The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 11: Our Refuge and Strength

Episode Date: July 3, 2022

10 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” 11 The Lord of hosts is with us… – Psalm 46:10-11 Snatch back your faith from your circumstances and place your faith in the sovereign King of the Universe. Experience His goodness. He is for you. He is with you. He is inside of you. At the cross, He makes the war of our enemy against us cease.

Amen and amen. Church, if you got your Bibles, and I hope you do grab them. We're going to be in Psalm 46. I will just make a confession that when I said that we were going to spend 22 weeks in the book of Psalms, I did not realize every week was going to be the heaviest week of your entire world. You understand? And so I do want to thank Pastor Britt for last week. What an amazing job.

Praise God. And also to Dr. Brunson the week before. Unbelievable. Thank you. Thank you. thing. As you're turning there, I would like to share a word with you about the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. I would also like to mention that the reason it was not mentioned last week is because I was on vacation, and I don't know if you realize this, but the Supreme Court

does not check with me on when they release their statements, okay? And I wanted to be the one to address this. A couple things. There's five things. So if you're going to quote me, you've got to quote all five, okay, five things. And all of them are important. Number one. as Jesus followers, we praise God for all life, all life, that includes the life of the unborn. And we praise God for the overturning of Roe v. Wade because there will be a bunch of babies born that will get to live out the call of God in their life. In God's upside down kingdom, there are no accidental children, there are no unwanted children. God wants every single one of them and God has planned every single one of them. That matters like crazy. However,

that the overturning of row did not outlaw abortion and merely made it the state's decision we still have a long way to go to fight for the life of the unborn and we are in the fight because we are a movement for all people all people and people begin at conception for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ so it should be celebrated praise God for that number two you can clap if you want to Number two, but if you clap, I got you on camera, and I'm requiring some things of you. Number two, to everybody that hears this news, particularly women who have had abortions, please hear me. God loves you. We love you. Jesus died on the cross for you. I obviously have never ever been in your situation. Maybe if I was in your situation with a worldview that you had at

that point, maybe I would have made the same decision. I have no idea. But I do know this, that the Bible says in 1.1.9, that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of all unrighteousness, and all means all. In Romans chapter 8, verse 1, the Apostle Paul says, therefore now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And so any whispers of shame and guilt that you hear do not come from Jesus, do not come from the Heavenly Father, and should not ever, ever, ever come from any church. Because your past does not define you. The enemy wants you to be defined by your scars,

but Jesus says that you're defined by his. And at the cross, he took upon himself every sin and mistake that we have ever made, and he has imputed us with his righteousness. I love you, we love you, this is a safe place for you to heal, and God ain't done with you yet. That's number two.

Number three, Please, church, join me in praying for every mom today and going forward who is or gets pregnant, that they would reject the lives of the world and the devil and embrace life. Now, are there some crazy circumstances, and this can be a nuanced thing for sure, but 95% of abortions in Florida in 2020, Florida is the only state that records the reason why. Over 95% were either elective or social reasons. So I'm, the cure is the gospel. The gospel does not begin with the reality that we are all sinners.

The gospel begins that every single one of us are created as image bearers of God and we were created to be in a right relationship with him. And so let us pray, let us pray that as the gospel goes out, people will understand that every single life matters. Number four, I wasn't going to tell you this until October, but when we get to October, I don't want you to think what we, or going to be doing is in reaction to what's happening this summer.

We've been planning this for over a year and a half. Last year when I was on sabbatical, it was really cemented for me that we're gonna spend two years in one verse, John chapter 10, verse 10, that thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus says, but I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly. And so for two years, we are, really, from now on,

we're really asking this question, what would it look like if our church was not just pro-birth, but pro-life from womb to tomb? And we're going to raise tens, actually over $100 million to do all kinds of stuff. And a big part of what that is is this, church, you better get ready. We're going to double down our commitment with First Coast Women's Services. We're going to foster every kid in every county where we have a campus. You better be ready to adopt kids.

And especially if you were clapping when you heard Roe v. Way was overturned, what we're not going to do is watch the news, hear something, and feel something about it. We're going to read the Bible, pray, and do whatever Jesus tells us to do. This is the opportunity for the church to be salt and light and to care about people. So get ready for that. And then lastly, number five is would you join me in praying for and entering into discipleship opportunities where men would grow up, take responsibility, stand up, and act like men. Amen? So that's the response.

So get ready. I know it's easy to be excited right now. this is going to be a long journey over decades and decades and decades and church the world is watching the church right now and this is our opportunity to step up to be salt and to be light in a crooked end of the parade generation so i hope you're ready amen all right if you hadn't found psalm 46 by now give up all right i don't know what to tell you it's right in the middle of the bible so i hope that helps psalm 46 starts out this way god is our fortress the very famous psalm If you ever heard of Martin Luther, he wrote a hymn called A Mighty Fortress is Our God.

