Refuge and Strength
A few reminders, from Psalm 46
For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth. A song.
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.
Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Come and see what the LORD has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.
The Lord says,
“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
A few notes and questions:
God can destroy and God can create. In either case, what appear to be God's purposes?
This Psalm is another way of saying, "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
Looking at God's apparent intention and design with a 10,000-foot view of the recorded interactions between God and creation, from the garden, to the temple, to the wilderness, to Jesus' life on earth, what are the patterns we can see?
Notice how many times water is mentioned in this chapter. What do you make of that?
Considering the possibility that "the city of God" might represent something more than a physical city (like Jerusalem), what might this city be? And what is the river that makes the city (and its streams) glad?
If you could add one or two poetic sentences, about God's presence and help in a time of a global pandemic, what might you say? What do you believe about God's presence during this pandemic?
Opmerkingen