“God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, through the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its tumult.” Psalm 46:1-3
Reflection: Great Falls is at a point where the Potomac River enters a rocky, descending ravine. From a distance away one can hear, no, feel the low thunder that travels deep through the ground from the pounding water. No wonder a canal had to be built around this tumult in order for the river to be used as transportation in an earlier century. In times of flooding the volume of water forced into this narrow pass rises rapidly and is a fearful force that illustrates the opening verses of this psalm. Where I am standing was under water as recently as 1996.
Psalm 46 makes the top ten list of favorite psalms, so I encourage you to read the whole thing here. There is much to say about the rich images the psalmist presents, but I will settle with offering three observations from these opening verses. First, the psalmist uses the plural “our” instead of “my.” A community of faith is being encouraged together to look to God as a refuge and strength. While as an individual I find strength in these words, when I am with a group of people who are trusting God together my feeble trust becomes part of a more powerful force. Maybe it’s the strength in numbers thing, although the psalmist reminds us it is the “Whom” we are trusting together. Second, fear—and the rhetoric of fear—is prevalent in our current environment, and apparently that was true for the psalmist’s community as well. Yet rather than be reactive to fear or paralyzed by fear, the psalmist declares God’s people are grounded in a strength more powerful than the fearful circumstance. Can I/we step into the place where fears reside but not be controlled by them? Which leads to the third observation: God is a present help—not a distant observer from far away, but not as a super hero who will swoop in and make troubles go away either. Instead, God, as we have seen in Jesus Christ, is one who steps into the circumstance with us and opens a way for us step by step.
Suggestions:
1. Take this verse with you and ponder its meaning for you throughout the day. What do you notice? What do you wonder? What is the faith community that seeks God’s strength with you? What fearful circumstance are you facing? What helps you acknowledge God’s presence with you?
2. Or read all of Psalm 46 to discover how this verse fits into the psalm or to discover a different verse.
3. Or comment with a photo of your own that illustrates this verse’s meaning for you.
Tomorrow’s verse: Psalm 47: 1-2, 5-7
Starting January 1, 2016, for 150 days I am posting a daily psalm verse with a photo that is a visual meditation on the text for me. Each day a verse from the next psalm is chosen until all 150 psalms have been featured. To participate you may subscribe to my blog at https://elainedent.net or “friend” me on Facebook and watch for the daily links to blog posts. Disclaimer: I am not a photographer and most of the photos are from a cell phone or small camera while hiking the Appalachian Trail or the C&O Canal/Great Allegheny Passage Trail.
Sharron says
Fear paralyzes and confounds. I’m striving (and age helps, I think) to leave less fearfully and more faith-fully in God’s abundant love and care. Thanks for this message!
Elaine says
I like the distinction that comes with “faith-fully,” which emphasizes, not our endurance and sticking with it (which is what I think of with “faithful”), but utter trust in God and who God is for us.
Sharron says
Actually that should have been “live” less fearfully–although I am keenly aware (post Ash Wednesday) that I am indeed in the process of leaving this earth even as I am trying to live fully each precious day.