Be Still and Know I Am God - Peter Tan-Chi - Songs in the Night

[Music] greetings what a joy and privilege to be with all of you again we started a new series in the book of psalms our series is songs in the night in the midst of uncertainties sickness or even death in the midst of government 19 how should we respond do we respond in fear in anxiety or can we learn from psalm 46 the title of today's message is be still no i am god what does it mean to be still and no i am god so let me explain to you how this phrase is going to be used in psalm 46. psalm 46 verse 10 tells us cease is thriving and know that i am god here is a command cease is striving why i am god meaning be still the word cis striving can be translated in many ways one is be rested be still become stop fighting stop fretting relax let go let god i'm gonna explain that in a short while be still it's only possible when you know god no i am god that's why aw toaster once said the most important thing about you about us is what we think about god why because when you have a low view of god when you don't think of god properly it will affect your emotions is going to affect your behavior i submit to you the knowledge of who god is is foundational to our christian life you need to know him if you don't know him how can you trust him if we don't know the lord how can we be still how can we stop fighting stop struggling the context of psalm 46 notice the beginning it talks about psalm 46 you have the subscript the super subscript many scholars like to tell us it is also inspired by the lord these are in the original for the choir director meaning it's supposed to be sung sam means praise it's music with instruments singing with instrument a psalm of the sons of korah said to alamoth a song the alamo is describing young women so women will also sing it's an amazing here's the context god is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble therefore we will not fear do you notice it is a knowledge of who god is the soundness begins by saying god is our refuge and strength what enters your mind when you think of the word refuge enters your mind when you think of the word god is our strength notice a very present help in trouble therefore we will not fear not this description it is catastrophic the bible is not written in a vacuum it's written facing the realities of life the problems of life here is a description though the earth should change though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea what can be more devastating what can be more cataclysmic than the earth should change the mountains slip into the heart of the sea it reminds me of volcanic eruption massive earthquake this is danger but notice the conclusion therefore we will not fear because god is greater than all our problems that's why it says god is our refuge and strength i'm going to expand psalm 46 turn to your neighbor and tell your neighbor tell your family members be still be calm no i am god this is foundational if you don't know who god is you begin to fret you begin to compromise for many people their god is very small they think satan is always stronger than god they think that people in government is always thwarting changing god's plan friends wrong theology will impact your emotions it will impact your actions i want to assure you god is god his purpose will be accomplished and that's why you can relax so let's explain psalm 46 and expand and learn how to be still so the word be still means cis is thriving be rested let go and let god stop fighting surrender it's a beautiful hebrew word it does not mean be lazy do nothing that's not the meaning of be still cis striving no it has to do with your attitude you can be doing nothing and be restless or you can be working hard doing your best and be at rest become why because you know god you know god is in control so how can you be still what shall we learn about god today i want to highlight a few things about god based on psalm 46 number one god is our refuge number two god is our rescuer and god is our rest what does it mean god is our refuge well the word refuge comes from the word fortress comes from the word stronghold so imagine there's danger so what will people do they run to the fortress they run the stronghold i'm reminded of the story of this deer it's a baby deer and there was a hunter perhaps walking in the forest and he was resting and suddenly this baby deer came in between his legs and inserted the entire body under his legs and the woodsman was surprised what's going on and then he noticed there were wild dogs coming chasing after the baby deer it's like refuge for the baby deer is seeking the protection of the man a fortress is like something like this it gives you tremendous protection i'm reminded of the story of a contest they were encouraging all artists to paint a picture of what is peace what is restedness so people were asked to submit different works of arts somebody submitted a picture of a beautiful sunset the other one a beautiful picture of the green meadows the other one a picture of a beautiful calm ocean sea but the one that one is a picture of a waterfall amazing waterfall and people ask how come this picture won the contest if you will notice waterfall does not describe peace restedness being still on the contrary waterfall there is tremendous force tremendous noise tremendous water cascading down how can it represent peace restedness ah you have to notice the painting you see underneath that waterfall there was a cliff and in that cliff you have a nest a bird with babies and a nest