Be Still and Know that I Am God

Introduction and Review of Psalm 46

0:05 We turn again this morning to the 46th psalm, Psalm 46, and I shall read the entire psalm, Psalm 46.

0:27 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth do change, and though the mountains be shaken into the heart of the seas, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains tremble with the swelling thereof. There is a river. The streams whereof make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.

1:00 God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. God will help her, and that right early. The nations raged. The kingdoms were overwhelmed.

1:13 He uttered his voice, and the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Come, or better translated, go forth. Behold the works of the Lord.

1:32 What desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth. He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder. He burneth the sword, and cutteth the sword.

1:45 He cutteth the sword, and cutteth the sword. He cutteth the chariots in the fire. Be still, or let be. Cease, and know that I am God.

1:55 I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge.

2:09 When troublous times come upon the people of God, what are they to do? When society at large...

2:18 ...seems to be coming apart at the seams, what are God's people to think?

2:23 How are they to act? When the enemies of the church become bold and besiege the visible saints of God with all of their armor and all of their enmity, what are God's people to think in the midst of such circumstances? Well, the answer to that question in great measure is found in this psalm. For one of the great...

2:49 ...duties and privileges of the children of God in troublous times is to learn how to sing God's song of faith for troublous times and to sing that song with the spirit and with the understanding.

3:04 And so we are attempting to expound this psalm that it may become meat and drink for us as the people of God in the present and that it may be God's medicine stored up for any future continuum. And so we are attempting to expound this psalm that it may become meat and drink for us as the people of God in the present and that it may be God's medicine stored up for any future continuum. And so we are attempting to expound this psalm that it may become meat and drink for us as the people of God in the present that may come upon us. We come today to the fifth in this series of studies.

3:26 And we have noted that the psalm divides itself very naturally into three sections or three stanzas in terms of our own division of hymns. The first stanza gives this great declaration of the being of God. What God is, the relationship of God to His people. He is refuge, strength, present health.

3:49 and then the great deduction that faith makes from the reality of God and the relationship to his people. Therefore, we will not be afraid. Fear cannot exist where the child of God is conscious of who God is and what the relationship of that God is to him as a believer. And then in the second stanza we have this wonderful description of the provisions of God for his people.

4:19 Under the figure of a city besieged in a time of war, Zion's city of God is glad because of God's gracious provisions for his people. There is the gladdening river, the indwelling keeper, the timely helper. And then as though the people of God say yes, but has God always...

4:41 has always been that to his people. We have the proof of history in verse 6 and then the great pronouncement of faith in verse 7. We are presently examining the last stanza of this psalm of praise to God in troublous times and we noted in our previous study that verses 8 and 9 give to us what we may call is a command or a call to consider the works of God. Go forth and behold the works of God.

The Command to Consider God's Works (Review)

5:18 And the works of God which we are to behold in particular are his works of desolations in the earth, his work of causing wars to cease and his work in destroying the very weapons of war. And we are to learn from this that no matter what enemies may come against the people of God, God can make desolations of his enemies in a moment of time. Now we come this morning, that's the end of our review, to verse 10 in which we find in this third stanza of the hymn of praise not only a call to consider the works of God, verses 8 and 9,

6:02 but a command to recognize the being of God. Be still and know that I am God. And that is followed by an affirmation of the purpose of God. I will be exalted among the nations.

6:18 And it concludes with a cry of confirmation regarding the presence and protection of God. Having already stated this truth in verse 7, the psalmist confirms it by repetition. Jehovah of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge.

The Command to Recognize God's Being: 'Be Still and Know that I Am God'

6:39 We shall only have time to consider the first verse, the first two things this morning. This command to recognize the being of God and this affirmation of the purpose of God. The command to recognize the being of God. Be still and know that I am God.

7:04 And the first thing we must do is ascertain to whom are these words addressed. And at this point, I must rob you of a text that has often been a means of direction and conformation and consolation to you in certain periods of your Christian experience. Now, I never do this to be novel. I never do this to be cute.

7:30 The pulpit is no place for novelty and cuteness. But I only do it in the interest of accurate handling of the scriptures. Generally, these words without any reference to their context have been understood as addressed to the children of God. And the thought is something like this.

7:50 You're in the midst of a tizzy. You're all upset and you've lost your spiritual bearings. You've lost sight of the pole star. And in the midst of that, God says, now just stop all your fretfulness.

8:01 Sit down, be quiet, get your thoughts together. Remember who God is. Remember who you are as his child. Remember his promises.

8:09 Be still and know that I am God. Now, if that's the way we understand the words, that is certainly a biblical duty. In the midst of a torn and tormented and tortured mind, the best thing you can do is to get hold of yourself, get your spiritual bearings, and remember those great unchangeable factors of who God is and what he is in relationship to you as his child. And we have examples of this.

