Psalm 46
The darkness surrounds. Trouble is near. The thing you thought would be your comfort evaporates. Hemmed in on every side – trapped.
Psalm 46 speaks of the storms of life. They hit us so often. Why is it we still wonder when trouble comes? Do you shake your fist or bow your head? Do you rise up with anger or drive yourself so far deep inside that it’s hard to rouse you to attention? We all run at trouble in our own way. So, when it feels like the earth is giving way, how are we seeing God lift up our heads and point our feet his way in Psalm 46?
Psalm 46 speaks of chaos and turmoil. The earth is about to rip apart and give way. One thing repeated right through this Psalm is this: God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Be still my soul.
Walk through this Psalm with me … take the “big satellite image” view in. We get a jolt from the opening image, chaos and turmoil to almost feeling tranquil, in verses 4-7. Resolution is found through the invitation to come and see. God invades the darkness in the midst of turmoil.
Two things we know straight away about this Psalm come from the top. It’s called the superscription that are in the original Hebrew.
“For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth. A song.”
We know this Psalm is a song. Part of a bigger body of songs by the Sons of Korah, Psalms 42-49, set to the tune of al-amoth. Also if you look at the Psalm you’ll see after verse 3, 7, 11 the word selah. We don’t know what selah means. Being a song it’s probably something of a musical term of the Psalm itself.
The big stand out theme is turmoil. It’s a rather cataclysmic picture, mountain sides falling away, tsunami strength waves. Not only in nature, but also in world, empires and kingdoms topple, world war begins, nation states fall and the entire earth looks like its melting. See right at the heart of everything when everything’s ripping apart and falling down coming to pieces, God stands at peace.
God speaks … wars stops cold. Their weapons of war are collected and destroyed.
God speaks … PEACE BE STILL. So the Psalm ends with the same theme as it began.
11 The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
We know from history that Jerusalem has been attacked on many occasions. On two major occasions its walls were breached with the Babylonians and then much later, the Romans. This Psalm wants us to sweep on into the city, and come down where the temple stands. Consider what happens if those walls come down, the temple is destroyed. What if God’s people endure captivity or struggle with trouble?
Come with me now into the Psalm itself. Psalm 46 breaks into three parts each marked with that word Selah. So Selah is helpful for us reading this Psalm.
Vs 1-3 God present in the trouble
vs 4-7 all about God’s peace and protection
vs 8-11 looking in to see what God is doing
Verses 1-3: See how God is described in verse 1?
God is our refuge and strength, whose offer is ever present help. Do not fear.
We get a change in view in vs 4-7:
While outside is turmoil, inside the city of God is peace. A river runs through it, the temple where God’s people worship is still erect. This is a description of Jerusalem as we see in verse 5.
5 God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
Why the mention of break of day and the need for help? As most army’s attacks occur at the breaking of the dawn. God’s protection is total and effective.
The second line, verse 6:
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
God will help. Even when everywhere else is in turmoil, God will speak up and all the kingdoms will fall before his withering voice.
Then in vs 8-11, we are met with invitation:
Come and see what the LORD has done
Come see God bring peace. Warfare ceases. God speaks … he calls the nations to attention. He commands a halt to hostilities (verse 10)
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
Like an army officer yelling attention on a parade ground. God tells us what will happen. No one misses it – no one misses out. Be Still. We are called to hope in the Lord. Then the Psalm ends as it began with the protection and strength of God with and for us as it concludes with a repetition of what we read in vs 7.
11 The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
God is a fortress for his people – messy tumultuous people like us. How will we read Psalm 46 into our noisy messy lives? The heat is on, the turmoil is without and within. The noise so often of our souls is us trying all we can to control the uncontrollable. This Psalm was pointing us forward as the call to Israel is the same to us.
“The Lord Jesus Christ is your hope. Pride dies as the humility of faith lives…we stop pursuing impossibilities when we start pursuing certainties.”[1]
There is a meditative quality to this Psalm. Be still and know that I am God.
In Matthew 6:25-34 Jesus tells us
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Hope in the Lord. He is the true God and our only redeemer. Jesus is our teacher for life.
Living hope out is where we are called to today. The biggest struggle we know we have in the face of the storms that hit our lives is our proud self will. So will we personalise this Psalm? Look for the ladders pride erects in our hearts[2] Ladders of achievement. Ladders of appetite. Our need for ease or lust or superiority. Ladders of avoidance….
Psalm 46 calls us to come and know Jesus. He gives life, makes peace, gives joy and makes you over. In contrast to the radical violent turmoil, God comes to us with him giving utter delight. The temptation may be a sorrow, a fear, an anger you’re feeling right now. Jesus comes to the soul storms saying, “Be quiet soul, Peace. Be still.”
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Let’s pray.
AAA