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Psalm 46 verses 1 through 3 is our text this morning. Psalm 46 verses 1 through 3, and the title of our message is God Our Fortress. God Our Fortress. Well, in the warmer days of late winter and early spring, one afternoon, my friend and I were doing what we always did as hanging out as young boys, climbing trees, shooting squirrels, and exchanging friendly insults. And at one point, we noticed some ash that was gathering atop the snow where we were playing. And as we looked across the field, some 500 feet, there was a large barn that housed a farmer's livelihood. Some thousand pigs. And we noticed smoke was rolling up from that barn. So we ran over, we climbed trees to get a better look, and we watched, to our astonishment, the entire barn was being swallowed up in flames. As young boys, we looked at each other with looks of astonishment. The fire raged, it destroyed everything it touched, and we just watched. Once upon a time, the government requires everyone to break God's law. A decree comes from the highest lawful figure that everyone is to worship a false God. Three men, resolute in their faith, do not obey such a command. The authorities, in response to their defiance, are livid. And as a result of their disobedience and out of anger, these three men are thrown into a large oven to be burned to death. Now, there is no room, the government says, for those who follow God's law. So these three men are thrown into the oven. To confirm their plans, the leader of the authorities looks into the flames to confirm his death sentence. Only something surprises him. Instead of seeing three men, he sees four. And these four men are not running around terrified, they are instead calmly walking about. They are not hurt, they are not burned, not even a hair on their head was singed. Now I ask you, who was the fourth person? And how did these men survive such flames? Well, Psalm 46, 1, 2, and 3 offer an introduction to what is one of truly the greatest psalms that we have in our copy of God's Word. It's a psalm about the Lord of hosts. It's a psalm about God's protection of his people. It's a psalm about his power. It's a psalm about God being our refuge. The first three verses is our task this morning, and we will read now these verses. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give 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. Well, there are a myriad of words in this psalm that are worth pondering. The first that we're going to ponder and try to understand is this first word, refuge. Refuge. What is a refuge? Well, refuge is a shelter. It's a fortress. It's a place of safety and protection. It's a place in which one can reside and be protected from things or people outside of that thing. It's a refuge. It means safety and it means protection. Well, along the Penobscot River in central Maine, there sits this fort called Fort Knox. It's not the famous Fort Knox you know, but it's famous to me, maybe, Fort Knox. And this fort is strategically placed alongside the river at a high elevation overlooking the valley and the river. And it was there, it was built to be a protection from enemy ships that entered the mainland during a war. Now it was like any fort. It had thick walls, it had high elevation, it had big guns. It's a refuge and a shelter. It meant to protect the soldiers from the enemy. Come here and find safety. There's a threat from without. Come to this fort and you'll be safe. It's a refuge, it's shelter. Now, God, as the psalmist says here, is a fort to the believer. God is a shelter to the follower of Christ. He is his protection. He is her protection. By the psalmist saying, God is our refuge, he's saying, God will protect me. God is my refuge, our refuge, he protects, and he looks after. And it leads the psalmist elsewhere to say, The Lord is on my side. I will not fear. What can man do to me? The psalmist is saying that phrase because of Psalm 46. God is his shelter. He protects him. He is his shelter and refuge. This second word, present. God is a refuge and strength, similar to this refuge, but he's also a present help. This phrase present help is, well, it's pertinent help. It's the Lord's position of refuge not being late. God is not late in his help. He is, one could say, here and now. He is here and now our help. He's not a present help, he's a very present help. He is, one could say, timely. He's a timely help. We could say it this way: God is there when you need him. A present help, God is there when you need him. He's not a moment too late. He's there when you're asking. He's there as you're asking. He's there before you even ask, because he knows you're going to ask. He's waiting for you to ask. He's timely. And before we can even get the sentence out of God, help me in this specific situation, God is there. The Geneva Bible. The Geneva Bible translates it, translate that phrase this way. He is ready to be found. God is a present help. He's ready to be found. He's timely. Well, this is good because the psalmist continues and he says this. A very present help in trouble. This word trouble must be understood. Trouble is, well, it's trouble. Now, I used to get into lots of trouble in school growing up. I don't think that's the type of trouble that is meant here. The trouble the psalmist means here is really defined for us. He says it the earth giving way, the mountains being moved into the sea, roaring waters, and trembling mountains. So the trouble that the psalmist is experiencing, the