 Well, it is an incredible blessing for me to get to be with all of you tonight and the reason why is Because I love Pastor David Rosales Pastor David and Marie. They're they're like heroes to me I only think they're just fabulous, huh? Just such awesome pastors And it's always a blessing to be with all of you so many of you through the years that we've been here to teach We have grown to love so very very much. How many of you brought a Bible with you tonight? Let's see all of the Bibles and then oh, this is so great. I'm glad you brought your Bible and you're here to study Let's open in the Bible if you will to psalm 46 Psalm 46 As I was praying about what the Lord would have us to study together tonight He put it on my heart to have a study This wonderful this incredible this amazing psalm and the title of this message is help in times of trouble help in times of trouble As we come to study. Let's pray together and will you just um? We just told your Bible up right there in front of you as we pray God we thank you so much for this book It is the greatest book in the world It is the most amazing book in all of human history. There are many other good books But only this Is a God book we thank you so much for the Bible. It is light to our path It is food when we are Spiritually hungry it is water when we are spiritually Thirsty It gives us hope and help and comfort and guidance and direction We thank you Lord so much that every time we open this book. We don't open it alone, but your Holy Spirit Comes alongside to teach us the Lord. I pray tonight as we open your word together That your spirit that we have sung about Would come into this room Would come into this place and would make your word live It would impact our minds it would impact our hearts and the things that we Read the things that we hear the things we study Lord would Have a permanent and a profound Impact on each one of our lives So bless us as we study. Well, thank you and praise you for it in Jesus name. We pray Amen About a hundred miles to the southeast of Salt Lake City, Utah. There is a town called Helper Utah Helper Utah and The origin of the name of that town is rather interesting to see many years ago in the era of the steam locomotive Locomotives out west would Use what they called a helper What a train would come to a very steep hill a hill which in itself it was unable to climb What they would do is they would take a much more powerful locomotive that they called a helper and The train would attach itself to the back of the helper And the helper would pull the entire train up that steep mountain Which was impossible for that train on its own to climb and about a hundred miles to the southeast of Salt Lake City and carbon County, Utah. There is a very steep hill. It is one of the steepest inclines in the United States of America For 15 miles it goes up and up and up and up and up and up and every time a train would come to the base of that soldiers summit 7,500 feet up It would be impossible for that train to climb that hill on its own And so the train would be attached to the back of a helper And the helper would pull it up The helpers were there at the base of the hill in Carbon County, Utah, so in 1881 they named that little town Helper Utah that is such a beautiful picture of God And us Because there are many circumstances and situations in your life and mine There are like steep hills That are like impossible mountains that we could never ever make it over on our own But with the help of God when we hook our lives when we attach our lives To who God is and all he can do He will help us through whatever trouble or trial or Circumstance that we are facing Before us in the word of God tonight is a psalm That tells us that God is our helper and the background to psalm 46 Is almost as important as the psalm itself Because the background to psalm 46 is a story. It is one of the most powerful, incredible, amazing stories of victory In all of the word of God, in fact so important Is this story The bible tells it three times in the old testament The story is told in 2nd Kings 18 and 19 the story is told in 2nd Chronicles 32 the story is told in Isaiah chapter 36 and 37 three times We are told the amazing story of a king named Hezekiah and An Assyrian conqueror named Sennacherim You see about 725 years before the time of Christ There was a king that came to rule in the southern kingdom of Israel the southern kingdom called Judah His name was Hezekiah. He was only 25 years old when he came to rule He was a good and godly king in fact the bible tells us That before King Hezekiah there was no king like him and after King Hezekiah There was no king like him The bible tells us that he walked in the ways of the Lord and because of that God blessed his life and God blessed his ministry But while he was the king in the southern kingdom of Judah way up north of the northern kingdom North of the country of Israel there was the dominating world power in that day It was Assyria and the most powerful king on the planet