Verse 1: Look at how this beautiful psalm begins - at once heaping up words to describe God as refuge, strength, helper. To take refuge in God is to trust God. God is reliable. Behind this trust is the belief that God's strength or power are in control: not our menacing enemies (inner or outer), not the troublemakers, nor the people who claim they have absolute power and authority. And God's rule is (as a better translation says) a refuge, strength and help for us.
Verses 2-3: Now the psalmist spells things out a bit. Even if the earth should rock (is he thinking of an earthquake?) or the waters rage and foam (is he thinking of a category 4 hurricane?) no - much more dreadful than that. Remember, the ancient worldview envisioned the dry land as floating on and surrounded by a watery chaos and that the sky was held up in place by the mountains which served as pillars. So the psalmist is thinking, even if that entire cosmos fell apart, collapsed, (the sky is falling!) imploded, fell apart into utter awfulness—even then God would still be trustworthy. What about our own time? Rising temperatures which will have unthinkably dire consequences, storms of increasing destructive intensity, extinctions of plants and animal species, the creation of new expanses of poverty. And all of this while we have the nuclear capacity to utterly destroy our planet, how many times over now? Even then, the psalmist would say, God is with us as a trusted stronghold.
Verses 4-7: And while all this trouble unfolds, the psalmist imagines humankind will be shaken and in tumult. The words to describe the human collapse are the same words used to describe the cosmic trouble. Everything cosmic and human may be in motion—a kind of swirling trouble—yet the one thing that remains is God's reliably strong presence symbolized by the words, City of God.
This City of God is Jerusalem. And while the Jewish people never believed that God was locked in or confined to Jerusalem, the glorious temple on Mount Zion did house the particular presence of God. Health crisis, financial crisis, international crisis, sex abuse crisis, constitutional crisis: God is to be trusted.
Verse 8: This little refrain calling God, the Lord of hosts may be a reference to the Ark which contained the stone tablets of God's law—the Ark carried on poles and covered with golden cherubim - a kind of throne for God. But hosts can also means armies. Maybe Jerusalem was under attack by outside enemies. "The waters of the river that give joy." But there's no river flowing through Jerusalem, then or now. This is a poetic or metaphoric word—rivers bring assurance. The people will never starve or die of thirst if there's a river nearby. The river referenced here is meant to symbolize yet again, that God is a reliable, unfailing provider, even if the worst un-doing should take place.
Verses 8-10: "Come, consider the works of the Lord," the psalmist invites. We might remember the apostle Philip inviting Nathanael to come and see. Here the psalmist is inviting us to come and consider how God has provided peace for his people. The words, "be still" don't mean take it easy but would be better translated: "Stop" - as in "Stop, put your weapons down—God is in charge." We're very far away from heeding that holy advice.
Bottom Line: We live in a dangerous and scary world. And in that world, our presence of God is not a building, however splendid, but the person of Jesus Christ. He's the temple now. "God is with us" is his nickname (Matthew 1:23). To enter and live in the Kingdom which Jesus announces is to enter and live in dependence upon God - to find in God our place of security and trust, instead of in myself, what I own, our purported greatness and military might, the political party and those in positions of power and authority.
Remember years ago, the new systems of positive thinking? It's not even that. The psalmist has his own version of the worst that can happen and we have ours. He invites us not to fear in the face of it. The angels of Easter morning announced it to the women: "You came here looking for death - he's risen - don't be afraid." This is the very great challenge put before people of faith today: Where do I put my trust?
Remember years ago, the new systems of positive thinking? It's not even that. The psalmist has his own version of the worst that can happen and we have ours. He invites us not to fear in the face of it. The angels of Easter morning announced it to the women: "You came here looking for death - he's risen - don't be afraid." This is the very great challenge put before people of faith today: Where do I put my trust?
