He makes wars to cease throughout the earth; He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; He burns the shields in the fire.He makes wars cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow, and shatters the spear. He burns the chariots in the fire.He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; He burneth the chariots in the fire.
4 sermons cite this verse
… He makes war cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear. He burns the shields with fire. And here it comes. This is the heart of it all. This is the reset. This is the refresh. Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. And then the psalmist echoes again, the Lord Almighty is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. And then again, Selah. Stop and think about that. Don't put it down too quick. Don't turn the page too quick. Don't go to start writing notes real quick. Just stop, breathe that in, soak that in. Think about what God is saying. Think about the reality of what God is speaking over your life right now. And when you do, no matter what is coming against you, you can reset in that moment to be still and know that I am God. You know, it's crazy. …
… Come, behold the works of the Lord. See what desolations he's brought into earth, but he makes wars cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear. He burns the shields with fire. Be still and know that I am God. I'm exalted among the nations. I'm exalted in the air. The Lord of hosts is with us, and the God of Jacob is our refuge. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for these ancient words written long ago and far away, and yet words that come to life by your Spirit for the living of these days. I pray that in these moments together, These words might become sharper than any two-edged sword, living and energetic and changing in the lives of those who hear. In Jesus' name, amen. There's something about building metaphors that lend itself to life. Jesus ended the Sermon on the Mount, two kinds of builders. It's not quite a year ago, Surfside, Florida, probably remember it on the national news, when that 12-story condominium, without any notice, simply collapsed. …
Come before the works of the Lord who has made desolations in the earth. He makes war cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two. He burns the chariot in the fire. Be still 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 refuge. Selah. You may be seated. In case you're a little slow in having caught on, the subject of today's sermon is Selah. The word Selah shows up in scripture some 74 times. Three times in the book of Habakkuk. And 71 times in the book of Psalms. And scholars who understand Hebrew like Dr. Judy will tell you that there is no real definitive translation for the word Selah. There's no fixed and final way to translate this word. but a key to understanding what it may mean comes when you remember that the psalms are actually songs that Israel would sing. …
the most beautiful songs in all of scripture and in this case it's a song not sung by a heavenly choir, but by an old man, Zachariah, surely with a cracking voice and an unsteady pitch of the aged. It's one of the odd and fascinating things about the gospel of Luke to see what a prominent role old people play in Luke's gospel. It's true. More than any of the other Gospels, more than Matthew or Mark or John, the elderly in Luke play cameo roles. Now, I say that's odd because when we think about the dramatic newness of the Gospel, of what God is doing in Jesus Christ, we tend to think about youth. Mary, for example, we are told was probably just barely a teenager. when she gave birth to the Christ child. Jesus was about 30 years old when he started his ministry. His disciples, many of them vigorous young fishermen in the prime of their life, at least two of them, James and John, are still young enough to be learning their trade from their father, Zebedee. …