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RETURN TO THE LIST OF LESSONS

PSALMS 46 AND PSALMS 47
LESSON #05/P2
THE NEARNESS OF CHRIST’S PRESENCE

• MEMORY VERSE: PSALMS 46:1

• THERE ARE THREE PSALMS THAT GO TOGETHER…PSA 46, PSA 47, AND PSA 48. THESE THREE PSALMS ARE LIKE THREE PEAS IN A POD ALONG WITH A FOURTH. THE FOURTH WAS THE PSALM IN OUR LAST LESSON, PSA 45.
  • REMEMBER THAT PSA 45 WAS ABOUT THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST. IT SPOKE ABOUT HIS CORONATION AS A KING AND HIS UNION WITH HIS BRIDE, THE CHURCH.
    • PSA 46, PSA 47, AND PSA 48 CHRONOLOGICALLY FOLLOW IN TIME PSA 45. THEREFORE, THE FUTURE TIME PERIOD TO WHICH THESE PSALMS REFER IS THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM OF CHRIST WHEN GOD’S PEOPLE HAVE DELIVERANCE AND VICTORY, JUST AS GOD’S PEOPLE HAD DELIVERANCE AND VICTORY WHEN THEY CAME OUT EGYPT TO START A NEW LIFE.
      • AFTER CHRIST COMES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON, HE WILL ESTABLISH HIS KINGDOM AND REIGN ON EARTH FOR 1000 YEARS.
        • THERE ARE SEVERAL REFERENCES IN PSA 46 AND PSA 47 THAT TELL US THAT THIS IS THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM:
          • HE MAKES WARS TO CEASE (46:9)
          • CHRIST WILL BE EXALTED IN ALL THE EARTH. (46:10)
          • CHRIST IS THE KING OVER ALL THE EARTH (47:2, 7)

