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JJ
Psalm 46
Divine Service
Reformation (transferred)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:
My
mother had this German expression that I heard often as a child:
“sitz und gehen.” I
am not certain how to spell it, but I heard it often enough to
know how to say it; and I can only assume that what she told me
that it meant was correct – I certainly knew her meaning when
I was a child! When
this was said, I was to ‘sit and be quiet,’ and she meant
immediately – if not sooner.
The 10th verse of our Psalm today is translated as “Be
still, and know that I am God.”
So many want to interpret this with that imperative
phrase that my mother used – “sitz und gehen.”
The English translation of the Hebrew ‘be still’ is
accurate, when you take that phrase correctly.
But, it has nothing to do with sound!
It can mean to let drop, abandon, relax, refrain,
forsake; to let go; to refrain, let alone; and, yes, to be
quiet. Be quiet –
as quiet as the surface of a lake at dawn when there is no wind.
Psalm 46 was written under
the inspiration of God, and it tells us of a miraculous victory
of the children of Israel during the days when King Jehoshaphat
was on the throne. Briefly, the circumstances surrounding this
Psalm were this. The nomadic tribes of the Moabites, Ammonites,
and Edomites were gathered together in siege against the
children of Israel. And to say the least, things looked pretty
dismal for the children of Israel. In fact, only a miracle of
God could save them, and they knew it. So Jehoshaphat turned to
the LORD. God responded through his prophet
Jahaziel, “Do not be
afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the
battle is not yours but God's.” (2 Chronicles
20:15)
The armies of Moab and
Ammon and Seir were filled with confusion and began to fight
with one another. The battle was fierce and the outcome was
devastating. They ended up literally destroying one another. And
when the morning hours arrived and the children of Israel saw
what had happened, they immediately knew that this victory was
not theirs, but God's.
Moved by the Spirit of God,
the sons of Korah, hymnists of the children of Israel, penned
this Psalm – a Psalm which says: “God
is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear
though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into
the heart of the sea ... The
LORD
of hosts is with us ... Come,
behold the works of the LORD.
Be still, and know that I
am God.”
Martin Luther found comfort in this Psalm, because he knew what it was
like to be under attack. If you remember the history of Luther,
he was brought up to believe that the “righteousness of God”
meant that he had to obey all of God’s laws to be acceptable
in God’s sight. Day in and day out he felt the attacks of a
guilty conscience because he couldn’t purge himself of the
sinful thoughts and guilt that God’s law gave him. He only
thought of God as a God of wrath, who only judged and condemned
people. But then God brought Luther to the light, as he showed
him Habakkuk 2:4 – “the
righteous shall live by his faith.” Suddenly Luther
came to the realization that his salvation was not based on how
good of a person he made himself, but only on what Jesus did for
him – on God’s declaration of forgiveness in Christ! At that
moment, the devil, the pope, and every enemy of God lost their
grip on Luther’s soul, and they immediately became his enemy.
So from that point on, Luther was under attack from a different source.
When Luther nailed those 95 theses to the Castle Church, the
pope sent Cardinal Cajetan and Dr. Eck to get Luther to recant.
Even the emperor declared Luther an outlaw, meaning that anyone
could kill him after twenty days. Since Luther had experienced
the attack of the enemy, he felt a need to have God as a
fortress for protection. That’s why this Psalm was special to
him.
We also are under attack. The attacks we are under are the spiritual acts
of terrorism - where our children are being assaulted with
doctrines of safe sex and greed. Where we are being told every
night on the television that the only way we can be happy is if
we have more money, more sex, or more popularity. And if this
weren’t bad enough, we are even attacked from within - when
our sinful nature tries to get us to buy into those lies and
deceit. Our spiritual lives are in danger.
And so is our church. We are under attack for our beliefs as conservative
Lutherans. You see, no other churches like it when we demand
that there be agreement in doctrine before we worship together
and do ministry together. Even other Lutherans get frustrated
with us for not being more “ecumenical.” They hold out their
hands of friendship and expect us to ignore the fact that they
are not practicing and preaching what the Bible says. And it’s
so very tempting for us to just give in. But if we give in and
let go of God’s Word, where will that leave us? What did Paul
say? “A little leaven
leavens the whole lump.” (Galatians 5:9) If the
devil can get us to let our guard down on one seemingly small
doctrine, he has an opening to attack. Therefore, like it or
not, the battles must be fought. This is not an easy battle to
fight. And that’s why this Psalm should mean so much to us as
well. We need a refuge and a fortress, because we are under
attack from every angle to let down our guard.
As I said before, this Psalm was written when the Israelites were saved
from even having to enter a battle with their besiegers! Why did
God protect them this way? It certainly wasn’t because they
deserved it! No, through all of this protection God was clearing
the path for the real reformation that God was planning for. God
was keeping the Israelites alive, so that He could reform the
human race from filthy sinners into holy saints. And the only
way He could reform us, was if He changed the way we looked in
His eyes. That’s where His Son came in. When God decided to
punish us for all of our sins, Jesus acted like a force field -
like a Mighty Fortress, and deflected the wrath that God had
pointed at us. Jesus redirected all of God’s wrath at Himself.