8:41 And we have examples of this. And we have examples of this. And we have examples of this. And exhortations to this in Holy Scripture.

8:45 We're told in Isaiah 30 and verse 15 and 32, 17, concerning the fact that in our quietness and rest is our salvation. We find an example of this with the prophet in Lamentations 3 and verse 26. So no positive error is taught when this text is used as addressed to God's people, demanding that in the midst of this, in the midst of their times of spiritual upheaval, they seek to be quiet before the Lord. Now that's one of the most practical lessons to learn, that if you live in the Scriptures, though you may teach the wrong thing from a right, or the right thing from a wrong passage, you will not seriously err.

To Whom is 'Be Still' Addressed? The Nations

9:30 And that's why the servants of God in the past, who perhaps have been a bit inaccurate in the exposition of any specific text, have yet been safe guides in the Scriptures, because they were teaching Biblical truths, perhaps from the wrong text, but Biblical truth nonetheless. However, I would assert this morning that there is another possibility in answer to the question, to whom are these words addressed? It is far more plausible, as we look at the context and the exact words that are used, to consider that this word, be still and know that I am God, is not so much addressed to the people of God,

10:15 as it is to the nations, and in particular to the enemies of Zion, the city of the living God. Now, what are my reasons for making that assertion? Well, let me give them to you. First of all, the meaning of the very words, and we'll open those up in just a moment.

10:34 The words, be still, are not primarily a word, or words conveying the idea, of you're all excited now just calm down and be quiet. But the words convey something entirely other than this thought. And because of the meaning of the words, I assert that they are directed more to the nations than to the people of God. Secondly, the scope of their immediate context.

11:03 Will you notice that the emphasis in this stanza is the ends of the earth? Notice verse 8, The desolations he hath made in the earth, he maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. You see, the whole vision of this third stanza is broader than Zion's city of God.

11:30 It is broader than the people of God, broader than the nation of Israel, broader than the visible church. And then thirdly, this Psalm, in many ways, is parallel to the second Psalm. And we find in the second Psalm, that there is a word directed to the nations in the light of God's purposes for Zion. After telling the decree of God's purpose to set his king upon Zion, to give to that king the nations for his inheritance, then a word is directed to the nations.

12:08 Verse 10, Now therefore be wise, O ye kings. Be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish in the way.

12:28 So then the thought of these words is not so much God drawing near to his people, who are getting nervous about the activities of the nations, and God says, Stop being nervous, and be quiet. Stop being nervous, and be quiet. Stop being nervous, and be quiet. Stop being nervous, and be quiet.

12:41 But rather, the same God who said to his people, Go forth and behold my works in making desolate your enemies, now says, Come near and listen to my words as I pronounce them to your enemies. My works demonstrate to you my people that you need not be afraid. Now listen to what I say to all of my and your enemies, and you have double reason not to be afraid. You have beheld the activity of my hands with reference to the nations.

The Precise Meaning of 'Be Still and Know'

13:20 Now listen to the words of my mouth as directed to the nations. Now then, having established to whom they are addressed, what is the precise meaning of these words, Be still and know that I am God. The words be still. As I've already intimated, we generally think of the idea being, be calm, be quiet, get in a meditative, contemplative mood.

13:48 The opposite of the mood you're in when the kids are screaming and hollering, mama this, daddy that. Just get away, and if you need to do as Susanna Wesley did, pull your apron up over your head, just be quiet, be still. But you see, that's not the meaning of the word. This word, as you have it in the marginal reading in the ASV, is translated, let be.

14:13 Or, it's translated elsewhere, to slacken, or to cease, or to leave alone. Turn back to Psalm 37, in verse 8. Here the word is used in a context which means to desist from a certain activity. Psalm 37, 8.

14:34 Cease from anger. Unforsake wrath. You're given over to anger, desist from it. Stop the activity of giving vent to your anger.

14:46 Joshua 18, 3. It is translated, slack. Joshua 18, in verse 3. And the Lord said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go in to possess the land?

15:02 How long will you lay back and not take your God-giving? How long will you not seize upon your weapons of aggressive warfare and go in and take the land that I have given? You see the concept, how long will you lay back in indolence and military indifference? And then the classic example, and perhaps the most accurate example of the meaning of the word in the context that we're considering this morning.

15:30 2 Kings chapter 4. 2 Kings chapter 4.

15:36 And verse 7. Verse 27. Just a word about the setting. 2 Kings chapter 4.

15:50 You have the prophet Elisha and his servant and a widow woman involved in this context. Verse 25. And she went, that is the widow woman, who had lost her son, and came to the man of God to Mount Carmel. And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, yonder is the Shunammite.

16:12 Shunammite woman, run, I pray thee, now to meet her, and say to her, is it well with thee? Is it well with thy husband? Is it well with thy child? And she answered, it is well.

