Latest / Reformed Thinking / Unshaken Faith in a Shaking World (Psalm 46) | Charles Spurgeon

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Unshaken Faith in a Shaking World (Psalm 46) | Charles Spurgeon · Reformed Thinking

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Reformed thinking. Welcome to the deep dive.
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Today we're looking at a question that I think everyone
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faces at some point. How do you find security when it
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feels like everything is, well, collapsing around you?
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It's a timeless question, and our source for this deep dive is
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a classic commentary from Charles Spurgeon on one of the
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most powerful answers to that question in Scripture.
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That's right, we're focusing on Psalm 46.
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It's often called Luther's Psalm, a truly noble ode about,
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for lack of a better term, holy confidence.
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And Spurgeon's work The Treasury of David is just so
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comprehensive. He pulls in centuries of
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Christian thought on this text. So our mission today is pretty
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clear. We're going to take this ancient
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source and extract what you need to know to connect its dramatic
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imagery, you know, the shaking mountains and raging seas to our
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own understanding of God's sovereignty and his protection.
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We want to make it actionable, to translate that ancient
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assurance into something concrete for the anxieties you
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might be facing right now. OK, let's get into it.
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And the place to start, maybe surprisingly, is right in the
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title of the Psalm, which gives us some really specific
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instructions. It really does.
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The very first line to the chief musician sets a standard.
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This isn't just a footnote. What does that tell us?
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Well, the commentary makes the point that this declaration of
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faith, this particular song, demanded the absolute highest
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level of artistic skill available in Israel.
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So this wasn't for the the amateur choir practice?
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Not at all. It had to be entrusted to the
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most skillful musician. And there's a lesson there, you
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know? That the best we have is what's
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due to God. Exactly.
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We shouldn't approach any holy service, whether it's music or
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something else, with a sloppy or negligent attitude.
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It's about giving our best because of who it's for.
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And the instruction continues, right?
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It's a sign for the sons of Korra.
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Yes, and this is another interesting point.
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The sons of Korra were one of the main families of Temple
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Singers. But the source material says
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this doesn't imply some kind of monopoly, does it?
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No, it pushes back against that. They took their turn.
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The practical lesson for us is that holy service shouldn't be
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controlled by just one family or one person or one particular
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group of people with a certain talent.
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So it's about shared participation, a shared
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privilege. Precisely every part of the
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believing community should get to have a share in serving God.
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The joy of singing, this kind of confidence is meant to be spread
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around. So after we know who should sing
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and how well they should sing, we get this, this very
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mysterious musical instruction, a song upon Alamoth.
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It is a bit mysterious, yes. It's a technical term, and
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scholars have a couple of ideas about what it means, but.
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Both ideas seem to point in a similar direction, tonally
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speaking. They do the first
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interpretation, and maybe the most common is that it refers to
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a high pitch for treble or soprano voices.
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The commentary even links this to Hebrew virgins celebrating
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David's victory, so it's a high, joyful, triumphant sound.
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And the spiritual application of that is pretty clear.
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Our praise, our declaration of confidence should be lively,
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exalted, full of happy strains. Spurgeon uses this beautiful
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phrase. It should come from virgin
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hearts. Meaning hearts that are what?
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Pure and chaste in their devotion to God.
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Exactly. It's not just about hitting a
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high note physically, but about the purity of the heart, singing
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it and. What's the other interpretation
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of Alamoth? The other view connects it to
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shrill sounding instruments, maybe like flutes or high
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pitched harps. There's a reference to this in
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First Chronicles when the music was being arranged for the Ark.
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So either way, whether it's high voices or sharp instruments.
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The message is the same. This confidence isn't something
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to be whispered in a mournful, downcast way.
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It's meant to be declared with joy, with skill, with an
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intelligent expression of the security we feel.
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That's a perfect setup. This whole introduction is about
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preparing for powerful declaration, and that
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declaration hits immediately in the first verse.
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It really does. Verse one is the absolute core
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of the Psalm. It's the boast of Israel.
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God is our refuge and strength, a very present help and trouble.
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Let's focus on that idea of a boast other nations.
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They boast in their armies, their walls, their fortresses.
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Right. They boast in things that are
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created, things that can fail. The people of God are told to
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place their confidence in one place, and one place only in
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Jehovah himself. Because that's the only security
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that's actually secure. It is all other strength is just
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weakness in disguise, and the Psalm immediately breaks down
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God's role for us into three active present realities.
