A Psalm We Need

by Dave Wilkinson

Psalm 46, Romans 12:1-2, 17-13:4

September 16, 2001

"If the sky that we look up on should tumble and fall or the mountain should crumble to the sea. I won't cry, I won't cry, no I won't shed a tear, just as long as you stand by me."

If you recognize those words as the beginning of the second verse of Ben E. King's "Stand by Me" you get one point for cultural literacy. But if you also recognize those words as coming from the Bibles specifically from the 46^th Psalm you get more than points. You get God’s blessing.

Listen to God's word as it comes to us from Psalm 46.

Read Psalm 46

As you can see, the Bible's version is much more than just another love song. It is a song of praise and trust in God during times of threat, disaster and cataclysmic change. This is a psalm we need because of the events of last Tuesday morning. We badly need to see how we are to respond as the people of God in a time of crisis, fear, mounting anger and a natural desire for revenge.

I don't normally turn on the television in the morning before coming to the office. I read the Star and the Times and assume that I know what's going on in the world. But then the phone rang. It was Carol telling me to turn on the t.v. The first thing I saw was an unforgettable image of an airliner exploding against the side of an already burning World Trade Center. I heard words about attacks on the Pentagon, Camp David, and the State Department. Like you I watched in horror as each tower of the Trade Center collapsed and fell.

I've been up in the World Trade Center. My brother in law Jim worked there until about four years ago. He was there when it was bombed. His office was on the 50th floor of the south tower. He still has many friends who work there as do many of you. Those buildings held almost twice the population of Moorpark. Now they are gone. And with them went the lives of untold thousands of innocent people.

I didn't wonder, "who could do this kind of thing." I knew. I know that we live in a dangerous world and that there are people out there who hate us.

I read recently that the tiny independent state of Monaco in the south of France has seventy men in the armed forces and seventy eight in the national orchestra. That would be nice wouldn't it. Perhaps if we were protected on all sides by a more powerful and totally friendly country and if no other peoples looked to the United States as a beacon of hope for liberation that we could also live without weapons or fear. But that's a choice we don't have. We live in a big dangerous world.

I love peace but I am not a pacifist. I don't think that popular poster from when I was in college makes much sense the one that reads "What if they gave a war and nobody came?" Because somebody always shows up. That is why Paul writes, "As far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all." It doesn't always depend on us. And, to be honest, my immediate instinct was for revenge. Three thousand were killed at Peal Harbor and the revenge was complete. How much more complete should this revenge be. If no state claimed responsibility if it was an Osama Ben Laden then declare war on the states that aided him and sheltered him. Take over Afghanistan and crush that evil called the Taliban while were at it. Those were my instincts. I still think that something major and sustained needs to be done. Our government needs to Act as it will.

So with all of this going on and with all of these feelings churning it is good to experience once again the words of the psalmist. "God is our refuge and our strength a very present help in time of trouble." The Psalmist says that this is a promise that holds in the face of natural disaster. "Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, and though the mountain slip into the heart of the sea. Though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride."

There is an old Chinese curse which says"may you live in interesting times." Well these are interesting times. But even in such times we can walk with a measure of confidence. We don't know what the future holds. But we do know the one who holds our future. The reason we can have confidence despite the upheaval is that God is at work. Our center is still stable -- rock solid. "There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy dwelling of the most high. God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved."

The Psalm says we can also have confidence in the face of war and political upheaval around the world. "The nations made and uproar, the kingdoms tottered" the psalmist writes. But God is still at work to make peace and to enforce it. "Come, behold the works of the Lord, who has wrought desolations in the earth. He makes wars to cease to the ends of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; he burns the chariots with fire."

The Psalm closes with a great principle of the life of faith."Cease striving and know that I am God; 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 stronghold."

This psalm communicates a tremendous truth. We are not to be afraid of the big collapse. Because God is in charge.

Jesus gives us the same command in His teaching about the end times as recorded in Matthew 24:6-8. Jesus said"and you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars; see to it that you are not frightened. For those things must take place, but that is not the end. For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes, but all these things are merely the beginning of the birth pangs."