present help of God, are these fairly large things that are happening: roaring waters, trembling mountains, and mountains being moved into the sea. Now, this trouble consists of the storms of the seas and earthquakes, but they represent all storms of life. The psalmist is poetic, he uses symbolism, and these are symbols. They're fairly dramatic symbols, don't you think? Mountains being moved into the sea and roaring waters. This is very interesting for us to ponder. Perhaps you've seen these images, maybe not. Nazare, Portugal is home to the largest waves that have ever been recorded. In Nazareth, Portugal, there's these waves between October and March that are they're consistently on record, the highest waves on the planet. And they go as high as 100 feet. And when they foam at the top as they crest, one could say they're raging waters, and people have the audacity to try to surf them. It's quite interesting to see. Little person, 100-foot wave, the raging waters, the foaming, cresting as they come to shore. When Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, a portion of it, about 2.5 cubic kilometers, it's purely large, broke off and slid down the side of it. It lowered the elevation of the mountain by 1,300 feet. One could say a mountain was moved. This is the sort of trouble the psalmist speaks about. He's using hyperbole to show truth. And the truth is the vastness of God being the refuge. The truth is the vastness of God being the shelter. Even though these things occur, God protects, he is a refuge, and though trouble occurs, God is a present help. Now, this in itself is a truth in which is fairly impactful. But notice the psalmist pairs what is occurring with this call to not fear. He says in verse 2, therefore we will not fear though these various astounding and dramatic things occur. We will not fear though the mountains be moved into the sea, and though the earth gives way, and though the waters foam, though these great things occur, we're not going to fear. There is no need to fear, in accordance with the psalmist, in light of the truth of God being our refuge and shelter. Even though this trouble occurs and abounds, it's a call to not be fearful in light of it. Now, this call to not be fearful is like many in all of Scripture. And what do I mean by that? Well, this is important, I think, to understand the beauty of God's word is the call to not fear in Scripture is always connected to a previous truth. It's not meaning it's not just do not fear, it's do not fear because of something surrounding it, which is the truth of God. For example, do not be anxious, Matthew 6. Why? Because God looks after the sparrow, he looks after you. So the call to not be anxious, similar to fear, is because of God's provision. What about this? 2 Timothy 1.7. Do not be fearful, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of what? Of power of love and of sound mind. Notice the call to not fear is not just in and of itself, but it's paired with something God has given, which is something antithetical to fear, which is power and love and a sound mind. The same is with the psalmist, Psalm 118, 6. The Lord is on my side, I will not fear. Now, how much more we would be left wanting if it was just I will not fear. And this is a beauty found in all of Scripture, and it's found here in Psalm 46. We do not fear because God is our refuge. This truth needs the one to follow the command. It's in charge, connected to a truth. Now, without the truth, the command falls short. And if it was just the command, we need the truth aside from it because we are such frail creatures. And this relationship between the truth and command is profound. And perhaps it can be illustrated this way. Imagine you're driving around Turo and you come to a railroad crossing. And as you come to this railroad crossing, the lights begin to flash, and the bell starts ringing, and the white arm comes down. What do you do? Right? Let's be honest. You sigh, you check your watch to see what time it is, to see how much more you're going to be late, and you put the car in park and you wait. You're expecting to hear what? The roar of an engine. And after that engine goes by, perhaps the length of the train, there's one facing front and one facing back. That's the engineer's way of getting more pull on that. You're preparing to hear the rumbling of the engine, see those engines go by, and then rail car after rail car after rail car after rail car. Now, a hundred percent of the time, that's what happens. A hundred percent of the time you see a train engine and the train cars behind it. But for the sake of this illustration, what if what if you came to a train crossing, lights flashing, bell ringing, traffic arm down, and you put the car in park and you waited, but you heard no rumble, and instead of seeing an engine go by, you just saw rail cars go by. No engine, no rumbling, just 10, 20, 30 rail cars moving by at a decent pace. You would think one of two things. One, andor, that's odd. Second, is this a runaway train? What has happened? Why are you thinking that? Why would I think that? It's because train cars don't move by themselves. They need an engine. They need something to pull them. And it would be impossible for something like this to occur. Well, believer, when a believer seeks to refrain from fear, without first resting in the truth that is prior to it in the scriptures, this is without an engine. It won't go. Seeking to refrain from fear without living in the truth of God is powerless. And this is why Paul