Well, hello to everyone of you. It’s a joy for me to… from… from home… to actually give you a devotion, I’ve entitled this devotion, God’s protection in God’s earth. And so, when I… when I thought about this, I just thought, well, what a tremendous amount of changes we’ve seen in the last two weeks. Now we are officially on lockdown for 21 days. And so, this is a good time to reflect upon our relationships with God. I’ll be placing these two sermons for you on a weekly basis on YouTube – and may encourage you to go back to the actual passages that I’m sharing and maybe spend some time just opening your Bible, having a look at some of those passages and just spend some time discovering new things in the Bible that maybe you haven’t seen before, and might encourage you, especially during this time of trials and difficulties. I’ll also be including the… the actual manuscript with this devotion, and hopefully we’ll also have sound recording so that you can use it. And as you know, our worlds have suddenly changed. I think some of you may feel like everything has just been thrown upside down and it’s in times like these that a person, it’s very easy for you to kind of lose sight of God. I think it’s easy in these times to become very fearful. And a person can at times become anxious or panicking. And it’s easy for you to lose your peace and to become anxious and to be even be agitated and… and fight with one another. Our passage, this morning, serves as an encouragement to… to really find comfort from God being your refuge and your protector. His presence really makes all the difference. Knowing his sovereignty really brings peace, knowing that God is in control. And so, join with me as we break open the Psalm this morning and… and to get some really precious truths that should encourage you, especially in times of trouble. And we’re going to go and have a look at the song. 46. So in the meantime, you can open your Bible to your Psalm 46. I’d like to say a little bit of the background of the Psalm. Unfortunately, their actual background is really not known. It’s probably written after some kind of military victory over foreign power that that attempted a siege against a Jerusalem or a foreign empire or foreign nation that came up to fight against Israel. One of those possibilities is what you read about in the Book of Isaiah with Sinatra. The… the king of Assyrians came, and he came conquered. Basically, all of Israel. What was left was Judah and Jerusalem, and he’d surround. Jerusalem and has a prayer, was fearful and people were fearful during that time. And so, they prayed, and they sought God’s face. And… and God responded. And… and what we read in Isaiah 37 versus 38 is… 4… we… we read there’s 36 we read…. The Angel of the Lord went out… Isaiah 37 and 36… the Angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Syrians, and when people arose early in the morning, behold they were all dead bodies. Another possibility… another possibility for the background, is that may have happened with second Chronicles 20: 1-13… and they were read how the armies of the Ammonites and the Moabites, and their Mennonites came up against Joshua, the King of Judah, and in battle and in John… Not Joshua, Jehoshaphat. And Jehoshaphat was afraid. And so, he said his face to seek God. And it pertained the first in Judah and the assembled everyone in Judah. And he said, let’s… let’s seek God’s face. And let’s see what he prayed. And 2nd Chronicles 20: 5-9… we rejoice, had stood in the Assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the House of the Lord before the new court, and said: “Our Lord, our God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven. You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations and your hands are power and might so that none is able to withstand you. Did you not I God drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people, Israel, and give it forever to the descendants. Of Abraham, your friend. And they’ve lived in it and have built for you and it a sanctuary for your Name.” Saying and… and this is interesting of this man. If disaster comes upon us… if the sword judgment, or interestingly pestilence or sickness or famine, we will stand before this House before you, for your name is in this House and cry out to you in our affection and you will hear and say. And there’s a couple of things I just want to highlight out of this passage. So far, we noted that he affirmed that there is a God in heaven that he rules over all the kingdoms, that he’s powerful, and that none can withstand him. That he’s driven out the inhabitants in the land of Canaan that was given to Israel and that they built a sanctuary for God. That of disasters came like sword and judgments and pestilence and famines that they would stand before the house. His temple and cry out to God in the affliction, and that God would hear them and say. And so, Jehoshaphat continued asking, asking God even to execute judgment upon his enemies. And… and the reason he was doing that is he knew that he was powerless against the great hordes that were coming towards him. And you know what, it’s sometimes you and I feel the same kind of powerlessness about what happens in our lives. But God responded to Jehoshaphat in the following way. 2 Chronicles 20: 15-70. And he said listen, all Judaean inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Josepha thus says the Lord God to you. Do not be afraid. Do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but gods. Tomorrow, go down against him. Behold they will come up by their ascent of Ziz. You’ll find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeriel. You will not need to fight in this battle. Simply stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf. Oh, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid. Do not be dismayed Tomorrow, go out against him and the Lord will be with you. And we notice how the people responded and worshipped verses 18 and 19 drives a front, bowed his head with his face to the ground, and… and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord worshipping the Lord. And the Levites of the Chaoites, And the coral Heights stood up to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice. And when the next day the people went up to Jehoshaphat, instructed Israel to believe in the Lord, and they would succeed, yours appointed people to sing praises to God. It’s interesting how they prepared for this battle. They… they pretty much prepaid the quiet, you’d think they’d prepay soldiers, but no state. They prepared worshippers. Verse 22. We read what happened. When they went, they began. When they and when they began to sing and praise the Lord, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Amor. Mark and Mount Sire, who had come against Judah, so that they were rooted. For the men of Ammon and Myra rose against the inhabitants of Mount Syre, devoting them to distraction, and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Sarah, they also helped to destroy one another. When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness. They looked towards the warden. Behold. What did they see? There were dead bodies lying on the ground. None had escaped. And we see God’s deliverance for his people when they sought his face. Now this is a possible background to this song. And… and Psalm… Psalm 46 possibly may have been the very Psalm that the worshippers of Israel were singing as they faced this possible national calamity. And so now this morning or this evening, whatever time you’re watching this, I want to give you 4 comforting responses that encourage Christ likeness in times of trouble.
The first would be God’s protection power and… and help combats fear and times of natural chaos.
Secondly, God’s presence causes stability in times when human powers are unstable.
Thirdly, God’s sovereignty brings peace and… and worship to human powers the natural powers.
And fourthly, trust that God is with you and God is your shelter. So read with me. Follow with me as… as we read from Psalm 46.