16:24 When she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught hold of his feet, and Gehazi came near to thrust her away. But the man of God said, be still. There's the same verb. Let her alone.

16:40 Take your hands off. Back off. Let her be. And that is the sense of the word as we find it here in Psalm 46.

16:51 God says to the nations who are seizing Zion, city of God. God says to the heathen Gentile hordes who seek to obliterate not only Zion, city of God, but the God who rules over Zion. God says, back off. Back off.

17:14 Stack arms. Hold your fury. Restrain your apparent might. I have something to say to you.

17:25 And what does God say? He says, back off. Cease. Be still long enough to know that I am God.

17:36 In other words, the feverish activity of the heathen nations was rooted in the blindness of their minds with reference to the knowledge of God. With reference to the knowledge of God. With reference to the knowledge of the true God. Back off.

17:49 Cease. Let be. And know that I am God. That is, recognize in your minds and regulate thought and conduct by that knowledge.

18:01 I am God. I am Elohim. I am the Mighty One. I created the heavens and the earth.

18:09 I am your Maker. I am your Judge. I am the Sovereign Savior of Israel. I dwell in the midst of Zion.

18:18 I govern the world's destiny. I raise up and I put down. Oh, you nations, back off.

Illustrating 'Know That I Am God'

18:27 And know that I and I alone am God. To illustrate the meaning of the phrase, know that I am God, imagine a time when there were legitimate kingdoms ruled by legitimate kings. And a certain king, the king comes to one of the villages in his kingdom, and he finds as he comes in the middle of the day that the women are busy kneading the bread, washing clothes, and the husbands, and fathers and men are busy in their various places of enterprise, their shops and in the marketplaces. And the king comes in all of his royal attire, so it is evident to all that he is king.

19:12 But some of them simply greet him with a grunt, others with a respectful hello. But no one welcomes him in terms of the dignity of his person No one regards him in terms of his majestic authority And after moving amongst his subjects for half an hour And having a little hello here and a good morning there And being ignored here He sends one of the official criers through the town To summon everyone into the central marketplace of the little village And after they've been summoned And everyone has been called to silence

19:53 The king lifts up his voice and says words to this effect Oh you my subjects know that I am your king And what would he mean by that? He would mean give me the honor due my position and my person Don't just turn from yourself You're kneading trough with a little grunt and say hello I'm your king What is bread in the presence of royalty? Don't just look over your shoulder while you're planing a board in your shop Put down the work of your hands and give me the homage Due to my position

20:36 Give me the obedience due to my royal authority Give me the fear due to my potential to judge and to punish Give me the love due to my Provisions and protection of you As my subjects You find God complaining in these words In the book of Malachi to his people And I quote the text again Simply to illustrate the force of these words Be still and know that I am God Malachi 1 6 A son honoreth his father And a servant his master If then I am God and so do you A son honoreth his father and a servant his master And a teacher of craft

21:14 am a father, where is mine honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear, saith the Lord of hosts, unto you, O priest, that despise my name? You see what God is saying? If I am this, why is there not a commensurate response from you as you think of me? And in this precise

21:39 way God speaks to the nations of the earth as Zion is besieged, and he says, be still, back off, hands off, desist from your opposition of me and my people, and recognize that I am the true and the living God, the God of the whole earth. And in precisely the same way God speaks to the nations of the earth today, as they rage against his people, as they rage against the God of truth, as they rage against the salvation of God, the

22:17 Son of God, all facets of godliness, God says in his word, desist, be still, let be, back off, for I am God, and I alone, I am creator of mankind, I am governor of the destiny of the world. You may think that you run the world by your councils and conferences, and by your gathering together of the heads of state. You may think that you manipulate earth's destiny by your conclaves of men's great men, of earth's great men. But God says, I, the Lord, run the show.

23:01 I do according to my will in the armies of heaven and earth, and none can stay my hand or say unto me, what thou hast done. And what God says to the nations as nations, he says to us as individuals. For Jesus said, he that is not with me is against me, he that gathereth not with me scattereth. And the nations are made up of individuals, and every unregenerate man, in part, finds himself as an opposer to the people of God, and to the purposes of God. And God says to such, back

The Affirmation of God's Purpose: 'I Will Be Exalted'

23:38 off, let be, be still, and know that I am God. And then we have in the text, not only this command to acknowledge the being of God, but notice in the latter part of the text, this affirmation of the purpose of God. This God, who alone is God, now affirms what his purpose is. I will be exalted among you.

24:09 I will be exalted among you. I will be exalted among you. Among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.

24:18 Just a moment to open up the meaning of the words, and then I trust something of the message of this part of the text to our hearts. What does it mean to be exalted? It means to be raised high, to be put in a place of recognized prominence, to be put in a place of honor. It is the opposite of being brought low.

