Episode 2

In God Alone: Our Refuge and Strength (North OC)

In this sermon, Marcel Hall continues the 'In God Alone' series by focusing on Psalm 46. He emphasizes that while people often place their trust in various things, God intended for His creation to trust Him alone. Marcel explains that Psalms are spiritually enriching, revealing divine truth and God's promises, reminiscent of songs that stir the soul. He encourages believers to find refuge and strength in God in all circumstances, reminding them of God's ever-present help. The sermon calls for consistently remembering and living in the truth that God alone is our refuge and strength, urging believers to give their fears to God and leave them there. The message concludes by reinforcing that divine peace, confidence, security, and joy can be found in trusting God alone.

00:00 Introduction to the Series: In God Alone

00:50 The Call to Trust in God Alone

01:32 Opening Prayer and Psalm 46 Introduction

02:20 Exploring the Book of Psalms

04:03 Reading and Reflecting on Psalm 46

05:13 The Power of Worship and Songs

08:27 God as Our Refuge and Strength

11:03 Personal Testimonies and Experiences

13:14 God's Ever-Present Help in Trouble

19:22 Be Still and Know That I Am God

22:39 Living in the Truth of God's Refuge

24:21 Practical Steps to Trust in God Alone

30:37 Concluding Thoughts and Final Prayer

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OC Church of Christ

Transcript
Marcel:

All right, so we did start a series, uh, going with

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the theme called In God Alone.

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And Dallas preached last week, and I

was able to listen to it afterwards.

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And Dallas preached a great message

talking about how we can trust in God

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alone because we're in good hands.

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And you know, there's many

things that you and I and that

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people can put our trust in.

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We can put our trust in money.

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We can put our trust in possessions.

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We can put our trust in our talents.

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Our intelligence, maybe our experience,

uh, for some of us, our good looks.

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There's a whole bunch of y'all

that, you know what I'm saying?

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You, you put your trust

in your good looks.

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But your education, you

can put your trust in.

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You can put your trust in certain people.

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Some of us can put our trust in politics.

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Some of us can put our

trust in just flat out luck.

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But as God's creation, God intended

for us, for you and me and every soul

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who's ever walked the planet earth, and

especially as chosen people, God has told

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us that we should trust in him alone.

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And that's our call.

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And that's the blessing.

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And that's the promise

that you and I have.

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And the benefit of being a part

of God's chosen people is that we

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are called to trust in him alone.

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And why, why should we trust

in God alone is because God is

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our refuge and our strength.

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And that's our, our title for today is

in God alone, our refuge and strength.

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Let's go to God in prayer once more.

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Father, I thank you so

much for the congregation.

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I thank you so much for your word.

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I'm really excited, God, about

going through the passage today

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and the way you've been ministering

to me and continually telling

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me that you are my refuge.

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And that I put my trust in you alone.

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And God, I pray for your

blessing upon this sermon.

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I pray for your blessing

upon every soul here.

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Father, grant them more faith.

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God, give them and show them how

much favor they have in your eyes.

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Show them your mercy and your love.

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May they experience it so that

they can testify to you being

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an awesome refuge and strength.

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We pray in the name of Jesus.

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Amen.

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Amen.

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Turn over in your Bibles to Psalm 46.

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For our series, we're walking

through some of the Psalms.

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And to give a little history and

context, the book of Psalms is really

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playlist, if you will, or a poetry book.

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Uh, it's full of songs, it's full of

poetry, and they reveal how to have a

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deep, intimate relationship with God.

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They also remind us of divine

truth and the promises of God.

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And so, you know, songs do that.

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Uh, especially as we sang today,

what a wonderful name it is.

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We're reminded of the power of Jesus.

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The reckless love.

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That God has for us, that in the midst

of the storm we can raise a hallelujah.

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Now those things aren't necessarily

scripture, but they're based on what?

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Biblical truth.

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And as you sang them

earlier, what did it do?

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Hopefully it stirred your soul

to experience God in the moment.

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But it reminded you of some truth.

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That is there and some promises that

you can hold firm to so that as you

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take your step outside of the auditorium

today, you can live in that truth.

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And so the Psalms provide that for us.

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And so we're going to study out today.