• READ PSA 46:1-11
  • THE SUB-TITLE:
    • “…A SONG UPON ALAMOTH”
      • THE WORD, “ALAMOTH”, MEANS = VIRGINS.
        • THIS IS A MUSICAL NOTATION THAT MEANS YOUNG WOMEN SHOULD SING THIS SONG.
  • THE PRIMARY AND PROPHETIC INTERPRETATION:
    • THIS PSALM BEGINS WITH A TIME OF GREAT UPHEAVAL AND CHANGE. IT IS A TIME OF CRISIS. IT IS A TIME WHEN MAN NEEDS GOD IN A BIG WAY.
      • IN THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON, MAN WILL NEED GOD IN A BIG WAY. THE BIBLE SAYS THAT CHRIST WILL COME LEST MAN DESTROY HIMSELF OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH. (MAT 24:22)
        • READ REV 16:16-21
          • THE CONDITIONS ON EARTH AT THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST INCLUDE, THUNDER, LIGHTNING, HAIL, A GREAT EARTHQUAKE. THE FALL OF CITIES AND MOUNTAINS. ISLANDS WILL DISAPPEAR.
            • THESE ARE CATACLYSMIC EVENTS SPOKEN ABOUT IN PSA 46:2-3:
              • CATACLYSMIC CHANGES IN THE EARTH OR CATACLYSMIC PROBLEMS IN YOUR LIFE:
                • WHAT DOES THE WORD, “CATACLYSM” MEAN? “CATACLYSM” MEANS = ANY VIOLENT UPHEAVAL, ESPECIALLY ONE OF A SOCIAL OR POLITICAL NATURE; OR A SUDDEN AND VIOLENT PHYSICAL ACTION PRODUCING CHANGES IN THE EARTH’S SURFACE.
                • YOU CAN IMAGINE THE FEAR IN MEN’S HEARTS WHEN ALL THESE CATACLYSMIC EVENTS OCCUR AT THE SAME TIME. THERE WILL BE A TOTAL UPHEAVAL IN THE WORLD BOTH PHYSICALLY AND SOCIALLY.
    • WHAT IS IT ABOUT PSA 46:1 THAT IS ESPECIALLY COMFORTING?
      • THE COMFORTING THING ABOUT VERSE 1 IS THAT GOD’S PRESENCE IS VERY NEAR TO HELP.
        • HE IS A REFUGE TO RUN TO.
        • HE IS A STRENGTH TO SEE YOU THROUGH THE CRISIS.
        • HE IS VERY CLOSE BY.
          • GOD IS NOT LIKE CALLING 911 WHERE YOU HAVE TO WAIT AT LEAST 5 MINUTES BEFORE EMERGENCY VEHICLES GET TO YOU.
          • IN OTHER WORDS, GOD’S HELP IS IMMEDIATE. HE IS BUT A PRAYER AWAY.
      • WHETHER YOU SUFFER GREAT CATACLYSMIC EVENTS IN YOUR LIFE LIKE THOSE THAT WILL OCCUR IN THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON, OR WHETHER YOUR PROBLEMS ARE MILD IN COMPARISON, GOD’S HELP IS VERY NEAR.
        • IN FACT AT THE TIME OF ARMAGEDDON, CHRIST’S PRESENCE IS SO NEAR THAT HE APPEARS IN THE CLOUDS AND HE ACTUALLY COMES TO EARTH.
  • “SELAH”: (46:3)
    • REMEMBER THAT “SELAH” IS A MUSICAL REST WHICH MEANS = STOP AND THINK ABOUT WHAT WAS JUST SAID.
      • IT’S WORTH THINKING ABOUT THE FACT THAT WE WILL NOT FEAR WHEN HUGE CATASTROPHES COME INTO OUR LIVES BECAUSE CHRIST’S PRESENCE IS VERY NEAR.
  • THE HOLY CITY OF GOD IN THE MILLENNIUM: (46:4-5)
    • IN THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM THERE WILL BE A NEW CITY OF JERUSALEM WITH A NEW TEMPLE AND CHRIST RULING IN THE MIDST OF HIS PEOPLE.
      • READ EZE 37:26-28
      • READ EZE 47:1-12
        • FROM UNDER THE TEMPLE COMES A RIVER OF SWEET WATER THAT FLOWS TO ALL NATIONS IN THE MILLENNIUM. (46:4)
  • NOTICE THAT THE PSALM IS GIVING US A CONTRAST BETWEEN LIFE UNDER MAN’S CHOSEN LEADER, THE ANTI-CHRIST, AND LIFE UNDER GOD’S CHOSEN LEADER, JESUS CHRIST IN PSA 46:6-7.
    • VERSE 6 REFERS TO THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON LED BY THE ANTI-CHRIST. THEN CHRIST COMES AND STOPS THE WAR.
    • VERSE 7 REFERS TO CHRIST’S PRESENCE IN THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM. CHRIST IS MAN’S REFUGE EVEN THOUGH MAN IS A SINFUL CREATURE, THROUGH CHRIST THERE IS AN ETERNAL REFUGE.
      • REMEMBER THAT THE NAME, JACOB, REFERS TO GOD’S PEOPLE IN THE REALITY OF THEIR SIN (THIS IS THE BELIEVER FROM MAN’S VIEWPOINT.), WHILE THE NAME, ISRAEL, REFERS TO GOD’S PEOPLE WHO ARE SAVED AND FORGIVEN OF THEIR SINS (THIS IS THE BELIEVER FROM GOD’S VIEWPOINT.).
  • “SELAH” (46:7)
    • STOP AND THINK ABOUT WHAT WAS JUST SAID:
      • BECAUSE MAN IS A SINNER (JACOB) HE DOES NOT DESERVE ANY REFUGE! EVERY BELIEVER KNOWS THAT IN HIS HEART. BUT CHRIST COMES TO BE A REFUGE TO THOSE WHO HAVE PUT THEIR TRUST IN HIM, EVEN THOUGH WE ARE NOT WORTHY. HOW MARVELOUS!
  • THE MILLENNIAL BELIEVER IS CALLED TO OBSERVE HOW GOD HAS CHANGED THE EARTH: (46:8-9) THIS IS A GLANCE BACK AT PSA 46:2-3.
    • CITIES ARE DECIMATED. LANDMASSES ARE MOVED. ISLANDS HAVE SUBMERGED.
    • HOWEVER, THE PURPOSES FOR GOD’S DESTRUCTION HAVE BEEN TO STOP THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON AND PUT AN END TO WAR FOR 1000 YEARS DURING THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM.
      • READ ISA 2:4-5 IS REMINISCENT OF PSA 46:9.
  • “BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD…” (46:10)
    • MAN WILL BE AMAZED AT WHAT GOD CAN DO. CHRIST’S MILLENNIAL KINGDOM WILL SO VASTLY DIFFERENT FROM ANY GOVERNMENT THAT HAS EVER RULED.
    • CHRIST WILL BE EXALTED IN ALL THE EARTH BECAUSE EVERYONE WILL WORSHIP HIM.
      • THERE WILL BE NO OTHER LEADERS.
      • THERE WILL BE NO OTHER RELIGIONS.
  • “THE LORD OF HOSTS IS WITH US…” (46:11)
    • THE REASON FOR A TOTALLY DIFFERENT WORLD IN THE MILLENNIUM IS BECAUSE OF CHRIST’S PHYSICAL PRESENCE ON EARTH FOR 1000 YEARS.
  • “…THE GOD OF JACOB IS OUR REFUGE. SELAH” (46:11)
    • THERE ARE 3 “SELAH’S” IN THIS PSALM.
      • IF WE PUT TOGETHER THE FIRST TWO, WE HAVE THE THIRD ONE.
        • =1= WE NEED NOT FEAR BECAUSE CHRIST’S PRESENCE IS VERY NEAR.
        • =2= SINFUL MAN DOES NOT DESERVE A REFUGE, BUT GOD WILL PROVIDE IT ANYWAY.
        • =3= CHRIST’S PRESENCE IS WITH US AS A REFUGE EVEN THOUGH WE ARE SINNERS AND DO NOT DESERVE HIM.
  • APPLICATION:
    • WHILE WE HAVE LOOKED AT THIS PSALM FROM A PROPHETIC VIEWPOINT, THE TRUTHS REMAIN AVAILABLE FOR THE BELIEVER IN GREAT DISTRESS.
      • WHAT ONE MAJOR THING MUST THE CHRISTIAN REMEMBER IN A TIME OF GREAT TURMOIL AND DISTRESS?
        • REMEMBER THE THIRD “SELAH”. CHRIST IS WITH YOU AS A REFUGE. THAT TRUTH CAN TAKE YOU THROUGH ANYTHING!

