Psalm 46:1

To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(1) Refuge and strength.—Better, a refuge and stronghold, or a sure stronghold, as in Luther’s hymn,

Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott.

A very present help.—Better, often found a help.

Benson Commentary

Psalm 46:1. God is our refuge and strength — He hath manifested himself to be so in the course of his providence in time past, and he has engaged to be so in time to come, and will not fail to fulfil his engagement. Are we in danger from visible or invisible enemies? God is our refuge, to whom we may flee, and in whom we may be safe. Have we work to do, a warfare to accomplish, and sufferings to endure? God is our strength to bear us up under our burdens, and to fit us for all our services and sufferings. Are we oppressed with troubles and distresses? He is a help in trouble: yea, a present help — Hebrew, עזרה נמצא מאד, gnezra nimtza meod, a help found exceedingly, or, tried very much; one whom we have found by experience to be such; a help on which we may write, probatum est; or, a help at hand, that is, never far to seek, but always ready to be found of us. Or, a help sufficient, accommodated to every case and exigence whatever.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

46:1-5 This psalm encourages to hope and trust in God; in his power and providence, and his gracious presence with his church in the worst of times. We may apply it to spiritual enemies, and the encouragement we have that, through Christ, we shall be conquerors over them. He is a Help, a present Help, a Help found, one whom we have found to be so; a Help at hand, one that is always near; we cannot desire a better, nor shall we ever find the like in any creature. Let those be troubled at the troubling of the waters, who build their confidence on a floating foundation; but let not those be alarmed who are led to the Rock, and there find firm footing. Here is joy to the church, even in sorrowful times. The river alludes to the graces and consolations of the Holy Spirit, which flow through every part of the church, and through God's sacred ordinances, gladdening the heart of every believer. It is promised that the church shall not be moved. If God be in our hearts, by his word dwelling richly in us, we shall be established, we shall be helped; let us trust and not be afraid.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

God is our refuge and strength - God is for us as a place to which we may flee for safety; a source of strength to us in danger. The first word, "refuge," from a verb meaning to "flee," and then "to flee to" - הסה châsâh - or to take shelter in - denotes a place to which one would flee in time of danger - as a lofty wall; a high tower; a fort; a fortress. See the notes at Psalm 18:2. The idea here is, that the people of God, in time of danger, may find him to be what such a place of refuge would be. Compare Proverbs 18:10. The word "strength" implies that God is the source of strength to those who are weak and defenseless; or that we may rely on his strength "as if" it were our own; or that we may feel as safe in his strength as though we had that strength ourselves. We may make it the basis of our confidence as really as though the strength resided in our own arm. See the notes at Psalm 18:2.

A very present help - The word "help" here means aid, assistance. The word "trouble" would cover all that can come upon us which would give us anxiety or sorrow. The word rendered "present" - נמצא nimetsâ' - means rather, "is found," or "has been found;" that is, he has "proved" himself to be a help in trouble. The word "present," as if he were near to us, or close by us, does not accurately express the idea, which is rather, that "he has been found" to be such, or that he has always "proved" himself to be such a help, and that, therefore, we may now confide in him. The word "very," or "exceedingly," is added to qualify the whole proposition, as if this were "emphatically true." It was true in the most eminent sense that God had always been found to be such a helper, and, "therefore," there was nothing to fear in the present distress. Psalm 46:2.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

PSALM 46

Ps 46:1-11. Upon Alamoth—most probably denotes the treble, or part sung by female voices, the word meaning "virgins"; and which was sung with some appropriately keyed instrument (compare 1Ch 15:19-21; see on [592]Ps 6:1, title). The theme may be stated in Luther's well-known words, "A mighty fortress is our God." The great deliverance (2Ki 19:35; Isa 37:36) may have occasioned its composition.

1. refuge—literally, "a place of trust" (Ps 2:12).

strength—(Ps 18:2).

present help—literally, "a help He has been found exceedingly."

trouble—as in Ps 18:7.

