The footage of the flash floods in Nepal recently were shocking. From peace and calm to disaster in moments. Disaster often strikes without warning, whether an earthquake, eruption, or flash flood, or an attack by physical or spiritual forces. Where will we turn when our world comes crashing down?
Psalm 46 gives us the answer. God is our refuge when disaster strikes. Whether it is cosmic forces, elements of nature, domestic turmoil, or the attack of a foe, we need not fear. Why? For God is our shelter.
The origin of this Psalm is not known for certain, but some terrible crisis has come upon Israel. Despite this crisis, God delivered his people from the tempest, and this psalm was their thankful response.
The psalm begins by the psalmist reminding that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (v.1). God is where his own people find shelter and protection.
This protection extends even when the world comes crashing down, when even the elements of nature seem to be on the march. “We will not fear” because God is our refuge, even if the earth looks like it will collapse, and the mountains will be covered by the sea as they were in the days of Noah’s flood (v.2).
The terrible events are like the powerful waves roaring and foaming in a storm, and the mountains trembling (v.3). Even if the world as the psalmist knows it is trembling, even if the world as God has made it seems to be crashing down. They will not fear, for God is their refuge.
But this psalm does not just apply to disaster. It applies to domestic turmoil and the attacks of foes as well.
The psalmist speaks of a “river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High” (v.4). There is no such river in Jerusalem. This river of joy speaks of the Garden of Eden, picturing God’s presence in his holy city (Jerusalem) as being like the peaceful paradise of Eden.
It is Edenic because “God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns” (v.5). It is not the walls and towers that keep her safe, it is God’s presence there as the ultimate fortress (v.7).
Because of God’s presence, “the nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts” (v.6). God only needs to raise his voice and speak, and those that dare attack his people totter and melt away.
In the psalm’s final part, we are reminded of the power that pushes away the storms of life. It is not our own strength, juiced up with an infusion of God. It is God intervening and acting to bring decisive victory.
The psalmist invites us to “come, behold the works of the LORD, how he has brought desolations on the earth” (v.8). The desolation God brings is not the violence of a weapon of mass destruction, it is the destruction of war and its weapons.
God “makes wars to cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the vow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire” (v.9). He does not do this by misappropriating a country’s military might, but by destroying the very means of making war. From gun to tank, all are destroyed. In its place is worldwide peace.
“Be still, and know that I am God” (v.10) does not mean to be quiet, but a command to the nations to abandon their arms and stop resisting God, because “I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” (v.10).
The final verse reminds us of the key message of this psalm. Where do we go when disaster strikes? To “the God of Jacob … our fortress”, our covenant God of heaven’s armies who is with us (v.11).
God’s redemption is cosmic because God is the Creator. His sphere is not limited to one physical place, because God dwells everywhere (Isaiah 66:1-2). Yet God is not just everywhere, he has come to specially dwell with us in Jesus (John 1:14) and now through his Holy Spirit.
The promise of God as a refuge when disaster strikes is a promise that we are safe not because we flee somewhere, but because we flee to someone. Through the Cross, God reconciled himself to us in Christ, so we could flee to him and find refuge for our weary souls.
Because God has appointed Christ as King over all, every nation will one day bow before Jesus and acknowledge him as king, to the glory of God the Father. Then, every weapon will be destroyed and every rebellious act stilled.
In Christ, our refuge, we find rest and living waters that flow to make God’s people glad, dwelling with God under his rule the world over. With God in our midst, we will not be moved, even when disaster strikes. For God is our shelter.