He wrote it based on this Psalm. It says to the choir master of the sons of Cora, we've heard that name before. According to the Alamoth, that's Hebrew for Ad Ice Cream. I don't know if that's true, but I think that's what I remember. A song. Now, the sons of Cora, this is kind of neat, that Cora, the first time he shows up is his Numbers Chapter 16, and he leads a rebellion against Moses. Moses is God's chosen leader, and he gets 250 other people together and goes,

who do you think you are? We're just as much leader as you. And he rebels against Moses, and he rebels against God. And then God shows up and judges Korah, and Korah and his 250 rebels, the earth actually opens up and they all die. And then, but what's crazy is yet 11 times in the Psalms we see that the sons of Korah write a psalm. Now the sons of Cora, they didn't lose their job. We see them, I think it's First Chronicles 19, where they are singing loudly in the temple.

They're like the worship leaders. So what's interesting here is that the sons were not judged by the sins of their father. That the people that wrote this Psalm saw the sins of their father and they experienced the grace of God. In other words, like we've already said, their past did not define them. but God had a purpose and a plan for them. And this is how it starts. Verse one, God is our refuge and strength. God is our refuge and strength.

Not the White House, not the Supreme Court, not legislation, not another person, not a personality, not a group of people that you identify with. None of those things are your refuge and strength. and if you are looking to any other person to be your refuge and strength, let me just go ahead and prophesy they are going to let you down. Because when we begin to do that, anytime you idolize someone, when they let you down, then you will begin to demonize the people that you used to idolize.

And most of all, you are not your refuse and strength. My friend Jeff Kopp told me one time, the three most dangerous words you could ever say are this. I got this. I got this. We live in a culture that simply breeds this mentality that I got this, as if you are your own refuge and you are your own strength. But he starts out this way.

God is our refuge and strength. And here's the kind of refuge and strength he is. A very present help in trouble. Like when Shatterite, Meshach, and Abedigo are thrown into the fiery furnace and then King Napricanezra comes and he looks down in there. He goes, I see a fourth. Didn't we throw three in there? Because I see a fourth who is like the son of God.

That sometimes God rescues us from the trouble, but most oftentimes God just walks with us through the trouble. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Why? Because he's on the other end going, come on, come on. You can make it. No, no, no, no.

Because you are with me. A very present. like right now in your trouble very present the covenant name of god yahweh means i am that i am or to be that i be that's what it means it just means it means the eternal present it's supposed to sound like in hebrew when you say it it's supposed to sound like breathing in and breathing out yah way and as close as your next breath is to you regardless of your circumstances that's how very present he is even in the midst of trouble. The phrase very present, literally in Hebrew,

means well proved. In other words, I can trust that regardless of my circumstances, that he will be faithful because he has always been faithful. We sing the song all the time. Pastor Britt talked about it last week, but that song in the line says, All my life you have been faithful. The way the sons of Korah said that is this,

a very present help in trouble. Jesus will say it this way. In this world, you will face troubles of many kind. I've never seen that on one of the promises of God posters that you can buy at the Bible bookstore. I'm going to come up with my own calendar, right? And every month is one of those promises like, you will be persecuted. This world will hate you because he hated me.

In this world, you will face troubles of many kind. That's better than a little kitten sitting by a flower, is it not? But in light of that, Jesus says two promises, but take heart because one, I have overcome the world. And two, and lo, I will be with you always to the very ends of the earth. Therefore, anytime the Bible has a therefore, you want to see what it's there for, you understand. So because God is our refuge and strength, and because God is very present with us, and he's in the trouble with us, therefore we will not fear. The most commanded thing in all the scripture

is don't be afraid, don't fear. I've told you this a million times, at least 366 times in the King James Version. Why? Because I don't know about you, but I need to hear every single day, don't be afraid, including leap year. And there's one for every single day

and he says, therefore, because God is with us, we will not fear. Why is this? Because perfect love drives out fear. And when we are, understand who God is, that he's a good, good father. That's just who he is. And that we are loved by him. That's just who we are. When you understand those two things, then fear cannot exist in that environment. Let me tell you where courage comes from us, man. Courage is not like a personality

trait, all right? Courage is born as a result of an identity rooted in love and security. Think about all the stupid decisions you have made out of insecurity because you didn't know if you were loved by those people or not so you try to earn it or prove it. Last week we were on this vacation. It was awesome. We were in Utah doing ministry at all the Mormons. It was awesome.

