You Are Not the Only One

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.

According to Cayce (2018), the title “Alamoth” of this Psalm has a new element (Cayce 2014, Psalms 46:1). The LXX interprets “Alamoth” as “hidden things.” Normally, the original Hebrew word used in this verses is translated “girls or young maidens.”  It is possible that this song is typically sung by a young maiden. (Ibid). 

God, We know that you are Still with us!

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

Christ is the source of our strength.

• Psalm 9:9-10 MSG “God’s a safe-house for the battered, a sanctuary during bad times. The moment you arrive, you relax; you’re never sorry you knocked.”  His door is always open. There will always be room at His Inn. Verse 1: “a very present help in trouble” comes from the Hebrew “phrase (nim ṣ ā’ mĕ’ōd) that may be woodenly translated ‘is found greatly’ (Longman 2014, 204). We should be reassured that God is readily available for us 24/7/365. We find peace in the fact that “God’s strong name is our help, the same God who made heaven and earth” –Psalm 124:8 (MSG). Knowing that he is our help and refuge results in 
• Verse 2: “Therefore will not we fear,[enemies, armies, sickness, death, famine, drought. And] though the earth be removed, and though the mountains= [the unscalable objects in our lives.] [Know that God can make sure that they are] carried into the midst of the sea; [just visualize the Himalayas being moved into the sea, then know that it will change nothing in your life! WHY?] [We will not fear because God is our refuge!”]
• Luke 21:26 says,  “Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.” NOT US! Ask yourself why your heart should not be failing because of fear. Find a scripture that you can memorize to reassure yourself that you are His.

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

So, we know that He is a mountain moving God. We also know that whereas mountains are symbols of permanence and stability, we also know that, in this world, waters, rivers, or seas are symbols of chaos. But, can He even still the waters? Mark 4:35-41 NIV.

Can He use water to bring joy to His people? He certainly does in the New Jerusalem.

• Revelation 21:1 “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.”  
• Revelation 21:3 “And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God [is now] with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, [and be] their God.”
• Revelation 22:1 “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.”

• 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. 

“There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad.” During David’s reign, Jerusalem did not have a river running through it. Consequently, we can say that this is a foreshadowing of things to come or we can state that this is a figurative phrase. Therefore the river could represent the purity, holiness, and righteous character of God experienced in His presence. 

What does this part of the verse mean “the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High?” The city of God refers to Jerusalem; the location of the tabernacle, and the place where God’s earthly residence will be when the new heaven and earth replaces this decaying ball of clay.

• Psalm 48:1-3MSG “God majestic, praise abounds in our God-city!
  His sacred mountain, breathtaking in its heights—earth’s joy. Zion Mountain looms in the North, city of the world-King. God in his citadel peaks impregnable”
• Isa. 60:14 ESV “The sons of those who afflicted you shall come bending low to you, and all who despised you shall bow down at your feet; they shall call you the City of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.”

 Verse 5-6: God’s People Are Immoveable

• 5God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.
• 6The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.

 Verse 5 depicts the military support of God for His people. They are solidly planted under His umbrella of protection. No matter what comes her way He will help her.

• Notice that the help is not something that will happen in the future, “and that right early.” It will happen immediately, or during Gods “daylight.” When we are embroiled in spiritual warfare it may appear to be dark, and we might think that we are groping in the dark for deliverance, but remember this, “WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF LIGHT!”
• Darkness cannot survive where light exists. Now that the time is rapidly approaching for us to turn our clocks back it is dark first thing in the morning. I cannot go out to walk on the dark road without taking a bright light with me. In like manner, as we live in this world of darkness, we cannot survive without the protection and light that dwells inside of us. The Holy Spirit is that light! 

Verse 6

“The kingdoms were moved” shows that God is in control and “nations” are subject to him. Before the new heaven and earth comes there will be “. . . . demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, [Yes, the enemy is guiding and leading the leaders of nations to assemble them for battle. [They will attempt to go after Jesus Christ when he returns, and some of them will be inspired by religious leaders to do just that.]on the great day of God the Almighty” (Rev. 16:14 ESV).