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Psalm 46 and Psalm 46 is really,

uh, there was a classic camp by,

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uh, the reformer Martin Luther based

on this song that's been sung for

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many years and many denominations.

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We won't sing that today.

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But we're going to study out

Psalm 46, brothers and sisters.

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Are you still with me this morning?

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All right, let's go on in to Psalm 46.

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It reads, God is our refuge and strength

and ever present help in trouble.

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Therefore, we will not fear, though

the earth give way and the mountains

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fall into the heart of the sea, though

its waters roar and foam and the

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mountains quake with their surging.

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There is a river whose streams

make glad the city of God.

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The holy place where the Most High dwells.

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God is within her.

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She will not fall.

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God will help her at break of day.

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Nations are in uproar.

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Kingdoms fall.

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He lifts His voice.

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The earth melts.

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The Lord Almighty is with us.

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The God of Jacob is our fortress.

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Come and see what the Lord has done.

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The desolations He has

brought on the earth.

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He makes wars cease to

the ends of the earth.

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He breaks the bow and shatters the spear.

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He burns the shields with fire.

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He says, be still and know that I am God.

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I will be exalted among the nations.

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I will be exalted in the earth.

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The Lord Almighty is with us.

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The God of Jacob is our fortress.

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Isn't that a powerful psalm right there?

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And this is what the people would sing.

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They would sing out these words.

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It was like what we were singing earlier.

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I raise a hallelujah in

the presence of my enemies.

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You can see some of the

similarities even in the language

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and the tone and the message.

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And so we still sing

these type of songs today.

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And this overall message here is

that God is our refuge and strength.

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God is with us.

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And I love this song.

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I love this song because we

don't really know when it was

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written or what the context was.

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Perhaps it was written right

after God delivered his people

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from some type of harm or danger.

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And you can see how that would be helpful.

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Wow, look at what God has done.

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Or perhaps they're right in

the midst of some challenges,

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some trouble and some worry.

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And so it's being written to

remind us God's gonna deliver.

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Or maybe it was just

remembering after the fact.

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Maybe it's in between and there's

nothing that I'm coming right out of.

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Or nothing that I'm in the middle.

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And it's just being

reminded of who God is.

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But regardless, it's powerful

for you and me today.

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Because this message.

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Can guide us and strengthen and

embolden us no matter what the

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season of life that we are in.

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Whether we're on a high, we can rejoice.

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Or whether we're right in the

middle of some chaos and turmoil.

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We can rest assured that God is with us.

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He is our refuge and our strength.

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And I'm reminded, you know, the power of

this, this song and the power of songs.

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I think of some of us were

semi old school or old school.

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Remember the song encouraged my soul.

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Some of you like who we don't

sing it as much anymore, but

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that song encouraged my soul.

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It hits different at

different points in my life.

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You guys get what I'm saying?

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There's some times where I'm on a prayer

walk and I'm going through some things

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and I start to sing that song and it

hits me and God's truth does something.

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It ministers to my soul, encourage

my soul, and let us journey on.

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For the night is dark,

oh I will start singing.

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For the night is dark

and I am far from home.

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Thanks be to God.

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The morning light appears,

the storm is passing over.

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Don't you know?

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Right?

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The storm is passing over.

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Hallelujah.

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Hallelujah.

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This is what Psalm 46,

this is what songs do.

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This is why it's so important that we

come together and worship God together.

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And be reminded of truth and be in person.

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To strengthen and sing songs together.

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That's the scripture.

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But let's get back to Psalm 46.

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It's a revelation and a promise.

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A revelation that God is our

refuge and our strength and a

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promise that God is with us.

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You and me, his chosen people.

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Let's break this down some more.

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Brother and sister.

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Are you still with me here?

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All right, 46 verses 1.

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It says God is our

refuge and our strength.

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God is our refuge and our strength.

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Refuge being a shelter, a safe place.

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You know, even thinking about as we

were talking earlier about what's going

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to be taking place for the wildfire,

uh, uh, relief efforts that will

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be taking place starting tomorrow.

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What are we providing or what's

being provided is really a

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refuge for these families.

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They're going through hard times and

they need a place, they need some safety,

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to get some sanity, to have some peace.

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And perhaps even have some joy

despite all that's going on.

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And here's what the scripture reveals.

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Is that God is that safe place

and that shelter for you and me.