says to Timothy, you're not given a spirit of fear, but instead you're given a spirit of power. Without the spirit of power, the spirit of fear falls short. And this is why most all, if not all, calls to fear are given an indicative in the imperative, which is a truth of God and then a result of that truth. And this is God given. God is both the power behind the command and the success of the command. Make no mistake, the psalmist understands this. God is both the power behind the command and the command itself not to be fearful. So to rest just in the command is to miss out on the grace of the command of God, where he says, I have given you this power. I am the refuge and shelter. And therefore, the psalmist says, We do not fear. Not because of the psalmist's own power, but because God is his present help. God is with him always, therefore the psalmist does not fear. And this leads the psalmist to say many, many things. Psalm 50, verse 15, call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver you. He says in Psalm 138, Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life. You stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, your right hand delivers me. Notice it's in there as well. Two truths that are wonderful. Proverbs weighs in and says this the name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous man runs into it and is safe. Well, these truths are important. These truths are fruitful. How easily, though, can our flesh lose and draw us away from such truths? How easily, how frail we are as believers and as humans to be drawn away from such truths, which is why the call to not fear is so prevalent in the scriptures. And how easily we may be tempted to be brought to despair. These passions that James says are at war within us can gain battleground in us. Notice James says in chapter 4 that the passions are at war within us. These passions that are at war within us gain battleground within us. They're not just at war, but at times, if we're not careful, they succeed and they gain victory a day or two or a season. The need to strengthen our stakes is not just from Isaiah, but it's from the cry of the Bible. It's worth pondering, and perhaps it's in our hearts this morning. Why is the human heart brought to fear? Why is the human heart brought to fear? Well, the simple answer is sin. But we want to dig a little deeper. So there are perhaps four reasons why we are brought to fear. The first is this lack of faith. Lack of faith. If the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the sea, a person might be tempted to not have faith that God can save them. Perhaps if you were on a mountain and it began to be moved into the sea, and you said, I'm somewhat fearful of my life, I would agree with you. But that does not negate the call to not be fearful in that specific situation. A heart may question God as refuge, and this is in its fundamental form is the lack of faith. The need for faith is for day one of salvation, and it's the need for every day thereafter. So why is the human heart brought to fear? Well, it's for lack of faith. Can be lack of faith. Second reason why a human heart can be brought to fear is the desire for something contrary to God's desire. This may be when someone wants something, and when they do not get it, they respond in fear. This is really what is treading on the grounds of an idol. Idol leave the heart wanting all the time. An idol may offer comfort for a moment, but not for eternity. And when someone wants something against God's desire, and they don't get it, they may become fearful that God is not there and he will not provide for them. Well, this never satisfies. The desire for them and these idols leaves the Christian battered, bruised, and questioning God's providence. And the issue is am I desiring something that God wants me to desire? So it can be a reason to fear when we desire wrongly. The third reason why we might be brought to fear is this it's a lack of spiritual tools. It's a lack of spiritual tools. Now, a job requires certain tools. Heading into roof, and the job I do aside from shepherding the household of God, my job requires various tools. A tool belt, and in these things are things like metal snips, an impact driver, a tape measure, one you would think is various tools applicable to this job. Now these things are needed in order for me to do this job. If I neglect those tools, you can rest assured that the failure to complete that job will ensue. A Christian is brought to fear when they neglect the tools readily available to them in the same sense. The spiritual armor is abandoned. Their Bibles gather dust, their prayer life is small. These are tools, the armor of God, the word of God, prayer life. These are tools in which we ensure we do not live in fear. And when they are neglected, like someone in the trades neglecting their tools, not doing what is right, not accomplishing their task, the same as for the believer. Their armor is rusty due to minimal use. And the result is falling prey to the schemes of the devil. Ephesians 6 speaks to. So lack of spiritual tools can be a reason. Fourthly, a reason why a Christian might fear and be given to fear and give in to fear is not only a lack of spiritual tools, but it's a lack of spiritual fervor. A lack of spiritual fervor. The other day, one of my coworkers' tool belt was in another work truck. He had the tools, he owned them, but he did not have them with him. They were in another place. And so it might be with the Christian who has a Bible, has