Title: God is our refuge (Psalm 46:1)
Contents
God is our refuge (Psalm 46:1)
God is the One who is not afraid to lose under any circumstances.
Because God is our true strength.
We can find peace and stability in prayer.
Prayer to accurately perceive reality
“God is our refuge and strength. He is the help that is right in front of you when you are in trouble” (verse 1).
In fact, it can be said that the fact that shells have fallen into civilian areas is now a situation where shells can fall in front of my house at any time. Ladies and gentlemen, aircraft carriers do not completely quell our anxiety. What can we really do in this case? Before accusing the government and making various demands on the military, what we, people of faith, need to do is pray.
Some people say, 'How are you praying in this situation? Isn't that an escape from reality? Isn't it just seeking psychological consolation? Isn’t that too passive a method?” However, if you know the power of prayer and know that God is alive, prayer is the most powerful way. God lives and hears our prayers and works when we pray.
Prayer is not closing your eyes to reality. Rather, it is true prayer that we can recognize reality more accurately. Even if you do not know what to do or what is going on, if you kneel before God quietly, you will be able to accurately discern and recognize the reality.
living God
Let's read verses 2 and 3. “Therefore, we will not be afraid if the land disappears, or the mountains fall into the sea. I will not be afraid if the waves of the sea roar and roar, if the mountains boil and shake.”
When we pray, not only the crises we face, but even greater fears come, we can immediately recognize the reality and know where we are going. When the land disappears, the mountains sink into the sea, the waves of the sea roar and roar, and the mountains boil and shake, we will not be afraid.
The earth is what the people of this world believe are the most stable and stable. So they build high-rise buildings on the ground, build apartments, and build roads. We live on the ground today, trusting in the firmness of the ground. However, there will come a moment in your life when the foundation of the land on which you are standing will collapse. It means a crisis is coming. Your health may be shaken, trusting relationships may be broken, and your business or workplace that seemed to last forever may be shaken.
Mountains are the strongest and most stable of the natural worlds on this earth. The mountain is always there, unmoving. But there are dreadful days in our lives when earthquakes, volcanoes erupt and tsunamis fill the mountaintops with water. People who pray and people of faith are not people who close their eyes to this reality, but rather recognize the reality more accurately.
There is a truth that is most important to people of prayer. The truth bigger than the reality and situation I am facing is the fact that the God who created all things is still alive today.
We are afraid of the difficult reality and circumstances, but the Almighty God who created the heavens and the earth, the God of hosts, lives. Seeing God who is greater than reality and circumstances is the true power of prayer. That is why, in the midst of seemingly impossible difficulties, “there is a river that flows through the sanctuary of the Most High and makes the city of God happy. God is in it, and it will not be shaken, because God helps in the early morning” (verses 4, 5).
Where the Lord is, rivers of grace and peace always overflow. Because the river of living water overflows, even if the nation is shaken and the nations are shaken, if the Lord is with us, we will not be shaken.
It is not just our country that is in a dire situation right now. If you look around the world, in fact, there are not many peaceful places. It oscillates everywhere. Folks, it is safest to flee from God. If we make God our help and strength, God helps us. They help us from the early morning. When we turn to Him and take refuge in Him, He does not delay to help us. He is the One who wakes us up from dawn to help us. So we can be safe in the midst of all kinds of tribulation, rumors of war, and tumult of war.
Our true power is only in God
Let's read verse 7. “The Lord of hosts is with us, and the God of Jacob is our refuge.”
Ladies and gentlemen, the war is in the hands of God. Who will be defeated by God's army? God is an army among our army, and a warrior among the warriors.
Jehovah of hosts is also the God of Jacob. He is the God who still keeps the promise he made with Jacob 3,500 years ago. Not only Jacob, but the God of Abraham, the God of Moses, the God of David, the God of Elijah, the God of Jesus Christ, and the God who was with the people of Acts is our God. You are my God. So we can be bold in any situation.
The reason we can trust and rely on God even under the threat of war is because we know what He has done. But we are not interested in what God has done, but rather what the people are doing, what the government, the military, or the surrounding powers will do. What we need to pay attention to is to focus all our attention and focus on what God is going to do.
You can see the power of God by looking at the great things that God has done. God is the One who put an end to wars to the ends of the earth, broke the bow, cut the spear in half, and burned the chariot (verse 9).
Gentlemen, who liberated this country from the Japanese colonial period? Who rescued this country from the Korean War? Who is the one who raised this country from ashes?
If we hold on to what we cannot protect, we will miss out on God's grace and blessings so far. God is the One who is not afraid to lose under any circumstances. Because God is our true strength. We can find peace and stability in prayer.
Prayer is Focusing on God
Let's read verse 10. “Calm down and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, and I will be exalted on the earth.”
Even when a fearful day comes, we must not rush to and fro, but quietly lay our thoughts down before God. Also, we need to know God rather than run to make ourselves and our abilities known. We often get so caught up in our work that we forget what God is doing and who He is.
Gentlemen, prayer is about focusing on God. Prayer is trusting, waiting, and entrusting God to do His work. It's about looking at what God will do. Relying completely on Almighty God and having God as our strength and help is the way we can be victorious in any crisis.
Those who trust in God will never be put to shame. Rather, the name of our God will be exalted among the nations.
Finally, I emphasize once again. Let's read verse 11. “The Lord Almighty is with us, and the God of Jacob is our refuge.”
Even when the moment of death unfolds before our eyes, though we pass through the valley of the shadow of death, we fear no harm because the Lord is with us. Dear brothers and sisters, keep your eyes on the Lord
When our country demands our sacrifice and our blood, we must stand up and bear it. But there is something more important than that. There are things only people of faith can do. There are things that only God's people can do. It is to cry out and pray before God.
When we take God as our strength and help, our refuge, and our silent gaze upon Him, the same God for eternity, as before, will surely keep those who trust in Him, and will not be put to shame, but will be exalted.