• READ PSA 47:1-9
  • THIS PSALM CONTINUES IN THE MILLENNIAL REIGN OF CHRIST. IT IS A JOYFUL SONG OF WORSHIP.
    • MILLENNIAL BELIEVERS ARE TOLD TO REJOICE BECAUSE OF CHRIST’S TRIUMPH OVER THE HEATHEN NATIONS OF THE WORLD DURING THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON.
      • THE EMPHASIS IN PSA 46 WAS THAT CHRIST IS A REFUGE. HOWEVER, THE EMPHASIS IN PSA 47 IS THAT CHRIST IS “TERRIBLE”. (47:2)
        • THESE TWO CONCEPTS SEEM INCONGRUOUS. HOW CAN CHRIST JESUS BE BOTH A REFUGE AND TERRIBLE. WHY WOULD ANYONE RUN TO A REFUGE THAT IS TERRIBLE?
          • THE TWO WORDS DESCRIBE MAN’S PERCEPTION:
            • TO THE BELIEVER WHO LOVES CHRIST, HE IS A REFUGE.
            • TO THE NON-BELIEVER WHO FEARS CHRIST, HE IS TERRIBLE.
              • THE WORD, TERRIBLE, MEANS = AWE INSPIRING TO THE POINT OF TREMBLING.
        • IN THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM, IT IS BELIEVERS WHO INHERIT THE KINGDOM. THEREFORE, WHEN THE 1000 YEARS BEGIN, ONLY BELIEVERS ARE PRESENT ON EARTH.
        • HOWEVER, AS TIME PASSES IN THE MILLENNIUM, HUMAN BEINGS IN THEIR MORTAL BODY (THOSE BELIEVERS, JEW AND GENTILE, WHO SURVIVED THE TRIBULATION PERIOD) WILL GIVE BIRTH TO CHILDREN. IN FACT, THERE WILL BE A GREAT BABY BOOM IN THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM.
          • SOME OF THESE BABIES WILL GROW UP TO BE NON-BELIEVERS LIVING IN THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM UNDER THE GOVERNMENT OF JESUS CHRIST.
      • HE SHALL SUBDUE PEOPLE AND NATIONS UNDER US. (PSA 47:3)
        • READ REV 2:27
        • READ REV 19:15
        • THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM WILL BE A GOVERNMENT OF STRICT LAW BASED ON ABSOLUTE TRUTH AND JUSTICE WITH NO EXCEPTIONS.
          • BECAUSE BELIEVERS RULE AND REIGN WITH CHRIST, PEOPLE AND NATIONS ARE UNDER OUR FEET AS WELL AS CHRIST’S FEET.
    • “HE SHALL CHOOSE OUR INHERITANCE…” (47:4)
      • THE BELIEVERS WHO LOVE CHRIST WILL BE GREATLY BLESSED WITH GREAT ABUNDANCE OF PROVISION AND BLESSINGS IN THE MILLENNIUM.
      • “…THE EXCELLENCY OF JACOB, WHOM HE LOVED. SELAH” (47:4)
        • SELAH = STOP AND THINK ABOUT THIS!
          • JACOB SPENT YEARS RUNNING AWAY FROM GOD. HE WAS A DECEIVING SINNER WHO TOOK ADVANTAGE OF EVERYONE IN HIS LIFE.
            • IN THIS PSALM, GOD CALLS JACOB “EXCELLENT”! WOW!
              • BECAUSE GOD LOVED JACOB, GOD PURSUED A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM UNTIL FINALLY JACOB CAME TO KNOW GOD. THAT WAS WHEN GOD CHANGED HIS NAME TO ISRAEL.
                • YOU SEE, GOD KNOWS THE END FROM THE BEGINNING. GOD SAW THE EXCELLENT CHANGE IN JACOB’S LIFE AND HEART, AND GOD WILL REWARD JACOB WITH A GREAT INHERITANCE IN THE MILLENNIUM.
          • IF GOD SEES JACOB IN THIS WAY AND WILL REWARD HIM GREATLY IN THE MILLENNIUM, GOD ALSO SEES ALL BELIEVERS IN THIS WAY AND WILL ALSO REWARD US IN THE MILLENNIUM.
  • THE WORSHIP OF GOD, THE FATHER, AND CHRIST, THE KING (47:5-7)
  • THE RULE OF CHRIST OVER BELIEVERS AND NON-BELIEVERS (47:8-9)
    • “…THE PEOPLE OF THE GOD OF ABRAHAM…” (9)
      • THIS IS A REFERENCE TO THE PEOPLE OF FAITH. IT IS FAITH IN CHRIST THAT MAKES A BELIEVER WHETHER THAT PERSON IS A JEW OR A GENTILE.
        • READ GAL 3:6-7
  • “…THE SHIELDS OF THE EARTH BELONG UNTO GOD…” (9)
    • THE WORD, SHIELDS, REFERS TO PROTECTION. IN THE MILLENNIUM, THE PROTECTION OF THE EARTH BELONGS TO GOD. IT IS CHRIST’S RULE ON EARTH THAT WILL BRING PEACE AND PRESERVE PEACE FOR 1000 YEARS.
      • THE HALLMARK CHARACTERISTIC OF THE MILLENNIUM IS PEACE.
• APPLICATION:
  • IF WE PUT PSA 46 AND 47 TOGETHER:
    • WE FIND THAT THE BELIEVER HAS A MARVELOUS REFUGE IN CHRIST’S PRESENCE.
      • WHILE CHRIST IS NOT PHYSICALLY PRESENT ON EARTH LIKE HE WILL BE IN THE MILLENNIUM, WE HAVE HIS PRESENCE IN US.
    • CHRIST PROMISES VICTORY TO THOSE WHO LOVE HIM AND HE BRINGS PEACE TO THE HEART THAT TRUSTS HIM.