the Spirit of God in them, but it's not where it should be. This is a lack of spiritual fervor. You mustn't just own the things, but you must understand how to use them, and that's spiritual fervor. And this is the Christian who has the Bible, the Spirit of God in them, and even has perhaps some general understanding of what ought to be done, but fails to utilize them rightly. This is when perhaps the Christian leaves their armor in the closet, so to speak. Owning it, knowing it's there, but not necessarily using it because they want to. The spiritual fervor is missing. Now, in light of this, and in light of these reasons, a prayer against these things can go something like this. And it's a prayer that we often pray, and I'm sure you have as well. God, grow our faith. We do not want a lack of faith. Lack of faith leads to being fearful. So, God, grow our faith. May our faith not be weak and powerless. May it be hearty and active. Give us this thing called toughness in the battle. Give us faith. The Lord of hosts is with us. Therefore, we will not fear. Help us, Lord, to want what you want. May our desires not be our own desires. May our desires be your desires. So that when you move as you move, we are not fearful because we're desiring what you want. Shape our desires by Scripture, O God. Or this, enable us to utilize the tools you have given. You have blessed us in the heavenlies, O God, with every single spiritual blessing. You have not left us wanting. So enable us to use these tools you've given to us for your honor and glory. And lastly, and I do think more importantly, enable us to have a spiritual fervor, to be fearless. General knowledge does not win spiritual battles. Spiritual fervor wins spiritual battles. Well, that can be a few reasons and a few prayers against how the human heart is given to fear, but how then do we be fearless? In a sense, we've answered, but for a few moments, there's two I want to leave you with. First is to be in the word. First is to be in the word. How do you be fearless? Well, you spend time with the refuge and shelter. Knowing more of a sword helps the one who wields it protect himself. Knowing more of the sword of the Spirit enables the believer to utilize it. Spend time in God's word. Study it like it's your last day on earth. Study it like tomorrow you are going to meet Christ. Study it like you have one hour to live. Study it with fervor. Be in the word, and you will be fearless in the world. Be like the Bereans, they received the word with all eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Eagerness, examining it, not a general knowledge. Imagine you ask a plumber to come to your house and work on your home. He comes with no tools. You ask him, where are your tools? He says, Well, they're at Home Depot. I just haven't gotten them yet. It's not enough that these tools exist. You must own them. And the same is for the believer. It's not enough that we know where they are. We must believe where they are, and we must pursue them and own them and make them our own. Spiritual fervor. Be in the word. And you will be fearless. Secondly, it is trust in God. Trust in God. Not only to be in the word, but there has to be some within this level of piety, it is trust. He is our refuge and strength. To be near him is to be protected from all evils. Psalm 20, verse 7 says this. Some trust in chariots, some trust in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. Those things, they collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright. Understand that some trust today in the temporal, some trust today in their goods, some trust today in their bank accounts, some trust today in their health, some trust today in anything this world has to offer, but the believer mustn't. The believer must trust in God, to be near Him, to find refuge in Him. Because all of these other things that we're tempted to find our trust in and hope in, they will fail us. Why trust in the name of God? Because the name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous man runs into it, and he is safe. Well, these three men that we spoke of earlier, they showed fearlessness. Daniel contains the story in which we begin. They're threatened. This is the threat by the king. If you don't worship, you'll immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the God who will deliver you out of my hands? Listen to the arrogance of that statement by the king. So what do they say? They say this. We have no need to answer you on this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O King. How is such resolute faith shown? Because God is their refuge. I ask you this morning, I ask us as a church, do we have resolute faith like this? Ask this way is God our refuge in the manner in which we have just looked at in the pages of Scripture? Is he our shelter? Do you rest in his strength and his protection? Or are you trusting in worldly entities? Some trust in these things, some in that. But do you trust in the name of the Lord your God? Christ, a great Savior, God, a great refuge. Let us then, as His people, submit to the truth and love the truth, because it represents the ultimate deliverance of not fearing the flames, not in a fiery furnace generations ago, but in eternity and hell, we do not fear, because God is our refuge and strength, and he has saved us from the greatest punishment sin has to offer and delivered us. And in light of that we live. He is our refuge for eternity, he is our refuge for today. The psalmist leads us wonderfully into such truths.