was a wicked vile evil cruel man named Sennacherib and Sennacherib decided he was going to come down into Israel and invade the northern kingdom and he did He conquered all of the cities and he took all of the ten tribes of the north of Israel into captivity up into the land of Assyria and Then he set his sights on The southern kingdom of Judah the bible says in the 14th year of Hezekiah's reign He conquered all of the cities of Judah except one he conquered all 46 other cities. There was only one city left the city of Jerusalem and Sennacherib sent 185,000 Assyrian soldiers to surround the mountains of The city of Jerusalem and Hezekiah and the people of God were inside and the Assyrian soldiers began to mock Hezekiah they begin to mock the people they begin to mock the God of Israel They began to say you think your God will help you That's what every other people said and we conquered them and we're going to conquer you too And the Bible says that Hezekiah he tore his clothes and he went into the house of the Lord And he just began to pour out his prayer to God The Spirit of God came on Isaiah the prophet and he went to Hezekiah And Isaiah said thus says the Lord do not be afraid of the words that you are hearing Or I will help you And I will deliver you Well Sennacherib decided he was going to step it up a notch and so he wrote a letter to King Hezekiah and he sent it by messengers and The letter said as much as the mockers it said you think your God is going to help you your God's not going to help you at all We've conquered everybody else who depended on your God your guys and nobody we're going to take you guys out Just like we've taken everybody else out you think you can depend on your God You can't depend on your God and the Bible says that when Hezekiah read it He went into the house of the Lord And he just opened the letter in front of God He said Lord look what they're writing Look what he's saying and Again the Spirit of the Lord came on Isaiah the prophet and he went to King Hezekiah And he said thus says the Lord do not be afraid of the words that you have read for I will help you And I will deliver you And so King Hezekiah put out the word he gathered all of his soldiers and he gathered all of the people in The square in the city of Jerusalem before the temple Second Chronicles 32 here's what he said he said to all the people Hezekiah said be strong and Courageous do not be afraid or dismayed because of the king of Assyria nor because of the multitude that is with him For there are more with us Than are with him With him is the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God He is our refuge He is our strength He is our help, but what happened? They went to bed that night Like they had gone to bed every other night The Lord had spoken to them. They trusted the Word of the Lord so they went to bed and in the middle of the night the Lord of Hosts the God of angel armies Sent one angel and at the break of dawn that angel wiped out all 185 Assyrian soldiers so that when the people of God woke up the next morning and they went out of the city they found their enemy dead and Defeated they had learned That our God is a very present help in whatever trouble you and I might face Well the Jewish tradition tells us That sometime after God had given Hezekiah That incredible victory that he sat down and he wrote a song about it It's Psalm 46 He's the one who wrote it and The sons of Korah the musicians in later days They were inspired by God to take this song that Hezekiah had written and put it in the Bible so that you and I could read it and We could remember That know what no matter what mountain you are facing no matter what hill seems insurmountable to you That our God is a helper and He will help you through your circumstance and your situation Look then at what Hezekiah wrote now knowing the back story to the song You'll understand Some of what is written there look at what Hezekiah wrote he wrote this God is our refuge and strength a Very present help in trouble Therefore we will not fear even though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea Though its waters roar and be troubled though the mountains shake with its swelling There is a river That makes whose streams shall be glad to the city of God the holy place of the tabernacle of the most high God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. God shall help her just at the break of dawn The nation's rage the kingdoms were moved He uttered his voice the earth melted the Lord of hosts is with us the God of Jacob is our refuge Come behold the works of the Lord Who has made desolations in the earth who makes wars to cease to the end of the earth? He breaks the bow and he cuts the spear into he burns the chariot in the fire Be still Be still and no I Said 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 the key to this wonderful this incredible this beautiful this comforting song is In verse 1 it is this little phrase a Very present help in trouble if you have a pen right now I want you