Psalm 46 comments

 

Psalm 46:1 ¶  «To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth.» God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2  Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; 3  Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. 4  There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. 5  God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.

 

I prayed this Psalm frequently in a time of great adversity over thirty years ago. God is our refuge and defense, our helper in times of trouble which He has allowed to happen to us. If you have ever been through an earth-shaking ordeal in your life, something that called into question everything you held as certain, you know what it’s like to feel the figurative earth move beneath your feet. Through these spiritual earthquakes and the turbulent waters our soul seems in danger of drowning in there is a river, which John Gill insisted was a symbol for the gospel of Jesus Christ, with streams of doctrine and promises and eternal expectations that we can rely upon.

 

Of course, the Psalmist here is talking about Jerusalem and the rivers that supplied it but we can extend that to the New Jerusalem, our eternal abode, and the river of the water of life that runs through it. See Revelation 22.

 

Revelation 22:1 ¶  And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2  In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3  And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 4  And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. 5  And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

 

Psalm 46:6 ¶  The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted. 7  The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. 8  Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth. 9  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. 10  Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. 11  The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

 

The heathen rage even now and will rage at the end of history.

 

Psalm 2:1 ¶  Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? 2  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, 3  Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. 4  He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.

 

God has the power, as we know, to make mountains fall. Earthquakes have turned the sides of mountains into a cascade of rock, stone, and mud rolling and flowing like water.

 

Judges 5:5  The mountains melted from before the LORD, even that Sinai from before the LORD God of Israel.

 

But God is with His people. He is their refuge. This line from verse 7 is repeated in verse 11.

 

In this passage that presents one of those classic sayings of the Bible Be still, and know that I am God we have an exclamation of God’s tremendous power over not only nature but the affairs of men. God’s glory will be pronounced against the whole world when they rise up against Christ in the last days.

 

We should be praying this Be still, and know that I am God. This Psalm expresses the ultimate victory of God’s people because it is God, not them, who fights their battles that are in His will.