We’re living in unprecedented times where the lives of many people are under threat, our health service is stretched to capacity, our economy and job security are uncertain and the ‘normal way of life’ has been completely and utterly disrupted.

If you’re anything like me you might be finding it hard to process and express what you’re thinking and feeling. And for many of us the temptation to fear and panic is great; our thoughts can quickly start spiralling out of control. So how should we pray at this time? What should we pray? May I encourage you to use the words of Psalm 46 – a psalm written to help us overcome our fears and find refuge in our Almighty God.

I have divide the psalm up, referenced other scriptures and given some actions/reflections and the idea is for you to use this blog over the next 2-3 weeks to help you pray when you feel fear creeping in.

ACTION – to start with, read the whole psalm slowly 2-3 times.

A world in turmoil

Psalm 46 is written to a people whose world was very uncertain and unstable. The context is the threat of attack by the Assyrian armies on the city of Jerusalem in 701 BC (see 2 Kings 18-19). Verses 2-3 use metaphorical language to describe the outer and inner turmoil that the people are experiencing.

• The things that can normally be counted on are no long dependable (the earth is giving way and the mountains are falling into the heart of the sea – vs2).
• Hostile enemies were advancing, threatening their lives and creating chaos (the waters are roaring, foaming and surging).

What should the people do? Give in to fear and panic? Run? Hide? Pretend nothing is happening? Well the Psalmist famously says to the people that their greatest need and the only way to overcome the threat is to… “be still and know that I am God” (vs10).

How are the people to love God and love their neighbour when everything is so unstable…? “Be still and know that I am God” (vs10).

And so this is a great psalm for us to run to and to quieten our fearful hearts in a time when our world is uncertain and unstable. Why? Well firstly we learn about…

An Almighty God

Verse 7 & 11 repeat the same refrain:

The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

The Psalmist wants to draw our attention to who our God is – he is the Lord Almighty. The literal translation is the ‘Lord of Hosts’ where hosts means armies. Our God has power that no-one can thwart and he has a vast angelic army which is swift and powerful, ready to carry out his divine command. God is so powerful that verse 6 tells us that God just has to speak and the earth melts before him.

Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
    he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

In other words, whilst our world rulers are in uproar and the threat of collapse feels imminent it would only take a word from the Lord and the chaotic evil forces would be scattered (in the case of Psalm 46, that was the invading Assyrian armies).

Famously the disciples once found themselves in a great storm with surging waters and fear gripped their hearts and it only took a word from Jesus to change the whole situation (Mark 4:39).

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

It only takes a word from the Lord Almighty and the earth melts. His powerful word created the world (Psalm 33:6) and currently sustains all things (Hebrews 1:3) and his word can bring calm into our world too.

Verse 8-9 talk about how God will bring an end to all other kingdoms, violence and evil – he is able to bring peace on the earth. In other words, God is still on the throne, he is still ruling, he is still in charge and he will one day be revealed to be the King of all kings. Verses like Acts 4:27-28, Romans 8:28 and Genesis 50:20 remind us that even when everything seems to being going wrong and evil seems to winning, God is still accomplishing his purposes for his glory and our good. Our God is the Lord Almighty and if he lifts his voice the earth melts.

ACTION – If you want to find peace in these uncertain times then use Psalm 46 to help you…

(1) Give up any pretensions that you are (and ever have been) in control – we cannot fix this world or guarantee our future. We are frail and vulnerable. We must stop trying to be God and let God be God. I regularly use Psalm 131 and Isaiah 30:15 to help my heart give up control and Isaiah 40:12-31 helps me reflect on the greatness and power of God.

(2) Hear his powerful voice which can pacify your trembling heart. Psalm 29 is a wonderful place to meditate on God’s powerful word or do reflect on those famous words that God spoke in Job 38-42 in the storm.

PLEASE NOTE – his word to you might be a rebuke for your lack of faith and desire to be in control. What happens after Jesus calms the storm in Mark 4:40-41?

⁴⁰ He said to his disciples, ‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’

⁴¹ They were terrified and asked each other, ‘Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!’

The disciples went from fearing their circumstances (the wind and waves) to fearing the one who had control over their circumstances. Job had a similar experience after hearing God speak (see Job 42:1-6). Let his voice and his power calm the turmoil within you. He may not change your circumstances, but he’ll certainly change how you view your circumstances in light of his greatness.

But knowing that God is in control is actually not enough to calm our hearts. We also need to know him as…

An ever-present refuge and help

vs1 says

God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble.

God is not just almighty; he is also a refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. In fact the terms are deliberately rearranged in verse 7 so that the Almighty God is our friend (is with us) and the personal intimate God (the God of Jacob) powerfully protects us (is our fortress). Incredibly, we get intimacy with the warrior and strong defence by the close friend.

The second part of verse 7 & 11 say that “the God of Jacob is our fortress”. This reminds us of Jacob wrestling with God at the river Jabbok and that wrestling became a moment of intimacy and blessing (Genesis 32:22-32). So wrestling and intimacy with God becomes our fortress – an inaccessible height where we are safe and secure from the storm. Eugene Petersen puts it like this:

Prayer is a quiet centre in a noisy world.

In prayer we find a safe fortress in God in the midst of our chaotic world.