The Treasury of David

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

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

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

Psalm 46:1

"God is our refuge and strength." Not our armies, or our fortresses. Israel's boast is in Jehovah, the only living and true God. Others vaunt their impregnable castles, placed on inaccessible rocks and secured with gates of iron, but God is a far better refuge from distress than all these: and when the time comes to carry the war into the enemy's territories, the Lord stands his people in better stead than all the valour of legions or the boasted strength of chariot and horse. Soldiers of the cross, remember this, and count yourselves safe, and make yourselves strong in God. Forget not the personal possessive word "our;" make sure each one of your portion in God, that you may say, "He is my refuge and strength." Neither forget the fact that God is our refuge just now, in the immediate present, as truly as when David penned the word. God alone is our all in all. All other refuges are refuges of lies, all other strength is weakness, for power belongeth unto God: but as God is all-sufficient, our defence and might are equal to all emergencies. "A very present help in trouble," or in distresses he has so been found, he has been tried and proved by his people. He never withdraws himself from his afflicted. He is their help, truly, effectually, constantly; he is present or near them, close at their side and ready for their succour, and this is emphasised by the word "very" in our version, he is more present than friend or relative can be, yea, more nearly present than even the trouble itself. To all this comfortable truth is added the consideration that his assistance comes at the needed time. He is not as the swallows that leave us in the winter; he is a friend in need and a friend indeed. When it is very dark with us, let brave spirits say, "Come, let us sing the Psalm 46:1-11."

"A fortress firm, and steadfast rock,

Is God in time of danger;

A shield and sword in every shock,

From foe well-known or' stranger."

Psalm 46:2

"Therefore." How fond the Psalmist is of therefores! his poetry is no poetic rapture without reason, it is as logical as a mathematical demonstration. The next words are a necessary inference from these. "Will not we fear." With God on our side, how irrational would fear be! Where he is all power is, and all love, why therefore should we quail? "Though the earth be removed," though the basis of all visible things should be so convulsed as to be entirely changed. "And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;" though the firmest of created objects should fall to headlong ruin, and be submerged in utter destruction. The two phrases set forth the most terrible commotions within the range of imagination, and include the overthrow of dynasties, the destruction of nations, the ruin of families, the persecutions of the church, the reign of heresy, and whatever else may at any time try the faith of believers. Let the worst come to the worst, the child of God should never give way to mistrust; since God remaineth faithful there can be no danger to his cause or people. When the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the heavens and the earth shall pass away in the last general conflagration, we shall serenely behold "the wreck of matter, and the crash of worlds," for even then our refuge shall preserve us from all evil, our strength shall prepare us for all good.

Psalm 46:3

"Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled." When all things are excited to fury, and reveal their utmost power to disturb, faith smiles serenely. She is not afraid of noise, nor even of real force, she knows that the Lord stilleth the raging of the sea, and holdeth the waves in the hollow of his hand. "Though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof." Alps and Andes may tremble, but faith rests on a firmer basis, and is not to be moved by swelling seas. Evil may ferment, wrath may boil, and pride may foam, but the brave heart of holy confidence trembles not. Great men who are like mountains may quake for fear in times of great calamity, but the man whose trust is in God needs never be dismayed.

"Selah." In the midst of such a hurly-burly the music may well come to a pause, both to give the singers breath, and ourselves time for meditation. We are in no hurry, but can sit us down and wait while earth dissolves, and mountains rock, and oceans roar. Ours is not the headlong rashness which passes for courage, we can calmly confront the danger, and meditate upon terror, dwelling on its separate items and united forces. The pause is not an exclamation of dismay, but merely a rest in music: we do not suspend our song in alarm, but retune our harps with deliberation amidst the tumult of the storm. It were well if all of us could say, "Selah," under tempestuous trials, but alas! too often we speak in our haste, lay our trembling hands bewildered among the strings, strike the lyre with a rude crash, and mar the melody of our life-song. THE ARGUMENT

The occasion of this Psalm is thought to be that happy success, and settlement, and peace which God granted to the people of Israel in David’s time, and by his means, 2 Samuel 8

The confidence and safe condition of the church under God’s care, Psalm 46:1-5; manifested in his wonderful deliverance from her enemies, Psalm 46:6-9. He exhorteth all to consider it, to the magnifying his name, Psalm 46:10,11.

God is our refuge, i.e. he hath now manifested himself to be so by the course of his providence.

