Sister Sue Sunday School 1/12/14

Sister Sue Sunday School 1/12/14

The presence of God in a calamity:

Psa 46:1  To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Psa 46:2  Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

Psa 46:3  Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.

Psa 46:4  There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.

Psa 46:5  God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.

Psa 46:6  The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.

Psa 46:7  The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

Psa 46:8  Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth.

Psa 46:9  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.

Psa 46:10  Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Psa 46:11  The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

Sometimes this is called Martin Luther’s Psalm.  It is my prayer that you will be encouraged to hide in your refuge.  Be encouraged God is our personal refuge.  No trial that wraps itself around us is too big for God.

Refuge – a place of shelter from pursuit, a condition of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger or trouble; a source of help relief or comfort.

Martin Luther preached a lot out of Psalms.  During the dark days Martin Luther would become discouraged.  Philip, a friend of his, would encourage him in his troubled times.  Martin Luther would turn to him and say, “Philip my friend lets go sing the 46^th.”

It was this Psalm that inspired Luther to write the song, “A mighty refuge is our God.”  Luther needed a refuge because of the attacks that were led against him.  Being under attack is a terrible place to be.  We need a place of refuge in those times.  When life is so overwhelming we have a refuge. 

We have a place to go for comfort, help, and safety.  It is not a place but a person, Jehovah, the mighty one, and the merciful one.  He wants you to go to the refuge.  He doesn’t want you to let life take you down. 

If we were in Oklahoma and the tornado sirens were going off because of a threatening storm, I would not be out in the cornfield counting the corn.  I would be fleeing to the refuge.  Storms of life have knocked people down that did not flee to Him for refuge.

He is a merciful one that bends down and listens to our cry.  He bends his ear as low as we are and listens to our cry.

He is our refuge from the storms and our strength when enemies pursue us.  There are literal, physical, people enemies.  There was a man at our school that was ranting and raving about how bad I was and why did they ever hire us.

There are enemies of our mind.  When your child calls and says “I know what it is like to be so low in my mind that I don’t want to go on living.”  It is an enemy and the only place where you can go is to the refuge. 

Depression is a serious thing and it will go on and on if you don’t go to the refuge.  Our mind racing and needing to be stopped so we can Selah can be an enemy.  Sickness is an enemy. 

God with His refuge can help us.

Two kinds of help are given to us in the refuge.  There is a strong hold that we can flee to and He gives us an inner strength so we can face the trial.  When we go to the refuge we are not running and hiding in fear but using the tools that are given to us and commanded us to use. 

Our personal refuge is all sufficient.  In a lot of enemies or battles there are things that you can do.  You can take medicine for migraines.  I have not met one person that takes medicine for migraines that it works every time.  It is the same with depression.  The medicine has so many side effects that they don’t want to use it.

The refuge of God has no bad side effects.  His defense can surpass any enemy.  In basketball sometimes they lose a game because of bad defense.  Our defense is so great that no enemy can overpower that defense. 

God is always there as a refuge.  He never withdraws when we are hurting.  He is closer than a mother-child relationship.  He is closer than a sister-sister relationship.  If you have a sister that is your best friend and is so close, God is closer than that.  He also doesn’t die and leave a gaping hole.

He is there when the very earth seems to drop from under us.  God is still there.  He is not moved or changed and we don’t need to fear.

Psa 46:2  Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

Psa 46:3  Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.

Though the earth gives way, though the mountains fall into the sea, though the waters roar and foam, He is still there, we need not fear.  We don’t have to live in fear of an earthquake that may cause Yellowstone to blow and cause the end of a lot of places. 

We don’t have to build shelters and live in shelters because we are so fearful.  We can trust God.

Psa 46:1  To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

David said that he wouldn’t be afraid in the midst of the worst situation. Why?  God was his refuge and strength and a present help in trouble.  What we need help for right now, He is a present help.

Help from God is different than help from someone else.  It is available to anyone, anywhere, and for any kind of trouble.  There are people that will help someone else but not me; I don’t have the right whatever.  God is not that way.  He is ready to help all of us.

Have you asked God for help?  Is God is your present help?  Why don’t people seek God in every trouble?  They don’t know God enough to ask for His help.

Most of the kids that I work with are struggling.  Some of the kids there have figured me out a bit, but there is one girl there that I have known from birth and in Paradise Grade School.  She sees me as more than a lady with a bun and a long skirt.  She knows that I love her and she is not afraid to ask for help. 

We have to know God this way.  We need to know His heart and how much He loves and cares for us in order to seek Him out for help.  There are two people in my office: Brittany is the brains and I am the hugs.  They come to me when they want love.

Psalms 77 David said, “I will remember.”  Remember what?  What He has done in the past.  It gives us hope for today and hope for the future.  I will meditate, stop, and consider, I will have those Selahs: stop, consider, and think about this.

Start writing a book of remembrance.  Write what God has already done for you so you can look back and remember, “Oh yeah, God did that for me.”

Psa 25:20  O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in thee.

Psa 31:1  To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.

Psa 31:2  Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me.

Psa 34:7  The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.

Psa 34:8  O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

Psa 34:22  The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.

Psa 37:39  But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble.

Psa 37:40  And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.

Psa 34:17  The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

Psa 59:16  But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble.

Psa 59:17  Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defence, and the God of my mercy.

Psa 61:2  From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.