God’s people may count themselves safe and make themselves strong in Him in whom there is always help sufficient,
no matter what is the case and exigence.
Psalm 1
1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.
4 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.
6 The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.
7 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
8 Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth.
9 He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.
10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
11 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
Psalm 1 – J. Vernon McGee
Psalm 46 – “Our Refuge and Strength”
The historical origin of this psalm cannot be certainly determined. Probably it was composed when Jerusalem was beleaguered by Sennacherib’s hosts, II Kings 18. It befits every era in which the Church is in danger from her foes, and foretells the final destruction of Antichrist. It was Luther’s favorite psalm, and is rendered into verse in his memorable hymn, Ein’ Feste Burg. “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”. During the sitting of the Diet of Augsburg he sang it every day to his lute, standing at the window and looking up to heaven. The theme of the psalm is the security of God’s people, and this is elaborated in three stanzas, each of which ends with Selah.
Alone among great cities, Jerusalem lacked a river; but God was willing to become all that a river could be and more. Your deficiencies give more room for God’s all-sufficiency. Your sorrow is limited to a single night. See also Isaiah 37:36; Matthew 14:25. Be still, O troubled heart! The God of the nations is your Father! Desolations are the snapping off of the dead branches to prepare for the spring. —Through the Bible Day by Day
Psalm 46:9—He maketh wars to cease.
“My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword” (Psalm 57:4). Such is the frequent confession of the child of God. Hemmed in by foes, the butt of vehement hate! But the moment comes at length when God arises to deliver. He utters his voice—the earth melts. In the night the enemy has wrapped up his tents and stolen silently away. War has ceased, and all the land of life lies plain and open.
God makes the wars of the outward life cease, so that as life’s afternoon comes the man who had fought his way through overwhelming odds—as a reformer, or inventor, or philanthropist—spends his years amid troops of friends and loving recognition.
God makes the wars of the home cease, so that the disturbing elements pass out, or are transmuted by invincible patience and love.
God makes the wars of the heart cease, so that Satan no longer annoys. The storm dies down, and the river which makes glad the city of God purls quietly through the soul. Sennacherib and his vast array lie as the leaves of autumn, silent in the last sleep.
If as yet God has not made your wars to cease, it is because He knows that you have still strength to fight on. Do not faint in the day of battle. Ponder those great words of Cromwell: “Call not your burden sad or heavy, for if your Heavenly Father sent it (or permitted it) He intended it to be neither.” It is through the fight that you are winning experience, strength, the approval of your Captain, and the crown. —Our Daily Homily
