Does it ever seem like your world is falling apart? You’re stuck with Susan at work and she is making work hellish or you’re in a constant state of fear that a test result is going to come back the wrong way or you’re experiencing painful loss? The psalmist starts Psalm 46 with the truth that God is our refuge and strength and help in trouble. As believers, we instinctively nod our head and say, “of course!” God loves us and helps us when trouble comes, but the psalmist then goes out to specify the really troubling conditions during which God will actually be our refuge and strength. He paints a picture of mountains trembling and moving into a roaring and foaming sea. It is a picture of utter confusion and unrest. I can barely comprehend how terrifying it would be to see in real life the picture the psalmist is painting. But, if God is our refuge and strength even through the actual destruction of the earth, we can believe that God will be a refuge through the immense pain of job loss, break-ups, the death of a loved one, health crises, and other loss. The key to not fearing in the face of calamity is anchoring ourselves in verse 1 – “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
The middle part of this psalm looks at God’s presence in Zion. In stark juxtaposition to the roaring and foaming sea in the first part of this psalm, the psalmist now paints a picture of a river gently flowing through the city of God. God’s presence brings peace and life. And, we see that like in the first part of the psalm, God is still a refuge and strength in the midst of the attacks from foreign kingdoms. As he protected and preserved Jacob, he also would protect the Israelites and He still protects us to this day. He is our peace and our protector.
The last part of this psalm is about God’s exaltation. The psalmist asks us to behold the works of the Lord and lists the things that God has done the readers could relate to. Remembering what God has done is a practice we shouldn’t just leave to the psalmist. We can anchor ourselves more fully in the truth that God is our refuge and strength when we remember what God has done in our life. Through our story, the highs and lows, we can hear God clearly saying, “be still and know that I am God… I am with you… I am your refuge.” As we increase the frequency with which we remember how God has protected us when our world is falling apart, we more readily remember he is refuge and strength when new troubles arise.
—Alix Jamison