God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
God is a refuge and a very present help, right now, in this trouble.
Psalm 46
Psalm 46 is a song of confidence for when the world is shaking. It begins “God is our refuge and strength”, holds the line “Be still, and know that I am God”, and inspired Martin Luther’s hymn A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.
Psalm 46 · King James Version
1God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
3Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.
4There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
5God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.
6The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.
7The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
8Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth.
9He 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.
10Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
11The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.
God is in the midst of His city, and it will not be moved. Help comes at the break of day.
The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
The psalm’s refrain: the Lord of hosts is with us, and the God of Jacob is our refuge.
Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
Spoken over a world in uproar: stop striving and remember who God is. You do not have to hold everything together.
What Psalm 46 means
Psalm 46 is built in three stanzas, each closed by Selah. Verses 1-3: the natural world comes apart, the earth removed, mountains carried into the sea, waters roaring. Verses 4-7: in the middle of it, the city of God stands firm. Verses 8-11: the nations rage, and God ends their wars. Twice a refrain answers all of it: “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.” Many scholars think it was once sung after verse 3 as well.
The centre of the psalm is quiet: “There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God.” Jerusalem had no river, only a spring and channels of water. The river is God’s own presence, a picture that runs through the Bible to the “pure river of water of life” in Revelation 22:1. Against roaring seas stands a gentle stream; against shaking mountains, a city that “shall not be moved”, because “God is in the midst of her”.
Verse 5 is often quoted as a verse about women: “God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved”. In the psalm, “her” is the city of God, Jerusalem, and with it God’s people. It is a fair thing to pray over a woman, as long as the promise is read the way the psalm makes it: God present in the middle of trouble, not the absence of trouble. Help comes “right early”, at the break of day, and many readers recall here the morning Jerusalem woke to find the Assyrian army that besieged it struck down (2 Kings 19:35).
Verse 10 comes right after God “maketh wars to cease”, breaking the bow and burning the chariot. “Be still” is spoken first to the raging nations: stop fighting, and know who is God. God’s people have long heard it as said to them too: stop panicking, and trust Him. It is a good verse for quiet prayer, but it is not a command to feel calm, and the psalm never blames anyone for being shaken. It describes the shaking first, and then it sings.
Christians often turn to Psalm 46 after disasters, in wartime and at funerals. Its refrain is a good place to begin praying it: say “The Lord of hosts is with us” slowly, and name what is shaking around you.
A prayer
God, You are our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. When the ground moves under me and the waters roar, I will not fear, because You are in the midst. Let the river of Your presence make my heart glad. Help me early, at the break of day. Teach me to be still and to know that You are God. Lord of hosts, be with us; God of Jacob, be our refuge. Amen.
Related verses
The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.
At the edge of the sea, with an army behind them, God told a frightened people that He would fight for them.
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
A promise to lean on, not a test to pass: God Himself keeps in peace the one who leans on Him.
Questions people ask
What is Psalm 46 used for?
It is read and prayed in times of upheaval: disasters, war, illness, public fear and grief. Many also use verse 10 for quiet prayer.
What does “Be still, and know that I am God” mean?
In context it means stop striving and recognize who is God. It is said first to warring nations; believers also hear it as said to them: let go, stop panicking, and trust Him.
Who wrote Psalm 46?
Its heading assigns it to the sons of Korah, a family of temple musicians. It names no author or date; many readers link it to Jerusalem’s deliverance in King Hezekiah’s time (2 Kings 19).
Why is it Psalm 45 in some Catholic Bibles?
Because some translations follow the numbering of the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate, which join Psalms 9 and 10. The text is the same psalm.
Is Psalm 46:5 about a woman?
Not first. “Her” is the city of God, Jerusalem. The verse is often prayed over women, and that can be a blessing, as long as it is read as the psalm means it: God present in trouble, not a promise that trouble will not come.
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