Now David makes the exclamation statement, just in case, we did not get it in verses 1-6. “7 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.” Not only does he reassure us that the Lord is our refuge, but he also punctuates the statement with  “Selah.”  Cayce iterated what “Selah” means at the end of this stanza; “Again, we see Selah. Pause and think on these things” (Cayce Psalms 46:7).

1 John 3:24 ” And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.”

Our refuge “safe place” is in Him. 

Be Still My People-Look, Listen, and Believe!

• 8Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth.
• 9He 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.
• 10Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Verse 8: As we look at Scripture we are reminded of what happened in Sodom and Gomorrah. We Can ignore the punishment that they received all we want. The reality is that God hates sin. His word declares how He expects His children to behave. See Genesis 19.  When we look forward to our present time, or the future yet to come, we are reminded of the Seven Trumpets of Revelation 8:6-12 NIV.

The Trumpets

• ⁶ Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.
• ⁷ The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
• ⁸ The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, ⁹ a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
• ¹⁰ The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— ¹¹ the name of the star is Wormwood.^[a] A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.
• ¹² The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.

All of humanity will experience this destruction. That is except for the children of God. Ok, so now someone will state,

• “I don’t want to serve a God who will do this to the earth, animals, plants, nature, the environment, and people who hate Him. After all, we do have free will. We can choose how we live. We should not have to suffer for those choices!”

Reality check.

The entire Bible was written to tell us what happens when we fear the Lord. It also tells us what happens when we freely chose to ignore all of His warnings about the consequences of the choices that we make. He is infinite. We are finite. Yes, we can govern the ship of our own lives, but God will never be a co-pilot of our lives. Either we hand over the controls to Him, or we take it ourselves.

We must remember that there can only be one “captain” on the airplane of our lives. We can choose that captain to be ourselves and live through the trumpets, or experience the second death. It is our choice, but we cannot bake the cake, want to look at it and share it with others, but eat it all by ourselves. We can not be a diabetic and gorge ourselves on carbs and sweet things-right? If we do then what are we doing? Setting ourselves up for a diabetic episode that could take our lives. 

9He 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.

Babylon [Revelation 19] this world’s corruption, mayhem, deprivation, war-for the sake of acquiring land, Peoples, and possessions will cease. Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace, and He will return and take control. The oppression of His children and the children of men will cease.

The Heavenly Warrior Defeats the Beast: Rev. !9

• ¹¹ I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. ¹
• ¹² His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 
• ¹³ He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.
• ¹⁴ The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 
• ¹⁵ Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 
• ¹⁶ On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:

“king of kings and lord of lords.”

• ¹⁷ And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, 
• ¹⁸ so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.”
• ¹⁹ Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army.
•  ²⁰ But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
• ²¹ The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.

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

The entire earth will know who GOD is! All of the variations on a theme will end. All of the misinterpretations of scripture will end. All of the division and strife that exists on this earth will end! We, the saints of God, will reign with Christ for 1000 years.

• ⁴ I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 
• ⁵ (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection.
• ⁶ Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.

So, what?

As you journey through this life, the road on which you travel will present large mountain ranges in front of you. There may even be a vast erratic in the middle of the road attempting to block your way. Let go of the fear. Let go of the concern. Don’t panic! God will yes I said will, move that mountain.

Be still and remember that He alone is God. Not Congress, not the Supreme Court, not the president of your nation, not your local community leaders. Only God can give you internal and external peace. Only God can, and “will make a way” for you. Crossover from the lane of doubt, gray areas, twilight, and step into the light od the SON! Why?

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

The God of Jacob is our GOD! Cayce declared, “The LORD of hosts” in the Hebrew means “the Lord of Sabbath, the lord of the angels, the Lord of the hosts of heaven.” There is not just one angel present; the Lord of all the angels is “with us!” The word Emmanuel comes from the root of the words “with us” (Cayce, Psalm 46:11).(See Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23).

The veil of separation is gone. We are His adopted children. Gentiles all over the world are now members of the Family of God. There is only one door into the House of God, and that door is Jesus Christ Our Lord. The God of Angels Armies is our King!

References

Cayce, Ken. 2018. “Books of the Bible.”  http://www.bible-studys.org/About%20Me.html. Accessed October 140, 2018.

Longman, Tremper, III. 2014. Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press. Accessed October 14, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central.

Darrell Evans – Refuge

via @YouTube