to underline that phrase in your Bible who is God. He's a very present help in trouble When you're in trouble. He's a very present help the word that's translated present is the word matzah in Hebrew and Really, it's a word that you can't translate. You can't find one good English word to translate it It not only means help when you need it It means the kind of help you need it not only means what you need it means when you need it It's a word that could be translated sufficient It's not just when you need to help it's what you need it's sufficient help Now if you are one million dollars in debt and you say to somebody can you help me and they say well have a quarter here Not much help not sufficient help But when you're a million dollars in debt and somebody says well, I can help you I Got 500 million dollars now. We're talking help Now we're talking sufficient help and Our God is a very present help He's a very sufficient help no matter what trouble you're facing God is bigger and greater than the trouble that you are facing and able to give you exactly what you need and Exactly when you need it Now who is God in our troubles and What will God do for us in our troubles with what I love about Psalm 46 is It gives us three pictures of who God is And what God will do the psalm naturally divides in three parts because there's this little word say law You find it at the end of verse three you find it at the end of verse seven you find it at the end of verse eleven So the psalm has three parts verse one to three verse four to seven and verse eight to eleven and At the end of them you find this little word say law, which means pause Think about it three Unforgettable pictures of God the first picture is the picture of a refuge The second picture is the picture of a river The third picture is the picture of a ruler Who is God and what will he do for us in our trouble? He's a refuge He's a river and he's a ruler. He's a refuge think about it He's a river Think about it He's a ruler Think about it the first picture the psalm gives us of God is that God is a refuge That's what we find in verse one to three Notice in verse one. God is our what? Circle it right now in your Bible. God is our Refuge he's our refuge and strength a very present help in Trouble a refuge Once the Nakarim was coming down on Jerusalem Hezekiah in the people they took Refuge in the city of Jerusalem inside of its walls but God Said to them the word of the Lord came to them. Don't don't trust in Jerusalem as your refuge that won't help you There is a much greater refuge and God is your refuge this idea of God being a safe place that you can run into a Refuge a shelter you find this all over in the Bible here are some references in Nahum Chapter one and verse seven it says the Lord is good He is a refuge in the time of trouble in Proverbs chapter 18 and verse 10 The Bible says the name of the Lord is a strong tower the righteous run into it and are safe Isaiah says on Isaiah 25 and verse forward oh Lord you have been our Refuge a refuge for the needy in their distress a Shelter in the time of storm When you face the storms of life God is a refuge unlike any other Refuge when whenever I hear that phrase out of Isaiah 25 and verse 4 about God being a refuge in the time of storm It reminds me of the true story of a great man of God. He was a pastor over in London. His name was dr. Herschel Hobbes And one day dr. Hobbes took a friend of his hunting out in the English Countryside and as they were out in the countryside all of a sudden the sky drew Dark and the lightning and thunder began to roll and they knew they were going to be overtaken by this great storm and So dr. Herschel Hobbes who'd been hunting there before he was familiar with the countryside He grabbed his friend and he said follow me quick follow me and So his friends trying to follow him. They're going down this winding path. They're turning left. They're turning right They turn around this tree around this rock this way that way the further they're going the darker It's getting that louder. The thunder is getting his friend starts to panic He says, where are you going? What are you doing? Where are you taking me all of a sudden dr? Hobbes grabs him by the shoulders and says quick in here and he shoves him inside of a cave and Just when they went in the rain broke and the storm Just dumped water down Dr. Hobbes looked at his friend and he said I know you were worried about the storm He said but I wasn't Because I knew where the refuge was dear ones There are storms of life and there are storms that are coming to this country. Do you know where the refuge is? I like what the hymnwriter wrote the Lord our rock the Lord is our rock in him we hide a Shelter in the time of storm secure whatever ill betide a Shelter in the time of storm the raging storms may round us beat a shelter in the time of storm We'll never leave our safe retreat a Shelter in the time of storm. Oh save your strong. Oh Refuge dear a shelter in the time of storm be thou our helper always