00:00:01 Well, earthquakes have been in the news quite a bit recently.
00:00:06 But we’re going to read about an earthquake in Psalm 46,
00:00:10 which describes one that has never happened in recorded history
00:00:16 —Psalm 46, starting with verse 1.
00:00:23 It says there: “God is our refuge and strength,
00:00:27 “a help that is readily found in times of distress.
00:00:32 “That is why we will not fear, though the earth undergoes change
00:00:36 “[or, some translations say, “though the earth quakes”],
00:00:40 “though the mountains topple into the depths of the sea,
00:00:44 “though its waters roar and foam over,
00:00:47 though the mountains rock on account of its turbulence.”
00:00:52 Now, there’s no evidence that this poetic description
00:00:55 of mountains toppling into the sea
00:00:57 literally happened in ancient Israel.
00:01:01 But clearly the world around the psalmist
00:01:03 seemed to be collapsing somehow.
00:01:06 What catastrophic situation is being referred to?
00:01:10 Well, The Watchtower has explained that this psalm
00:01:13 seems to fit the time of King Hezekiah
00:01:16 when Jerusalem was being threatened by Sennacherib,
00:01:20 the king of Assyria.
00:01:22 Now, we know those threats were not empty.
00:01:25 Sennacherib had conquered surrounding nations.
00:01:29 He had also conquered the fortified cities around Jerusalem
00:01:33 that were protecting the city.
00:01:35 He’d actually overrun the villages right up to Nob,
00:01:39 and Nob was within sight of Jerusalem —one mile (1.5 km) away.
00:01:44 And, as you know, Assyria was famous for its cruelty.
00:01:49 They’ve found palace walls from Sennacherib’s time
00:01:54 that show shocking scenes of brutality
00:01:57 toward conquered peoples.
00:01:59 So we can understand why
00:02:01 the psalmist felt the world was collapsing.
00:02:04 The description is so ominous and bleak.
00:02:08 But suddenly, in verse 4,
00:02:11 the tone of the psalm changes completely.
00:02:15 “There is a river the streams of which
00:02:17 “make the city of God rejoice,
00:02:21 “the holy grand tabernacle of the Most High.
00:02:24 “God is in the city; it cannot be overthrown.
00:02:28 God will come to its aid at the break of dawn.”
00:02:32 So the psalmist’s thoughts go from catastrophe and chaos
00:02:36 to peace and confidence.
00:02:39 And verse 4 speaks about “a river” in “the city of God.”
00:02:43 There’s no river flowing in Jerusalem.
00:02:46 So, what is this referring to?
00:02:48 Well, some suggest that it refers to Hezekiah’s Tunnel,
00:02:52 which was built in order to bring water into the city.
00:02:56 But the poetic structure of the psalm
00:02:59 actually parallels the river
00:03:01 to the holy tabernacle of Jehovah
00:03:04 —the holy tabernacle of the Most High— and the pure worship carried on there.
00:03:10 And it’s interesting that when Hezekiah
00:03:12 received the threats from Sennacherib,
00:03:15 the Scriptures say in 2 Kings 19
00:03:18 that Hezekiah took the letters from the Assyrians,
00:03:22 he went into the temple, he spread them out before Jehovah,
00:03:26 and he prayed fervently.
00:03:28 And then Jehovah sent a reassuring message through Isaiah:
00:03:33 “I have heard your prayer to me concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria. . . .
00:03:38 “He will not come into [the] city
00:03:40 “or shoot an arrow there or [bring] a shield
00:03:42 or . . . siege rampart against it.”
00:03:46 Now, the sons of Korah, who recorded this psalm,
00:03:49 may have seen Hezekiah going into the temple
00:03:53 and then heard Jehovah’s response through Isaiah.
00:03:56 And this would give them complete confidence in the outcome.
00:04:01 And we all know what happened next.
00:04:03 The huge Assyrian army
00:04:05 was vanquished overnight by an angel.
00:04:09 And it could be that verse 5 alludes to this,
00:04:11 where it says: “God will come to its aid at the break of dawn.”
00:04:17 But what does this psalm teach us?
00:04:20 Well, the psalmist’s example
00:04:22 of focusing on pure worship and His Word,
00:04:25 which is likened to a river in this psalm,
00:04:28 shows that we can experience peace
00:04:31 even when the world around us seems to be collapsing.
00:04:35 The psalmist declared: “God is in the city.”
00:04:39 He was its Ruler—not Sennacherib!
00:04:42 For decades, Judah had been wayward
00:04:44 and God was not in Jerusalem.
00:04:47 But Hezekiah renovated the temple
00:04:49 and restored pure worship there.
00:04:53 That pure worship was like a river of blessing
00:04:56 that connected the people to Jehovah
00:04:58 and gave powerful evidence that God was in the city.
