June 14, 2026
Safe Place
Pastor Ricky Smith

Sermon Notes

When everything around you is shaking, God is the one thing that never moves.

Psalm 42
As a deer Psalm 46:1-11
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

Come, behold the works of the LORD, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with 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 fortress. Selah for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival. Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me. By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life. I say to God, my rock: “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

I. God Is Our Refuge

II. God Is Our Security

III. God Is Our Sovereign King

Next Steps

• I confess my sin and turn to Jesus as King for the first time.
• I choose to practice spiritual habits to know God more.
• I commit to anchoring my life in Jesus to weather any storm.

Deep Dive

1. In Psalm 46, the word translated “be still” means to cease striving, to let go, to drop it. In what area of your life right now is God telling you to “be still”?
2. Read Psalm 46:8. What is one specific thing God has done in your life or in the life of your church that you need to stop and behold right now, as an act of faith and worship?
3. How has God been a refuge of safety in your life?

Springboards

1. Psalm 51 begins with David appealing to God’s mercy rather than his own merit. Why is that essential to genuine repentance?
2. David uses three words for sin: rebellion, iniquity, and missing the mark. Which of these helps you most clearly understand the seriousness of sin?
3. Read 2 Samuel 12:1-13. How did Nathan’s confrontation help David stop hiding and start confessing?