Psalm 46:1-11
Scholars of the opinion that Psalm 46, 47 & 48 were written by King Hezekiah (2 Kings 18-19; 2Chron 32; and Isa 36-37).
Israel was at the point of absolute defeat and destruction at the hands of Assyrian army.
But they were saved by divine intervention.
In this Psalm Hezekiah was celebrating God’s victory over Assyrian army.
Main emphasis of the Psalm is to describe the powerful presence of LORD GOD with HIS people Israel.
If we observe carefully, we see the psalmist used plural personal nouns: ‘our’; ‘we’; ‘us’.
So the psalm is basically written for worshiping God by the church.
But every individual can adopt this psalm for personal meditation.
BE STILL AND KNOW GOD AS OUR REFUGE (1-3)
First verse speaks of God as our refuge and strength and HE is ever-present help.
God is described in Hebrew as ‘ELOHIM’ the plural of ‘EL’
A unique expression for God found only in Torah, the LAW.
The masculine plural ending does not mean gods but only the God of Israel
Always used with singular verb forms and associated with Godhead - A Trinitarian concept of God
Such God, Elohim is our refuge who is present in 3 personalities – only HE can become our refuge and present help (now the Holy Spirit).
Verses two and three affirm the same concept
Nothing matters because HE controls and sustains HIS creation.
Elohim, our God is strong and stable and stands with HIS people.
So we are encouraged by the presence of all powerful ELOHIM who is always Tri-union God of the Bible
BE STILL AND KNOW GOD AS OUR FORTRESS (4-7)
To understand these verses we need to go back to the history of Jerusalem city.
Jerusalem is the city of God and a holy city where ELOHIM's (God) divine presence was felt in the Temple from time to time.
But the holy city or the holy Temple was never a guarantee for victory against the enemies.
Hezekiah had planned ahead of time to provide water supply to Jerusalem city.
In Kidron valley the spring of Gihon was located below the steep eastern hill of Ophel.
Hezekiah dug a tunnel close to the temple and brought the spring water inside the city walls.
The people had cool spring water even in times of terrible circumstances.
Glimpses of Living Water in the Scripture
In the OT God the Father – ELOHIM was a Fountain of Living Waters
Prophet Jeremiah in 2:13 describes God as Fountain of living waters.
In the NT John 4:13-14 describes our Lord Jesus Christ (ELOHIM) was the spring of living waters.
In John 7:38, Holy Spirit (ELOHIM) is describes as River of living waters.
BE STILL AND KNOW GOD AS GOD OF JACOB (8-11)
We need to focus on little bit of Jacob’s life story
Jacob tried to play God most of his life and got into trouble every time.
That was before God called him ‘Israel’.
Hezekiah was reminding the people through this psalm to take off their hands and let God work through the situations.
The important question is “How can God be exalted or glorified on earth”?
This is possible only through HIS people – Israel then and believers now.
God gets the glory through us and HE will be exalted through our lives-actions-words.
There are basically two reasons we go through crisis and devastating periods in our lives.
a).To strengthen our faith in Lord Jesus Christ
b).To praise and glorified God.
When God does not get the praise or glory due to HIS name from our success, our achievements they have no worth and value because they are just filthy rags.
Like Jacob, if we play God taking matters into our hands we are sure to end up in troubles.
Don’t try to take matters into our own hands and play God or help God.
This Psalm encourages us to relax and give the control to God to guide us through.
Our God, Elohim, is with us to walk us through any given situation by HIS written word and HIS ever-present help the HOLY SPIRIT.
Allow God to be God and trust HIM and be still and know HIM.
Scholars of the opinion that Psalm 46, 47 & 48 were written by King Hezekiah (2 Kings 18-19; 2Chron 32; and Isa 36-37).
Israel was at the point of absolute defeat and destruction at the hands of Assyrian army.
But they were saved by divine intervention.
In this Psalm Hezekiah was celebrating God’s victory over Assyrian army.
Main emphasis of the Psalm is to describe the powerful presence of LORD GOD with HIS people Israel.
If we observe carefully, we see the psalmist used plural personal nouns: ‘our’; ‘we’; ‘us’.
So the psalm is basically written for worshiping God by the church.
But every individual can adopt this psalm for personal meditation.
BE STILL AND KNOW GOD AS OUR REFUGE (1-3)
First verse speaks of God as our refuge and strength and HE is ever-present help.
God is described in Hebrew as ‘ELOHIM’ the plural of ‘EL’
A unique expression for God found only in Torah, the LAW.
The masculine plural ending does not mean gods but only the God of Israel
Always used with singular verb forms and associated with Godhead - A Trinitarian concept of God
Such God, Elohim is our refuge who is present in 3 personalities – only HE can become our refuge and present help (now the Holy Spirit).
Verses two and three affirm the same concept
Nothing matters because HE controls and sustains HIS creation.
Elohim, our God is strong and stable and stands with HIS people.
So we are encouraged by the presence of all powerful ELOHIM who is always Tri-union God of the Bible
BE STILL AND KNOW GOD AS OUR FORTRESS (4-7)
To understand these verses we need to go back to the history of Jerusalem city.
Jerusalem is the city of God and a holy city where ELOHIM's (God) divine presence was felt in the Temple from time to time.
But the holy city or the holy Temple was never a guarantee for victory against the enemies.
Hezekiah had planned ahead of time to provide water supply to Jerusalem city.
In Kidron valley the spring of Gihon was located below the steep eastern hill of Ophel.
Hezekiah dug a tunnel close to the temple and brought the spring water inside the city walls.
The people had cool spring water even in times of terrible circumstances.
Glimpses of Living Water in the Scripture
In the OT God the Father – ELOHIM was a Fountain of Living Waters
Prophet Jeremiah in 2:13 describes God as Fountain of living waters.
In the NT John 4:13-14 describes our Lord Jesus Christ (ELOHIM) was the spring of living waters.
In John 7:38, Holy Spirit (ELOHIM) is describes as River of living waters.
BE STILL AND KNOW GOD AS GOD OF JACOB (8-11)
We need to focus on little bit of Jacob’s life story
Jacob tried to play God most of his life and got into trouble every time.
That was before God called him ‘Israel’.
Hezekiah was reminding the people through this psalm to take off their hands and let God work through the situations.
The important question is “How can God be exalted or glorified on earth”?
This is possible only through HIS people – Israel then and believers now.
God gets the glory through us and HE will be exalted through our lives-actions-words.
There are basically two reasons we go through crisis and devastating periods in our lives.
a).To strengthen our faith in Lord Jesus Christ
b).To praise and glorified God.
When God does not get the praise or glory due to HIS name from our success, our achievements they have no worth and value because they are just filthy rags.
Like Jacob, if we play God taking matters into our hands we are sure to end up in troubles.
Don’t try to take matters into our own hands and play God or help God.
This Psalm encourages us to relax and give the control to God to guide us through.
Our God, Elohim, is with us to walk us through any given situation by HIS written word and HIS ever-present help the HOLY SPIRIT.
Allow God to be God and trust HIM and be still and know HIM.
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