00:05:03 Our Pure Worship book associates the river of Psalm 46
00:05:07 with the river that flowed
00:05:09 from Jehovah’s sanctuary in Ezekiel’s vision.
00:05:13 And you might recall that that river
00:05:15 became wider and deeper the further it flowed.
00:05:20 And the Pure Worship book says about it:
00:05:22 “Like the visionary river that Ezekiel saw,
00:05:26 the flow of pure truths has expanded rapidly.”
00:05:30 And today the flow of that river includes Bibles,
00:05:33 Bible-based publications, and videos
00:05:36 in over a thousand languages.
00:05:39 Ezekiel said that the river got so deep
00:05:42 that a person had to swim.
00:05:44 And for the last five months,
00:05:47 you students have felt like Ezekiel.
00:05:50 Your course has immersed you and sometimes taken you underwater.
00:05:57 And that was from the flood of Bible knowledge
00:06:00 you received through your study, your lectures,
00:06:03 and also the interaction
00:06:05 with the students and your instructors.
00:06:09 And you may have felt like you were even drowning sometimes.
00:06:13 But like Hezekiah and those with him,
00:06:15 you’ve also been in the confines of a secure city
00:06:20 where Jehovah’s worship prevails.
00:06:23 During these months, the world has been dealing
00:06:26 with the aftermath of the pandemic and wars and other disasters.
00:06:30 But you were like the psalmist:
00:06:32 The earth could quake, the mountains could topple;
00:06:36 but you enjoyed a special period of peace
00:06:39 because you were focused on that river.
00:06:43 Now you’re going back out into the trenches
00:06:46 with the rest of us, so to speak.
00:06:48 Some of you will serve where there’s economic turmoil
00:06:53 or violence or other disasters,
00:06:56 or you may personally face health trials, even persecution.
00:07:00 But the lesson of Gilead and the lesson of Psalm 46
00:07:04 can serve you well.
00:07:06 When you stay focused on “the river,” Jehovah’s pure worship,
00:07:11 you can remain confident and joyful
00:07:14 regardless of what challenges life brings.
00:07:18 An ancient Greek writer said:
00:07:20 “No man ever steps in the same river twice.
00:07:24 For it’s not the same river, and he’s not the same man.”
00:07:29 And isn’t it true that our lives are constantly changing
00:07:32 and new challenges suddenly crop up?
00:07:36 But Jehovah’s river of blessings
00:07:38 just keeps flowing and is constantly renewed.
00:07:41 It supplies life-giving water
00:07:43 in all circumstances.
00:07:46 And this is so even when the figurative mountains of this world
00:07:50 are toppling and the world is in chaos.
00:07:54 A sister in the war zone in eastern Ukraine wrote:
00:07:59 “What we needed most was spiritual food.
00:08:02 “We were overwhelmed with joy when we received the JW Boxes
00:08:07 “(after the Internet failed) and spiritual food
00:08:09 “became available again.
00:08:12 “Despite many challenges and difficulties,
00:08:15 “when we meet with fellow believers,
00:08:17 “our problems are not the main subject of discussion.
00:08:21 “More often, we share how Jehovah supports us,
00:08:25 what has strengthened us, and what we’re thankful for.”
00:08:29 We can sense her calmness.
00:08:31 These friends are living examples
00:08:34 of how focusing on “the river”
00:08:36 can preserve our peace even in times of disaster.
00:08:42 Now, returning to Psalm 46,
00:08:45 we can paraphrase verses 8 and 9,
00:08:48 which may have occurred when the angel
00:08:51 destroyed the Assyrian army.
00:08:54 It says: ‘Jehovah has done astonishing things on the earth
00:08:58 ‘—bringing an end to wars,
00:09:00 breaking the bow and the spear, and burning the military wagons.’
00:09:05 We can just imagine the astonishing scene:
00:09:08 going out into the Assyrian camp
00:09:11 and seeing the entire army devastated.
00:09:14 Now, what does that mean for us?
00:09:17 Well, we hate the war and violence that plagues this world
00:09:20 and affects our dear brothers, and we long for it to end.
00:09:24 But until then, understanding that Jehovah is still in the city
00:09:29 —still in control of his people— gives us complete confidence.
00:09:34 No humans, no attack of an Assyrianlike government,
00:09:38 can stop the flow of that river or shake the city.
00:09:43 And the psalmist concludes in verse 11
00:09:48 with the reassuring echo of verse 1:
00:09:52 “Jehovah of armies is with us;
00:09:54 the God of Jacob is a secure refuge for us.”
00:09:59 Well, we don’t know what your individual future holds after Gilead
00:10:04 or what assignments you’ll receive,
00:10:06 but you can be confident that Jehovah “is in the city.”
00:10:10 He’s in control.
00:10:12 And remember the lesson of Gilead:
00:10:15 Stay focused on “the river”
00:10:17 —the river that “make[s] the city of God rejoice,”
00:10:21 the river that will flow throughout eternity.
