refuge and connect them to the New Testament promise that the refuge now lives within us—no more pleading for presence, just quiet confidence in the God who already dwells inside you. Along the way, we examine the sons of Korah, a family once marked by failure, who now lead worship and declare fearless trust when the ground shakes. Their story reminds us that grace writes new endings, even for those with painful beginnings.

This conversation blends pastoral care with real-world guidance. You’ll learn how to meditate until truth becomes reflex, trade control for trust, and let “Be still and know” reset your inner world. Expect Scripture, story, and a clearer vision of the God who ends wars, calms hearts, and never walks out.

If you’re ready for peace that holds when everything else is shaking, press play, sit with Psalm 46, and let it reshape your day.

Short Summary:

 A heartfelt walk through Psalm 46 shows how God’s presence turns chaos into calm, from roaring waters to restless minds. We explore refuge, stillness, and restored hope for anyone ready to move from striving to peace.

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Robert Canfield:

Welcome to a podcast followed by Mercy. I'm here with my co-host, Austin William Gardner. Yes, I'm here with William Austin Gardner, the one in the old. Let's get real formal here. Yes, formal. And I thought today to share something, what what what's gone on in my life. And I was, I'll just tell you a little story, just so I can tell you. We're gonna be in Psalms 46, but just recently I was watching The Chosen, going through the Chosen again. And one of the episodes there, I don't know if you remember this, Jesus was by himself, and little kids kept coming, you know what I mean, sneaking up and stuff like that. Yep. They were spying on him. And one thing I saw that what Jesus did that night was he began to say a psalm and he was praying to his father before he went to bed. And do you remember that part? Yep. And uh I remembered, oh, it was a while ago. We were at teen camp and you were preaching and you were talking to those teens, and my mom brought a group down, and you said something that uh it's always stuck with me. It's never gonna, it's never gonna leave me. You said that whenever before you go to bed, you tell you tell the Lord you love them. And then when you wake them up, you say, I love you, Lord. I try to do that. And one of the teenagers said, I've never thought of doing that. Uh that came from my mom's that my mom brought down. She said, I he said, I never thought about doing something like that. I'm never in my mind. And so as I saw that at the chosen, I went to bed and I was like, I need to, I need to read a psalm. I don't want my heart to be troubled. I don't want, I don't want my, I don't want to go to sleep, you know, thinking about all the worries and stuff like that. So I was searching for like what psalm should I read before I went to bed? And so I read Psalm 4, and I was like, oh, that's a good one. I wonder if that's a a song. So that way I can listen to it at night too. And so I went on YouTube and I typed in Psalm 4, and then up popped Psalm 46.

Austin Gardner:

Okay.

Robert Canfield:

And uh I never realized how impactful this psalm has been. You realize that during the Reformation that this is the psalm that Martin Luther used, that he would repeat to himself over and over again. If I'm not mistaken, it's actually where he gets the, you know, a mighty bulwark is our God. Yeah. This is this is this is the psalm, if I'm not mistaken, that kind of comes from it. And so it's like on Christian history, I mean, it's extremely, extremely important. Background, as I continued to study it, because I just want to, I mean, it's just so impactful. It was during that time, I was just, I just want my my mind and my heart to be at ease. And then right out the next day, that hurricane came. You remember that that one that just hit Jamaica?

Austin Gardner:

Yep.

Robert Canfield:

That's a category five. And there was a missionary that I that I was met on deputation, and he put out a post, he said, the the waters are surging, like the the rivers are are rising. And and this song even actually talks about it. Yep. And I was just like, wow. And so the Bible says in Psalms 46, he says, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help and trouble. Therefore, will not or will not we fear, though the earth be removed and the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof, Selah. It's interesting in in this psalm. You can tell them what what does what does Selah mean? I mean, what is it? You're probably better at it than me. You're the ones that study it. Pause, think. Yeah, that three pauses in here. So this is a psalm, and it helps us, it should help us. Stop here and meditate. Yeah, stop, chew on this. Yep. Chew on this. And so what he makes is there, he you can just I mean, you jump in anytime you want to interrupt me.

