READ PSALM 46
Psalm 46:1-11 is a Psalm about seeking refuge in the LORD as a sanctuary presence.
Context: The context of this psalm is that it has Zion as its setting. Zion is often shorthand for the entire city of Jerusalem, which contained the Temple, the dwelling place of God. The general idea of this Psalm is that God’s people take refuge in his sanctuary presence. Worshipping God and taking refuge in God are united for the Psalmist. It would not cross his mind to imagine taking refuge in God while not worshipping him.
Observations: Although the imagery that the psalmist uses has to do with mountains and is clearly depicting Jerusalem, there is a developing sense that it is not in the city that the Psalmist enjoys refuge, but in God. God is in the midst of the city and in Psalm 46:7 it is no longer the features of the city that are prominent in the Psalmist’s mind, but the LORD takes on the characteristics of fortress. All of these images are set in contrast to the looming threat and trouble that seem to come out of the foundations of the earth. To imagine yourself in this setting would produce extreme feelings of uncertainty and anxiety, the very earth is trembling and seems to be unstable. The mountains (higher than Zion in Jerusalem) end up in the sea and the sea ends up boiling up over the shore. Verses 2 and 3 are set in contrast to verses 4 and 5. In the midst of all of this chaos, there is a peaceful river “a sign and seal of God’s refuge, a salvific order that pulses through the city as flowing streams, the very streams longed for in Psalm 42 and re-channeled in Psalm 1 through God’s Word”. Verses 8-11 conclude the Psalm by portraying the LORD as in control of everything. It is at his voice that the earth quakes and trembles. It is at his command that desolations come upon the earth. He is fully in control and overcomes all earthly power.
Meaning: The LORD is our only security, and the insecurity of the world only serves to show us how beautiful and peaceful the LORD is.
Application: In the midst of great fear, this Psalm calls us to consider the immovability of the LORD even in the midst of cosmic uproar. The Psalmist wants us to seek refuge in the LORD. “Seeking refuge reflects a more general and desperate desire to enter into God’s protective presence, established but by no means bounded by Zion’s physical parameters…in the cry of distress, God is made manifest by a sanctuary presence that knows no spatial, geographical, or temporal bounds.”
QUESTIONS
What do you think of when you hear the word sanctuary?
What do the “earth giving way” and “waters roar and foam” symbolize? What specifically has this effect in your life right now?
What are some reasons that streams are so often associated with salvation? Where else do you see water tied to salvation in Scripture?
What are some practical ways that we can “be still and know that I am God”? In what ways is this hard for you right now? What might help?
How does thinking about God as the one who brings desolations on the earth challenge your conception of God?
How is the exaltation of God related to our stillness in him?