near a shelter in the time a Storm Do you know where the refuge is is God your refuge dear ones? I'm here to tell you tonight God is a refuge unlike any other Refuge that's what has a guy who goes on to tell us he says in verse one God is our refuge and strength of very present help in trouble. Therefore. We will not fear Even though the earth be removed though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea though It's waters roar and be troubled though. It's mountain shake with its swelling What's he talking about here? He's talking about? Natural disasters the worst natural disasters you can ever imagine an earthquake and a tidal wave Here's Hezekiah and the people inside of Jerusalem And Sennacherib's forces are surrounding them and I'm sure They heard all of those 185,000 soldiers marching it must have made the ground feel like an earthquake as They looked out over the walls of Jerusalem and they saw Soldiers surrounding the it must have looked like a tidal wave coming at them But they would learn That in the earthquakes In the tidal waves God's a refuge He's a refuge in the worst possible situation you could ever Imagine you know, it's interesting to me looking at natural disasters on the news that we sometimes see around the world And you know people are always trying to build their houses or their office buildings or whatever to withstand the natural disasters You know, there's an earthquake and some you know remote part of the world and You look on the news at the footage of all of the rubble Not strong enough to understand to withstand the earthquake They thought it was strong enough, but not strong enough You look at tidal ways like the one that was over in Japan and you know the waves come rolling in and you just see The rubble and disaster that has left after the wave has come and you think not strong enough They put their trust in something that wasn't strong enough Listen the earthquakes are coming the tidal ways are coming. Where's your trust in your bank account? in the stock market in Your home in your job in your career in the people around you Dear ones. I'm here to tell you those refugees you can't trust in them. You can't depend on them They're not going to be of the help to you In the the trouble that maybe in your life or the trouble that's ahead in our country But God is a refuge that you can trust even in the worst possible situation He will protect you. He will be your shelter. He will be your safe place They tell us That the safest refuge on the planet The safest shelter on the planet is a place in Washington, D.C. Deep deep deep deep deep deep down somewhere underneath the White House It's a place called the president's bunker many years ago President Roosevelt was the first one to build that bunker because of the threat of nuclear war in the intercontinental Ballistic missiles that might be launched over and you can't have the president dying and so what they would do they built this bunker and Roosevelt or whoever they would go down into this secret place and there they were safe and that President's bunker has been rebuilt many many times it. I told it was rebuilt recently It's state-of-the-art. I mean it's got food and water and everything that you could imagine that you would ever need We don't know where it is. It's a secret place and they say It's the safest refuge on the planet I'm here to tell you tonight. There's a much safer refuge than a president's bunker is God is God He who abides in the secret place of the most high God He who's in the shelter of the Almighty. They're gonna find out That our God is a very present help and trouble But as I tell you it not only tells us that God's a refuge when we're in trouble Secondly, he tells us he's a river When we're in trouble, that's the theme of verses four to seven notice verse four. There is a what? Circle that right now. He's a refuge verse one now in verse four. He's a river. There's a river Whose stream shall make glad the city of God The holy place of the tabernacle of the most high God is in the midst of her She shall not be moved God shall help her just at the break of dawn The nation's rays the kingdoms were moved. He uttered his voice the earth melted the Lord of hosts is with us God of Jacob is our refuge When you're in trouble, you're gonna find out that God is not only a refuge. Secondly, he's a river. There is a river Now a careful student of the Bible or anybody who's ever taken a trip to the land of Israel They're sort of curious about this phrase Because one of the most unusual things about the city of Jerusalem is it's not built by a river Most ancient cities were built by a river a water source even modern cities by a water source But Jerusalem is unique in that's not built by a river. Say what do you mean? There's a river That makes glad the streams of God. Well, though Jerusalem was not built by a river. It was built by a spring the spring of Gaihan It was just to the north and the east of the city of Jerusalem What would happen is the people of God they would go out of