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He is our strength.

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When there's uncertainty, there's chaos,

there's danger, and there's worry.

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Let me ask you this, who or

what's God is your refuge.

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And sometimes it can be

other things, can't it?

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It can be a person, place,

or thing, or an event.

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But what we're reminded of

here is that God is our refuge.

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The author of life is our refuge.

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The creator of the sun, moon,

stars, gravity, and photosynthesis.

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He is our refuge.

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Not a person.

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Not a thing or an event

or a time or a place.

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It is the almighty who holds

the world in his hands.

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He is at safe place and

shelter for his people.

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And so our security is in

God alone, not in God plus.

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Not in God plus this thing.

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Now God does provide certain things.

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But our security must lay in him alone.

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And him alone, and it says He is

our strength for the day today.

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And also when we get weak and weary.

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Can anyone testify of God being a refuge

and a strength at some point in your life?

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There's

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a lot of people that can testify.

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And how do you know that God

was a refuge and the strength?

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Here's the crazy part about it.

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And I read this book many years ago,

it really helped shape a lot of my

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view, my, my theology of God is that,

you know, and you testify that God

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has been a refuge and a strength.

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So when we read this, you

can say, yes, he has been.

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So therefore, yes, he can

and will be some more.

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Why is because you went through

something where God was seen maybe for

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the first time or again to be a refuge.

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And strength and safety.

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Here's what I'm saying.

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You had to go through something

that required you to need and see

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God as a deliverer and a refuge.

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But if you had never gone through

that situation, this would be what?

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Theory.

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It would be a good idea.

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And so here's the challenging part that

we wrestle with is that it's actually

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needed or required that we go through

things because when we experience them

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through and with God, we come out on

the other side with a deeper faith and

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a greater understanding of who God is.

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And it's not a theory, it's an experience.

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So therefore we testify, God

is a refuge and a strength.

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And so when you go through the

next challenge, what can you do?

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You refer back to that time when he was

at refuge and strength, and then you

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bring it in and you apply it to your

current situation so that you can move

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forward in your faith and see victory.

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God is our refuge and our strength.

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It says an ever present help in trouble.

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I love this.

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Not just a one time thing,

but he is ever present.

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He hasn't left the building.

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He hasn't left our side.

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He's still leading and

guiding us if we follow.

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But not only is he present, but he

helps, he delivers, and he defends.

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So therefore, what does that mean?

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What we tell it, it tells us here.

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Therefore, we will not fear.

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Because God is our strength.

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Because God is our refuge.

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He's ever present.

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Therefore, you and I don't have

to live in a state of anxiety,

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fear, and worry about life.

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It says even as the mountains give way,

so in the midst of tragedy, in the midst

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of things that we aren't in control of,

we can still we can still Have peace and

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comfort and strength from the almighty

in the middle of life, storms and tribes.

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Now we can sometimes maybe either like

me, maybe you have a guilty soul or

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maybe you can misunderstand this truth

is that sometimes we can think, well

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man, then I should, I should never have

a moment where I'm afraid or I'm in

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sin because I had a moment of weakness

and I, and I, and I gave in to fear.

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The reason that God keeps telling

us to not be afraid and have truth

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is because we will enter into that

state at some point, but he's telling

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us I can deliver you out of it.

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So therefore you don't have to stay

in the midst of chaos and tragedy

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with fear and despair, but he can

pull us out of it so that we can

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stand tall with peace and confidence.

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And even joy in the midst

of life, storms and trials.

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And that's what we go on to

see as we continue in there.

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It says there's a river whose streams

make glad the city of God, the holy

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place where the most high dwells.

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God is within her.

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The city is a reference, you know,

directly back then they would

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have been thinking of Jerusalem.

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But symbolization or really alluded

to the fact it was God's kingdom.

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His reign and rule on earth.

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And His people.

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And so God is in the midst of His people.

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God is there.

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He's not just in one locale.

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He's not just in the tabernacle.

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He's not just in the city of Jerusalem.

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So there's an understanding that

it's about God's presence in the

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midst of His people providing safety.

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The city, the people, you and I, we're

safe not because of foundations that we

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create, not because of all the things

that we do to ensure our security.

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No, we're safe because

God's presence is with us.

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And because he's a refuge, because

he's the almighty, you are protected.