Austin Gardner:

Well, go ahead. I'm I'm I'm I'm sitting here with some thoughts, but I want to.

Robert Canfield:

Yeah, so he's just stopping here and he says, he is, he is, he is telling about the nature of his God. He's telling who his God is to him, and he is his refuge.

Austin Gardner:

And and a refuge is a place you run to. It's the fort in the wilderness.

Robert Canfield:

So that's exactly it. I thought refuge is like it's just like the it's like the bulwark, it's the safe place. I thought of my mind went to like uh like uh Lord of the Rings, and there was like this we're gonna go to Helm's Deep and this refuge, and we're gonna we're gonna hide out there when the when the attacks come.

Austin Gardner:

Because of your age, that's where you go. I go to Daniel Boone in Fort Wilderness. Daniel Boone runs behind the big old walls and they can get away from the enemy.

Robert Canfield:

And then I I so I'm I'm like all about this psalm. So I'm like, I'm trying to hear as many messages as I possibly can on it. And one guy brought it up and he said, when the when a Jewish person hears the word refuge, what do you think they hear? What do you think they might their mind goes back to? And he says, back when Joshua set up these little refuge cities, and he said they're refuge, and uh he said which I'd say most people don't tend to understand. Yeah, well, and that's what he was trying to explain it. So you can explain. I remember you preaching to it. I was like, I've never even heard about these cities of refuge, so you can explain it. I remember when you went through Joshua talking about it.

Austin Gardner:

You know, that was where a person that was accused of murder, but it was second-degree murder, it was accidental homicide. You still killed a man, but maybe the axe head flew off. But it wasn't intentional, there was no purpose, there was no premeditation they could run there, and they had to live there in the presence of a high priest till he died before they could be free from the book. Why would he live there? He had to live there because the the avenger could not go in there. And who was the Avenger? Avenger was the party of the family, or somebody assigned by the family to go and get the guy who killed their brother or their dad or to take the action of that man and bring about justice, or what they filmed like is justice. So in the story of Peace Child, which uh and it's really in Lords of the Earth, because there's all these old Bible truths are built into society, and one of the natives is running for his life, and uh they're trying to kill him, they're shooting arrows at him, and he's running like crazy, and he's in Papua New Guinea, and he runs and jumps across a wall. And on the other side of the wall, he just drops his weapons, turns around and faces his enemies. And the enemies in Papua New Guinea have have this brought down in their culture that they won't fire at him because he's in the city of refuge. And so God is our refuge, even the enemy cannot fire upon us. But I can I we need to take out just a sad father because everything you read in the Old Testament, you should take into the New Testament. God is our refuge, that's a place you run to. Amen. But you know, God, our refuge lives in us. Yeah, he does, and he is greater than he that's in the world, and so he is a very present help in time of trouble because he's a very present help all the time.

Robert Canfield:

And so we you say that he said it's just a New Testament, like the refuge, we run to it. But in this passage, in Psalms 46, he says this read verse 7. Go ahead. The Lord of hosts is with us. Yep.

Austin Gardner:

So he wasn't just with us, he's with them too. He was, but see, I I just won't take it one step farther. Yeah, he is not just with us, he's indwelling us, he he lives in us. See, I think I think it's uh it it's too easy for us to think of, you know, Christians beg God to come help them. No, he's a present help. You don't have to beg him to come, that's right. You don't have to beg, oh God, please come. He's like, I live in you. God, don't leave me. I will never leave you, and I will never forsake you.

Robert Canfield:

And people think that that's just the New Testament God, but that's even the Old Testament God.

Austin Gardner:

The the Christian, the religion, religious people have turned it into you have to beg God to do what he's already doing.

Robert Canfield:

And in verse one, he says, He is, just what you said, a very present help. So, like when we're going through the trouble, he's ready on edge, he's sitting on the edge of the seat, he's waiting for us.

Austin Gardner:

He is already here, he's already working in your life, and you need to get a hold of that truth that he is always here. And in the old testament, he did not dwell in dwell people. Uh, and in the old testament, they might have gone to the temple, they might have gone to the tabernacle. Today, we are the temple.