underneath why because for the bird this is refuge there is protection friends where do you run to when you have problems when you are troubled who is your refuge where do you run to for protection for many people they run to friends they run to perhaps relationships or money can i tell you all of this can be good but they will really never be sufficient for your security real security comes not from a place but from a person the lord jesus christ god himself i remember years ago many japanese placed their security in their company it's called lifelong employment once they place their confidence in the company they feel like they have a job for life that's their security until the asian crisis hit when companies began to close down they were they got a shock of their lives they were being laid off why nothing in this world can really give us real security no government no company no relationship just look at call vid19 all our lives are now affected because real security is found in a person not in circumstances the writer begins to make it very clear what does it mean to have god as our refuge so he uses metaphors he talks about a city there's a river whose streams make glad the city of god now the readers understood a city a fortress a city has to have walls protecting it but more than that it has to have water verse 4 there is a river whose streams may glad the city of god scholars tell us jerusalem is supposed to be the city of god but do you know what there is no river in jerusalem in fact the problem of jerusalem is water so the writer is describing a situation whereby real security comes from god this is prophetic because when the bible talks about a river coming from the city of god it speaks of the future in revelation chapter 22 the bible tells us in the end times he showed me a river of the water of life clear as crystal coming from the throne of god and of the lamb the same thing above ezekiel the book ezekiel talks about the end times how a river how the water will come from the temple of god towards the east of jerusalem going all the way down to the dead sea the river speaks of life sustenance and that's what the bible is talking about someday notice what's going to happen our security is really in the lord there will no longer be any curse the throne of god and of the lamb will be in it and this ban servants will serve him in other words the security has to do with god's presence notice the emphasis the holy dwelling places of the most high the most high god that's our security not the place god is in the midst of her what makes this city a great place of security of refuge is god not the walls she will not be moved god will help her so it's all about god the next thing i like you to learn about god is god is our rescuer what does it mean to be a rescuer god is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble do you notice a very present help god is not far away you don't have to wait his timing is perfect why because god is with us a very present present right beside you not just time physical presence beside us a very present help in trouble notice what i'm learning is being a child of god being a follower of jesus does not accept us from problems it does not exempt us from calamities but the conclusion is therefore we will not fear you see following the lord is logical it tells you you think rightly about god he's a refuge he's a mighty god and then he's a rescuer last week i was having soon conference with our middle east chapters we had many satellites in the middle east i was so inspired by all the leaders when i heard their stories there was one of them who lost his job before the coveted 19 lockdown and he was asking god why would i lose my job and then during the call of duty 19 locked down he discovered his office had covered virus and he began to thank the lord lord thank you for getting me out of my company but would you believe it a few weeks ago in the midst of this coffee 19 he was given a new job by a new company so what is the likelihood of somebody losing a job before coffee 19 and then finding a job in the midst of quality 19. friends god is our refuge he is our strength and the bible tells us a very present help what does that mean present help god is with us he will help you he's not somebody up there he's with you he promised to take care of us the bible tells us we will not fear notice the consequence of knowing god who god is our refuge the logical conclusion is we will not fear amazing truth we will find restedness when we know god notice the nations made an uproar the kingdoms tuttered he raised his voice the earth melted the nations made an uproar in other words there are times when the enemies try to scare us all kinds of noise and the truth is it's so easy for us to become afraid but the psalmist would like us to know he raised his voice the very voice of god has tremendous power the earth melted the emphasis is god his power his strength he's a rescuer the lord of hosts is with us the god of jacob is our stronghold salah the word selah means think about it think about it the lord of hosts what does this word mean the lord of hosts our rescuer is described as the lord of hosts when you see that phrase in the bible it is talking about god is the commander-in-chief of the heavenly army host talks about military soldiers god is the lord the king of kings of a mighty army and that's why he can rescue us let me give you an example of god being the lord of a mighty army and that's why you can be rested you can say be still don't be afraid i'm reminded of second kings