Times of business, chaos, difficulty and trial often feel like they are pushing us to our limits. Sometimes they take us beyond our actual limits. We can feel as though we won't make it or like our particular trial will never come to an end. It is in a backdrop like this that Psalm 46 was written:
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 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.
I just wanted to take a minute to remind all of us that it is only in our times of difficulty that we can experience God as our "ever-present help." What a joy, after years of doing things on our own, wandering from God's love, to know that in our trials He is there with us, never leaving our side.
Through the psalm, the nearness of God is emphasized. While the world is shaking, mountains are crumbling, and wars are raging, there is God as a refuge. In times of stress, our flesh tempts us to find relief in other ways, but always there, as an oasis of peace, is our ever-present Father wanting to give us the rest our souls so deeply need. In those times He tells us, "Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
Don't neglect the stillness of God. Open your eyes and see the exaltation of God in the earth, and let your heart be at rest in Him. He is your refuge. He is your ever-present help in times of trouble. He is our fortress. He is with us.
Shalom.
Essene Press Team