He became our Fortress from God’s wrath. As a result of that
sacrifice, God reformed the world. In one fell swoop God
reformed the world from a world of pitiful sinners who deserved
God’s punishment, to a world of sinners who had been made
clean by the blood of Christ. As long as we believe that Jesus
took that wrath of God, the Holy Spirit promises us: Romans 8:1
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
That means that if we believe in Christ, there is no hatred of
God left for us. There is no hell for us. There is only
salvation. When God brings us to faith in His salvation - He
reforms us from Satan’s children to children of God.
The truth of this reformation was nearly lost at Luther’s time. Everyone
had been taught that Jesus’ sacrifice was not enough - that
they weren’t really holy through the blood of Christ - that
they had to do more to truly be reformed. And when Luther taught
differently, they warned and threatened him in order to make him
recant. Instead of giving in, God gave Luther the strength to
say, “Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise. God help me.
Amen.” So we have come here today to also celebrate how God
proved Himself to be a “mighty Fortress” to Martin Luther.
Out of sheer mercy, the Mighty Fortress took Luther from the
depths of hell. Through the Word of God, the Holy Spirit gave
Luther the conviction that we are saved by grace alone, by faith
alone, and by scripture alone. The Mighty Fortress used Elector
Frederick to protect His child. Frederick kidnapped Luther and
took him up to his fortress - the Wartburg Castle, where Luther
lived for a year. That’s why Luther could his hymn based on
Psalm 46, “A Mighty Fortress is our God.” He had experienced
first hand the invisible Mighty Fortress, who had worked
protection in his life.
This is where we can truly thank God for our Mighty Fortress today. How
easily we could have been doomed to hell! There are millions of
people in this world who have been sabotaged by being led to
believe that they can save themselves. Millions more of the
people in the world have been led astray by the lust and hatred
of the world. But God has kept us from falling. God has shown
you the truth of salvation through Christ. We know that it was
not our decision that made us Christians - it is by grace - a
gift of God - alone. We believe that it is not our works that
make us righteous before God, but that it is by faith alone. We
know that our feelings are not what make us sure of salvation.
We are saved by faith, and that is worked by the Scriptures
alone. Even though the devil had us captive to his will, God’s
Holy Spirit broke down the barriers, smashed those gates of
self-righteousness - and brought us to faith in Jesus. The false
prophets have knocked on our door, but God has not allowed them
in. He has kept us faithful to His Word - in spite of the
ridicule that we have received. This is why we love this Psalm,
and the hymn of Luther based on it, so much. Just as God brought
Luther to faith, so he has brought us to faith and kept us in
the faith.
What will be our response at having this Mighty Fortress to run to? What
was the response of the psalmist? “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.”
He took the advice of God who said, “Be
still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the
nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”
The psalmist said he would not be afraid. Why? Because God was
on his side, and all nations would bow to God.
This
was Luther’s attitude as well. He had seen the pope huff and
puff against him, yet he still went on unharmed. He had heard
the emperor’s decree, yet God kept him safe. After seeing all
of God’s love and protection, he was able to write with
confidence:
Though
devils all the world should fill, All eager to devour us,
We
tremble not, we fear no ill; They shall not overpow’r us.
This
world’s prince may still, Scowl fierce as he will,
He
can harm us none. He’s judged; the deed is done!
One
little word can fell him. (LSB 656:3)
As long as Luther had the true Word of God, he wasn’t worried about the
threats of these puny humans and devils. He had God on his side.
That’s what our attitude should be as well. Most would tend to get
worried over these circumstances that we have facing us - with
the threats of terrorism, false doctrine, and immorality in the
world. But how does God respond to these troubles? In Psalm 2 it
says, “He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.”
The Lord Almighty is not afraid. Why not? He says, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” He -
Jesus Christ our King - is in control - so He has no fear for
the future.
Won’t
we follow the same attitude? Jesus has fulfilled our salvation -
so we have no need to fear. Our salvation is won and He is in
control. God is the victor. He’s by our side, and there’s no
reason to think He won’t be there in the future - as long as
we hold onto the Word. If the devil plucks out our eyes, we’ll
still be able to hear the Word. If he chops our ears off,
we’ll still have braille to read the Word. Even if the devil
rips out our hearts, even death can’t rip the gospel from us.
Therefore our attitude will be the same as Luther and of God
Himself.
We live with confidence to face the future, for we can “Be still.”
We know our God, as did Herr Doktor Martin Luther. We
know that He is our fortress. We know that He is God. We know
that all of our sins – those worries and burdens in our life
– have been paid for by God’s King on Zion, as He hung upon
the cross of another hill – the hill called Golgotha.
Through that death and His resurrection just three days
later, we see our future worry free.
For you know that that death brought you forgiveness, and
that you are forgiven in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
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