I didn't meet one, but if I did, I was ready, okay? Because they were at the vacation place I was, but whatever. And my kids did this high ropes course, okay? A couple of adults did too, but they were way over age and weight. They would look awkward. but the kids look like spider monkeys up there. And here's the thing. They are 100 feet in the air or something.

They're way up there. And they would just be on this one platform and without fear, leap to another platform. Why? I tell you one reason. Because they were secured in that harness thing and they knew that even if they misstep, they're not going to splat on the ground

because they were perfectly secure. That's why they could have all this kind of courage. And the people that get up there and can't, How dumb is that? You are hooked to a thing. You couldn't jump off of that thing if you tried to with all of your mind. If you just kept trying to go,

it would just hold you right in there safe. Insurance companies ensure that that is the case. And if you've ever put your faith in Jesus Christ, you are more tethered to eternal security than you could ever imagine. Why? Because what could separate us from the love of God? Is there anything?

You think your cable news network could separate you from the love of God? it doesn't represent the love of God, but it can't separate you from it. That there is nothing, nothing, nothing in hell, in heaven, or anywhere in between, in the past, in the future, or anywhere in between, there is nothing that can separate us

from the love of God. And where the presence of the love of God is, fear has to go the other way. Therefore, we will not fear. Though the earth gives way, this is why I pointed out the Cora thing. I just wonder if the sons of Cora saw their dad rebel against God and the earth open up, but they know they trusted God that even if the earth gives way,

they don't have to fear because they have not rebelled against God, they have put their faith in God. Maybe I don't know, speculation on my part. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its, swelling, Sayla. I don't think we've talked about the word

say la in our Psalm series yet. Here's the thing about the word salah. Nobody knows exactly what it means. I love that. And it's all through the Psalms. There are three parts to Psalm 46. And so I am in the camp of folks, pastors and theologians,

that think, I think the reason that Selah is there is so that we would stop and reflect and meditate on what has just been said. That's what I think. Remember Psalm 1 said that we are to meditate

on the word day and night. Not just read it and get through it. Not just do your reading plan and check the box and make sure you're past it. Not just try to heap in all the information. But sometimes the Word of God says something and we just need to stop

and sit and soak in this. So maybe the psalmist what they want us to meditate on here or at least what it leads me to think about is that maybe I just need to remind myself that God is in charge of the earth, including calamity, earthquakes and hurricanes and all of those things, that when I look around at my circumstances and the waves are coming and the earth is moving and mountains are falling into the sea, that I need to be reminded that I shall not fear

because he's still got the whole world in his hands. That, of course, we live in trouble right now, but he is making all things new. that I will not focus on my circumstances, but I will declare that God is my refuge, that God is my fortress, that God is my safe place. Instead of focusing and letting my circumstances tell me who I am, I'm going to let the sovereign king over my circumstances tell me who I am. Say la. That my circumstances don't define God's love for me, but what Christ did at the cross does. And in that, I will take refuge. So what if I'm in a terrible place?

Jesus says, don't worry about it. Don't fear the one that can only kill the body. Oh, that's all you can do is kill the body. That's what I was kind of worried about. He's like, yep. But the good news is, in 100 years, we're all going to be dead. So put your trust in the sovereign king of the universe who you will be with.

And in that place, in the kingdom of God, there'll be no more tears. There'll be no fear. You'll have nothing to worry about. nobody walks with a swagger or a limp selah. Verse four. This is part two. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God.

The holy habitation of the most high. I like that phrase. Holy habitation. Now, when the first century, or when the, this is like 700 BC, when they heard this, when these folks heard this, they would have mostly thought about the city of Jerusalem that they lived in. And we're going to find out that this is what the sons of Korra. we're talking about. And I'll give you all the details in a second, but Assyria is bearing down on Jerusalem,

and they are surrounding the city. And with armies surrounding the city of Jerusalem, the psalmist says, but don't worry about it because there's a river whose streams make glad the city of God a holy habitation of the most high. Now, very practically what he's talking about in that environment, is that Hezekiah was like one of the greatest kings ever, and he built a tunnel called Hezekiah's tunnel. They weren't good at naming stuff, but that was what it was called. Just in case they ever got attacked by some outside force, one of the ways that enemies would sack a city is they would just surround the place, cut off all their food, cut off all their water, and then everybody would just starve to death. And so what Hezekiah did is that he built a tunnel from the spring called Gehan

all the way to the pool of Salon. That's where the guy in John Nine like washes his eyes and can see again. And it was this secret tunnel that the enemy didn't know about. And so they could survive there forever. So part of what they're saying is, hey, don't worry about it. We got a river running right through the middle of our city, but it's also reflected of the city of God. In Revelation chapter 22, the apostle John gets this vision from Jesus, and Jesus says, hey, write this down. And he gives us a picture or a vision of what the eternal city of God will look like. And he says this, then the angel showed me, the river of the water of life bright as crystal flowing from the throne of God and of the lamb

through the middle of the street of the city. Also on either side of the river, the tree of life, with its 12 kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for healing of the nations. No longer will there be any a curse, but the throne of God and the lamb will be on it and his servants will worship him. They will see his face and his name will be on their forehead.