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OK. Let's walk through that
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threefold role, because this is where the theology becomes very
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practical. First, he is our refuge.
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That's a shelter. It's better than any castle, any
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fortress, any high Rock You could run to.
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When trouble comes, he is the place you go for safety.
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So that's the defensive aspect. Yes, and 2nd, he's our strength.
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This is the offensive aspect. It's better than having legions
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of soldiers or powerful Chariots.
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It's the power to act, to endure, to overcome.
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Refuge and strength, shelter and power.
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And then there's the third role, which is maybe the most
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comforting. He is a very present help in
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trouble. I want to pause on that phrase
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very present. That little word very seems so
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important. It's huge.
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It means he isn't far off. He's near right at your side,
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ready to help. And the commentary stresses this
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isn't theoretical. He has been tried and proved
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generation after generation. Spurgeon's commentary says
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something just incredible here, that God is more present than
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friend or relative can be. Yeah, more nearly present than
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even the trouble itself. Think about that for a second.
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When you're in trouble, the trouble feels like the most
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present thing in the universe. It's overwhelming.
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It's all you can. See, but this verse claims that
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God is already closer to you than.
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The problem is he's not a friend who shows up late.
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He's already there. So we never face the trouble 1st
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and then hope God shows up. He's there before it even fully
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arrives. That's the promise.
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And this all hinges on that one little possessive word at the
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beginning. Our our refuge, our strengths.
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Right. It's not just a statement about
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God's general character. It has to be a personal claim.
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You have to secure your portion in God to be able to say this
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with any real meaning. It has to move from being a
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theological fact to a personal reality.
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He has to be your God. And when he is that defense,
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that might is enough for any and every emergency.
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Which sets up the next section perfectly.
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The Psalm is about to put that very claim to the test.
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It does. Moving into verse 2, we get this
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very powerful, very logical word that signals a shift.
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The word is therefore. And that's so key.
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This isn't just a random collection of poetic images.
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The psalmist is building an argument.
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He's drawing a conclusion based on what he just established in
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verse one. Exactly.
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It's a logical inference because God is our proven refuge and
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strength. Therefore will not we fear?
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In other words, with God on our side, fear isn't just an
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unpleasant emotion, it's actually irrational.
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It doesn't make logical sense. That's the argument.
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If God, who has all might and all love, is with you, what is
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there rationally to be afraid of?
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And to test this logic, he immediately throws the worst
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case scenario at us, the most catastrophic thing you can
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imagine. He presents 2 images of total
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physical commotion. The first one is though the
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earth be removed. That's not just an earthquake,
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that's the very ground under our sheet, the basis of everything
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we see being completely dissolved.
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Think about what that means for us today.
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The things you assume are fixed and stable.
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Your country, the economy, even your own health.
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Imagine all of it just gone. The foundation's collapsing.
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And the second image is even more dramatic and though the
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mountains be carried into the middle of the sea.
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Mountains are the ancient symbols of permanence and
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stability, and here they're being ripped up and thrown into
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the sea. It's the most solid things in
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creation coming to a violent end.
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And Spurgeon is quick to apply this imagery beyond just
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geology, isn't he? Oh.
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Absolutely, he says. This imagery covers everything
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that could possibly shake our faith.
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The overthrow of governments, the destruction of nations, the
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ruin of a family, persecution of the Church, the rise of false
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teachings. So whatever you're shaking
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Mountain is a financial crisis, a terrible diagnosis.
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It's covered by this. The point is, let the worst come
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to the worst, the one who trusts in God has no reason to give way
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to mistrust. It even extends to the end of
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all things. It certainly does.
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The commentary says that when the elements finally melt with
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heat, when the heavens and earth pass away, the believer will be
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able to serenely watch the wreck of matter and the crash of
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worlds. Because our security was never
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in the matter or the world's to begin with.
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Precisely the panic belongs to those whose refuge was in the
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mountains, not in the one who made the mountains.
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Verse 3 keeps this intense imagery going with the water,
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though the waters thereof roar and be troubled.
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So now everything is in a fury, utter chaos.