Robert Canfield:

That's right.

Austin Gardner:

And and we don't have to ask him to come, we don't have to go to him. He is here right now. But these truths, you take everything David says in this psalm and just multiply it by a thousand, oh, yeah, by a million for us.

Robert Canfield:

We we we've got it great. But the that refuge, I thought that was great. This is that's exactly what that one preacher was talking about. He said, he even said it step forward further. He said, when those people ran to that city of refuge, they would tell everything that went on, and the elders were like, You're under our protection now. And that you're taken care of now.

Austin Gardner:

That is exactly what happened in the because they to be able to stay in the city of refuge, you had to you had to present your case and prove it wasn't. Well, I don't even have to present my case because my lawyer is Jesus. Amen. The judge is my father, and my father who gave me Jesus says, Ain't nothing I won't give you. Amen. There's no limit to what I will do.

Robert Canfield:

And so he's he's our refuge, he is our refuge. That's right. And he is our strength. That's right. And so a lot of times we feel like I can't get through it. You're probably right. If you rest in your own strength, but he is our strength.

Austin Gardner:

And uh that's all through your Bible. You know, what's it say? Even though the fig tree withers and the sheep aren't giving any babies, Habakkuk. So I will rejoice. I will rejoice in the Lord, because our rejoicing is not in our in our health, and our rejoicing is not in our strength, our rejoicing is not in the absence of problems, our rejoicing is in the Lord, and we can never ever forget that.

Robert Canfield:

Amen. Amen. So as I was going through that, he says he is our refuge, he is our strength, and he's very present in the time of our trouble.

Austin Gardner:

I definitely think that I think that that truth needs to ring clear right now. You're listening, you're you're paying attention to this podcast, and you're like, I just wish God was here with me. Well, that's a lie from the devil, because he moved into you, he lives in you, he is very present, he is a refuge. All of that's true for you. So you can listen to your feelings, or you can listen to truth. You can accept what God says, or you can accept what you're saying to yourself, what the world's saying to you, even what religion's saying to you, and that's really gonna mess up your life.

Robert Canfield:

When when you realize who God is, when you realize who is He's your refuge, He is your strength, He's there ready for you. You know what that should cause inside those people that truly believe it? A removal of fear. And that's what he says right there. He says, Because of, therefore, will not we fear.

Austin Gardner:

Yeah, we we don't have to be afraid. There's a stream that makes glad we're in the middle of the stream. Uh the the God's in the middle, and that means Jerusalem can't be moved, God's place can't be moved. He's in the middle of you, and and and and no matter what, you mess up or others mess up, people attack you or you fail. You cannot be moved. You can't be moved out of where you are. You are in Christ, and Christ is in you, and that's the hope of glory. Isn't that wonderful?

Robert Canfield:

That's the greatest truth in the world. And he goes through these stages, right? He says, though the earth be removed, mountains carried in the sea, waters roared, troubled, mountains shake and the swelling thereof. Stop and think. That's right. I was thinking about those people in Jamaica watching, I saw the video of that storm. Yeah. I don't know about you, that that would strike fear into my heart to see to see the wood with the ocean start waving over it and the winds blowing down and the the earth shaking. I've never been a part of a of a of an earthquake, but I remember you. I've been around so we're signing. Does that bring peace in people's minds?

Austin Gardner:

You mean when the earthquake is happening? No. People are terrified. You immediately get up and run for the in a in an earthquake, you run to the middle of the street, hope no buildings fall on you.

Robert Canfield:

Well, all I could think of is this. If I'm in an earthquake, the ground is literally shaking beneath me. I'm thinking about safety for myself, I'm thinking about safety for my kids. And a lot of times, you know what I mean that you everything is outside of your control. But not outside his control.

Austin Gardner:

But the psalmist says he's my refuge. He is, he is, he is our indwelling Christ. And he is the end of all striving and fighting and hoping to achieve because he has achieved.

Robert Canfield:

And on a on a on a catechismic, chaotic scale, we don't have to fear.

Austin Gardner:

Okay, so that gets us down to that last part of it. What's it say? Be still.