chapter 6 when the king of aram decided to capture elijah the king mobilized a great army to capture elisha and here is the story elijah was surrounded by a great army let's look at what happened when the attendant of the man of god had risen early and gone out behold an army with horses and chariots was circling the city and his servant said to him alas my master what shall we do do you understand it's so natural to be afraid when we are surrounded by enemies when we're surrounded by problems the servant asks his master elisha what shall we do he was afraid not this the answer do not fear don't be afraid be still become for those who are with us are more than those who are with them i want you to imagine you are attendant and your master tells you relax don't be afraid of the numbers of the enemies surrounding us because there are more of us together you know if i were the attendant i would have no idea what elisha is talking about our count how many are we elijah one two two of us and you say we are more you see many times you need the eyes of faith we need to learn who god is he's the lord of hosts elijah prayed and said o lord i pray open his eyes that he may see you know my prayer is for god's people to have their spiritual eyes open to come to know who god is to realize how great he is he's the lord of us our refuge our rescuer we need our eyes to be open to really understand the greatness and the power of god notice and the lord opened the servant's eyes and he so and behold among them was full of horses and chariots of fire all around elijah if you were the attendant and you begin to see what is surrounding you it's not just the physical enemies the army of aram which is present-day syria but you see the armies of the living god notice full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding you will you still be afraid and that is why it is so important that we know god people who don't know the lord who do not know the resources of god has every right to be afraid why they don't know him and that's why when you read and study the book of psalms i pray that your eyes will be opened to see who god is our refuge that's why we can be still he's our rescuer notice psalm 46 continues come behold the works of the lord who was wrote desolations in the earth he makes wars to cease to the end of the earth he breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two he burns the chariots with fire do you notice the first command given in psalm 46 is this phrase come behold it's a command you come behold see what god has done in other words to find out the amazing god who is our rescuer our refuge look at what he has done he brought desolations devastations wow god assumes responsibility for devastation he makes wars to cease he breaks the bow and cuts the spear in other words god is sovereign can i tell you many scholars like to believe when this was written it has to do with the context of the time it has to do with what hezekiah experienced in isaiah 37 history tells us the bible tells us assyria the rising world empire surrounded judah surrounded jerusalem and they were so scared and this is the story they began to pray they turned to the lord not just to be their refuge but they asked god to be their rescuer and this is what happened the bible tells us god spoke through his prophet therefore that says the lord concerning the king of assyria he will not come to this city or shoot and out of there god is telling his people in jerusalem king hezekiah relax be still don't be afraid that great army will not enter the city or even shoot an arrow i will defend this city to save it for my own sake god is giving them a promise i will rescue you i will save you now what really happened the angel of the lord went out and struck 185 000 soldiers in the camp of the assyrians and when men arose early in the morning behold all of these were dead notice how many angels god had myriads thousands and thousands of soldiers angels at his disposal here he only sent one an angel the angel of the lord went out killed 185 000 such is the power of the lord do you know him i know all of us have problems but how big is our lord how big is your god god wants us to know be still no i am god god is our rest he is not only our refuge not only is he our rescuer he is our rest only in the lord can you find peace and rest notice the command cease striving and know that i am god this is a command stop striving be still in some version be still become relax let go this is a command now in the hebrew language you have different kinds of verb this is the special form it's causative what the meaning of this phrase is this she's striving and you will know that god is god no it's a command and it is also god that will cause you to cease striving you see to cease striving comes from god he helps you at the same time when you learn to cease striving you come to know either cause you to know god even more amazing truth you cannot be still if you don't know the lord at the same time once you learn to be still let god be god the more you will know who god is cis is striving no it's a command no i am god what does it mean that i am god you see the bible tells us there is only one god do you know who god is for example isaiah tells us that men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun there is no one besides me i am the lord there is no other the one forming light creating darkness causing well-being and creating calamity i am the lord who does all of this god makes it very clear there is no one besides god there's only one god and who