24:38 You remember Jesus said, he that exalteth himself. He that lifts himself up shall be humbled, or brought low. He that humbleth himself shall be exalted. It is said of our Lord, he hath highly exalted him, given him a name above every name.

24:58 What did God do when he exalted his son? He raised him to a place of recognized prominence and established him in the place of honor. God affirms that he is exalted. God affirms that his purpose is to exalt himself where?

25:16 He says, I will be exalted among the nations, which has primary reference to people. The peoples of the earth, I will be exalted in the earth, that has reference to place. And so God says that I will be exalted, not only in Zion, city of God, but I will be exalted among the nations, among the heathen hordes. Among the multitudes of earth's population.

25:45 If you, the opposers of Zion, think that I'm some kind of a tribal God who's only concerned with my glory and praise within the walls of Zion, you're mistaken. I've committed myself to a course from which I will not turn. A course that will mean amongst all the inhabitants of the earth, I will be exalted. I will be brought to a place of honor.

26:10 And majesty before the eyes of all men. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. That is, upon this particular place where mankind has carried out its rebellion.

26:29 This particular sphere called earth, where man has carried out his efforts to despise and throw off the yoke of his God. God says, I will be exalted, not only among the nations, all peoples, but right here upon this particular place in my universe. I will be exalted in the earth. And so God is saying to the nations, don't boast, don't swagger, for I will yet be glorious in the eyes of all men in all the earth.

God's Global Purpose Throughout Redemptive History

27:10 Don't think of me. As the tribal God of Israel, but acknowledge me to be what I am, the God of the whole earth. You see, dear people, the moment we touch these phrases, the nations and the earth, we are touching one of the most broad and fundamental concepts in the entirety of the word of God. God's purpose has always touched the nations and the entire earth.

27:41 Before sin ever entered, it was God's purpose in his precepts that Adam and Eve should replenish what? The earth. That from the entire earth there should be brought a residue of glory to God. And when man sinned, then God is to intervene in grace.

28:02 And he lays hold of Abraham, father of the faithful, at the very outset of his call to Abraham. What does he say? Abraham says, in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. God says, Abraham, though I'm dealing with you one man, and though through you I will form one distinct nation, I am not limited in my scope and purpose to you as a man, to your people as a nation.

28:33 I am concerned with all the families of the earth. And then, as Israel was established as a nation, what was God's purpose? He tells them in Isaiah that Israel should be His praise to the ends of the earth. We read in Psalm 67, God shall bless us, the nation of Israel, and all the ends of the earth shall hear His name.

28:55 It was to Israel's own detriment that she forgot this lesson, stamped upon the very face of God's dealings with her. Israel never existed for Israel's sake. She was there to be, as it were, the reflector of God's glory to the then known earth. And then as God's redemptive purposes to large and widen and break out into the church in its New Testament form, what do we find?

29:26 We find the Lord Jesus saying, make disciples of all the nations. Ye shall be witnesses unto me to the ends of the earth. And when you open up, the book of the Revelation, to see the church in its perfected state, what do you find? And I beheld and I saw a great multitude whom no man could number out of every kindred, tribe, and tongue, and nation.

29:52 You see, the concept of the earth, the nations, it's a major, it's a dominant key in the great chord of truth sounded in Holy Scripture. And so God makes this announcement to the nations. The nations back off. I have purpose to gain honor to myself in the earth and among all nations.

30:15 And all of your efforts to oppose Zion, the city of God, through which that glory will be brought to me amongst the nations. You're in a losing cause, O nations of the earth. All of the aggregated might of the nations is a mere nothing. I will blow upon it.

30:33 I will sit in the heavens and laugh. That's Psalm 2. The great ones of the earth gather together. And what do they say?

30:41 We're going to say we're going to stop this God from gaining the upper hand. And so formidable is all of their aggregate might that God just sits and laughs. It's not even, I say it reverently, it doesn't even have to be a consultation within the triune Godhead. How shall we reckon with it?

31:01 They have a session of holy laughter. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. And then when God is done laughing, he'll say, look, fellas, I've made a decree. You know what my decree is?

31:15 That my son should be set upon my holy hill of Zion. And having been set upon that hill, he should ask of me and I will give him the nations for his inheritance and the uttermost part of the earth for his possession. You foolish kings that oppose me. Some of you, I'll snatch you in my grace and subdue your hearts and you'll be found kissing the footstool of Zion.

31:39 You foolish kings that oppose me. Some of you, I'll snatch you in my grace and subdue your hearts and you'll be found kissing the footstool of Zion. You foolish kings that oppose me. Now, therefore, be instructed.

