God is our Refuge and Strength
Psalm 46
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be moved,
and though the mountains be toppled into the depths of the sea;
Though its waters rage and foam,
and though the mountains tremble at its tumult.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her;
she shall not be overthrown;
God shall help her at the break of day.
The nations make much ado, and the kingdoms are shaken;
God has spoken, and the earth shall melt away.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Come now and look upon the works of the Lord,
what awesome things he has done on earth.
It is he who makes war to cease in all the world;
he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear,
and burns the shields with fire.
“Be still, then, 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 stronghold.
When you are having one of those weeks or times in your life when you need to be reminded and reassured of God’s steadfast love and presence in your life, what is your go to scripture? What reminds you that God is ultimately in charge and that God has promised to never leave us or forsake us, and that we are never alone? For me, Psalm 46 always provides the grounding and balance I need when the “waters rage and foam” and “mountains tremble” around me.
Psalm 46 is the first of the songs of Zion, hymns that designate Jerusalem as the locus for the Lord’s relationship to the people and the world. It is famously captured in one of Martin Luther’s best-known hymns, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.”
In her book, Journey Through the Psalms, Denise Dombkowski Hopkins notes that, “The highest point within the city, the central, sacred mountain of God, was the order core, the place within which order originated and from which it emanated to the surrounding areas.” (page 52). Dombkowski Hopkins goes on to ask, “What would it mean especially for our cities blighted by poverty, crime, drugs, violence, and despair to recover the sense of the city as the point of contact between the divine and the human realms through which God’s blessing is mediated and in which God is especially present?”…”We would perhaps discover that it is not ‘us’ against ‘them,’ but that we are all ‘refugees’ seeking the ‘refuge’ of the God of Jacob; all of humanity is a ‘refugee.’ In that discovery awaits our humanity and wholeness and God’s realm.” (pages 57-58)
Sitting on top of Mount Saint Alban, Washington National Cathedral is located on one of the highest points in Washington, DC. On those days when I need to be reminded of God’s abiding presence, I can quietly sit on a bench in the Bishop’s Garden, look at this great Cathedral, remember Luther’s hymn “a mighty bulwark never failing,” and be still and know that God is God.
Blessings and in faith, Jan+
prayer
O God, with you is the well of life, and in your light we see light: Quench our thirst with living water, and flood our darkened minds with heavenly light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
—Collect for Tuesday in the Fourth Week of Lent, Lesser Feasts and Fasts, Fourth Edition, page 43