A very present; or, a sufficient, as this word is sometimes used, as Joshua 17:16 Zechariah 10:10.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

God is our refuge and strength,.... That is, Christ, who is God as well as man, is the "refuge" for souls to fly unto for safety; as for sensible sinners, in a view of danger, wrath, and misery, so for saints, in every time of distress; typified by the cities of refuge, under the legal dispensation; See Gill on Psalm 9:9; and he it is from whom they have all their spiritual strength, and every renewal and supply of it, to exercise grace, perform duties, withstand enemies, bear the cross patiently, show a fortitude of mind under the sorest distresses, and hold on and out unto the end: in short, he is the strength of their hearts, under the greatest trials, of their lives, amidst the greatest dangers; and of their salvation, notwithstanding all their enemies;

a very present help in trouble; whether inward or outward, of soul or body; the Lord helps his people under it to bear it, and he helps them out of it in the most proper and seasonable time: they are poor helpless creatures in themselves; nor can any other help them but the Lord, who made heaven and earth; and he helps presently, speedily, and effectually: in the Hebrew text it is, "he is found an exceeding help in trouble" (t); in all kind of trouble that the saints come into, the Lord has been found, by experience, to be an exceeding great helper of them; moreover, he is easily and always to be come at, and found by them for their help.

(t) "inventum valde", Michaelis.

Geneva Study Bible

<{a} Alamoth.>> God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in {b} trouble.

(a) Which was either a musical instrument or a solemn tune, to which this psalm was sung.

(b) In all manner of troubles God shows his speedy mercy and power in defending his.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

1. The prayer of Isaiah 33:2, “Be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble,” has been answered. In the extremity of their distress, God has proved Himself the refuge and strength of His people. He has verified the prophecies of Isaiah, who bade them trust in Him alone, and denounced the popular policy of an alliance with Egypt as “a refuge of lies.” Cp. Isaiah 28:15; Isaiah 28:17; Isaiah 30:2.

a very present help in trouble] Lit., a help in distresses hath he let himself be found exceedingly. The words are not merely a general statement, but an appeal to recent experience. For ‘let himself be found’ cp. 2 Chronicles 15:2; 2 Chronicles 15:4; 2 Chronicles 15:15; Jeremiah 29:14.

1–3. Secure under His protection God’s people have nothing to fear, even though the solid earth were convulsed, and rent asunder.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 1. - God is our Refuge and Strength (comp. Psalm 18:2; Psalm 94:22, etc.). A very present Help in trouble; literally, a very accessible Help - one easy to be found (comp. 2 Chronicles 15:4). Psalm 46:1

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

(Heb.: 46:2-4) The congregation begins with a general declaration of that which God is to them. This declaration is the result of their experience. Luther, after the lxx and Vulg., renders it, "in the great distresses which have come upon us." As though נמצא could stand for הנּמצעות, and that this again could mean anything else but "at present existing," to which מאד is not at all appropriate. God Himself is called נמצא מאד as being one who allows Himself to be found in times of distress (2 Chronicles 15:4, and frequently) exceedingly; i.e., to those who then seek Him He reveals Himself and verifies His word beyond all measure. Because God is such a God to them, the congregation or church does not fear though a still greater distress than that which they have just withstood, should break in upon them: if the earth should change, i.e., effect, enter upon, undergo or suffer a change (an inwardly transitive Hiphil, Ges. ֗53, 2); and if the mountains should sink down into the heart (בּלב exactly as in Ezekiel 27:27; Jonah 2:4) of the sea (ocean), i.e., even if these should sink back again into the waters out of which they appeared on the third day of the creation, so that consequently the old chaos should return. The church supposes the most extreme case, viz., the falling in of the universe which has been creatively set in order. We are no more to regard the language as being allegorical here (as Hengstenberg interprets it, the mountains being equals the kingdoms of the world), than we would the language of Horace: si fractus illabatur orbis (Carm. iii. 3, 7). Since ימּים is not a numerical but amplificative plural, the singular suffixes in Psalm 46:4 may the more readily refer back to it. גּאוה, pride, self-exaltation, used of the sea as in Psalm 89:10 גּאוּת, and in Job 38:11 גּאון are used. The futures in Psalm 46:4 do not continue the infinitive construction: if the waters thereof roar, foam, etc.; but they are, as their position and repetition indicate, intended to have a concessive sense. And this favours the supposition of Hupfeld and Ewald that the refrain, Psalm 46:8, 12, which ought to form the apodosis of this concessive clause (cf. Psalm 139:8-10; Job 20:24; Isaiah 40:30.) has accidentally fallen out here. In the text as it lies before us Psalm 46:4 attaches itself to לא־נירא: (we do not fear), let its waters (i.e., the waters of the ocean) rage and foam continually; and, inasmuch as the sea rises high, towering beyond its shores, let the mountains threaten to topple in. The music, which here becomes forte, strengthens the believing confidence of the congregation, despite this wild excitement of the elements.