Day 8: Psalm 46
The Passage for the Day
For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth. A song.
1 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 “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.
Points of interest:
· ‘According to alamoth’—no one really knows anymore what ‘alamoth’ is. The commentaries helpfully tell us that it’s probably some sort of musical term.
· ‘our refuge and strength’—I believe the ‘our’ here refers to the Israelites, or even more specifically the residents of Jerusalem, the capital city and the site of the temple.
· ‘There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God’—this reminds me of Genesis 1, our passage from the first day of the guide. Everything is an empty, wet chaos until God gets involved; but where God is, things are very good. In fact, this psalm reminds me even more of Genesis 2, when God creates the Garden of Eden (in which a multi-streamed river also features prominently). I think the psalmist is presenting Jerusalem as a new Garden of Eden: a well-situated, pleasant, and peaceful place when everywhere else is pretty scary.
· ‘Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall’—it turns out that natural disasters aren’t really the problem. The floods, earthquakes, tidal waves, and landslides from earlier in the psalm are metaphors for turmoil in society, politics, and international relations.
· ‘the desolations he has brought’—interestingly, the psalmist is most impressed with, and wants everyone to know about, God’s incredible power to destroy. Even more interestingly, it turns out that God uses that destructive power to destroy war. It’s like God is the natural disaster of natural disasters; God destroys the destructive power of those earthquakes and floods from earlier.
· ‘I will be exalted among the nations’—the psalmist is testifying specifically to the peace God has brought to Jerusalem, but it’s a benefit God can give to other nations as well. In fact, the psalmist promises that God will, in fact, bring peace everywhere. After all, this psalm tells us that peace comes wherever God lives; and, as Solomon said in his prayer at the temple, God is far too big to dwell in one little place.
Taking it home:
· For you: Take a moment today and try to sit still and silent, even if for just a minute. Our lives are so busy and noisy that this can be surprisingly hard to do. It can also be surprisingly refreshing. When we are still, it can be easier to hear from and connect with God. After your moment of stillness, reflect on how it went: Was it hard to quiet down? Did any feelings or thoughts come to the surface? Were you bombarded by a running list of to-do items or reminded of a particular situation you are anxious about? Lift those things up to God.
· For your six: Is there tumult in the lives of any of your six? Ask God to give them a respite. Pray that they would have peace and calm.
. For America: Regardless of your views are on war, ask that God would not only put a complete end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but that God would also restore all the lives that have been affected. Pray that our nation would be able to live at peace with other nations. Ask God that any hatred we have towards other nations or hatred that other nations have towards us would somehow be replaced with peace and love.
March 9th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
When I read this:
“There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
The LORD Almighty is with us”
I think about Jesus in the well with the Samaritan woman when he said to her “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14). In this Psalm, I feel when we are desperate to spend time with the Lord but we do not see or hear him due to our afflictions that take over any of our understanding for what God wants. However, the Lord is offering everlasting life in our hearts through streams of life. I am also touch knowing that the Lord dwells in us and is with us.
For me this river represents those moments when I feel God’s presence streaming through me bringing peace and comfort. When God reminds me of his love and dreams for me in which I can stand firm knowing he is with me no matter what happen around me. However, ordinarily I am like the Samaritan woman who is not be able to see who is in my face. Therefore, when the psalmist reminds me that “The Lord almighty is with us” I can stop to thank God for his grace and reflect what he has done and is doing for me.