This psalm has been called Luther’s Psalm. It was that which he was accustomed to sing in trouble. When the times were dark; when the enemies of truth appeared to triumph; when disaster seemed to come over the cause in which he was engaged, and the friends of the Reformation were disspirited, dishea... [ Continue Reading ]
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 o... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE WILL NOT WE FEAR - Our confidence in God shall be unshaken and abiding. Having Him for our refuge and strength Psalms 46:1, we can have nothing to fear. Compare Psalms 56:3. THOUGH THE EARTH BE REMOVED - literally, “in the changing of the earth;” that is, though the earth should be changed... [ Continue Reading ]
THOUGH THE WATERS THEREOF ROAR AND BE TROUBLED - The waters of the sea. The idea is, that they would not be afraid though everything should be in commotion, and be as unsettled as the restless waves of the ocean. The earth might be changed, the mountains removed, the agitated sea roar and dash again... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE IS A RIVER - There is no allusion here to any particular stream or river, but the image is designed to represent a state of peace and calm security in contrast with the rough and troubled ocean. While the ocean rages, and foams, and dashes against the mountains as if it would overturn them, th... [ Continue Reading ]
GOD IS IN THE MIDST OF HER - God is in the midst of the “city” referred to above - the “city of God.” That is, (a) he dwelt there by the visible symbol of his presence, the Shekinah; (b) he was there “actually” as a help and a protector. It was his chosen abode, and as long as such a Being dwelt... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HEATHEN RAGED - The nations were in commotion, or were agitated like the waves of the sea. This language would well describe the consternation of the nations when the Assyrians went forth to conquest, and when, having subdued so many other kingdoms, they made war on Jerusalem. Compare Isaiah 36:... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD OF HOSTS - The God commanding, ordering, marshalling the hosts of heaven - the angels, and the starry worlds. See the notes at Isaiah 1:9. Compare Psalms 24:10. The reference here is to God considered as having control over all “armies,” or all that can be regarded and described as a marsha... [ Continue Reading ]
COME, BEHOLD THE WORKS OF THE LORD - Go forth and see what the Lord has done. See, in what his hand has accomplished, how secure we are if we put our trust in him. WHAT DESOLATIONS HE HATH MADE IN THE EARTH - Or, in the land. The word “desolations” might refer to any “ruin” or “overthrow,” which he... [ Continue Reading ]
HE MAKETH WARS TO CEASE UNTO THE END OF THE EARTH - Either in all the land, or in all the world. The overthrow of the Assyrian army would probably put an end to all the wars then raging in the world. The Assyrian empire was then the most mighty on the globe; it was engaged in wide schemes of conques... [ Continue Reading ]
BE STILL - The word used here - from רפה _râphâh_ - means properly to cast down; to let fall; to let hang down; then, to be relaxed, slackened, especially the hands: It is also employed in the sense of not making an effort; not putting forth exertion; and then would express the idea of leaving mat... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD OF HOSTS IS WITH US ... - See Psalms 46:7. This is the conclusion, or the result of the whole. As applied to the invasion of Sennacherib, this would be clearly seen, for all that occurred in that invasion was adapted to leave the impression that Jehovah, God of hosts, was with the Hebrew pe... [ Continue Reading ]