31:43 Be wise, O judges of the earth. Kiss the son, lest he be angry and you perish in the way. This is the affirmation God makes to the nations of his own immutable purpose to exalt himself among the nations and in the earth. Now, those of you who have been listening with any degree of careful attention, and I would like to assume that's been the majority, I would like to assume that's been the majority, some vital questions arise in your minds.

Fulfillment of God's Purpose: Now in Part, Then in Full

32:15 The first one is this. How and when will this prophecy be fulfilled?

32:22 Well, let me answer the question from Scripture in two ways. First of all, by saying it is fulfilled now in part by the triumphs of mercy and of judgment.

32:35 This prophecy is being fulfilled in part by the triumphs of mercy This prophecy is being fulfilled in part by the triumphs of mercy and of judgment. This prophecy is being fulfilled in part by the triumphs of mercy and of judgment. This prophecy is being fulfilled in part by the triumphs of mercy and of judgment. God is being exalted among the nations.

32:47 He is being exalted in the earth. Look at the history of Israel. The conflict in Israel with reference to her deliverance out of Egypt was not a conflict between Moses and Pharaoh. If you read the history that way, you've missed the whole point.

33:03 All of those plagues were calculated to make evident that the conflict was between Jehovah, God of the whole earth, and Egypt, and her soul, who called gods. God says, Pharaoh, I've raised you up to do what? To make known my power throughout the borders of Egypt? No, no.

33:24 To make known my power throughout what? The earth! God was exalted in Egypt. He was exalted among the nations by the terrible judgments that he brought upon Egypt and her gods.

33:42 And he was exalted among the nations as the God of grace. For you remember, by the time Israel came to the borders of Canaan, the reputation of her God had already reached those heathen nations. And there was a woman named Rahab who said, We've heard about your God. And I believe he's the true God and I want to make sure I'm on the right side when he comes marching through this territory.

34:05 What was God doing? He was being exalted among the nations. Those heathen nations heard of the triumphs of his judgment upon Egypt. The triumphs of his judgment upon Egypt.

34:16 The triumphs of his grace upon Israel. And Almighty God was exalted upon the lips of heathen men. Read through the history of Israel and see when heathen armies came and blasphemed the God of heaven as did the Assyrian army in Sennacherib coming. And Almighty God is exalted in the earth.

34:37 Read the reign of Solomon. I was looking over it again this morning and it's beautiful in this regard. The queen of Sheba comes from afar and says, Thy fame has gone throughout the earth. What was God doing?

34:51 He was exalting himself in the earth amongst all peoples. Read the history of God's dealings with Nebuchadnezzar who backed off and beheld Babylon and said, This is what my hands have wrought. This exists for my glory. And God says, You've got it all backwards.

35:09 And he brought that man down to the dust and made him crawl on his belly like an animal. Until the confession came from his lips, there is one true God. When that confession went out from the king of Babylon, God was exalted in the earth. God was exalted among all nations.

35:30 He sends a prophet to a wicked gentile city called Nineveh. And what happens? The whole city comes down on its face before God in repentance in sackcloth and ashes. Do you see how this prophecy has been fulfilled?

35:44 Read the history of God. Read the history of Israel. When the entire world was given over to idolatry, God comes forth with power to exalt himself among the nations. To exalt himself in the earth.

36:00 Think of its fulfillment as recorded in the book of the Acts. The whole Roman Empire under the power of paganism. Little pockets of pure religion here and there as the synagogue worship was carried out in those cities. But by and large, the entire populace given over to the worshiping of gods of wood and stone.

36:21 Read Romans chapter 1. God takes a very unlikely little crowd, empowers them with his spirit and sends them forth until the bitterest enemies say, this crowd's turned the world upside down. What is God doing? He's fulfilling his promise.

36:39 I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. Amen. And here the prophecy, the description given in Revelation 20 finds at least some measure of its fulfillment.

36:56 Satan is bound in his power to deceive by and large the nations and he cannot because the gospel is penetrated every single segment in major groups of world divisions and there's not a place upon the face of the earth today where men do not humbly lift up their voices, and say, the Lord, he is God, Christ, he is the only Savior. The Holy Spirit is the only sanctifier. God is fulfilling this promise in mercy and in judgment in part through the history of Israel, the present history of the church.

37:37 But secondly, it shall find its fullest expression. It shall be fulfilled in full measure at the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ, again, both by mercy and judgment, when he comes, the scripture says, he shall be admired in them that believe and, oh, what a sight the world will have when the despised city of Zion looked down upon as the offscouring of the earth will be seen in all the beauty and glory described in Revelation chapter 21 and 22. Amen.

38:19 Amen. Verse 22, when the wife, the bride of the Lamb, is described in that vision of the perfected city coming down out of heaven from God, the Lord then will be exalted among all peoples. He will be exalted in the earth and at that same time every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. When he comes with the final judgment to tear loose from man.