In 2 Kings 18-19 when King Hezekiah hears the awful news that the Assyrians under Sennacherib are going to invade and destroy them (like they have all the other nations), Hezekiah turns to pray, affirming God’s sovereignty.

And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: ‘Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. ¹⁶ Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.

Hezekiah knew that God was over all the kings of the earth and the maker of heaven and earth could be called on for help. He took refuge in him and saw a dramatic intervention by God in response to his prayers.

ACTION – If you want to overcome fear in these troubling times then use Psalm 46 to…

(1) Express how you feel – tell him how you feel and what you’re thinking. Use Psalm 13 to help you. He is a friend, who wants to listen and help. Be honest with him. Take refuge in him.

(2) Call out to God for intervention – both in your life and at a national and global level. Use Psalm 62 to give you further words. He is committed to your good. Seek him as your fortress.

But it’s not enough to just know God’s sovereignty and presence to help us; we need some sense of his plans. Despite the chaos around us our vision must be lifted to the trajectory of history. And so we fix our eyes on…

An unshakable city of joy

Verses 4-5 describe a river that makes glad the city of God, a city that will not fall because God is within her. This imagery of a river and the city of God is picked up in Ezekiel 47 and Revelation 22, describing the New Jerusalem that is given life and joy through the Holy Spirit (the water of God). In other words, even though the earthly cities of our world do fall (and even earthly Jerusalem fell just over 100 years later to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon), God is building another city, a hidden city, an eternal unshakable city – he is talking about his church. So whilst the impressive nations and kingdoms of this world shake, the church does not. She is secure and not just secure but glad – full of joy, because God is within her. As Jesus said, the gates of hell will not prevail against her (Matthew 18:16).

Isaiah 2 and Micah 4 add detail to this new city, set on the unshakeable mountain of the Lord, where the nations stream in. They give up their violence (as in Psalm 46:8-9) and come to hear the word of the Lord and enjoy his presence and peace.

ACTION – so if you want to grow in faith in these strange times then use Psalm 46 to…

(1) Discern what God is doing in his church. For example, even in the midst of the horrors and deaths wrought by Covid-19 in northern Italy, there is testimony of God bringing salvation and peace to the hearts of previously atheistic doctors. Read the story of Jacob in Genesis 37-50, or the books of Esther or Daniel, or Jeremiah 25-29 and reflect on how God is always building his church even as the nations rage.

A heart at peace

We have to remember, as the title of the psalm tells us, that Psalm 46 is a song for the director of music to lead the people in and songs have a helpful way of hitting the head and the heart. They touch our mind, our emotions, our fears, our desires and our hopes.

Three times in the song we’re told to ‘selah’ (after verse 3 and the repeated verses 7 and 11). According to psalms scholar Derek Kidner, Selah “probably is the signal for an interlude or change of musical accompaniment”*. In other words we are to pause, reflect, take a moment, be quiet and listen. Like Elijah, we must listen for God’s voice not in the dramatic elements of wind, earthquake and fear, but in his still small voice to us (1 Kings 19:11-13).

And so we come to the famous verse, verse 10:

He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.’

Yes our world is in turmoil, but our God is almighty, a warrior with no rivals. He is an ever-present refuge and help and he is building an eternal unshakeable city of joy…we can be still and know he is God. And when we are still we will hear his voice, sense his presence and see with the eyes of faith his hand at work. He will be exalted among the nations; he will be exalted in the earth (see Psalm 47 or Psalm 86:9 or Psalm 22:27-28, or Isaiah 60 or Philippians 2:9-11).

Once we know our Almighty God as friend and helper, once we experience his Spirit within us giving joy and once our eyes are lifted to see what he is doing, our hearts have peace.

ACTION – to find joy in God in this time, use Psalm 46 and…

(1) Take time each day to be still before God – take 1-2 verses from Psalm 46 or the other passages linked above, go over them slowly, meditate on them, reflect, pause…be still and know he is God and he will be exalted in the earth.

(2) Sing to the Lord each day – As Job modelled for us (Job 1:20-21), even in suffering God is worthy of our praise. Lift up your voice to him, even if you’re not a good singer…spend part of your day singing to him. Use Psalm 40 or Psalm 27 to help you. Psalm 33 is a fantastic psalm to sing, reminding you of the power and love of God. Use some of your favourite worship songs from youtube.

FURTHER RESOURCES

For further resources to help you pray and find peace in God at this time do also:

(1) Listen to Tim Keller’s talk on Psalm 11 – disciplines of distress

(2) Read Paul Tripp’s free book a shelter in the storrm which is a meditation on Psalm 27 (see other free resources here)

For other helpful reflections on how God might be using this time, do read the following articles (which I’ll keep adding to):

• Phil Moore’s The Coronavirus Experiment and challenge to pray for James Fraser’s experience
• C.S. Lewis “on living in an atomic age” from 1948
• Mark Oden – 8 things the Coronavirus is teaching us
• Patrick Mitchel – 10 suggestions responding theologically to the Coronavirus
• Andrew Wilson’s talk from Luke 21 – Living in an uncertain world
• Matt Hosier’s post – dark clouds and silver linings
• Billy Graham sermon extract from Habbakuk 1

*Derek Kidner: Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, Psalms 1-72, page 51