A psalm for our times

  God is our refuge and strength,

    an ever-present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
³ though its waters roar and foam
    and the mountains quake with their surging.^]

⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy place where the Most High dwells.
⁵ God is within her, she will not fall;
    God will help her at break of day.
⁶ Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
    he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

⁷ The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

⁸ Come and see what the Lord has done,
    the desolations he has brought on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease
    to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the shields with fire.
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. Psalm 46

If ever there was a psalm that could be called “a psalm for our times”, this surely is it. The title (which I have left out) links it to no particular moment in history, so, while it is set in the context of ancient Israel, it has a universal, timeless quality: it could be any time and any place.

It could be today.

If we think we are going through troubling and disturbing times – the pandemic, political instability around the world, Afghanistan, floods, heat waves, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions – how much more the psalmist? “Nations are in uproar”, he says, “kingdoms fall” (verse 6). He speaks of  “desolations” on the earth (verse 8), of the earth “giving way”, of mountains “falling into the heart of the sea” and “quaking”, of waters “roaring and foaming” (verses 2-3).

Highly poetic language, of course – but all the more frightening for that. The psalmist is obviously a seriously shaken man. So what better psalm could we ask for if that is also the way we feel as we look out on our world in 2021?

What matters most about Psalm 46 is that, in spite of this unflinching realism, it is a song of faith. Yes, really! And not some soggy, insipid faith – “Well, let’s just keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best” – but a solid, rock-like faith. The psalm is punctuated with triumphant declarations of this faith.

It’s there right at the start, in verse 1: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble”. Then again in verse 7: “The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress”. And the same words repeated to round off the psalm in verse 11.

The difference, of course, is that the writer’s faith is rooted fairly and squarely in the almighty, eternal, all-powerful and all-knowing God, the one true God, the God known to us as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And that changes everything.

What truths about God does the psalmist rejoice in, truths that can still be our comfort and hope in 2021?

First, he is “an ever-present help in trouble”; he is “our refuge and strength” (verse1).

People advertising their wares sometimes claim to be “available 24-7”. Well, perhaps. But no-one could be more 24-7 than God! He “neither slumbers nor sleeps” (Psalm 121:4). He is always on the end of the believer’s cry for help.

We have to be very honest here and recognise that it doesn’t always seem that way. I have a friend who, at the moment, is crying out to God in desperate need, and who seems to get nothing back but stony silence. It would be dishonest (not to mention impossible anyway) to “put on a happy face” and pretend that everything is fine. But Psalm 46:1 remains true, and time will prove it true, even when “faith” has been a matter of clinging on by one’s fingernails.

(The Bible itself recognises this reality. I must admit that I can’t resist a smile when I read Psalm 44, just two ahead of this one. Was it, I wonder, the same “son of Korah” who wrote it? - and who pleaded with God: “Awake, Lord! Why do you sleep?”, verse 23.)

Second, God lives among his people: there is a “holy place where the Most High dwells” (verse 4).

This is not a reference to heaven, but to the temple in Jerusalem, a place of prayer, worship and sacrifice. It has, of course, been replaced now by Jesus himself, and by his body, the church. And that body is permanently refreshed by “a river whose streams make glad the city of God”, known to us as the Holy Spirit.

From the days when Moses and the people of Israel erected their portable shrine, the “tabernacle”, God has always had a visible “dwelling-place” among his people. The church today may not be such an easily seen “temple”, but it will remain until Christ returns in glory, and we are united in the heavenly Jerusalem (Revelation 21:1-5). And while God can be found by those who seek him in any place and at any time, his presence is specially real in the community of his people: the church.

Third, God is the bringer of peace: “he makes wars to cease to the ends of the earth” (verse 9).

As we all know only too well, the psalmist here can only be looking to the future; but he is so certain of what he says that he uses the present tense. A day is to come when not only will bows be broken and spears shattered, but tanks and warplanes, missiles and bullets, bombs and rocket-launchers will be redundant.

And God speaks: “Be still, and know that I am God”. Is that a soothing message of comfort, or a triumphant shout of authority? Is it addressed to the trembling but trusting believer, or to the powers of evil and darkness? Why not both?

But I’ll tell you what it reminds me of: Jesus standing up in the boat as the storm rages: “ ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind died down, and it was completely calm” (Mark 5:35-41). 

Yes, our world does indeed seem chaotic, as it did for the psalmist. But the last word is with God himself: “I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth”.

Anxious Christian, hold on to that!

Oh God, when I feel anxious for myself, for my loved ones, for those among whom I live, for my country, and for this whole troubled and hurting world, please grant me the peace of God that passes all understanding, and the wisdom and strength to do all that I can to make known to others the hope and love which are to be found only in Jesus. Amen.