38:49 This promise will find its fullest fulfillment and its final expression. So the first question in the light of the text, how and when fulfilled? The answer two-fold, now in part by the triumphs of mercy and judgment, then in full at the return of the Lord. But now a second question is this.

Certainty of Fulfillment: God's Veracity and Covenant Commitment

39:19 certain its fulfillment. You preach this morning, Pastor Martin, as though you believe that this is coming to pass. On what do you rest such confidence? And the answer again is twofold.

39:32 The general veracity and truthfulness of God. The scripture says, God who cannot lie. And if God revealed nothing else, this would be enough. If God has said, I will be exalted among the nations, then the nations of the earth shall exalt him. And when he says, I

39:52 will be exalted in the earth, the earth shall yet praise him. But there is a second thing that rests behind our confidence, and that is the special covenant commitment of God. Turn back to the second psalm. Remember the vision of the 46th psalm is the vision of Zion in the midst of her enemies. It is the vision of the church.

40:16 in the midst of opposition what makes certain her triumph here in the second psalm you have the picture in the first three verses of the raging of the nations against messiah and then in verse four we have the reaction of god to that raging he that sitteth in the heavens will laugh then we have in verse five and following the declaration of god then will he speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure yet have i set my king

40:57 upon my holy hill of zion i will tell of the decree and here's the decree and god as it were pulls back the veil and allows us to listen in on an inter-trinitarian conversation jehovah said unto me thou art my son this day have i begotten thee the father says to the son thou art my son this day have i begotten thee a reference to his being installed in the place of mediatorial kingship and when an heir to the

41:37 throne was established he was spoken of as having been begotten on the day of his inauguration thou art my son this day have i begotten thee and when the mediatorial king sits upon his mediatorial throne here is the pledge of the father to that son ask of me and i will give thee the nations for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession what lies behind our confidence that this text this affirmation will be fulfilled it is that covenant

42:21 of god with his own beloved son can god lie to his son would god commit himself to terms with his son and violate them the very thought borders on blasphemy because the father has said to the son who suffered and bled and died and has been promised a mediatorial kingship that would realize its ultimate goal ask and i will give you the nations for your inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth and i will give thee the nations for thy inheritance ask and i will give you the nations for your inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth inheritance now in the light of this tremendous statement of god concerning his purpose i would

Practical Exhortations: Warning and Invitation to Unbelievers

43:00 close this morning with several very practical exhortations since this word is directed to the nations it contains a very sober warning as well as a gracious invitation god says to the nations everything you build up is doomed to fail because all that man projects has as its goal the exaltation of man babylon city of man this is what my hands have rocked but god says jehovah is my name and my glory i will not give to another neither my praise to graven images and i say to

43:43 every person in this building if you're an unconverted man or woman you reforming the spirit of the opposers of Zion. Whatever you live for, in detail, one thing is certain, you live to exalt yourself. You live to please yourself. You live to bring delight and pleasure to yourself.

44:06 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 15. And oh my dear friend, may you be warned this morning. Almighty God has said, I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.

44:20 And the great controversy between a saved man, unsaved man, and the living God is this. Who will receive praise from that life? God gave that life that it might reflect his glory and be an instrument of his praise. And you've said, I will make it an instrument of my own glory and my own praise. My

44:42 friend, you're in a losing battle because God will be glorified. Every single human being will bring glory to God.

44:49 Now do you want to bring glory to God's infinitely holy and inflexible justice and be an eternal monument of that justice in the lake of fire? Every soul in hell is bringing glory to God.

45:06 Don't forget it. If you doubt it, read Revelation chapter 19.

45:13 When the glorified saints behold God's judgment in pouring hellfire upon sinners, they worship him. True and righteous, by way. My friend, you're going to bring glory to God whether you want to or not. And if you want to glorify him as a monument of holy and inflexible justice, then you go on fighting God and his son. You

45:42 go on holding firmly to the reins of your own life in your own carnal hands, driving that life down the paths of carnal delight and sensuous pursuits. One day God says, all right, I'll be exalted among the nations. I'll I'll be exalted in the earth. I'll be exalted in your destruction.

46:05 Oh, my friend, God does not delight in judgment. It is his strange work. He delights in mercy. Oh, how much better that you glorify God by backing off in stacking arms and coming to the gates of Zion, not with your weapons to fight God and his people, but you come to the gates of Zion as a humble suppliant saying, what must I do to enter Zion?

46:35 Show me the way to Zion and to Zion's God. Let me come into the company of those in whose midst God dwells.

46:45 My friend, you'll find if anyone is giving you an accurate answer to that question, they won't point you to anything other than Zion's King, the Lord Jesus Christ. And they'll say, behold him in the majesty and glory of his unique person. He is God, then man. Behold him in the uniqueness and sufficiency of his death for sinners.