is he i am the lord capital l capital o capital r capital d i am yahweh if you translate that to the greek language that same word lord is used to describe jesus there is no other in other words god is saying you better know who i am i am the only god there's no other now how does he describe himself the one forming light and creating darkness causing well-being and creating calamity god makes no apology that he assumes responsibility for calamity and for well-being god is god he's suffering he makes no excuses i am god i can cause well-being and i can create calamity you know what god wants you to know there are no accidents everything that happens to your life everything that's happening today including covet 19 is never a surprise for god because god is god that's why it's important you know who god is our problem is we have such a low view of god we think satan is always stronger than god my friend there is no other god if god wants something done it gets done notice daniel chapter 4 35 all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing he does according to his will in the house of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth no one can ward off his hand and say what have you done this is talking about the sovereignty of god god is in control he does according to his will no one can ever pressure god no one can ever force god to do anything and the bible tells us even among the inhabitants of earth no one can ward off his hand not even the beings in heaven or on earth because god is god that is why you can be rested you can be still because god is god and above all he is a good god what do we mean many times we question god when we have problems when bad things are happening to us our tendencies to run away from god can i tell you something when i learn about psalm 46 i want to encourage everybody in the midst of problems in the midst of calamities do not run away run towards god he's our refuge he's a rescuer your tendency and my attendance is to run away to be discouraged on the contrary when you are having problems you run towards god notice including pain hebrews 12 verse 6 and 10 those whom the lord loves notice whom the lord loves he disciplines now discipline is not pleasant he scourges every son whom he receives the word skirts exactly the same word used to describe jesus when they were scourging him when they were whipping him this is painful god makes no apology he scourges every son why notice the heart of god which you and i don't understand many times we cannot reconcile pain and suffering sickness with the loving god the problem is not god the problem is our theology you think you need to defend god my friend you must never interpret god based on circumstances interpret circumstances based on the truth about god when you have problems what is god doing for they discipline us for a short time as seen best for them but he god disciplines us for our good and how does god discipline us today many times if you read the book of first corinthians during lord's supper the bible says some of you are sick you are weak believe it or not god uses sickness he uses financial problems he uses relationship problems god wants to bring us to a point wherein we will turn to him because many times we don't listen to god until we're disciplined i remember what csu is saying and you and i know i keep quoting this amazing phrase pain is the megaphone of god in the midst of pain we listen to god better are you listening to god are you having some problems today well i want you to know something god loves you and he wants you to know he's your rescuer he's your refuge but you got to turn to him notice as we are about to finish it says here she's striving know that i am god i will be exalted among the nations i will be exalted in the earth the whole agenda of god is about his glory it's not about you it's not about me it's god's glory but our comfort is in the last two phrases the lord of hosts is with us the very presence of god is with us and then the god of jacob is in our is our stronghold fella remember the word selah means in music think what are we going to think about why did the bible use this phrase the god of jacob twice in psalm 46 remember verse 4 and 5 he talks about the god of jacob why not the god of abraham why not the god of isaac why the god of jacob because the god of jacob is describing how god deals with people like jacob jacob is the exact opposite of somebody being able to stop striving stop fighting god jacob remember jacob the name jacob means what skimmer liar opportunist that was jacob he took advantage of his brother esau remember when isa was hungry he took advantage of his father because the father could not see very well he lied to his father to steal the birthright you remember how jacob dealt with his uncle laban how he manipulated everything jacob is a schemer but let me share with you something about the god of jacob god will not reject you just because you're a schemer god does not give up on us just because we are like jacob stubborn in fact god will pursue us even if we run away like jacob such is our comfort the god of jacob the god of comfort the god of grace and that's why you can learn to be still because the god of jacob is our refuge our stronghold he protects us do you know this at the end of jacob's life on the latter part how god dealt with him jacob was stubborn running away and the latter part of jacob's life the latter part you will notice god took the initiative to wrestle with him the first wrestling match in the bible is found in the book of genesis