Often people quote this phrase of the verse. I call it a
phrase because two other parts combine with it to make the whole verse. Contextual
reading of each verse in the book is crucial. We should not consider solely one
part of a verse.
Historically, the Korahites, descended from Korah, the son
of Levi, wrote this psalm. During King David’s time, the Korahites were the
choral and orchestral music writers, singers, and musicians. They wrote Psalm
46 for the Israelites about Yahweh God to tell of His might, sovereignty, and
care for His people. When we read Psalm 46, we must look for what it tells us
about God. A verse is not the complete lesson of a chapter or book. The psalmist
unfolded for the congregants and his later hearers and readers a reminder of
God to help each person understand God is greater than anyone or thing we could
ever imagine. He is beyond our imaginings.
The psalmist began by stating in verse one, “God is our
refugee and strength.” When does a person need refuge? When that person is
facing an enemy or a seemingly insurmountable problem. During those crisis times,
God provides safety from danger. He is our hope of shelter and the One whom we always
can trust, according to this Korahite psalmist. Beyond protecting and providing
for His children, God gives His strength for His children to endure, press on,
draw closer to Him, and become victor over trials. The Korahite writer reminded
the Israelites that God gives them strength and hope from His storehouses. God
also is our defense. He can and often fights our battles Himself and provides
shelter for us to rest and recover.
With verse one, the writer reminded the readers and hearers
God is and gives us hope, refuge, strength to fight, and/or becomes our defense
against our enemies. The psalmist also wrote, “He is an ever-present help in
times of trouble.” God is omnipresent. That means He is everywhere at the same
time and sees everything that happens. God is beyond time and breaks into time
to be our loving, protective Father, who is sovereign over all created things. His
help is always available, ever-present. God's help is constant and
ever-present, never coming and going. His ever-present help supports, assists, and
gives aid, relief, shelter, comfort, guidance, and defense in our times of
trouble. The psalmist reminded the Israelites of God in their past when He
reminded them of who God He had been to and for them. He assured the Israelites
and assures us we can always turn to Him for our needs, crisis or not.
Verses two and three relay God’s stability and forever-ness.
The psalmist showed this by writing about natural calamities. The writer said
we need not fear when anything comes against us. He gave a list of intense events,
like landslides, earthquakes, storms, and raging seas. God remains
ever-present, sovereign, and almighty. We can trust that He will protect us and
carry us when necessary.
With verse four, the psalmist spoke of the hope of gladness
God’s people, His children, will experience in God’s kingdom. God’s river of
gladness, of joy, will give delight to its inhabitants. His people shall fear
no more since they will live in His kingdom. God reigns in His kingdom. Nothing
can cause calamity there, like the earth changes mentioned in verses two and
three. Its inhabitants will have stability, peace, and joy. Joy will flow like
the river running through it.
The psalmist stated explicitly in verse five about what he
reminded the Israelites in verses two and three. He wrote, “God is within her
(His kingdom and His children); she will not be moved. God will help her when
morning dawns.” That last sentence reminds us that God’s mercies are new every
morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). God is constantly present, faithful, and
loving. He never leaves His kingdom or His people. Because of God’s reign and
supremacy, His kingdom and people will never be moved or removed from where He
established it. This verse sums up what God wants His children to remember. Fear
not, for God is with you; He is sovereign.
With verse six, we find the writer used a clever writing
technique. The psalmist compares nations and kingdoms with earth’s calamities
of verses two and three. In verse six, He wrote, “Nations rage, kingdoms
crumble; the earth melts when God lifts His voice.” Just as God masters the
earth, mountains, and water (all creation), so He masters nations and kingdom
(again creation). Like God causes the earth to crumble, mountains to slide into
the ocean, and seas to roar violently, He can cause this to nations and
kingdoms. He can cause them to fear and become faint with the sound of His
voice against them. These nations and kingdoms the psalmist wrote about are the
enemies of God’s people. These unsaved people will recognize their sin when
faced with God’s righteousness, omniscience, and power. For the Israelites, those
nations and kingdoms were Gentiles. For God’s saved children, the Gentile nations
and kingdoms are unsaved people unsaved, those who have not believed in Jesus
as the Messiah.