47:09 Cast yourself upon him. Kiss the Son with the kiss of submission, with the kiss of trust, with the kiss of abandonment to him and to his ways. God says, back off. Know that I am God.

47:26 I will be exalted. That's a sober warning if you're an unchristian this morning. But thank God it's a gracious invitation. Because when God says, know that I am God, he means come to understand me for what I really am.

47:42 I am not only God of might, God of power, God of sovereign purpose, but I am the God merciful and gracious for giving iniquity. Come to know me as I am. Don't stand off trembling at the doom that must come if you remain impenitent. Be still, back off.

48:03 And know that I am God. And as God, he is God of grace and pardoning mercy. For thou, Lord, art good and ready to forgive and plenteous in mercy unto all that call upon him. See that emphasis in Psalm 2.

48:22 Not only do you have the laughing God, he that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh, vexing, impenitent sinners in his wrath, but he closes by saying, kiss the Son. Kiss the Son. He welcomes sinners. He welcomes and freely pardons.

48:42 Oh, what a sober warning coupled with a gracious invitation to those of you who are not the children of God. But since this is part of the book of the covenant given to us as God's people, what does this text say to us? Let me suggest very briefly and then maybe even enlarge on these in the subsequent message. This tremendous call of God to the nations to back off and to know that he is God.

Practical Exhortations: Comfort, Prayer, and Activity for Believers

49:13 This affirmation of his immutable purpose, I will be exalted. It forms, first of all, the solid foundation for comfort in the heart of the child of God.

49:26 My friend, don't you weary of the newspapers, the magazines, the airwaves, the television, being filled with men's thoughts, men's plans, men's conceptions of what we ought to be and do. And don't you long for the day when the glory of God shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. Take hope, child of God. He shall yet be exalted among the nations and he will be exalted in the earth.

49:59 We can afford to be part of little besieged Zion.

50:05 We can afford to be glad while the enemies rage outside the walls. We can afford to be exalted among the nations. This is not pie in the sky, by and by. That's reinforced concrete under your feet.

50:25 Almighty God has pledged what a solid basis for comfort. Secondly, it is a specific footing for believing prayer. What God has committed himself to do in his promises becomes fuel for what we plead with him to do in our prayers. The commitments of God in promise become the basis of our pleading in prayer.

50:53 Look at Daniel 9. Daniel said, I understood by the books that God committed himself to take his people out of captivity after 70 years. And he says, since God committed himself, I better start praying because it sure doesn't look like there's any shape to be brought back out. And God's word is true, so something's got to happen.

51:14 So he didn't say, sit back and say, well, I'm a Calvinist. I believe what will be, will be. He said, I set myself to seek the Lord by prayer. What God had committed himself to do in promise became the footing for his pleading in prayer.

51:40 And oh, dear child of God, when you pray, Lord, be exalted among the nations. Be exalted in the earth. Give the winds, the mighty voice. Raise up from our ranks men of vision.

51:55 Men upon whom your hand rests with power. Lord of the harvest, thrust out laborers. Give us vision. Help us to shake loose all of the trappings that would bind us and encumber us.

52:09 Oh, Lord, as a congregation, help us to know what we ought to do and can do to see the gospel spread to the ends of the earth. Oh, dear people, we're right dead center in the purpose of God when we pray that way.

52:25 Right dead center. Because God is committed to be exalted among the nations, to be exalted in the earth. And so this commitment of God is not only the solid foundation for comfort, it is a specific footing for believing prayer. And last of all, it's a spur to zealous activity.

52:47 A spur to zealous activity. Why? Why? Why?

52:50 Why? Why? Why? Why?

52:50 Why? Why? Why? Why?

52:51 Why? Why? Why? Why?

52:51 Why? Why? Why? Why?

52:51 Why? Why? Why? Why?

52:51 Why? Why? Why? Why?

52:51 Why? Why? Why? Why?

52:51 Why? Why? Why? Why?

52:51 Why? Why? Why? Why?

52:51 Why? Why? Why? Why?

52:51 Why? Why? Why? Why?

52:52 Why? Why? Why? Why?

52:52 Why? Why? Why? Why?

52:52 Why? Why? Why? Why?

52:52 Why? Why? Why? Why?

53:09 Why? Why? Why? Why?

