Devotion

Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

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; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Come and see what the Lord has done,   the desolations he has brought on the earth.

He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth.He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;   he burns the shields[d] with fire.

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;   I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

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

Psalm 46 was likely to have been written during a time of conflict, when Jerusalem was under some threat. It has a very confident tone throughout its eleven verses - it is a psalm of robust faith!  It is clear that this confidence is well and truly based on the sovereignty of God - His power over all, and His active commitment to the welfare of His people. 

Of course, the opposite of faith is fear, and this is actively rejected by the worshippers in the psalm in verse 2. We see the contrast between the peace in the city and all that is happening around it. The climax of the psalm is reached in verse 10 with 'Be still and know that I am God'. This points us to the universal peace that we enjoy in God, that God gives to us. What a wonderful thing to be thankful for - the universal peace and sense of calmness that we enjoy in our faith in God! 

God, we continue to thank you for your word in the Psalms. We thank you for the way that you watch over us and grant us a sense of peace, confident in you through out faith. We praise you for this great blessing. Amen. 

Will Wallace

Principal