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If you don’t mind, I would like to “piggy-back” on my sermon from Sunday. In case you didn’t hear it, it was called, “The End of the Pandemic” and was about God’s assurance that when his kingdom comes, all suffering, disease and ever death will be gone. No one will ever again cry tears of grief. We might wish that day would come sooner than it seems to be coming, but we can be sure it will.

Psalm 46 offers the same assurance, but in graphic terms. It says, “God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
         though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
3 though its waters roar and foam,
          though the mountains tremble with its tumult.”

We will not fear, not for earthquake, tsunami or volcano. The Psalm goes on to say, “The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.”

Those words fit the mood of our country right now, sharply divided and very worried about the future of our democracy. People on both sides are agitated and deeply concerned and suspicious of the motives of their counterparts. We are in an “uproar.” And as if the political divide is not enough, we are still dealing with a lethal pandemic.

But God has a word for us. The Psalm says, God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble. The Psalm says, “God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;
God will help it when the morning dawns.” The Psalm reports that God says, “Be still, and know that I am God!
      I am exalted among the nations,
      I am exalted in the earth.”

Things may not go the way we want them to go. There may be things that frighten us. But we have a strongest resource in the universe to lean on – a God who is with us, watches over us and gives us victory. The Psalm ends with these words, “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.”

Please pray with me, “Lord, no matter how bad things get, give us a calm, trusting faith in you. Help us to remember that you are our only hope, but the best hope one could have. Help us to remember that you hold us in the palm of your hand and cover us with the pinions of your wings. Help to hear the distant triumph call of your victory and to be strong living with your power over and under us. Help us to remember that you will feed your flock like a shepherd. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.”