53:10 Why? fast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Why? Because God says, I will be exalted among the nations. I will be

53:24 exalted in the earth. And so whatever forms the basis of believing prayer also becomes a spur to zealous activity. For God is not exalted among the nations now in terms of the advance of the gospel by wishful thinking. He's exalted by the tears, the sacrificial labors, the sacrificial giving of his people. The apostle Paul could say, I fill up on that, I fill up on my part,

54:01 that which is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for his body's sake, which is the church, in labors oft. And dear people, we may labor even unto weariness, but we need never be disheartened when our labor has as its goal not the building up of our reputation, not the exaltation of, quote, our church, but we labor because we long to see men made in the image of God who ought to be bringing glory to God under every or in every nation under

54:43 heaven. When our labor is, Lord, men cannot be disheartened. We need never be disheartened. They will not bring glory to you. They will not exalt you until they're born of the Spirit,

54:52 and they will not be born of the Spirit unless the gospel comes, and the gospel will not come unless we go. That's the logic of true biblical God-honoring missionary endeavor.

55:05 That's why we're pained when we get a letter on so practical a matter as this. It's not that our reputation is important, but we reflect our God. That's why we're concerned about the little details of Christian ethics and walking in strict conscience before God and men. Why? Because we believe that God will be exalted among the nations by the sanctified labors of

55:34 his people. And so in the midst of troublous times, what are we to do? Well, some would tell us we're to just study prophecy and find how the times are going to get worse and worse. I know that's poor English. I'm using it purposely.

55:54 What we're to do? We're to see the clouds, the billows, the ominous signs, and study them, and analyze them, and retreat, and trench in. The Lord Jesus will come and sneak us out of the whole mess. You show me that from the book. God calls us in troublous times to do what?

56:26 To do what the psalm directs us to do. Go forth and behold what desolations he's made in the earth. Books were written years ago. Proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that the stage had been set for the final ticks upon the clock of history. They have been written in every century, almost since the second or third century. And the

56:52 prophetic experts have proven that it was two minutes to midnight on God's prophetic time clock.

57:03 All the wasted man hours. Are we to be indifferent to prophetic things? No, God's put them there to give us the general outline. He says, when you see these things come to pass, do what? The posture of a man, full optimism.

57:22 He doesn't say, draw your head in your shell like a turtle.

57:26 The redemption draweth nigh, and occupy till he come. Occupy doing what? Pouring your energies, and your prayers, and your labors into the one thing that will not be in vain. That which relates to the exaltation of his name among the nations.

57:47 And his glory in the midst of the earth.

57:53 Oh, may God help us as a congregation. There are times when I think upon it and wonder what the days ahead may hold for us. And then I come back again to this and say, Lord, thou knowest. But one thing you've said, I will be exalted. One thing I know, you've put us at this place,

58:16 in this time, with this amount of means, and these opportunities. Lord, help us to seize them. Abandon ourselves to them. Whatever else may be on the horizon, the grace that directs us and supplies us now will be sufficient for us then. God will not bring us this far to leave us.

58:38 This God is our God forever and ever. And he will be our guide, even unto death. Do you know that God? Do you know him? When he says, back off, stack arms, just cease all your feverish activity,

58:54 and know that I am God. Do you know that God, savingly, in the person of his dear son? Are you absolutely convinced, dear Christian, that he will be exalted among the nations? That he will be exalted in the earth? Is that a deep, settled, unshakable conviction?

59:13 Is it? If it isn't, you better pray it in until it is. And when it is, no matter what comes upon the visible church, you'll be safe. This light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

59:34 That's what's always been a mystery to the enemies of the church, when the church's enemies have bared their fangs and the people of God have said, in essence, well, do all you can, you'll just chase me up to glory a little sooner.

59:49 Oh, may God burn these words into our hearts and give us grace to sing with the spirit and with the understanding this song of faith in troublous times. Let us pray.

Closing Prayer

60:10 Oh, Lord, our God. We do praise you for this, your holy word. We thank you that you've given to us exceeding great and precious promises. We thank you that you've allowed us to draw near and listen this morning to what you say to the heathen hordes who dare to oppose Zion's city of God. Oh, Lord, we thank you.

60:35 We thank you that you, as it were, have thrown down the gauntlet. You've made an announcement to the nations. They will yet bow and render praise to you as God. Oh, Lord, we thank you for the confident expectation of that hour when every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ alone is Lord. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

61:13 And, oh, God, while you yet... Give us time to live and to labor. We pray. Oh, God, we plead this morning. Keep us from being turned aside from anything that would hinder us from being instruments in your hands for the fulfillment of this promise. I will be exalted among the nations. Lord, get a much greater residue of glory among the nations because of us.

61:47 Oh, God, increase our vision. Oh, God, increase the sphere of our usefulness. Grant that from our rank shall go forth sons and daughters to the ends of the earth. We would not exist, oh, Lord, to build up some kind of a many-headed monster that would destroy itself. But, oh, we would simply be instruments in your hands.

62:16 Amen. Accomplish your own saving designs in our generation. Hear us in our prayer and be merciful to us in our sin, our unbelief. And to God be especially merciful to those who are not your children.

62:37 Make effectual the warnings, the invitations of Holy Scripture given today. We ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.