This is part of the New Song Series; short choruses drawn from Scripture, each one taking a passage of God’s Word and setting its central hope to song, so that truth can be carried with us throughout the week.
Psalm 46 begins with words that have brought comfort to God’s people for generations:
“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”
So the questions is: What trouble are you going through?
This psalm is speaking to the person whose life is not the calm and pleasant one. The language is almost the opposite of calm:
The earth gives way, mountains fall into the sea, nations rage, Kingdoms rise and fall.
This is an uncertain world, with shake-able foundations, and the thing that stound out to me in it all is this:
God is not, the reality of Christ, is not. That is where I want to anchor my heart within the tension of life as it is today.
More than that, I want to find sanctuary in His word, in His presence, in what He is building, because I have had my measure of popularity, and success, where approval from those around us holds us steady and “well.” But this is not where the psalm is bringing us, because God is calling us to find our refuge in Him over anything else.
So are your securities being shaken? Your comforts? Perhaps your understanding of how life works? Your relationships? Your community? Your finance or your health?
I can say yes to a few of these points, and somehow when I look at this psalm and sing the song I am not ashamed, neither afraid, but grateful.
The psalm says that “God is within her; she will not fall. God will help her at break of day.”
I love that picture and sing it with all my heart, because we might be in the long ‘night season’, but when God is in it we can trust in the coming of dawn.
As followers of Jesus, we don’t have to be driven by fear or carried along by every change around us.
We are free to live faithfully, to love our neighbour, to do what is right, to seek God’s kingdom first, and to trust Him with the things we cannot control.
So if you have a moment, read Psalm 46, sing this song with me … and let’s remember that our confidence is not in ourselves, but God has given us faith in Him to keep going through it all.
Let’s pray,
Thank you Father that you are at work even within the hardest circumstances, and that I can turn to you, and know that you are with me in the storm.
I choose to trust in you. Thank you for Christ Jesus who came to show me the way of love, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Thank you for precious faith, in Christ who is above all things and who cares for me.
Strengthen my resolve to remain faithful in these times, in You is my sanctuary! Amen
May you have a wonderful day
