Life can bring trouble and turmoil to all of us. There are times that even God’s people can feel like the world is crashing down around them. That is precisely how the psalmist felt in Psalm 46:1-3. He says: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah”.
He describes his troubles as like the earth being removed, mountains shaking and falling into the sea, and the waters raging all around him. What a picturesque way of describing his troubles. Yet with all of this turmoil, he is at peace because God is his refuge and strength. He is not afraid because God is “a very present help”. Further on in the Psalm he describes God in verse 4,5: “There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn”. The Lord’s presence is like a peaceful flowing river in his life.
Have you ever felt like the earth is being removed from beneath your feet? Has some type of tragedy struck like a mountain falling on you? We often have a tendency to worry and panic when our world shakes. Yet the same help that the psalmist received is available to us today. God is right there promising to be our refuge and strength if we take shelter in Him. His presence can be that peaceful river in spite of our raging sea. The writer of Psalm 46 closes out by challenging us to: “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah”.