We're getting face tattoos, people. You realize that? Parry's God is what the Bible says. So a part, I think, of what the Bible will often have us do when we find ourselves in a battle, when we find ourselves in a war, where we feel like we're surrounded by these circumstances that we can control is that what we need to do is lift our eyes up over the horizon, quit focusing on all the circumstances that are around us, and know that we serve an eternal God, and our eternal destiny is really.

to be with him in the city of God with the habitation of the Holy One with us. That's where we're going. That he is our God and we are his people. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God. A holy habitation of the Most High. Verse 5, God is in the midst of her, the her being the city of God. She shall not be moved. God will help her when morning dawns.

Now, again, I'll give you all the background in just a second, but I think as this Psalm writer's writing this, the Assyrians are surrounding Jerusalem. And so outside the city walls, here's what's happening. The nation's rage. The kingdom's totter. He utters his voice and the earth melts. But on the inside of the city walls, here's what's happening. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress.

Selah. All right, so let's meditate again. the Lord of hosts. Who is the Lord of hosts? Well, he says, the Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. Now, if you knew to Bible study, Jacob was this dude in the Old Testament.

He was a scoundrel. He had an older brother named Esau. Esau means Harry. He was born second. He was trying to pass Esau in the birth canal so that he would be firstborn so he could get all these extra privileges. And so they named him heel grabber.

That's how you say, that's what Jacob means in Hebrew. It also means like trickster. and if your name's Jacob, no problem, and your name's in the Bible bunch, but that's what it means. It means like, you're kind of crooked. That's what it means, all right? And he was, man, he was shady.

He was always shady. He stole his brother's birthright. He stole his father's blessing. I mean, he was shady as all get out. And then one day, while he was on the run, God chases him down in a foreign land. And there's this account in the book of Genesis where the messenger of God shows up

and wrestles with Jacob. And he puts, it was like MMA, man. Like nap, snap, or tap. That was it, all right? And so he puts him in this move and won't let him go. And so he sees this, he says, I saw God face to face, but he spared me.

And so this is what we call a Christophany. The second person of the Trinity, God the Son, showed up pre-incarnate before the baby was born, you know, eight pounds and swaddling clothes, all precious and all that, okay? He shows up in the old covenant, and it has a face-to-face encounter with Jacob, wrestles him,

and Jacob surrenders to Jesus. And so in that, he says, the God of Jacob. Now, one of the questions that I always wonder is this. Why doesn't he call him the God of Israel? Because what he's going to do is in Jesus, or the second person of the Trinity, God, the Son, hadn't been given the name Jesus yet, but you understand what I'm saying.

He's going to change his name. He's going to say, look, man, your past doesn't defund. find you, but only I get to tell you who you are. And you're no longer a trickster. Now your new name is going to be Israel, which means one who encounters or wrestles with God. But yet right here, he says that the God of Jacob is our fortress. You ever wonder about that? Here's what I think. I think it's because God is not disappointed in Jacob. That he knows his past, but he has forgiven him. That the moment that Jacob surrendered to the second person of the Trinity, his life to Jesus, then no longer is he defined by the bad things that he did in his past,

he is defined by who God tells him who he is. The way the New Testament is going to say this in 1 John 410, I love his verse, talk about it all the time, is this. John says, and this is love. Not that we love God, but God loved us. So you could just stop right there for a second. Because there's a bunch of you that think that what it means to be a Christian is that you better do some good things so that you can be lovable. by a loving God. That ain't how it works. This is love.

Not that we love God, but God loved us and sent his son as the propitiation for our sin. Come on now, we know this. What does propitiation mean? A payment?

This is the happiest moment of ministry of my whole life right now. Okay, so good job. I told me I couldn't teach you theology terms. A payment that satisfies. Here's why it matters in your everyday life.

When Jesus Christ died on the cross, God made him who was without sin to be sin. So every sinful thing you have ever done, thought, intended to do, whatever, he didn't just, it wasn't only heaped upon him, he became sin, that you and I would become the righteousness of God. It was a great exchange. That's what propitiation means. That God is a holy and a just God and all sin must be paid for. And at the cross, when Jesus says, to tell us that, so I got it written right here. It says, it is finished.