Did you see what Jesus commands? He commands us not to be frightened. "See to it that you are not frightened." As the people of God we are not to become the victims of those who would trade in fear whether they are terrorists from outside our country or demagogues inside our country who would use this as an excuse to stir up hatred against the Arab community in this nation. We need to help shield, defend and protect our innocent neighbors who are as outraged as we are. As the Methodist Pastor Rick Uhls phrased it so well at our service on Wednesday night, "The fact that we have experienced evil from the outside is no excuse for us to create evil on the inside. "And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars; see to it that you are not frightened." For God is working his purpose out in history and we belong to him. We are still in his hands.

And with this confidence, we also have the freedom to love even to love our enemies. I don't much like that this week but that's what Jesus tells us to do. It is much easier to love an enemy who has not really hurt us than the one we now have. But we don't get to choose which enemies we are to love. We need to pray for the innocents of all nations and even for the guilty those who are suffering and will suffer. But I ache for the injured and the families that will suffer loss and grief. I ache for the Palestinian children shown Tuesday on television children who were given candy by their parents and told to dance in the streets in celebration of the attack. What will become of them? I ache for the innocents of all parts of the world including the Middle East who had nothing to do with last Tuesday but who will suffer the consequences. Even the smartest bombs cannot distinguish between the innocent and the guilty.

A decisive armed response may be necessary. I've read enough history to personally believe that it is. In the passage from Romans, Paul writes"Do not take you own vengeance but leave room for the wrath of God for it is written, "vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord." But just a few verses later, Romans 13:4, Paul writes that human government can serve as God's avenger. It does not bear the sword for nothing reason. It is given it to be used and that is in keeping with God's will. Our government and the armed forces of our government have a valid role to perform. But, brothers and sister, let us guard our hearts and minds against hatred. And let us also guard our hearts and minds against the certainty that we fully know God's will and are performing it.

We've been through hard times as a people before times that could engender hatreds that could have endured for generations to come. The Civil War was such a time. And we were so blessed as a nation to have a President who was not only a man of war but a man of peace not only a politician but a theologian. Ponder these words from Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address that I believe, do much to speak to what this Psalm is saying to us today and to the overwhelming national pride that can come from national might and the resolve to use it.

"Both parties deprecated war," Lincoln said, "but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came. Neither party expected for the war, the magnitude, or the duration, which it has already attained ... Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of the other men's faces; but let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes.

"Fondly do we hope," Lincoln spoke, "fervently do we pray that this mighty scourge of war speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bondman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid with another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, 'the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.' With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphans to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations."

Psalm 122 says that we are to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Let us pray for the peace of Jerusalem and the peace of Baghdad, New York, Kabul, and Washington. Above all, let us pray for ourselves that despite the heightened excitement of living in these interesting times that Jesus Christ the Prince of the world's peace and the Prince of our peace may reign in our hearts.

God of compassion, you watch our ways, and weave out of terrible happenings wonders of goodness and grace. Surround those who have been shaken by this tragedy with a sense of your present love, and hold them in faith. Though they are lost in grief, may they find you and be comforted. .Show mercy on those who are injured, on those who may be trapped yet are still alive, that their lives may even now be spared. Protect and strengthen the emergency workers who risk their lives to help those in trouble firefighters, police, medical personnel, Red Cross, and all others in the helping professions. Give divine wisdom to the world's leaders, especially President Bush and his advisors, to respond in righteousness to follow your will and your way alone through this terrible crisis. May those responsible for these atrocities be brought to justice and made to account for their actions before the righteous and almighty God. Let all people around the world be protected from additional attacks and let the world cry out its objection. Turn the hearts of those who, unbelievably, are celebrating America's tragedy today. Teach us all to work out our differences and affirm our common bonds of humanity. Hear the prayers of my own heart, Lord, as I tell you my own concerns and fears...Amid the chaos and sadness of the next few weeks, let your Holy Spirit guide and comfort us. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, trusting in the love of God and in the nearness of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.