god wrestled with jacob to show us a picture of the perseverance of god the patience of god towards people like jacob i identify myself with jacob many times i'm stubborn many times i run away from god many times have a tendency to manipulate but by the grace of god after experiencing the grace of god the discipline of god notice what happened to jacob genesis 32 but he jacob said i will not let you go unless you bless me you see jacob was wrestling with the lord and he grabbed hold of god when did he grab hold of god when god touched his time muscle jacob was crippled for life he could no longer run and he clung onto god and he said god told him what is your name notice jacob asked for blessing bless me and god said what is your name and he said jacob now what has blessing got to do with what is your name i believe god wanted jacob to face the reality of who he is jacob was a schemer the word jacob means schemer cheater who are you what's your name cheater what's your name schemer but notice what god did he said your name shall no longer be called jacob but israel for you have streamed with god and with men and have prevented notice israel meaning the prince of god that such is the god of jacob he can transform us god will pursue you you can be still you can be at rest because god's purpose will be accomplished in your life and that i believe is a message today no matter what's happening outside no matter what's happening in your heart struggle whatever be still what does it mean to be still let me remind you the word be still means stop fighting against god stop striving many times we focus on just be still be rested no literally it also means stop fighting stop fighting against god it means surrender that's the meaning of the word be still that's the meaning of the word cease is striving because god is god and you are not god so stop playing god stop acting god let god be god in your life surrender be at peace if some of you would like to experience restedness you want to learn to be at peace here is the amazing invitation of jesus look at what jesus tells us come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and i will give you rest jesus says come to me all who are really heavy laden and i will give you rest you know god wants you to experience peace to experience rest how do you experience rest and peace matthew 11 28 come to me come to jesus perhaps some of you are tired you've been restless you've been fighting you've been trying to manipulate can i remind you there's only one god and you are not him don't bear the burden of this world let god be god come to jesus he will give you real peace real joy exodus 33 14 he said my presence shall go with you and i will give you rest the promise of rest comes from god himself you will not experience real rest real restedness apart from god we need this presence religion will not do it no matter who you are how much money you have how healthy you are you will never experience real rest until you encounter the presence of the lord if god has been speaking to you and you would like to experience real peace you you want to learn how to be still i guarantee you you cannot find that in any religion in any circumstances in anybody other than jesus that's what ravi experienced that's what i experienced and that's what many of god's people have experienced coming to jesus but you need to surrender be still surrender so that you will know i am god be rested stop fighting then you will know who god is if that is your desire let's pray together it's a short prayer lord god i surrender my life to you i want to experience this restedness i want to learn to be at peace i surrender my life i invite you today to come into my life be my savior be my lord i accept your gift of forgiveness i accept your gift of eternal life i come to you jesus change my heart jesus name i pray amen if this has been very meaningful to you i'd like you to click below you can ask for prayer you may want to know more information we'll be happy to help you in a short while there will be discussion questions i'd like you to join us here are some suggested questions that you can discuss with your family members or the group or your friends when you encounter problems what do you usually do for most of us we run away from god or we run to friends but how many of us automatically by default we run towards god what makes us restless why is knowing god so important what should you know about god based on psalm 46 what promises can you claim based on psalm 46 i pray that this will be a blessing for you thanks for watching we would like to invite you to be a christ-committed follower by being part of the movement as we honor god and obey his great commission to find out if there's a ccf satellite near you log on to www.ccf.org.ph satellites we also want to encourage you to join a small discipleship group where you can deepen your knowledge and love for jesus and others to sign up log on to www.ccf.org.ph discipleship group all of ccf's video resources are available free of charge and are constantly being improved by our team would you consider supporting ccf through prayer in giving so more people can be blessed you can give securely through our website at www.ccf.org.ph give for more videos like this please subscribe to our channel thanks and god bless

Channel: Christ’s Commission Fellowship

Views: 99,835

Rating: 4.8997536 out of 5

Keywords: CCF, Christ's, Commission, Fellowship, Sunday, Service, Sermon, Speaker, Message

Id: dDK-EfBNjLk

Length: 46min 8sec (2768 seconds)

Published: Sun May 24 2020