Pastor's Ponderings: Old Testament bible study of Psalm 46 (February 5, 2026)

February 5, 2026:  Thursday Bible Study on Psalm 46

Dear friends in Christ.

Your study is a little late coming today. Please keep Sharyn and her family in your prayers for the death of her sister Sonya early this morning in Phoenix. Sonya has been in hospice care now for a number of months. Pray for the LORD'S comfort and Peace to be with Sonya's family as the sure and certain hope of the Resurrection surrounds them in their grief and loss. Pray too please for Lisa as she recovers from her surgery for cancer and discovers what her future treatment will be. Please also pray for Debbie - not our office person Debbie, but for the family member of a prayer chain member with thanksgiving for the success of Debbie's surgery. Prayer please for the unemployed who are searching for work, and for the unsheltered in our community. Pray for the immigrants in our midst who are feeling a great deal of insecurity in their lives regardless of their immigration status. And please always pray for our congregation and its ministry for the Gospel. God blesses our prayers with His Love for His children, amazing answers.

Today we are studying the 46 Psalm. Its subtitle could be "Be still and know that I Am God."  We have just been through several Psalms which carried us in the ups and downs of separation from God because of sin and brokenness in our lives, but which ultimately help us to remember that God is God, and truly the stronghold of our lives, even when we forget that God is always in, with, and around us.  Today's Psalm is different than that. This Psalm is a full-blown proclamation of the God's Power and Authority in the lives of His people. Obviously, this Psalm, and others like it were written in times which were filled with insecurity and threat. In the face of those things, it becomes necessary to hold Song, Prayers, and Confessions which continually draw us closer to our Father in Heave who holds all His Creation in His Care. We can all look back at times when fervent prayer was critical for the people of faith in the Great I AM (YHWH, Adonai, Elohim) to turn once again to the only true source of protection in this life. As you and I know, following God can indeed be filled with danger from others of no faith, and filled with the temptation to do things in our own ways, rather than to return to the Lord our God, for He is Gracious and Merciful, Slow to Anger, and Abounding in Steadfast Love.  When times are tough it is our confession of faith in the Holy One, the Father, Redeemer, and Sanctifier of our very lives every day, and on into our future with God forever. This Psalm calls us to revisit what we know about our God, returning to His Word, so that we can maintain our confidence and faith through the work of the Spirit in God's constant desire to save us and restore our lives with Him. What are we afraid of? There is nothing which our Savior and LORD cannot overcome and have already. I AM is always in charge of every circumstance in life.

Thanks for waiting an extra while today for this study. I was busy in the office all morning, receiving what I believe to be a Powerful Answer of God for our Gospel Ministry.

With Love in Christ, Pastor Kim