August 9, 2020

PSALM 46
August 09, 2020
Teaching Pastor Charles Billingsley

Riots, violence, political unrest, covid virus, earthquake, hurricanes—has 2020 caused you to wonder if there’s a safe place to move and make a new life?

Open:

Over the past few weeks we have looked at the very practical book of James, followed by how to incorporate the things we learned into our lifestyle. Today we are going to go from practical, every day living, to impractical, God-centered living. What do we mean? Practical living is the life lived for the benefit and love of others. Impractical living is what the world thinks of as crazy—trusting God for our daily living that does not come from the practical side (work, teaching, etc.), but from His word: do not fear, realize He’s with us always, His Spirit indwells us and He leads us through life. Are those impractical? Not for the son or daughter of Almighty God!

Focal Passage: Psalm 46

GOD’S PRESENCE IS WITH US

  • Read Psalm 46:1. Do any of you recall how safe you felt when your father or mother was with you during a time when you might have been afraid? In this present day of violence and civil unrest, how often do you consciously consider God as your refuge? If you feel trouble coming, what steps do you take to make sure you realize He is your very present help?
  • Read 1 Peter 5:7. What does it mean to you that God is your Protector?What are some other descriptive terms for Him as He takes care of you?
  • How can you live for any given moment without it being the “present”? Did God limit His protection to the past, or to the future? Why?

WE HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR

  • Read Psa. 46:2. What are some things going on right now that cause you anxiety? How do you handle the fear they inspire?
  • How many verses are there in the Bible that encourage us to not fear? Why would God go to such lengths to give us one for each day?
  • If, when you feel overcome by fear, you remind yourself that you are a child of God, how does that help you?
  • Read Psalm 91:1. What is conditional about the safety of God’s protection?
  • Read Psa. 46:3. Have you ever been in a severe natural disaster (hurricane, etc.)? Were you afraid? What is the worst thing that can happen? Has God left us at that moment?
  • Selah. What did the psalmists mean when they inserted “selah” in a Psalm?

GOD’S SPIRIT IS IN US

  • Read verse 4. What are some of the nouns that the word “river” can stand for in scripture? If you remember the global trajectory as Charles expanded on the Gulf Stream, beginning in the southern tip of Florida and ending in the Arctic Ocean, what did he liken the amazing spinoffs from that river to?
  • Think of our church, located here in central Virginia; how far do the “spinoffs” reach that begin with our congregation? Explain your answers.
  • Read John 4:13-14. Was Jesus speaking of literal water? What water did He mean? (Read John 7:37-39. What was the Water?)

WE HAVE NOTHING TO FLEE

  • Read Psa. 46:5. Who is the “her” Jesus is speaking of in this verse? What is Satan powerless against? Do we need to flee before him? Why?
  • Read verses 6-8. Who is raging? Read Psalm 2:1-3. Why are they raging?
  • Why do we not need to fear what man may do to us? Read Hebrews 13:6. Does this verse bring you comfort?

Close:

What did we learn today? God’s presence is with us, so we have nothing to fear. God’s Spirit is within us, so we have no reason to flee! Take those two statements and make them your watchwords for the week. He is, as we read, a very present help in trouble—and definitely we are in troublesome times right now.

Since God is a God or order, it should cause each of us to realize that He made a verse of encouragement—or verses saying “do not fear” (or some version of those words) for each day of our year! Would that we had had a calendar for 2020 that had one of the verses telling us not to fear on the top in bold for each day of this calendar year! For many of us, we will look back upon 2020 and tell it to our grandchildren, those who are too young to be impacted by the isolation, the lack of eating out whenever we wanted to, the lack of school, the virtual online subjects (good and bad), and the year of no sports. It has been a year most of us want to forget.

But through it all, hopefully in the worst of times, we have remembered that our Father, who is in heaven, has never given up control of the events that have over-shadowed us this year. He is with us, never leaves us, and will always be there to take our burdens. May we all praise His holy Name!

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