In first century Greek banks, when a loan was completely paid off, they would stamp the word to telestai on it because it had been paid in full. And what is finished, what was paid for was the justice of God, the law of God, because God is holy and just and just, and he cannot, by his nature, just overlook sin. And say, don't worry about it. All sin must be paid for. but Jesus makes the payment. He is the propitiation for our sin, the payment that's satisfied.

So if you've put your faith in Jesus Christ, this means that therefore, because Jesus satisfied the justice and law of God, he cannot be dissatisfied in you. And most of us, most of us have this idea in the back of our mind that God's a little frustrated and ticked off with us. but when you are frustrated with somebody it's because they don't meet your expectations. God knew exactly what he was getting

when he purchased you. Like God has never been disappointed. The reason you were disappointed in people is because you thought they were going to do this and they didn't do it. And in that gap can be disappointment. God knew exactly all the dump. He never woke up in heaven, looked at you

and what in the name of me are they doing now? He's never done that ever, ever, ever. He knew every single sin he was going to pay for past, present, and in future, and he paid it in. full. I think this is why he calls him the God of Jacob, the God that wrestles us into submission, even and especially in our sin, we are on the run. That's the God that is our fortress. Selah. Then you get to part three. Now, something happens because it's going to shift. And I'm going to

tell you what's going to happen in just a second. Here's what he says, though. Come behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth, he makes war cease to the end of the earth, he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the chariots with fire, and then a very famous verse, be still and know that I am God. How many of you have like a coffee cup

with that one on it? Got a little like cross stitch, right? Oh, what a famous verse. We read this so wrong, it don't mean what you think of means. Just be still. This ain't a quiet time, verse, man. This ain't a get up early in the morning,

walk out, man, I just, I got me some new bird stuff. Y'all don't even know how good my quiet times have been lately. We are members of the Wild Bird Association, right? We joined up. We got houses. We got, you know, preventing the enemy, which are the squirrels. I don't know why we hate squirrels, but you hate them if you get birds, right? And we out there, just watch the birds, read my Bible.

and you think when you walk out there you're like, oh, I'm just going to be still and know, I'm God. That is what it means. It ain't a quiet town verse. It's a victory verse. It's a bloodbath verse. Let me tell you what's happening.

If you go back to, I think it's second king's 18 to 19 on this, right? What's going on is Hezekiah is the king. Okay? Hezahe was one of the greatest kings of all of, Judah's history. The Bible says things like this about Hezekiah. He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, as opposed to doing what was right in his own sight.

One of the first things he did when he became king is he cut down the idols that the people were worshipping, like the pagan idols, like the Asherapoles. But also, that's not always the hardest thing to do, it's to knock down the worldly idols. But he also knocked down the religious idols. That in the book of Exodus, all the people get snake bitten,

and Moses holds up this bronze serpent and everybody looks at the bronze serpent and then they get healed and it's a picture of the gospel, see John chapter 3. But the problem was, like we all do, is people can begin to put their hope in faith in trinkets and in programs and in personalities

and not worship the one true God. They could worship a style of music or the way a church is set up, all that kind of thing. And so not only did he tear down the pagan idols like the Asheral poles, but he also destroyed the religious ones. This is the kind of pure-hearted God. he is. The Bible says that he trusted in the Lord. There were none like him, that he kept God's

commandment, that the Lord was with him. So everything's going great. And then 14 years into his reign, at this point, Israel's split into two kingdoms. He's in Jerusalem, ruling over Judah, the southern kingdom, and he's attacked by Syria. And at first he tries to buy him off. At first, he tries to pay him off with gold, and he thinks that's going to work, but that doesn't work. So then the Assyrians show up and surround the walls of Jerusalem. And then they begin to talk junk. They actually write a letter to them, like send them a nasty email, and they are yelling in the Hebrew language

so that the Hebrew people can hear it and be intimidated. And they say things like, who do you trust in? You're going to trust in the Lord, the Lord of Host? What is he going to do for you? Because look at our track record, look at all the nations that we have defeated. And then literally at one point, your Bible says, you are doomed to drink your urine and eat your dung. That's in the Bible, okay?

And then he says to the people, the bad guys say to the people, don't follow Hezekiah. He's going to get you killed. If you try to trust in the Lord, he's going to get you killed. Why don't all of y'all just hop over the wall and come join our side? And so they're talking junk. They continuously talk junk. Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their lands out of my hand? What, that the Lord of hosts should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?

He's saying, you think you're going to trust in your God? What's your God going to do for you? That's what they're doing. So then Hezekiah, the king is like, uh-oh. And so he sins for Isaiah. Isaiah is the living prophet during this time. And he wants to know what the prophet has to say, which, by the way, in our current context,

that would be the equivalent of going to the Bible. We don't have any more people writing any more Bible. So this was going to the man of God, the prophet, to get the word of God for his situation. That's what he does. So he calls out to Isaiah and he's like, hey, what are we going to do? And he goes to Isaiah and he says, we need to pray. And Isaiah is like, that's a great idea.