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But faith can still smile. Faith isn't a friend of the
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noise. And then, though the mountains
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shake with the swelling thereof, the commentary says the
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mountains here can also represent the great and powerful
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people of the world. The Alps and Andies of human
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society, as Bergin puts it. They might be trembling with
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fear, but the heart that's resting in God is on a much
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firmer foundation than any political power or military
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might. OK, so in the middle of this
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description of total universal chaos, you have falling
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mountains, roaring seas. We get this one more
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instruction. It's the meditative pause.
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The timing of it here seems so deliberate.
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It's perfect, isn't it? Yeah.
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It's not a cry of panic, the commentary says.
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It's a deliberate rest in the music.
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It's an invitation for the singers and for you to listener
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to just stop, take a breath. So when chaos hits, the first
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instruction isn't to react, it's to pause.
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Yes, Don't give in to what the source calls headlong rashness.
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Take a moment to meditate on the reality of the situation,
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including the terror, but without giving in to the fear.
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It's a call to calmly confront the danger.
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It is. The idea is we don't stop
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singing an alarm. We calmly tune our harps again,
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right there in the middle of the storm.
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So after that pause, after we've contemplated the absolute worst,
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verse 4 presents this stunning, almost jarring shift in imagery.
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It's a complete pivot. We go from the roaring, chaotic,
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terrifying sea to a Placid stream.
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There is a river. The streams whereof shall make
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glad the city of God. This is the contrast to all the
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external turmoil. Absolutely.
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The sea was furious, muddy, treacherous.
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This river is quiet, flowing, life giving and it never fails.
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This is the river of divine grace.
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And this river is what sustains the city of God, which is the
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church. Right, and you have to think
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about ancient warfare here. For a city under siege, the
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biggest fear was the water supply being cut off.
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You die of thirst long before the enemy broke through the
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walls. Exactly so.
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The presence of this internal, never failing river is a
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promise. It means the citizens of this
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city, the church, have all the grace they need to endure to the
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end. They cannot be starved out.
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What's fascinating is how the source material unpacks what
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this river and its streams represent.
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It's not just one thing. No, it sees the different
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streams as various divine influences 1st the river can be
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seen as God the Father, the original fountain of living
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waters, the. Ultimate source of it.
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All then, a stream from that river is God the Son, who is the
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fountain open for our salvation, the channel through which that
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grace flows to us. A third stream is God, the
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Spirit, which is like the living water that wells up inside the
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believer, the constant internal comfort and renewal.
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And the fourth interpretation. That the river is the whole
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collection of God's perfections in Christ's fullness, all
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flowing to us in the channel of the covenant of traumas.
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So all these streams work together to make the city not
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just survive, but be glad. Exactly.
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Even when the rest of the world is either drowning in chaos or
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parched with thirst, the city is well supplied and joyful.
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Let's talk about that idea of the church as the city of God
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for a moment. What does that metaphor imply?
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It implies a lot. A city means security, it means
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society and fellowship, it means unity.
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It's a place of order of rest of special privileges.
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And a place of trade. The commentary calls it the
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market of free grace. Yes, but most of all it's the
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holy place where God himself chooses to dwell, and that's the
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absolute core of the security which we find in verse 5.
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God is in the midst of her. That's the final guarantee.
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It is this is the unique privilege of the people of God
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to be a temple for the Holy Spirit.
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And what's the practical implication of that of God being
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right there in the middle of the city during the siege?
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It's a simple but incredible piece of logic.
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If the city is being besieged, then God himself is besieged
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within her walls. So any enemy that wants to
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attack the church has to get through God first.
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Which is why the next line says she shall not be moved.
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Why? Because to move her you'd have
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to move the Lord who dwells inside her.
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The ship can't sink because God is in the vessel.
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And he helps in two ways at once, right within and without.
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Yes, the source points this out. Inside the walls he provides the
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river, the rich supplies, and outside the walls he decisively
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defeats the enemy, like he did with the armies of Sennacherib
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that were just annihilated overnight outside Jerusalem.
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And the timing of this help is also very specific.
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It says he will help her right early.
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This means literally at the turning of the morning, as soon
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as the first light of dawn appears.
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So God is never late, even if our impatience makes it feel
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like he's delayed. His timing is always perfect,
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and it's so often in Scripture that the great deliverance has
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happened in that darkest hour just before the morning.
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You think of Gideon or Joshua. Exactly.
