God is our refuge and strength Part 2

by John Lowe
(Laurens SC, USA)

Part 3 of our message is The Supremacy of God.

All the great and wonderful things God has done ought to tell mankind that there is a God.
At the beginning, I mentioned a situation involving Jerusalem and the Assyrian army.
That army, 185000 strong, has surrounded Jerusalem, and the people behind the walls were starving to death.
But during the night, God did something miraculous.
And we read this in the Psalm, “Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth.”
When the morning light broke, the joyful citizens of Jerusalem were invited to go view the remains of their enemies, so that they could see with their own eyes, the great power of God and what He did for them.
God had completely devastated His enemy.
This was the greatest army on earth, at that time.
But all their offensive weapons were no match for God.
The war chariots, which formed the main strength of the army of Sennacherib, were utterly destroyed by the power of His might.
Toward the end of the Psalm, we are given a simple order by God—“Be still!”
“Be still,” means “take your hands off, relax.”
God knows what He is doing, and His timing is perfect.
When it is all over, He will be exalted, and you will be blessed.
When you are nervous and fidgety, and you want to interfere with God’s plans for your life, remember these three appeals: “Be still!”; “Stand still!” and “Sit still!”
God wants us to stop struggling, and find the peace that faith brings.
This kind of peace only comes when we accept God’s Lordship in our lives and surrender to His will.
It’s a feeling of pure joy when we are confronted with a problem which has no solution; nevertheless, God works it out for our good and His glory.

It is good for us, on occasion, just to stand still and watch the mighty hand of God at work in our lives, and all around us.
Then we too will know that God is with us.
How powerful is God?
Well, war and peace depend on His word and will, as much as storms and a calm sea do.
He is our Great King, and as such, we must acknowledge that He does great and marvelous works.
He does and will do great things for two reasons.
First, He will do it for his own glory.
He said, “Be still, and know that I am God.”
His enemies, all those who are not His by faith in His Son, should be still and know that He is God and that He is infinitely above them.
He will be praised not only by His own people but by His enemies as well.
Men will improve themselves, and have their own way and do what they want, but let them know that God will be exalted, and He will have his way, and He will do his own will, and He will glorify his own name.
And God’s own people should be still.
When we pray to our Heavenly Father, we ought to have faith in the answer He gives to that prayer.
The second reason why God does great things is for His people’s safety and protection.
"The Lord of hosts is with us; he is on our side, he takes our part, He is present with us and He watches over us.
He is our refuge, and when we run to Him we can be sure of our safety.
All of His children should rejoice in this.
They have the presence of God, with all His power.
Our text said, “The Lord of hosts is with us.”
God is the Lord of hosts because He has the hosts of heaven and earth at his beck and command, and he uses them as he pleases; as the instruments either of his justice or of his mercy.
God is sovereign Lord of heaven and earth, but He is with us, He sides with us, He acts with us, and He has promised He will never leave us.
Multitudes may be against us, but we don’t need to fear them if the Lord of hosts is with us.
And if you’re a child of God, you are under the protection of a God, who is able to help you.
He is your God and he is your refuge.
He will shelter you during life’s storms, and you will be satisfied if you will just trust Him.
He will give you peace of mind when you have troubles and fears.
Our God, has been, is, and will be with us—has been, is and will be our refuge.
So, you can say with me, “If God be for us, who can be against us?”

Conclusion:
The text said, “I will be exalted among the heathen (nations), I will be exalted in the earth.”
This is God’s purpose for the earth.
We were created to love and worship God.
The text also said, “Be still, and know that I am God.”
If you believe this, then you can be calm when trouble comes.
There are storms of trouble blowing outside today.
We are living in a mean old world, a wicked world.
Tremendous changes are taking place.
There are even convulsions in nature today.
But He tells us to be calm when we pass through the storms.
Christ, you remember, was in a storm with His disciples, and He went to sleep.
When they aroused Him from His sleep, He had more trouble calming the disciples than He had calming the storm.
Many of us are like those men.
We don’t know what it is to wait patiently before Him.
This Psalm will be a great blessing in the future, but it is also a comfort and a blessing for all of God’s people today.
Let me end with this.
God can be your refuge and strength, and He can help you when you are in trouble, therefore, don’t worry.
The LORD of hosts can be with you; the God of Jacob can be your refuge.

Be still, and know that God is God.
He will be exalted among the heathen, and He will be exalted in the earth.
The LORD of hosts can be with you; the God of Jacob can be your refuge.
I have been speaking mostly to the family of God.
But it can be applied to anyone who will turn from sin to Jesus.
Someone here needs to do that.
I hope they will.
You’ll never be sorry for choosing Jesus.
Amen.