the city of Jerusalem their big old pot Pottery jars they would fill them with water and they would take them back in they would go out get the water and bring it back In get the water bringing it back in get the so they had water But then Hezekiah hears that Sennacherib is coming down. He's taken the northern kingdom He's taken all the rest of the city of Jude and now he's coming after Jerusalem And so God led Sennacherib to do something so ingenious And that is he had his engineers build a tunnel From the spring of Gihon Underneath the wall of Jerusalem and up into the city of Jerusalem. It's now known as Hezekiah's Tunnel If you go to the land of Israel, you can actually go through Hezekiah's Tunnel It is an engineering masterpiece because it's not just straight it kind of weaves around and the workers started from either end But somehow they met together in the middle. It was God and right through solid rock They made this Hezekiah's Tunnel 1,750 feet and You can actually walk through it. I don't know if some of you've been through it if you're claustrophobic Don't do it because it's only about six feet tall about three feet wide in the water You know three four feet deep and it's pitch black in there You gotta have a flashlight or something to go along and you're I mean there's like a line of people and once you're in there You can't get out But it's very cool You're walking through this thing thinking wow and what Hezekiah did So he put trees and rocks all around the spring of Gihon so that when Sennacherib and his soldiers came They wouldn't even know there was a spring there and they thought oh we got these people We'll just surround them and wait because they can't get any water. They don't have any water But what they didn't know is They had a secret supply they had a source That nobody else knew about They had a river They had a river They had water flowing and this became to them a picture of God that God would supply Everything they needed right in the midst of their trouble. There are many Bible teachers who think this is exactly what the Apostle Paul had in his mind When he wrote in Philippians 4 and verse 19 and my God will supply Everything you need he will be your Hezekiah's tunnel He will be your secret source that nobody else knows about and give you everything you need because our God is not only a refuge He is a river an Inexhaustible river that will bring to you whatever it is that you need as many of you know The biggest river on planet earth is the Amazon River You know people talk about the LA River the Amazon River is 4,000 miles long and at flood season when it is full there are places that it is 15 miles across the Amazon River they tell us when it's flowing fully That every second It spills out in the Atlantic Ocean 60,000 gallons of water every second That's like you know 2,000 backyard swimming pools every second have a word for that Wow That's a lot of water Can you imagine then teeny little tiny daisy Right at the end of the Amazon River worried and afraid That the Amazon River might run out of water To water it the great preacher FB Meyer once wrote God is to us like the Amazon River Flowing to water the single daisy of our lives when you're in trouble you're going to find out God's everything you need He's not only enough He's more than enough way more That enough more than you can imagine Enough he will supply everything you need and give you a piece that Passes understanding There was a great hymnwriter of the church over in England her name was Francis Haber go and she fell ill deathly ill they thought she was going to die and yet even at the prospect of death God just gave her that Sweet precious perfect piece that passes all understanding. It's just amazed people around her They couldn't understand how in the world can you go through all that you're going through and it was because you understood with Psalm 46 is saying that our God is like a river and so God touched her and healed her and after that she brought her out of that deathly episode. She wrote her now famous hymn like a river Glorious She wrote the words like a river glorious is God's perfect peace over all Victorious in its bright increase Perfect yet it floweth Fuller every day Perfect yet it groweth deeper all the way Stayed upon Jehovah Hearts are fully blessed Finding as you promised perfect peace, but when you're in trouble or God is not only a refuge and He's not only a river Thirdly, he's a ruler That's the theme that's what you see in verse 8 to verse 11 Come behold the works of the Lord who has made Desolations in the earth. He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth He breaks the bow and he cuts the spear into 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 hoses with us the God of Jacob is our refuge This is describing how God is sovereign He's the Lord of all things I like this in verse 8. He's the ruler over all Nature the works of the Lord in verse 9. He's the ruler over all nations He's sovereign over all things. He's sovereign over all