Christianity

Psalms 46God Is Our Refuge

Summary

Psalm 46 is a song of confidence that God is a refuge and strength, so there is no need to fear even if mountains are shaken into the sea. It contrasts roaring waters with a river whose streams gladden the city of God, which will not be moved. God breaks the bow and spear and ends wars, and calls Be still, and know that I am God. Martin Luther based his hymn A Mighty Fortress on this psalm of the sons of Korah.

Key verse

“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Psalms 46:10

Themes

God as Refuge
Stillness
City of God
End of War

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.

There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.

God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.

The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.

The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth.

He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.

Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

Text: King James Version (1611/1769), public domain.

Across traditions

Taoism
Tao Te Ching 16: Guarding Stillness
Laozi urges stillness guarded with unwearying vigour, and sees all things returning to their root. The stillness of Psalm 46 is trust in a personal God amid chaos, while the Tao Te Ching describes returning to the natural order.
Judaism
Tehillim 46 in the JPS 1917 Tanakh
Jewish readers often connect the river that gladdens the city of God with Jerusalem and with prophetic visions of a river flowing from the temple in Ezekiel 47.
Christianity
Revelation 22: The River of the Water of Life
Revelation 22:1 to 2 pictures a river flowing from God's throne through the holy city, a culmination of the image of Psalm 46:4.

Questions about Psalms 46

What does Be still, and know that I am God mean?

In Psalm 46:10 the Hebrew verb means to let go or cease, addressed first to warring nations. Many believers also read it as a call to quiet trust.

What hymn is based on Psalm 46?

Martin Luther's Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, known in English as A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, is a paraphrase inspired by this psalm.