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The pattern is there. Just when the night seems its
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darkest, that's when the Lord appears as the great ally of his
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people. It's a promise that when you
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feel you're at the end of your rope, that's precisely when dawn
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is about to break. So now in verse 6, the focus
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shifts outward again. We've seen nature and chaos, and
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now we see human society and chaos.
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The heathen rage. The kingdoms were moved.
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This is a picture of total geopolitical uproar.
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Nations are like a tempestuous sea.
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Invaders are on the March. Thrones are rocking.
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Empires are collapsing. It's widespread confusion and
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panic for everyone who doesn't know the Lord is their refuge,
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it sounds. A lot like our 24 hour news
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cycle, actually. Constant crisis, constant rage.
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It's in the same spirit, but look at God's response to all
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this furious activity. It's the ultimate display of
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effortless power. He uttered his voice.
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The earth melted. That's it.
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No Great War, no complex strategy.
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He just speaks a word, a single word from God.
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And all the solid, substantial things that men built, their
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empires, their armies, their political systems, they just
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melt like wax. It's hard to even comprehend
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that level of power. One word is enough.
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And it points us, of course, to the power of the Incarnate Word,
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Jesus Christ, whose voice is sufficient to end all the
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rebellions and wars of humanity. The result of that word is
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peace. The rage just subsides and the
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reason for the security is spelled out for us in the two
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powerful titles for God in the next verse.
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Yes, verse 7 is the reason for all of this.
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The Lord of Hosts is with us. Let's break that title down.
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The Lord of Hosts. It means he's the Generalissimo,
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the supreme commander of all forces, seen and unseen.
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He commands the angels, the stars, the elements.
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Even the armies of men who don't know they're serving His will.
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Even them He is the ultimate irresistible ally.
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To fight against his people is to fight against the Lord of the
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entire universe. But the Psalm doesn't stop
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there. With that title of universal
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power, it has a second, more personal 1.
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He is also the God of Jacob. Why is that second title so
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important? Lord of hosts tells us God can
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save us. God of Jacob tells us God has
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promised to save us. It's about his covenant
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relationship. And why Jacob specifically?
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The commentary notes that the covenant was made especially
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solemn with Abraham and Jacob. Jacob's name reminds us that God
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has bound himself by promise to a specific, often weak wrestling
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people. So it's a double assurance.
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He has the power of the universe, and He's personally
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committed that power to us through his promise.
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Precisely. And right after that statement,
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we get our second sailor. Another pause.
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Another moment to stop, reflect, and just let the weight of that
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glorious truth sink in. Emmanuel, God with us, is both
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the Lord of all armies and our personal covenant keeping God.
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Then in verse 8, we're given an invitation.
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Come, behold the works of the Lord.
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This is a call to look at history, to read the news
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through a theological lens. It is, we're told, to see how
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the head of the Church is ruling the nations for the good of His
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people, and the specific work we're invited to behold is what
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desolations He hath made in the earth.
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That sounds harsh desolations. It's about consequences.
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He destroys the destroyers. He desolates the desolators.
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The source points to ruined empires like Assyria and Babylon
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as memorials. They stand as evidence of what
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happens when human pride goes up against divine sovereignty.
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So we are meant to see these ruins not as tragedies, but as
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as lessons, as instructions. That's it exactly.
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And these lessons lead to the ultimate promise in verse 9.
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Because he can make desolations, he can also maketh wars to cease
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unto the end of the earth. He has the power to bring about
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a universe. His voice quiets the noise of
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war and commands the silence of peace.
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And this isn't just a vague idea.
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The song gives us a vivid picture of how he does it.
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By destroying the very instruments of war.
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Yes, the list is symbolic and powerful.
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First he breaketh the bow. That's the weapon of ranged
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sudden death. Then he cut at the spear and
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sunder. That's the weapon of close hand
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to hand combat. And finally, he burneth the
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chariot in the fire, the ancient colon of a tank, the symbol of
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military pride and overwhelming force.
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So he's systematically dismantling every tool of
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violence. He is.
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It's a picture of the ultimate victory of the Prince of Peace,
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where not just the fighting stops, but the very capacity for
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that kind of warfare is utterly destroyed.
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It's a promise of complete and total peace.
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This brings us to the climax of the Psalm, the direct command
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from God in verse 10. Be still and know that I am God.
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And this command is directed at two different audiences at the
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same time. OK, who are they?
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1st it's addressed to God's enemies.