HOMEWORK
PSALMS 48
THIS IS A SELF-STUDY. PLEASE DO NOT SEND HOMEWORK ANSWERS TO THE TEACHER FORCORRECTION.

• APPLICATION OF PSA 46 AND PSA 47:
  • IS THERE ANY PERSONAL PROBLEM IN YOUR LIFE THAT YOU FEEL IS TOO BIG FOR GOD TO HANDLE? WHAT IS IT?

• IF SO, CONSIDER YOUR PROBLEM IN COMPARISON TO A WORLD IN THE GRIPS OF A WAR AND MULTIPLE NATURAL DISASTERS ALL AT THE SAME TIME. NOW, HOW DOES YOUR PROBLEM STACK UP AGAINST THAT?

• PRAY AND TELL GOD HOW GREAT HE IS THAT HE CAN HANDLE A WORLD ON THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION. NOW, TELL HIM YOU WILL TRUST HIM WITH YOUR VERY SMALL PROBLEM.

• PREPARATION FOR PSA 48:
  • READ PSA 48:1-14
  • READ 2CHR 20:1-13 FOR BACKGROUND
    • WHAT IMPORTANT CONCEPTS ABOUT PRAYER DO YOU NOTICE IN JEHOSHAPHAT’S PRAYER?
  • READ REV 21:1-4
    • WHAT DO YOU LEARN ABOUT THE NEW JERUSALEM?

• WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE THAT WE SHOULD STOP AND THINK ABOUT IN PSA 48:8, THAT ENDS WITH “SELAH”?

• MEMORY VERSE: PSA 48:14