Meanwhile, the bad guys are still talking junk. Look at the wake of destruction behind us. You got no shot. And then Hezekiah prays, and here's his prayer. It says, Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and he read it. And Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord and he spread it before the Lord. Which let me ask you, when your circumstances are wrong, overwhelming is prayer for you, a first response, or a last resort? Because Hezekiah,

first thing he does is go to the word and go to prayer. And Hezaciah prayed before the Lord, and he said, oh, Lord, the God of Israel enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Now, notice where he starts. He doesn't start with himself. He starts with God. Let me tell you what it reminds me of. when the disciples come to Jesus and say, Lord, teach us to pray. The first thing, he said, okay, you want to know how to pray? Here's how you start. Our father, who are in heaven, hallow it be your name.

We start with who God is. Then, as Gai goes on and says, incline your ear, O Lord, and hear, open your eyes, O Lord, and see and hear the words of the king of Assyria, which has sent to mock the living God, truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria, have laid waste to the nations and their lands. and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone,

therefore they were destroyed. Now he's making his request. Now, listen, God does not need the details. You realize that, right? You know, sometimes we pray like dumb people, you know what I'm saying? My dear God, they need to pray for my kid, you know, the end of the third grade, and ain't that smart.

You know what? He's like, I know, I made them, all right? So, right. But oftentimes, but God's into it, man. God's into it any time his kids cast all their cares upon him because he cares for you. So is it important in regards to the cosmos? Relatively speaking, not that important. Is it important to God?

Uh-huh, because you're important to God. You're so important to God he sent his only begotten son to pay the ultimate price to purchase you for his own family. That's a really big deal. You're a really big deal to God. And so it's like when your kids are giving you information, man, you know, imagine this. Are any parents of teenagers? Okay, imagine they were talking to you out loud with their mouth.

He'd be like, whatever they want to talk about, right? Okay, it's like that, man. You just heap it upon him, whatever details you want. So it is okay to make requests? Oh, for sure, because when Jesus taught us to pray, he gets to a part where we pray, all right, God, could you give us this day our daily bread? Like, here's the situation that I'm in, and I need your help. So then he says this. So now, O Lord, God. Save us. Please. If you ever gotten to the park, a place in your life where you just cry out to God, please.

God, I just need a favor. I haven't earned it. I don't deserve it. But would you please show your favor upon me? So he says, so now, oh Lord, our God, save us, please, from his hand. And here's why. Here's why. Not because I deserve it, not because I'm awesome. here's why that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you oh lord are god alone can you imagine if we added that line to the end of every request we made to god i mean it's just a little different in it

your god heal my cancer that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you oh lord are god alone God heal my marriage that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone. God save my one more. God bring home my prodigal. God restore this relationship, not for my sake, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone. And so that's his prayer.

And then Isaiah response. And Isaiah basically says, hey man, God heard your prayers. And then God speaks through Isaiah and said this, because you have raged against me. This is the word to the Assyrians that are attacking. Because you have raged against me and your complacency has come into my ears, I will put a hook in your nose.

I love this, and my bit in your mouth, and I will turn you back on the way by which you came. So there's this big, bad army, and they think they're awesome. And he's like, I know you think you're a big, back bull, but I'm going to grab you by that little nose ring. I'm going to lead you right ever I want to lead you. That's what the God of the universe does.

And it keeps going. Therefore, thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, he shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mount against it. By the way that he came, by the same he shall return and he shall not come into the city, declares the Lord, for I will defend this city to save it. And here's why he does it. He says, for my own sake. And this is cool, man. and for the sake of my servant, David. Now this is, listen,

God does what he does for his own glory. Period. God does what he does for his own glory. And he's a good dad, and he likes to hook up his kids. Both of those things are simultaneously true. He answers your prayers. Sometimes yes, sometimes no, sometimes not now,

but he answers your prayers for his own glory, for my name's sake, and sometimes for the sake of you, just because he loves you. and he wants to give you good gifts. Because he's a good, good dad. So that's the prayer. So everybody got it?

He Zechaya, good king, Assyria, rolling up on him. He prays, he gets his Bible, gets Isaiah. Lord, would you please, would you please save us? Please, please, please, please. So that every kingdom knows that you are the one true God. And Isaiah's like he's got it, and he's a little angry at the Syrians because all the smack, they're talking at him.

So here's what happens. In verse 36 of Sacred Kings 19, he says this, and that night, the angel of the Lord. Now, in Hebrew, the word for angel and messenger are the same. Now, when God would send like an archangel, it'll tell their names. If God sends a host of angels, that's like what you think about. Like when they show up in Bethlehem and be like, baby Jesus is on his way, okay? This is not an angel of the Lord.