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To them it means stop fighting. Hold off your hands, your raging
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is useless. And the second audience.
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It's addressed to His own people, to us, and to us.
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It means stop worrying, sit down and wait in patience.
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Stop your internal panic. It's a command for submission
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from both sides. So what does it really mean to
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be? Still, the source material
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breaks this down very practically.
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Yes, it identifies three kinds of stillness we need to
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cultivate. The first is a stillness of
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words. Meaning no complaining, no
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murmuring against what God is doing.
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Exactly. No adding to the confusion with
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our own ignorant speculation about why things are happening
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the way they are. OK, stillness of words.
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One second. Stillness of actions.
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This means not fighting against God's plans, not trying to fix
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things with our own frantic self-reliance schemes that go
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against His will. And the third.
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The stillness of the heart. This is the deepest one.
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It's cultivating a quiet, calm submission of our soul to
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whatever the sovereign pleasure of God may be.
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That's a high calling, and the reason we should do this is
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stated so simply. It's the most profound reason
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possible. Just the bare consideration that
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I am God. That's it.
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That's the whole argument. Our submission becomes rational
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when we remember who is speaking.
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Precisely. And the commentary drawing
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Jonathan Edwards gives us six things we need to know about God
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for this stillness to make sense.
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Let's walk through those. First we have to know He is an
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absolutely an infinitely perfect being.
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Which means he doesn't make mistakes.
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His plan is perfect, even when we can't see it.
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Second, he is infinitely above all comprehension.
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So we have to accept that we're working with limited
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information. We can't see the whole picture,
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so we shouldn't judge it. 3rd we have to know that all things are
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his own. He is the supreme owner.
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He has the right to do as he pleases with His own creation.
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4th. He is worthy to be sovereign.
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His rule is just and good. 5th He will act as sovereign.
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He doesn't ask for our permission or our advice.
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And 6th And this is a crucial 1. He is able to avenge those who
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opposes sovereignty. This is a warning to his enemies
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and a check on our own pride. So if I'm hearing this right,
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taking these six points seriously is presented as the
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cure for unbelief. It is because it addresses both
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extremes. It cures presumption because the
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proud know he will hold them accountable.
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And it cures despair, because the trembling soul knows this
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all powerful sovereign is also able to pardon and to deliver
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from the greatest threats. So be still.
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Stop provoking him with your sin and stop dishonoring him with
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your panic. And right after that command,
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God makes his own declaration. I will be exalted among the
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heathen. I will be exalted in the.
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This is the guaranteed future that makes our present stillness
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possible. The outcome is not in doubt.
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Not at all. God will be honored.
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He will subdue all hearts to himself, either through his
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terrifying power or through His covenant love.
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The whole earth will eventually reflect His glory.
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And then the song concludes by repeating that amazing refrain
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from verse 7, as if to hammer it home.
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It's a truth we can never hear. Too often the Lord of hosts is
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with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge.
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It's a fact we forget so easily in the middle of our troubles.
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Which is why it's repeated. The commentary mentions John
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Wesley on his deathbed raising his hand and saying the best of
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all is God is with us. That's the confidence.
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And the Psalm ends with one final sailor.
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One last instruction to rest, to contemplate, and to let our
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hearts continue to rise up to God even after the music has
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stopped. So to bring this all together,
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the central theme here in Psalm 46 is that our real security is
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found only in God's presence with us.
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It doesn't matter if the physical world or the political
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world seems to be dissolving. And the peace that the Psalm
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talks about comes directly from submitting to that fact, from
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acknowledging his total sovereignty, both his universal
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might as Lord of hosts and his personal faithfulness as the God
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of Jacob. And we talked about that
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incredible image in verse 9 where God brings peace by
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destroying the instruments of war, the bow, the spear, the
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chariot. This seems to leave us with a
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final provocative thought to consider.
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It does if God promises to ultimately cause all those
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physical instruments of strife to cease.
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It makes you ask what current forms of strife or fear or
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anxiety in your own life, these non physical weapons?
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What must you submit to His word to have broken, echoing that
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command? To be still and know that I am
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God. That's the daily work, isn't it?
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The work of holy confidence. It's about consciously placing
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God's known character and promises up against our
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temporary fears and resting in the truth that the Lord of hosts
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is our refuge. Thank you for joining us for
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this deep dive into the logic of security found in Psalm 46.