Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from Ps 46:1-2 and following. Indeed, how many believers in distress have had the precious experience of verse 1. At the time of trial, and especially at the time of temptation, the young Christian must not forget that he has at his disposal this refuge, this strength, this help that is always easy to find. Such resources are not in himself, nor in the good resolutions he has made, but in God, in other words in His communion!
Core had been engulfed alive by an earthly upheaval by God, such as those suggested in verset 2. But his sons were saved, and so will the believers of the Jewish residue. They will be safe because their shelter is none other than Jehovah Himself (Ps 91:9-16). What a contrast to the men of the earth during the same apocalyptic period (Luke 21:20-28 and Rev 6:12-17)! Faced with these foaming and moaning waters of judgment (verse 3), God reminds us that there is a river of grace spreading in generous streams, that is, in multiple manifestations, which “rejoice the city of God” and those who find refuge there. The end of the psalm shows us the faithful peacefully assisting from their “high retreat” in the fulfillment of God’s last judgments.
As a natural consequence of the second coming that has just been celebrated or anticipated, the complaint of the residue changes here into joy and praise. God has now become their refuge. By his arm, the enemy was silenced. Peace flows like a river, and spears are forged in serps. The mountain, according to Mat 21:21, was thrown into the sea, while the elect stood quiet, and they now remember all this. Fear no longer reaches them. They can talk about the waters that delight them, instead of the ones that engulf them. They can triumph in devastation, instead of dying; for none other than God himself has been their refuge. “Where is your God?” was the enemy’s challenge, and the answer is given to him in the triumph of this psalm. For the judgments of the ungodly precede the establishment of the kingdom, as this psalm and all scripture teach us; for soon justice will associate itself with power, and then evil will be judged; after which the whole earth will be under a scepter of peace. Justice will first take the sword and then the scepter.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
The Lord is with us:
· God our strength
Ps 46:2 God is for us a refuge and a support, a help that is never lacking in distress. Ps 73:26 My flesh and heart can be consumed: God will always be the rock of my heart and my sharing. Ps 81:2 Sing with joy to God, our strength! Cry out with joy to Jacob’s God! Ps 84:6 Blessed are those who place their support in you! They find in their hearts paths all mapped out.
· Earthquakes
Ex 19:18 The mountain of Sinai was all in smoke, because the Lord had descended into it in the midst of the fire; this smoke rose like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled with violence. 1 Sam 14:15 Terror spread to the camp, to the land and among all the people; the post and those who ravaged were also seized with fear; the country was in terror. It was like a terror of God. 1 Kings 19:11 Jehovah said, Go out, and stand in the mountain before the Lord! And behold, the Lord passed. And before the Lord, there was a strong and violent wind that tore through the mountains and broke the rocks: the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, it was an earthquake: Jehovah was not in the earthquake. Ps 47:3 For the Lord, the Most High, is fearsome, He is a great king on all the earth.
· Spiritual rivers, symbols of divine blessings
Ps 36:9 They are satiated with the abundance of your house, and you water them in the torrent of your delights. Ps 46:5 There is a river whose currents rejoice the city of God, the sanctuary of the dwellings of the Most High. Isa 48:18 Oh! if you were attentive to my commandments! Your well-being would be like a river, and your happiness like the waves of the sea; Ez 47:5 He measured another thousand cubits; it was a torrent that I could not cross, for the water was so deep that it was necessary to swim in it; it was a torrent that could not be crossed. Rev 22:1 And he showed me a river of water of life, crystal clear, coming out of the throne of God and the lamb.
· Social peace foretold by the prophets
Isa 2:4 He shall be the judge of nations, the arbiter of many peoples. From their swords they will forge nuclei, And from their spears serpes: One nation will no longer draw the sword against another, And one will no longer learn war. Isaiah 11:9 There will be no harm or damage on all my holy mountain; For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, like the bottom of the sea by the waters that cover it. Mi 4.4 They shall each dwell under his vine and under his fig tree, and there shall be no one to disturb them; For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. Zec 9:10 I will destroy the chariots of Ephraim, And the horses of Jerusalem; And the arcs of war will be annihilated. He will announce peace to the nations, and he will dominate from one sea to another, from the river to the ends of the earth.
From all of the above, we note that now that the Messiah has appeared in glory, the remnant can celebrate what God is to his people; he can celebrate it with the special knowledge he has gained of what He was to him in the time of distress. For there may still be an attack to suffer, and indeed, according to prophecy, there will be one. But as the full effect of the coming of the Messiah as a blessing is celebrated in Ps 45, the 46th celebrates the great result according to God’s government. The faithful residue has Jehovah with him as the God of Jacob (verse 7), here especially as refuge and deliverance; we will understand the why, after the study we have just done. When the earth trembles, the mountains topple down, and the waters graze and scour, his people have nothing to fear: God is with him. This is not all: his holy city on earth, the holy place where the Most High dwells, the tabernacles of God, are rejoiced by the river which, in these descriptions, here and elsewhere, is the image of blessing, and which is found with the same meaning, either in the heavenly Jerusalem (Rev 22:1) or in the earthly Jerusalem (Ezekiel 47), either in paradise or in the believer and in the Church who invites the thirsty to drink the water of life (Rev. 22:17). Even then, this river rejoices the city of God; God is there— the safest and most excellent answer to the insulting question, “Where is your God?” in Ps 42:10. The city of the Sovereign will not be shaken, but will be rescued at morning. Verse 6 presents to us, with magnificent power, the great result of divine intervention; everything is decided. Then the faithful say, “The Lord of hosts (Jehovah Sabaoth) is with us”; the God of all the people is the high retreat of this poor residue. In verses 8 and 9, the Saints invite the earth to contemplate the high deeds of Jehovah, the end of the helpless rage of men and all their efforts, for he will be exalted among the nations and by the whole earth. May faith be quiet and expect him, and know that he is God, as the residue of Jacob will joyfully recognize that the Lord of hosts, the God of Jacob, is with him. Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow “Victory over kings – Zion, the city of the great King.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.