This is the angel of the Lord. Same kind of phraseology that is used when Joshua bumps into the commander of the Lord's army. It's the same kind of terminology that's used with the one that's in the fire which had right and meet you check and have been to get. I don't have time to get all into it. This is Jesus, okay? This is the second person of the Trinity. Jesus is going to show up and say, says this.

And that night, the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when the people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. And then the king of Assyria departed. and went home. Okay, so that's what happened. That is the context for Psalm 46, that the Assyrian army is bearing down on them, and they say,

God is our refuge and our strength. And then, Hezekiah, praise to God, God, would you please deliver us? God says, I hear your prayer. And I am going to send the second person of the Trinity to do for you what you can't do for you. And they go to bed that night thinking, and uh-oh, uh-oh, and then they wake up the next morning, like, what's that smell?

I smell dead of Syrians. Somebody want to count it up? 185,000 dead people, and they're just walking around in the roads with a coffee, okay? That is what has happened. And with that landscape, 185,000 dead people at the hand of the second person of the Trinity, be still. and know that I'm God. That's different looking at birds with your Bible. You're just what I'm saying.

So that's what happens. And so he says, so come behold the works of the Lord. How he has brought desolation on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow. And I'm sure when he says this, they looked over there.

There's a bunch of broken bows, which is a shame, but they're bad guys. He breaks the bow. He shatters the spear. He burns the chases. carry us with fire, be still and know that I am God. The three most dangerous words you can say is this, I got this. The three most comforting words you can hear from God is, I got you.

That's what's happening right here. That's what it means to be still and know that I am God. And so then here's the result. God says, I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. the Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. So here's what he's saying.

If you reverse engineer those two verses, here's what he is saying. When you trust that God has got you because he sent Jesus for you, regardless of what you're facing now, regardless of the enemies, regardless of the circumstances, first of all is this,

Jesus fights your battles. That's what the God of Jacob is our fortress, that Jesus fights your battles, that Jacob was the one that wrestled with Jesus and surrendered. So my question is, have you surrendered to Jesus? And what's crazy is it's kind of counterintuitive to use the word surrender. Because when you surrender, you think you're giving up. But let me tell you what you give up when you surrender to Jesus. You give up fear. and you give up hopelessness

and you give up your sin and you give up loneliness and you give up abandonment these are the things that you give up when you give up control of your life and you think that it's going to expose you what actually happens is this the safest surrender

ever because it is the God of Jacob who is your fortress the safest place that you'll ever be that's the first thing that he's saying that Jesus fights your battles and then if you go up, it says this, the Lord of hosts is with us. That Jesus is with us.

That in the beginning was the Word. And the Word was God and the Word was with God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And it's even better than that. When he gives the great commission, he gives this promise. And lo, I will be with you always to the very ends of the earth. Which is scratch your hand and like Jesus, how are you going to be with me? If he goes to that and in the earth and he goes to that and into the earth.

He goes, well, I got good news for you. I'm out of here, I'm gonna go sit at the right hand of God the Father and be praying for you, and I'm gonna send you a gift. The Spirit of God is going to reside inside every single person that puts their trust in me so you'll never be alone. That Jesus is with us.

And the reason that you don't have to be afraid is because perfect love drives out fear. Jesus perfectly loves you, and he deposits his perfect love inside of you in every single situation. And then thirdly, he says, I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.

That this message must go to the nations. But it starts in your circle of influence. It starts in your circle of influence. Do you realize that what the enemy intended for evil when the Assyrians were going to take over Jerusalem, God flips that thing on its head, weaponizes it against that enemy? He wants to do the same thing in your life, man.

The thing that you are most ashamed of could be the very thing that God uses in the greatest way in your life to declare the gospel to the people around you. Listen, man, God will redeem your pain. Your pain becomes a platform for the glory of God. The test that you walk through is the thing that becomes the testimony that glorifies God. That your mess becomes the message that God uses so that people can hear about the love and grace of our God. So anybody ever feel surrounded? Anybody ever feel like they're in a battle? Let me give you three that I've encountered this week.

They're in the back of my mind as I preach through this text. God is our refuge and strength. I found out today that a dear friend of mine, the tumors are back. And you feel like the enemy is surrounding me. What am I going to do? You know that God is my refuge. A friend of mine, two days ago, in the middle of the country,

in the middle of the night, gets in a car accident and currently has no feeling from the waist down, young man. And he's thinking, what am I going to do? What am I going to do? I've gotten multiple letters from 11-20 tours with all the news of Roe v. Wade. And they send me these emails.

