God is refuge and strength. Therefore fear is refused even if the earth gives way and mountains fall into the heart of the sea. A river gladdens the city of God. Nations rage; He makes wars cease. Be still, and know that He is God. Shaking and security are held together.
1God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2Therefore we won’t be afraid, though the earth changes, though the mountains are shaken into the heart of the seas;
3though its waters roar and are troubled, though the mountains tremble with their swelling. Selah.
4There is a river, the streams of which make the city of God glad, the holy place of the tents of the Most High.
5God is within her. She shall not be moved. God will help her at dawn.
6The nations raged. The kingdoms were moved. He lifted his voice, and the earth melted.
7Yahweh of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
8Come, see Yahweh’s works, what desolations he has made in the earth.
9He makes wars cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow, and shatters the spear. He burns the chariots in the fire.
10“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.”
11Yahweh of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
Psalm 46 and Hebrews 12 speak the same language. What is shaken is what can be shaken — things that have been made. What remains is the unshakable kingdom. The city that remains is the New Jerusalem reality Hebrews already says the readers have come to. God is still refuge when nations rage; the city is not secured by rebuilding the shaken system.
Be still — not because nothing shakes, but because He is God, exalted among the nations. The unshakable kingdom is received with gratitude now.
When the earth under my feet feels moved, am I clinging to what God has already marked for removal — or to the city He inhabits?