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Even with demonic forces and those who

oppose God's reign and rule, you are safe.

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Because like Dallas said,

you are in good hands.

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You know, it says, the Lord Almighty.

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And the way you would, uh, to,

to actually, you know, uh, uh,

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go ahead and, and translate

like, like strict translation.

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That would be Yahweh of Host.

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Yahweh being God's name

that He reveals to us.

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And Host being a host of things,

but really it's talking about,

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In the context heavenly armies.

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And so it's kind of hard to

actually translate this term.

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And so the NIV and many others

translate it as the Lord Almighty.

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Because it captures God is almighty.

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He's in control of the heavenly armies.

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He is sovereign.

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And it says what about Yahweh of hosts?

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It says He's what?

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He's with us.

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The creator of all.

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He's not distant.

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He didn't exit.

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He is with us.

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And he says he'll be there

at the crack of dawn.

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If he just raised his

voice, the earth will melt.

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You don't have to worry about

those who oppose his will.

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Because he's the almighty

and he's with you.

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I like being around big

and buff dudes sometimes.

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You know what I'm saying?

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I like being around some guys.

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Sometimes, you know, we're

eating chicken wings and you

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never know what might happen.

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What might pop off.

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Not because I'm doing

anything crazy, but others do.

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But I love it when I have some

dudes and I'm like, man, okay, if

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it goes down, I know I'm all right.

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You know, there used to be a

brother that used to be here.

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He moved up north.

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Jack Jackson.

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Some of you guys might remember Jack.

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And so Jack is, uh, he

was, he was real cool.

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Remember Chris?

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Remember Jack?

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He was, Jack was a wild,

he was a wild dude, man.

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And, and Jack even had

some size on him, right?

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And so when we would meet at church,

um, I said, Jack, I said, hey man,

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uh, I need a favor from you, brother.

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He said, what's up, Marcel?

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I said, hey man, uh, you know, there's

a aisle right down the middle of

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our, of our building where we meet

and, uh, can you be my security?

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I said, man, can you

sit in the front, man?

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Just in case if anybody asks something

and they want to run up and do something

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to me, man, can you be my security?

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He said, I got your back, bro.

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And that brother was in the front.

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Every time I look at him,

I'm like, oh, I'm all good.

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I didn't have to worry because he

was my almighty physically for me.

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You get what I'm saying?

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But the Lord Almighty is always with you.

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So you do not need to worry.

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No matter who opposes his will.

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Because the Lord of hosts, Yahweh,

God Almighty, is with you and me.

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And so we have joy because God is our

fortress, our stronghold, our protection.

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We go on.

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Brother and sister, are

you still with me here?

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Amen.

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Come and see what the Lord has done.

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So many people said, Hey, I can testify.

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We can go here.

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We can say, Hey, can we share with you

what the Lord has done in our lives?

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But we have the scriptures.

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We have our own stories.

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We have others.

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And he goes on and he, he gets

to this point, he says, be

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still and know that I am God.

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This is a famous quote of

scriptures for many people.

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Be still.

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And there's really maybe

a double meaning for this.

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For all the nations that want to

cause an uproar, people who want to

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oppose God, God is saying, be still.

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You need to stop.

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You need to cease and know that I

am God and I will be exalted and

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I will be exalted in this earth.

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And for God's people, we can get

comfort and confidence and encouragement

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because he's also saying to you and

me, be still and know that I am God.

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Don't take things into your own hands.

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Don't veer from my path.

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Be still and know that I will be exalted.

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I will deliver.

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I will defend.

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And my kingdom will be victorious.

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It says the Lord Almighty is with us.

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This is real cool.

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Real quickly, I want to do this.

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Matthew 1 in verse 23.

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In talking about Jesus, it says,

the prophecy about Jesus in Isaiah

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says the virgin will conceive and

give birth to a son and they will

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call him Emmanuel, which means what?

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God is with us.

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Are you seeing a connection?

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God is with us.

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He's been saying I've been with my people.

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Jesus comes and reveals, God is with you.

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And then as Jesus disciples,

we've been baptized and we

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have received the Holy Spirit.

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And what does that teach us and remind us?

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That God is with us,

and He's also within us.

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And so we have this promise from

old to today that God is with us.