They say, pastor, I love Jesus, I met Jesus, I put my faith in Jesus, I got baptized, I declared him as my Lord and Savior. In my past, I had an abortion. Not even just one time. I didn't even really think about it. It was just the air I breath. It was just what I was taught I was supposed to do.

And now I have so much shame. Let me tell you what that shame is, okay? That shame is the enemy surrounding the walls of your mind, trying to whisper lies in there to try to make you feel condemned. Condemns a building term that means unfit for use. I know this personally. When I was in college, my fraternity house got condemned. while I was in class, you come back and there's a sign on it that said,

condemn, unfit for use. It's not a theological term. It's a city term. That's what condemnation is. And the enemy comes and says, hey, hey, hey, hey, because of what you have done, there's no, God's done with you, God can't use you, and it feels like you were in a battle, like you were being surrounded by an enemy, and you don't know what to do, and I'm here to tell you what you do is you come and you pray.

That's what Hezekiah did. He prayed, God, God of the universe, sovereign king, who loves us. And we know more about the character and nature of God than Hezekiah did because we know through the person and work of Jesus Christ that he has demonstrated his love for us and this, that while we were yet still sinners, Christ died for us. Like we know that. And so we say, God of the universe who sent Christ,

would you please, please, please help me because I have been surrounded by my enemies right now. and would you save me from this that the kingdom of earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone? That's how you respond. That's how he responded. And every single week, this is why we invite you to come and pray. Because I know, man, I get the prayer cards, I get the emails, I get the enemy that only

wants to kill, still, and destroy everything good and godly in your life. And yet the good news is that we have a good shepherd, and he's got a different plan for you. and so you bring it to him because what he wants for you is life and life abundantly. So the reason that we close the way we do virtually every single week is because we are at war.

And honestly, man, if you don't feel like you're in a war right now, praise God, sing a song, okay, you'll be the choir while the people getting hammered on are going to be down here praying, you understand? Or bear one another's burdens and if you've got a friend and you know they're going through it,

then we need to do what Hezekiah does. Sometimes people don't have the courage to step out and come pray. Sometimes they need you to come on beside them and go, come on, darling, let's go pray. And you just bring them on down here and we're just going to pray over one another. So we're going to pray.

And we're going to bring. We're going to bring our first and our best. Now, we do that as a response to who God is, as an act of worship. But I'm going to go ahead and tell you, we're going to raise tens of millions of dollars over the next few years and a whole, and a bunch of it

is to go to be pro-life from womb to tomb. So why don't we go ahead and just start doing it now? Because we're going to foster kids, we're going to adopt kids, we're going to do all the things to shine light in this dark world. So we pray and we bring and we sing. And we're going to sing a song that says this, I'm going to see a victory for the battle belongs to the Lord. This is what Hezekiah did.

I'm going to see a victory. I don't know how it's going to happen. I don't know what the next doctor report is going to be. I don't know if she's going to return. I don't know how my financial situation is going to get better. I don't know how one day I'm just going to wake up and feel forgiven, even though I have prayed a million times, but I don't feel forgiven yet. But I am going to declare I'm going to see a victory.

Not because of me, but because the battle belongs to the Lord, because God is my refuge. God is my strength. God is my safe place. That the God of Jacob is. is my fortress. Would you please stand? Let me pray for you,

and then we're going to respond. Our good and gracious heavenly, Father, Lord, we love you more than anything because you first loved us. And, Lord, I thank you that you're the God of Jacob. You're not the God of the folks that get it all together and then come before you

with their resume of how clean they are. You're the guy that chases down the trickster, the traitor. the selfish one like me. And on the run, you chase us down and you touch our hip so that we would surrender and we are forever changed.

So Lord, I pray for every man, every woman, every student right now that feel like they are in a battle. Lord, I pray that through the blood of Jesus Christ, they would go to war via worship and declare I'm going to see a victory. Because Jesus, you are victorious. and because we are in you, we are not merely sinners saved by grace. That's part of it, but you said that we are more than conquerors,

that we are sons and daughters of the Most High King, that we are co-ares with the eternal Jesus Christ. And Lord, we claim that. God, I pray that you would break chains of addiction. God, I pray that you would heal marriages. God, I pray that people's feelings would line up with the forgiveness that has been offered to them through the blood of Jesus Christ. Lord, I pray that shame would evaporate from this place

because shame cannot exist in the presence of Jesus. Lord, I pray that fear would flee as love is poured out in this place. And Lord, I pray that every single one of us, like Jacob, walks away from an encounter with you different than we walk in here today. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So if you're in a battle, you pray. you to come and pray. We're going to bring our first and best, and we're better sing like

save people. That we're going to declare a victory. Let's respond.