people It's like what Isaiah said and Isaiah 40 Isaiah said Prophecy the word of the Lord to whom will you liken me says the Lord and who is my equal says the Holy One of Israel? Lift up your eyes and look at all that I have created and behold the nations They are like a drop in the bucket. He is the ruler over all nature He is the ruler over all nations in Isaiah 46 Isaiah says thus says the Lord I am God and there is no other I am God and there is none like me Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that are not yet done saying my counsel will stand So I David says in Psalm 103 the Lord has established his throne in heaven and his kingdom rules over all When you're in trouble listen what you need to do is lift up your eyes and look and Remember that our God is not only a refuge and a river He is the ruler over history and he is the ruler over your life and my life That's why Hezekiah says and verse 10 be still stop worrying cease striving Just calm down. You may watch the news Probably should just turn it off Get you more agitated and anxious just turn it off You may look at your bills You may mull over the emails and the text you're getting about all that is going on in your life. Listen turn your computer off Turn your cell phone off Be still come before the helper God Attach the train of your life to him Recognize that he's in charge. He's sovereign He is ruling. He is reigning on high be still just rest in him. Just trust in him. Just believe in him All of the story the wonderful story of a An older woman of God her name was Agnes Smith In World War two she lived in London and in World War two the Germans were bobbing the city of London night after night every night and And one after one terrible night of bombing the people that were in her neighborhood They were going from house to house trying to account for everyone is everyone still here and Everyone in their little neighborhood was accounted for except Agnes Smith, and they looked high and low for her and Finally they found her She was asleep in her bed They walk her up and they say what in the world How in the world could you sleep in all of the bombings weren't you afraid weren't you worried weren't you concerned? I love her answer She said well now She said the Bible says that God who the God who keeps his people He never sleeps or slumber so I knew God was going to be up all night So there's no reason for both of us to be up all night. I just went to bed Be still be still and know that I am gone Says the Lord I Will be exalted among the nations I will be exalted in the earth and then this last phrase notice this last phrase in verse 11 the Lord of hosts is With us the Lord of Hosts hosts What hosts Well, there's one possibility it could be the Lord of hosts as in the host of stars In Isaiah chapter 40 in verse 26 the Bible says of God He brings out the host of heaven and he calls them all by name Have a word for that Wow Wow The astronomers tell us 10 to the 25th power stars 10 million billion billion stars Can't seem in Southern California, but go on the desert in the middle of the night Take a look see The God who created all that is with us that's one possibility of what the Lord of hosts means But that's not likely what it means because most of the time that you find that phrase the Lord of hosts in the Old Testament In the Hebrew Jehovah Sabi off it means the hosts of angels the God of angel armies is With us Now Hezekiah had found that out because a hundred eighty five thousand Soldiers surrounding them and one angel Took out all those hundred eighty five thousand soldiers the God of angel armies is with us somebody asked a great question How many angels are there? Answer we don't know But a lot Revelation chapter 5 the Apostle John saw all of the angels and Here's what he said in Revelation chapter 5 when I saw them They were ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands Now that may not mean much to you, but the language in which John was writing was Greek and in the Greek language Ten thousand was the largest number. He said I looked at them and Just take the largest number. I know Multiply it by the largest number. I know and then add thousands of thousands It's like I looked at them and there was a chazillion times a chazillion and chazillions a zillions and just one of them That was synagogues in host just one of them dealt with the enemies of Hezekiah, but here's what I like I Pray you don't forget this it does not say here The hosts of the Lord are with us even though that's true. So I'm 91 verse 11. He will give his angels charge over you Doesn't say the hosts of the Lord are with us. It says the Lord of Hosts is With us I have a word for that Wow Wow Really not just the angel armies, but the God of Angel armies Commitator John Phillips writes on Psalm 46. He says think of it The Lord of hosts is with us the mighty Jehovah who commands all the countless ranks of angels is on our side One angel in one night could smite all Sennacherib's host Right now all of the angels of God are