Robert Canfield:

Be still. But you know what? Something I saw that as I was I was just driving through. Like I said, this this psalm just came part of me. You know what I mean? I was just thinking.

Austin Gardner:

By the way, can I just stop for all of you listening? What he just said important. You said that Psalm became a part of me. I it just kept being brand. You're working it into your DNA. You're working it into who you are, you're working it into how you think, you're working it into how you feel. And there are many of our friends that are listening maybe eat up by their thoughts because they haven't done what you're saying.

Robert Canfield:

Well, for me, sometimes I look at this and I'm like, okay. I just look at it like almost like a literal sense and just get done with it. Okay, this guy's not afraid whenever chaos happens. Good for him. You can look at it academically. Yeah, academically. Big things happen, right? That's not, but what about for me personally? And I don't think it personally, but I have to, in in my Bible reading, before I did all this, God spoke to me and He says, You have ears, but you don't hear. You have eyes that you don't see. You don't understand. Jesus was laying out saying, You're not listening to me. You're not looking for me. You're not understanding what I'm saying. And so my honest prayer was it's like, God, please let me hear you. Please let me see you. Please let me understand what you're trying to tell me. Please get in my heart. Like, I don't, the world doesn't listen to him. And when Jesus was here, they didn't listen to him. And they didn't see what he was, what he was about. They didn't understand what he was here for. They saw the temporal things of he can heal me, and they came after him. They saw the temporal things. He can feed me. He was feeding all these people. They saw the temporal things. I think he's going to come to Israel and he's going to Jerusalem. He's going to alleviate all the oppression by the Romans. And so many times we get caught up on the temporal things, we just don't sit and listen to see what he's doing.

Austin Gardner:

And it has to be worked into, you got to meditate on it. See, too many people read academically. Too many people look at it and say, this is what it says, and they can get all the facts, but they don't work it into their heart.

Robert Canfield:

And I listened to one preacher, and he went through the history behind this psalm, how it was written during the time of Hezekiah. And I think Assyria just annihilated Israel. And now Sennacherib has encompassed Jerusalem and they're yelling out and they're spewing out, don't fear your God, because look at all the other nations that we went after. And they said they feared their God. What happened to them? You know what I mean? And I think sometimes we just look on that, that, that, that historical sense, and like we just need that historical, literal, grammatical sense, and we exclude the Holy Spirit from talking to us. Because I was literally driving down the road and I was like, David didn't write this psalm. You said David wrote this psalm. David didn't write this psalm. Go ahead. It's the sons of Korah. At the beginning of it, it says the chief musician for the sons of Korah. Well, I think I'll take the word of that more than mine. That's that's that's inspired word right there. That wasn't just a pericope that some some translator put in there. That was in the the originals. It was the sons of Korah. And you know what the first thing they said? Though the earth be removed. And then my mind went to like their dad was swallowed up by the earth. And their first statement was though the earth be removed, we're not fearing. He's our refuge, he's our strength. He's the very present help in time of trouble. These kids who were part of a family that they had they bear the last name of shame and reproach. To be the earth removed, that's a in my mind, that's like a sign of judgment. They're like, this all could happen, but we're not we're not afraid. And you wonder, like, how could they get to that point? And they said this, they tell us what to do. They say, consider and behold the works of God. Be still and know that I am, I am is God. And so many times in our lives, right? We have cataclysmic things that happen. We have personal problems that even happen. Yep. We have we have we have things that that that that wars and rumors of wars. He talks about wars, and it's God that makes the end of wars. And he just says, just stop and think and consider what God is doing. He will be exalted. Just be still. That means don't be anxious. Be still and know it's not you. It's I am.

Austin Gardner:

He's God. If somebody would take this thought, it would help them with whatever's going on in their life. But you don't understand there, Robert. I my life is all messed up. You you would not believe all the horrible things have happened to me. How does this sound help them? Can we just behold God's work?

Robert Canfield:

Can we just like let's just run through the scriptures? Let's look at Adam and Eve. Let's look at their worst day. But yet she gets the title of mother of all living. She gets the promise that she gets to Adam Ever.

Austin Gardner:

Even after she messed up?

