Psalm 46: 1-3, 7, 10 (NIV)
God is our refuge and strength, and 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. The Lord Almighty is with us, the God of Jacob is our fortress. He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
Martin Luther’s shabby cart wobbled its way to Worms, Germany, in April of 1521. He had been summoned to appear before the Emperor and Catholic authorities to give an account of this new “heresy” he was teaching called “justification by faith alone.” The learned Johann Eck laid out all of Luther’s writings and then asked Luther if he was prepared to recant. Luther retired to his room that night to think over his answer. He found himself confronted by Psalm 46. Luther returned the next morning to stand before his accusers. In response to their call to recant, Luther said:
“Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason—I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other—my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen.”
Psalm 46 was Martin Luther’s favorite Psalm. During the remarkably dangerous periods of the Reformation, Luther would turn to his trusted friend Philip Melanchthon and exclaim: “Let’s sing the 46th Psalm, and let the devil do his worst!” It inspired his great hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.” Psalm 46 is a defiant psalm of trust – not in our own abilities or in those of any powerful or influential people we may know, but in God alone. The psalm writer references the most harrowing natural disasters he can think of to bring us to the point where we can cry, “But God!” It is a cry of resolute trust in the face of seemingly impossible odds, simply based on the fact that the Creator God of the Universe is YOUR God through faith in Christ. That is why we will not fear (v. 2). That is why we can have a peace that surpasses natural understanding (Phil. 4:7).
It is interesting to note the phrase, “The God of Jacob is our fortress.” Jacob was not exactly a picture of faith and godliness. His very name meant “heel catcher,” “trickster,” or “supplanter.” Put that on your personalized license plate! But despite his spotty resume, God loved him and had a close relationship with him. The God of broken Jacob is the God of Broken You and Broken Me. He is our fortress despite our weakness. He is on our side not because we deserve it or have earned it, but simply because He loves us that much. If you are a parent, you know something of that reality.
Finally, the psalm writer turns to God himself to remind us why the verses of this psalm ring as true. God calls out to us in our fear and distress as if to say, “Time out! Look at me! Don’t focus on the maelstrom around you! Just focus on me!” In verse 10 God says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” The weight of that statement is oftentimes easy to overlook. He spoke all of creation into existence. He designed it, He ordered it. He is outside of it and over it. He can do with it as He wills. His intellect is completely outside human ability to contemplate accurately. He is the unmoved mover. He is the uncreated creator. He operates in the “unbounded now” as C.S. Lewis called it, completely unrestrained by any notion of time and space. In the midst of your trials and tribulations, “Be still,” and try to grasp the enormity of who it is that will never leave you nor forsake you (Deut. 31:6). A mighty fortress is our God, indeed.