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Yahweh, the Lord Almighty is with

you in your circumstance, at work,

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in that family drama, in your sin,

and in your highs and in your lows.

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The Lord is with you.

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And He's a refuge.

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And He's your strength.

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You know, I love this going back.

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It says the God of Jacob.

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That's interesting.

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It says the God of Jacob You

can kind of just quickly go

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through it's like, okay Jacob.

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Let's do a reminder.

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Who is Jacob?

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Jacob's one of the

patriarchs in our faith.

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There was Abraham father Abraham.

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Remember him?

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Okay Abraham Abraham has a son

Isaac Isaac has who Jacob Jacob,

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his name turned into Israel.

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What happens with that?

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That becomes the nation of Israel.

400

:

What comes out of the nation of Israel?

401

:

The Messiah.

402

:

So when we get this reference to the God

of Jacob, I believe what's happening here

403

:

is that we are being reminded that God

has always been a refuge for his people.

404

:

He's saying, look, Jacob, before he was

Israel, before there was a nation, before

405

:

there was a chosen people, before anything

happened, God has always been a refuge

406

:

and with his people and a safe place.

407

:

So if he's been that before,

he will do that today.

408

:

And so what does that mean for you

and me that God is with us today?

409

:

He's been the God of refuge and

shelter all the way past Jacob to the

410

:

days of the New Testament to 2025.

411

:

God is with us.

412

:

He is our refuge.

413

:

God is our refuge in tragedy.

414

:

God is our refuge in treachery.

415

:

God is our refuge when there is chaos.

416

:

God is our refuge when

there is corruption.

417

:

God is our refuge when there's disasters,

when the economy falls, when we have

418

:

political changes or political failures.

419

:

God is our strength and our refuge when

demonic forces or evil people oppose God's

420

:

kingdom, his reign, and his rule on earth.

421

:

God is our strength.

422

:

God is our help.

423

:

God is our fortress.

424

:

God is our defender.

425

:

God is our deliverer.

426

:

God is our strength.

427

:

God is our fortress.

428

:

God is with us.

429

:

And so, therefore, you and I will not

fear, but we will trust in God alone.

430

:

And I believe that's the response

that we can have from this truth.

431

:

Is that this truth can shore

up our convictions so that

432

:

we can trust in God alone.

433

:

Not in God plus, but in God, the fortress

and safety and shelter for our salvation.

434

:

Now I don't know about you, but I ask,

I want that, but how can I do that?

435

:

Couple things that came to my mind.

436

:

One, we gotta remember consistently

that God is our refuge and strength.

437

:

We have to remember this consistently.

438

:

That God is our refuge and strength.

439

:

So for some of us, it's recalling that

he's been there for some of us were

440

:

like, I never really experienced this.

441

:

So it's remembering this song and

then applying this song once you get

442

:

into that position where you need to

know God is your refuge in strength.

443

:

But here's the thing.

444

:

If we don't remember

consistently, we'll easily forget.

445

:

And that's what we do, don't we?

446

:

We easily forget.

447

:

And what happens when

we forget this truth?

448

:

We get fearful.

449

:

We start to doubt.

450

:

We have despair.

451

:

We try to take things into our own hands.

452

:

We get stressed out, we make bad

choices or we drift from God when

453

:

we forget that God is an ever

present help in times of trouble.

454

:

And so this truth being reminded can

bring peace, can bring confidence

455

:

because we know that God will defend.

456

:

And God will deliver.

457

:

And not only do we need to

remember this consistently, but

458

:

we need to live in this truth.

459

:

Not a theory, not an emotional

moment on a Sunday morning.

460

:

But a reality for our lives.

461

:

I was talking to Kenny Barber

on the phone the other day.

462

:

And Kenny's out of town to pray.

463

:

I think he's coming back tomorrow, right?

464

:

Uh, yeah, there you go.

465

:

So Kenny be coming back from Virginia.

466

:

And we were just randomly talking.

467

:

We're connecting and he was like, man.

468

:

Uh, he was like, you know, I'm

just really getting great times

469

:

with God and God's really revealing

he's being a refuge for me.

470

:

He says, and it's not, it's not just

this thought, it's, it's reality.

471

:

I was like, man, I'm actually

preaching on that on Sunday.