The psalmist, in verses seven through nine, refocused the
readers and hearers on who God has been and will be for them. He penned,
“The LORD of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Come see the work of the LORD, who brings devastation upon the earth. He makes wars cease throughout the earth; He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; He burns the shields in the fire.”
Yahweh (I AM) of Hosts is with His people now, just as He
was for our forefathers. For the Israelites at the time the psalmist wrote, God’s
people are “Jacob” in these verses. I AM will use all of creation—spiritual and
earthly—to defend you, keep you safe, and, by it, give you peace in the tumult
and in the calm. Recall what God has done in the past, the psalmist wrote. God commanded
desolations and the destruction of nations and kingdoms who rose against Him or
His people. And, just as God can destroy His enemies. He can break and burn the
tools of war. God does not just intervene in our battles and fights for us,
causing us to have peace. He uses non-aggressive means to end wars and battles that
strike and batter us.
Because you know of God from your forefathers and personal
experience and, because of the truths about God that people taught to you, you
can have confidence God is for you. He will help in whatever way He deems is
best for your whole being. Knowing (yada’) God like this leads to your stillness.
Only when you have peace from knowing that God is for you can you have the
peace to be still and know God deeper. We must know God to have stillness of
heart, mind, body, and spirit, regardless of opposition. This stillness
instills peace. This statement is circular. To know God, we must be still.
To be still, we must know God. From knowing God and being still with
Him, we have peace. In verse ten, the psalmist succinctly restated the most
important point of this psalm, knowing God.
Know comes from the Hebrew word yada’. Yada’
means more than that of our English verb to know. It includes perceiving,
recognizing, acknowledging, and confessing. Notice each level of knowing
is part of a continuum of progressing closeness in relationship, in this case, of
knowing God. With human relationships, we meet someone and grow in our connection
to the person to perceive he or she is in the room. This leads us to recognize
the person in a group. Our growth in relationship with that person eventually leads
us to acknowledge our relationship to the person. Finally, our relationship
with the person leads us to a confession of our closeness to the person. The
Korahite who wrote this psalm led the readers and hearers to recognize and/or
remember mighty occurrences from the past were by God’s hand. Next, He led the worshippers
to know God has the best in store for His children in His kingdom. God’s mercy
and salvation of His people comes with His victory over sin, guilt, and death. The
psalmist next led people to recall God is mightier than unsaved nations and
kingdoms. He reminds the readers and hearers God is sovereign over the
spiritual world, unbelieving people, and earth. This Korahite brought to the
minds of his congregants that God is supreme; no one is greater than Him. He is
ever-present and almighty. God interacts with all realms of creation since He
is supreme and Creator.
When we readers and hearers perceive, recognize, acknowledge,
and confess God and His sovereignty, then we can be still in our heart, mind, body,
and spirit. We perceive God is near and have peace, then declare His covering over
and guiding of us. Perceiving God is near leads us to recognize and acknowledge
with our mind, heart, and spirit that God moves in the world and our lives. Ultimately,
our growth in knowing God leads to us confessing with our mind, heart, body,
and spirit that God saved us from our sins, guilt, and death. Before achieving
stillness, we must know God in this way. Our relationship with God should
be one of growing closer to Him daily. Without our daily living out our
personal knowledge of God in our heart, mind, body, and spirit, a storm could toss
us. That storm could cause us to feel desperation, depression, anxiety,
fearful, chaotic, sad, morose, and overwhelmed. It could cause us to feel like
quitting. For this reason, the psalmist reminded us in verse one that God is
our refuge and strength. God is “an ever-present help in times of trouble.”
God used the psalmist to lead worshippers. Those worshippers
were the children of Israel. Today, believers in Jesus are the worshippers.
With the psalmist’s words, we grow to worship Him, our Rescuer, as verses ten
and eleven state. Verse ten is God declaring worship of Himself as our own
King, Savior, Rescuer, Defender, Provider, Shelter-giver, and Victor. Verse
eleven is each of God’s children proclaiming their testimony of Him.
Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted over the earth.
The LORD of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
What is our response?
God is my strength
and fortress. All my hope is in Him. No need to fear; God's exceedingly abundant
love is more than sufficient. God is Sovereign of creation—tangible and
intangible—and is worthy of all my praise and proclamation.
