PSALM 46:8-11

Let us look one more time at the great wealth of Psalm 46.  It was a Psalm to be sung by the high soprano voices of the temple choir.  It is an exaltation of Him who is called by some ‘The Mighty Fortress’.  It is called by many ‘Luther’s Song’.  We look this week to verses 8-11 and the last stanza that ends with the word ‘Selah’.  The text says, “Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.”

            In this portion we are greeted with ‘The Sovereign Of The Mighty Fortress’.  I use the word ‘sovereign’ for it describes one who rules over all.  Our God truly reigns over all in heaven, in earth, and under the earth.

            We see in verses 8-9 ‘The Works Of The Sovereign’.  In verse 8 we are given a two-part invitation that is ‘come’ and ‘behold’ and man alone can do neither of these.  No man can come to the Father unless the Spirit draws him.  The Bible also says no man shall ‘see’ the kingdom unless he is born from above. The invitation is to look intently at the desolation (utter destruction) that the Lord has caused in the earth.  I was meditating on Revelation, Chapter 18, this morning where God said that He would destroy the great, rich, and mighty Babylon Empire in one hour.  The works of our Sovereign are worthy of our undivided attention.  In verse 9 more of His mighty works are mentioned.  He will make wars to cease, break bows, cut spears asunder, and burn the chariots of war.

            When we think of all wars coming to an end, it can mean nothing but the Prince of Peace has come in a sovereign reign over all the nations.  All of the instruments of war will be brought to silence and will totally disappear from the scene.  Come and look at the works of the Sovereign Fortress.  I am glad I can sing, ‘I am hiding in Him, O blessed rock of ages, I am hiding in thee.’

            In verse 10 we are told of ‘The Waiting Before The Sovereign’.  David encourages us to ‘be still’.  The phrase means to be quiet before Him.  It has the idea of setting or fixing the heart upon one subject.  In our fast paced world it is extremely hard to just be still.  The Psalmist tells us to be still and ‘know’ that ‘I am God’.  The word ‘know’ is a word of intimacy between a husband and wife.  I am convinced we cannot know God in this fashion unless we are still before Him.  It will involve meditating and filling our minds with the words of God.  In this time of being still we will see the Lord exalted among the heathen and in the earth.  What a place to ever find God.  The word ‘exalted’ means to be clearly high above all others as the sovereign ruler.

            In verse 11 we find ‘The Word From The Sovereign’.  The title He takes is the ‘LORD of hosts’.  The title tells of the one who wins all battles before He fights them.  We find He is called the ‘God of Jacob’, and a ‘refuge’ for our soul and a defense in the cleft of the rock.  He closes this stanza again with the word ‘Selah’. (In the words of John Phillips, ‘Well, what do you think about that?)  O for just a word from God.  Martin Luther said it best in these words, “And tho this world with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph thru us. The prince of darkness grim, we trouble not for him, His rage we can endure. For lo! His doom is sure. One little world shall fell him.”  Can we imagine one little word from God will cause the devil to fail in his attack upon us? Just think we have a Book full of the words of God.

.