mustered around his throne just ready to do his bidding Just ready to rush to your aid and mine But the good news is better than that So I'm 46 does not just say that the hosts are with us. It says the Lord of hosts is with us What more could we ask than that? He writes think of it. God is with me at the kitchen sink God is with me as I drive through rush hour traffic God is with me as I go to an unbearable job and face an impossible boss God is with me in my desperate marriage and family struggles God is with me in my current financial bind. God is with me in my loneliness and weakness God is with me despite my faults and failures. The Lord of hosts is with me What a wonder what a wonder Dear ones, I've come a good news tonight the Lord of hosts is with you The Lord of hosts is with you The God of Jacob is our refuge and when you're in trouble, and I don't know as we gather tonight What kind of trouble you might be in? It might be financial trouble the Lord is your helper He's gonna be your helper It might be a trouble in your marriage or in your family. The Lord is gonna help you It might be legal trouble out. Maybe, you know, you're in some sort of lawsuit or something like that The Lord's gonna help you It might be some health issue in your body There's somebody, you know the Lord he's gonna help you listen when you find yourself in trouble You're gonna find he's a very present help. He's a sufficient help He'll be just what you need and just when you need it He will be to you a refuge. He will be to you a river. He will be to you a review river a ruler he will be whatever it is you need and Whenever it is that you need it God your help he will help you Just like he's helped me two weeks ago today. I buried my precious mother of 80 years old Two weeks ago today and the relationship that any of us have with our mother Is a very special one and losing my mama was One of the hardest things I've ever been through all of my mama other than my wife The person I have loved more on this planet than any other person Who I am today and what I do has been shaped more By that woman Than any other person and I remember getting the news that my mama was close to going to heaven and so I flew up on a Friday and drove right straight to the assistant living where she was in Portland, Oregon and I Sat there by my mama's bedside all Friday night and in the Friday evening And then I went back the next day The day she died on the Saturday and I spent the whole day with my mama She was unconscious and unresponsive when I got there and most of the time But on Saturday afternoon all of a sudden Her eyes came open And I said mama it's Larry it's Larry she looked right over at me And I moved to the other side of the bed, and I said mama mama it's Larry Her eyes moved right over to where I was And up to that point there was no movement in her body at all and all of a sudden her hand started to move And I reached down and I grabbed hold of my mama's hand That hand she used to hold when I was a little boy, and she just gently squeezed my hand And I crawled up on the bed and I looked my mama in the eyes Said mama I love you. I'll see you in heaven mama. And not long after that my mom was gone And the next day on Sunday I had to fly back here to California because of teaching responsibilities, and so I taught Monday morning my class and taught Monday night my class and then Went home and repacked my suitcase gathered my wife We drove to LAX very early in the morning, and we got Into the terminal we were waiting there, and my wife said I'm gonna go get some coffee. I said okay I was just you know there among the seats, and I I was so tired, and so I decided I just you know just lay down for a minute And I didn't have a pillow, so I just pulled out my Bible I laid it on the seat, and I just laid my head down on the Bible Pulled my jacket up over the top of my head As I was laying there, I thought you know This is such a picture of my whole life just laying on God's word just putting my head on the book of all books And as I was laying there under my jacket in the middle of that noisy terminal I Began to pray Lord Please help me I Right there in that terminal that noisy terminal underneath my jacket with my head on my bed God was to me a refuge God was to me a river God was to me a ruler He is my helper I Attached the train of my life to him, and he pulled me up and over What to me was a hill I didn't think I could climb and what God did for me He'll do for you no matter what trouble you're in No matter what circumstance you're facing You'll find as God's people have always found He's our helper our helper when we're in trouble Well, let's pray Lord. We thank you so much For our study in your word tonight. We thank you so much for this Amazing song Knowing this story and the meaning of it So blesses and encourages our hearts Lord right now as we just take a moment to pray together To not just be hearers of your word, but to be doers of your word we pray You would move by your spirit in this place Jesus name