Robert Canfield:

Even after she messed up willfully. Let's look at Cain and Abel. Let's look at Noah. Let's look at Joseph. Let's look at Abraham. Let's look at David. Let's look at Moses. Let's look at all these people who had their high highs and real low lows and man murders and and guys that took advantage of their own leadership and they did this and they did that. And they didn't, they didn't go trusting God, but yet they they they they didn't protect their wives, you know what I mean? All these things, all these had family problems, sons rose up against other sons. One son, one group of sons threw the other ones in jail or through sold them into slavery. Yet can we just behold and see what God did through it all?

Austin Gardner:

Yep.

Robert Canfield:

Can we just stop and see?

Austin Gardner:

Can we just think on it? And when he says, be still and know that I'm God, be still and focus on me. I think the problem is too often I focus on me. What's happening to me?

Robert Canfield:

We are such control freaks to the point where we think that we have to have the plan, the solution, and it all rests on us. Yet one, two, three times he says, Let's just stop and think about this. He's our strength. He's always been there. He's ready to help. He's the one that wins the wars. He stops the wars, he makes it cease. Can you just look at him for a second? You want application points? Just come behold. And then just steal your heart. Steal your heart. And know the I am. He's God. He will be exalted amongst the heathen. He's with us. The one that will be exalted in the entire world. Guess what? He wants to be with you. That's when you think on that, that changes everything. The earth might be removed from underneath you, but he's still with you. No matter what happens. You might be looking at a wall, a tsunami wall, he's with you. Things might be shaking around you. He's with you. You might be seeing wars and they're raging, and people are looking and making and crying out to you, saying, Look what happened, look what how look how we destroyed these other gods. He's still with us. He doesn't leave us. And it's just a truth that just like sh is still bringing shockwaves through my life. Because so many times I think, God, the story needs to be written like this. God, I need to be able to do this. God, I need to have this way. And at the end of the day, I'm not God. He's God. That's right. And at the end of the day, I just need to calm down, be still, and then take this mind and say, mind, we've already given ourselves to him. And part of loving him is thinking on him and desiring him. Because everything here on earth is just temporal. But eternity is with him. And say, mind, we're going to think about him and what he's going to do. And that the thing that really, like I said, when the Holy Spirit spoke to me, I mean, I really do believe he spoke to me. Could you imagine being the sons of Korah? And everyone looking at you and saying, They're from that family. That everyone knows. God made big judgment on. And their dad's gone, and so is their family. And those guys said, Yeah, we might be the sons of Korah. But he's still our God. And he's always been there for us. And he's helping those people who've gone through similar things, personal problems, major catastrophes, fightings, feeling abandoned. And they're able to help us. God uses them. God was with them and used them in a great way. And all I can think of for me is like, God, there's nothing I'm facing today. That you're not with me.

Austin Gardner:

That's right.

Robert Canfield:

That you're not going to help. That you're not my place where I run to. That you're not going to give me the strength to get through today. And that's just something that just took over my heart.

Austin Gardner:

I think that if you're listening, you ought to take that for today. And that ought to be what kind of helps you get through the day. Be still and know that he's God. Be still and consider all of that. And this podcast, I hope, has really helped you with that. I think that you could it could change the way you feel today.

Robert Canfield:

Oh yeah. It could change the way you feel. And when it changes the way you feel, it changes the way you treat others. And when you have hope, you know what happens? Other people around you seem like they have hope too. You can help generate.

Austin Gardner:

You can stop hiding and stop making excuses and stop being a victim. That's right. Because you have a very present help.

Robert Canfield:

Does he not? And he is the he's the exalted God, and the exalted one of all the earth says, I want to be with you. Yep. That's pretty powerful.

Austin Gardner:

That's very powerful. Well, thank y'all for listening today. I hope you have been blessed by this. Just a meditation. Robert's been working on, and I want that to be a truth you learn that you would take a passage of scripture and meditate on it, like he has, until the Lord teaches you. We want it to become a part of your spiritual DNA, who you are and how you're made, because you just eat up with the scripture. Well, thank you for listening, and God bless you today.

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Austin Gardner

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