472

:

And it was so cool because he was,

he had understood this isn't theory.

473

:

This isn't speculation.

474

:

This isn't philosophy we're talking about.

475

:

This is an opportunity for

reality to live in this truth.

476

:

But what we have to do is we

have to trust God by following

477

:

his lead and following his ways.

478

:

What, what gets us off track is

we go, I want to believe you,

479

:

you're going this way, but I'm

going to take a step this way.

480

:

Or you keep going and I'm

just going to stay still.

481

:

And so therefore that shelter and that

protection is no longer covering us.

482

:

So what do we do?

483

:

Then we think, well, God

must not be a refuge.

484

:

And we doubt his word.

485

:

And then we think, you know what?

486

:

I don't know if I could trust

the God of the scriptures.

487

:

So this is why it's so important

that we remember, but that

488

:

we make choices every day.

489

:

I'm going to follow, even

though it might be hard.

490

:

I'm going to obey, even though I

can't see the fruit of it right now.

491

:

Because I'm going to hold

on until victory comes.

492

:

Brothers and sisters.

493

:

God is calling you and he's calling

me to hold on until victory comes.

494

:

Not a day before, not a week,

not an hour, not a minute.

495

:

You hold on until victory comes.

496

:

Because God Almighty is a refuge.

497

:

He's our strength, He's our

fortress, and He's our deliverer.

498

:

And His word is never failed.

499

:

And he will deliver.

500

:

And so what we need to do is

remember, we need to walk in this.

501

:

And we need to make sure we just give

our fears and leave our fears up to God.

502

:

Now I don't know about you, but my problem

is, I can go ahead and give my fears

503

:

to God and then take them right back.

504

:

You ever did that?

505

:

You know what?

506

:

I got a minute.

507

:

Here we go.

508

:

Alright.

509

:

Here's what we can do.

510

:

I wasn't sure if I was going to do it.

511

:

This is what I can do with God.

512

:

I take all my stuff to God.

513

:

I go, God, I'm struggling.

514

:

Man, help me with my wife.

515

:

Help me with my kids.

516

:

Not to say my wife and kids are bad.

517

:

You guys get what I'm saying.

518

:

These are just prayers, right?

519

:

I can come in and I start laying

forth all these different things.

520

:

God, help finances.

521

:

Can you help the world?

522

:

You know what?

523

:

I'm stressed out about the ministry.

524

:

There's people that are struggling.

525

:

There's things going on.

526

:

You know what?

527

:

I just got a call from the doctor.

528

:

Uh, there's things that are

challenging with my family members.

529

:

And I start to bring

all those things to God.

530

:

And I'll pray.

531

:

And after 20, 30 minutes or however

long, I'll go and I'll go, Amen.

532

:

And you know what I go and do?

533

:

I go this.

534

:

And I go, all right,

535

:

can you relate?

536

:

I gave it all to God.

537

:

And then what did I do?

538

:

I took it right back.

539

:

And what happens right

after that time of prayer?

540

:

I'm stressed out.

541

:

I'm despaired.

542

:

I'm discouraged.

543

:

And there's no hope.

544

:

But I went to the Lord in prayer.

545

:

What do we need to do?

546

:

We need to leave it at the altar.

547

:

We gotta leave it at the altar.

548

:

But it's so tempting to take it back.

549

:

But we just have to leave it there.

550

:

God, I'm just going to trust you

and I'm going to go on in faith.

551

:

So this is how we can trust

in God alone practically.

552

:

And so however, God is ministering to

heed what he's saying this hour and keep

553

:

doing what's right until victory comes.

554

:

Imagine facing this week with the divine

peace, with the divine confidence,

555

:

a divine security and a divine joy.

556

:

You know, we can when we remember we live

in the truth and we give it all to God and

557

:

leave it to God because he's our refuge

and our strength and God is with us.

558

:

Trust in God alone and we

can trust God because what?

559

:

Because he's our refuge and

our strength and he is with us.

560

:

And so we'll close out in Psalm 46 verses

one and 11 again, capturing the essence.

561

:

And the whole message of this song, this

song, it says, God is our refuge and

562

:

strength and ever present help in trouble.

563

:

The Lord Almighty is with us.

564

:

The God of Jacob is our fortress in

God alone, our refuge and strength.

565

:

Amen.

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