Psalms 46
Big idea: Everything in this psalm is loud except the last thing God says. Mountains falling into the sea, waters roaring, nations raging, kingdoms moved, the earth melting — and then, cutting through it, be still, and know that I am God. The command is not an invitation to calm down; the verb is closer to drop your hands, stop fighting. And at the centre sits an image the noise cannot touch: there is a river, the streams of which make the city of God glad. Not a sea. A river.
Psalm 46 has God stop the wars. Psalm 47 has the nations clap anyway.
46:1–7 — There is a river
The psalm sets two kinds of water against each other. In the first strophe the sea roars and mountains fall into it — the ancient picture of the world coming undone — and in the second there is a river whose streams make a city glad. Jerusalem had no river, which is the point: the water that steadies the city is not on any map. And the help arrives 'at dawn', after the night has been endured.
1 For the Chief Musician. By the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we won’t be afraid, though the earth changes, though the mountains are shaken into the heart of the seas; 3 though its waters roar and are troubled, though the mountains tremble with their swelling. Selah. 4 There is a river, the streams of which make the city of God glad, the holy place of the tents of the Most High. 5 God is within her. She shall not be moved. God will help her at dawn. 6 The nations raged. The kingdoms were moved. He lifted his voice and the earth melted. 7 Yahweh of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
46:8–11 — Be still, and know that I am God
The invitation is to come and LOOK at desolations, which is not where a peace poem usually sends you — the ruins on display are the wreckage of weapons rather than of cities. Then the line everyone knows, and its context changes it: 'be still' is spoken on a battlefield to people who will not stop fighting, and the verb is closer to 'stop' or 'let go' than to 'be quiet'.
8 Come, see Yahweh’s works, what desolations he has made on the earth. 9 He 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 on the earth.” 11 Yahweh of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
Scripture text: World English Bible (public domain).