A Mighty Fortress is Our God
Psalm 46
To the leader. Of the Korahites. According to Alamoth. A Song.
1 God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;
God will help it when the morning dawns.
6 The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
8 Come, behold the works of the Lord;
see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end 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 am exalted among the nations,
I am exalted in the earth.’
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
From this psalm Martin Luther penned “A Mighty Fortress is our God.” Luther was in a difficult place when he wrote the hymn. Challenged and threatened from a number of sources, the words of Psalm 46 spoke hope to him.
Three times in the psalm God is declared to be our refuge – our place of safety, where we can go when the way is hard and difficult. God our refuge is not a place we run to in order to hide from the challenges of life. Instead God our refuge joins us in the challenges, God is present with us (vs. 1). In vs. 5, God will help when morning dawns. When morning comes and we dread getting up to face the day, the promise is that God is with us as our help.
A second theme runs in the psalm – when the world changes (vs. 2), when nations are in uproar (vs. 6), when wars take place (vs. 9) – God is not stopped by these things. God’s purposes in the reconciliation of all things will be realized.
We live in a world that is changing, nations are in uproar, the news of war dominates much of our media’s attention – and we begin to fear. But the writer of the Psalm, and this is what Luther heard clearly in the psalm, calls us to not be afraid. “We will not fear,” rather we will replace the anxiety-driven hyperactivity that goes along with fear, with being still and knowing that God is God. The response to fear is the calm assurance that God is, and we can be still and trust God.
PRAYER:
God our refuge and strength, we rejoice that you are God. Teach us to be still and know that you are God even as we see around us change, turmoil and war. May our trust in you overpower the fear we feel. We rejoice that you are with us, now and in the days to come. In Jesus’ name. Amen.