God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble. Therefore, we will not be afraid, though the earth trembles and the mountains topple into the depths of the seas, though its waters roars and foams and the mountains quake with its turmoil. 46:1-3
These verses really speak for themselves. God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in trouble. We typically push past these verses with quiet thankfulness, but no real depth of understanding because we rarely know “real” trouble. Then something like a worldwide pandemic hits and these verses take on a new and deeper meaning. I mean we have always known He is with us and we have always known there are times of trouble. But, I don’t know if we ever envisioned trouble on this scale and that is why it is so refreshing to look at this Psalm in the light of our current context.
No matter what happens, no matter how climactic the trouble becomes (earth trembling, mountains toppling, etc.) we can know that He is with us. We don’t need to be afraid because, no matter what, He is in control. The Psalm goes on to talk about the city of God, which will never be toppled and then in the next verse it says that God is the one who topples the kingdoms of men. The Psalmist loved that word “topple,” and it really ties the Psalm together. When the world is “toppling” around us we don’t need to fear because God is in control; when we dwell in the city of God we don’t need to fear because it won’t topple with Him there, and when He topples the Kingdoms of men we don’t need to fear because we are His and He is our stronghold. We don’t fear the present, we don’t fear the future and we don’t fear His wrath because we are in Christ; our refuge and strength.
