Jump Start # 549 

Psalms 46:1-2 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we shall not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea” 

  This is a great passage to remember. It reminds us of what we know but often forget when things are tough in our life. This Psalm was written by the sons of Korah. The story behind this passage is not known. Their world was upside down, but in God they found help.

  Notice four simple principles here:

• God is. That is similar to God declaring, “I Am.” I Am is His name. God is, is what He is. We know God by what He is. He is good. He is holy. He is righteous. And as our passage indicates, He is help. That’s good to know. We can’t say that often. Some of us are going to be, but we are not yet. When you grow up, we are asked as a child, what are you going to be? I like what one child said when asked that, “Well, I’m going to be me!” Some of us used to be. Age has caught up with us and we are not as strong as we once were. We can not do what we once did. A dear preaching friend of mine who is in his eighties, tells me that he can’t recall passages as he once did. Then there are areas that we will never be. We can never be God. We can never be everywhere. God is. The God is that the sons of Korah recognized is still the God that is for you and I. Nothing has changed with Him.

• God is a refuge. God is protection. God is shelter. Refuge is a place folks run to in a storm. On the golf course, when a thunder storm pops up, golfers will go to the club house, it is a place of refuge. In the O.T. God provided six cities of refuge. If a person accidently killed someone they could flee to one of those cities. The families of the deceased person could not seek revenge if a person was in one of those cities. God is our storm shelter. God is where we go when things are bad. Who else can help but God? Who else understands better than God. God is safety. God is care. You’ll note the passage doesn’t just declare that God is a refuge, but God is OUR refuge. He’s the place to turn to, He’s the place we go to, He’s the one that is there for us. When enemies came upon the people of Israel, it was God that they turned to. He was their refuge. The same goes for us. When the marriage crumbles, go to God. When health problems arise, go to God. When the child becomes a prodigal and won’t come home, go to God. He is refuge. He is help. He is.

• We shall not fear. Our God is a present help. Fear cripples us and makes it difficult to move on. Fear defeats and conquers us. Folks that are afraid of flying will avoid airports at all costs. They’ll drive. People that are afraid of elevators, will take the stairs. Fear mounts when the doctor says, “Cancer,” or, the bill collectors call, or the company lays you off, or, when someone dear to you says, “I no longer love you.”  What happens next? How will we get through this? What will we do? I don’t think we can go on. That’s the language of fear. The greater the fear, the less the faith. The greater the faith, the less the fear. Jesus told the disciples to “pray at all times and not lose heart” (Lk 18:1). He told the disciples, “Fear not, I am with you.” We shall not fear, the passage tells us. How can that happen? Because God is and because God is our refuge. God can do what others can’t.

• Finally, unbelievable things can happen. The passage talks about the changing of the earth, the mountains slipping into the sea. Just think about that for a moment. We can think about California mud slides, where huge sections of earth crash in the sea below. I don’t think mud slides is what is intended here. If a mountain slipped into the sea, there would be such an earth quake that it would generate massive devastation, panic and fear. This may have happened when God caused the flood. Prophetically, God used the image of falling stars and the darkening of the sun to describe the crashing of a nation. When Jesus died, graves were opened, there was an earthquake and the heavy curtain in the temple was ripped in two. Again, I don’t think the writer is looking to a specific in history, as much as he is describing a worst case scenario. It’s not a thunderstorm. It’s more than a heavy snow. It was mountains crashing into the sea. Some understand this. You’ve walked away from the cemetery after burying your mate. You’ve left the courthouse with a divorce paper in your hand. You’ve got to a prison to visit your child. Those things aren’t supposed to  happen, but they do. Your world has changed. Mountains have slipped into the sea. It’s the worst things you could have ever imagined.

  God is our refuge, we shall not fear. How do you go on? With God. What’s the next step? Take it with God. How do I face another tomorrow? With God. God is. God is our refuge. God is our refuge, we shall not fear. When your mountains crash into the sea, you especially need God. That is the time, of all times, to go to worship, to go to prayer, to seek God’s people, to turn to His word. So often, we do just the opposite. We stay home. We bury ourselves under the blankets of our bed. We isolate. We disconnect. We tremble and fear. It’s hard to get out and go to God. You often don’t feel like it. You may have to force yourself.

  God is…God is for you! Are you for Him? Even when your mountains have crashed into the sea?

  Roger