"To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A Song.
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.
10 “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 of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah"
Psalm 46
The Psalm begins with an affirmation of faith (1), and this is its first lesson on what to do in time of trouble. We must remind ourselves, however, tremblingly or fearfully, in a conscious act and attitude of faith, of our resources in God. He is a God easy of access when trouble comes; and a thought and a wish can bring us into the 'safe stronghold', whatever storms may occur. That is the first thing; and the second is this: we are to recall and assure ourselves that His is a Victorious Presence. What we mean is this: the language of 2, 3 is apocalyptic and refers to the ultimate convulsions and storms that will wrack this weary world as the herald and birth pangs of the new creation; and what the Psalmist comes to realise is that no ill can be inflicted by such convulsions upon a faith which sees God at work, and in control, of them, making them contribute to His ultimate victory. And if God is Victor there, in the ultimate chaos, all lesser conflicts will surely show forth His victory too. This is what we need to remember, and how we need to think, when we feel at times that all hell is let loose upon us: for all hell is in the divine control also. Here, then, is the message of the first stanza: the assurance of the presence and of the ultimate victory of God, and therefore the practical experience of it in every time of trouble. In the second stanza (4-7) we are presented with a complete contrast to the convulsions of the first, in the picture of the river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God. One is reminded of the wonderful picture in Revelation 22 of the pure river of water of life, proceeding out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb. And when one remembers that that vision follows the convulsions recorded in the earlier chapters, one sees the kind of lesson we are meant to learn here, namely, that the convulsions which are the birth pangs of the new creation are over, and that this is what they lead to. After the storm, the calm; and this is true both of the final convulsion and for every lesser one.