Week 20: Psalm 46
Psalm 46
How can you stand when it feels like your world is falling apart?
The local donut shop on the corner goes out of business. Where are you supposed to get donuts now?
The internet goes out. There goes work for the day.
That celebrity you admired is taken to jail. How could she?
The dog tramps mud on the white carpet…again!
Your mom calls: she's sick. Really sick.
This world creaks with the chaos of brokenness and sin, and we tremble at the signs.
Psalm 46 knows this, but more importantly, knows something deeper. Underneath the fray, Scripture reveals with what cannot be shaken: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).
Stand
As Psalm 46:1-4 indicates, the world starts with ocean-churning, mountain quaking fear-mongering. But the Word starts with a foundation.
We must start here too.
Springtime reveals this truth every year with bright green growth sprouting from the dormant brown earth. Grass doesn't sprout from the middle of the wind. Trees don't flourish from the anxieties of the air. Life on earth is rooted in solid ground. You, too, grow from the immovable foundation of the Word.
When your world is shaken, stand here. Receive the invitation to take a selah—pause and let your roots sink in God's impassable peace.
Seek
Now that you are standing firm, let's move to Psalm 46:4-7. Time will continue to march on, and we will need fresh grace for each new day. Your phone will still become obsolete, you'll be late to an important appointment, you may pass by someone without a home. When this world feels broken and breaking, may we seek the stream that flows in the fissures. May we thirst for the living water that says, “God is providing for you now, and there's enough for your eternal tomorrow, too.”
Even in the brokenness, seek the Lord, and His streams of life. And there, you will find yourself, too: “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is within her; she will not be moved.” (Psalm 46:4-5a).
See
Stand on the truth, seek the Spirit, and see God's manifold works of wisdom. Continuing with Psalm 46:8 and with the Psalmist, behold with your own eyes and proclaim what God has done. Recall the seasons last year. God ended the winter, and brought forth spring. Did the brown leaves not wither and the grass come up? Did the flowers not burst from the brown twigs like bright beacons of hope? Did the weeds not return like the nuisances that they are, but even so, confirm that even these are from God?
Whatever is weighing on you, whatever season you are trudging through that feels too hard to bear, God will end it. As the Lord ends winter every year, every season will expire. And right around the corner, right on the other side, new life is waiting to break through. Look for it. See what the Lord has done and see that He is with you now. Perhaps this is simply a season of growth. Perhaps you are the new bud just waiting to burst through.
Still
And still, we have answers. We want to know exactly how long, O Lord. We want proof things will work out in the end.
And even while we are ruminating on the existential problems of life, on the rhythms of nature reflecting the character of God, on our own dismal and confusing circumstances, God steps in to the middle of the Psalm:
“Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
God speaks, and we are stilled.
Yes, your world may feel like it is falling apart.
Stand on the truth of the Word.
Yes, these circumstances are hard to press through.
Seek the river of life found in the presence of God.
Yes, there are wars, winters, and worries.
See what God has done, and let His faithfulness renew your faith.
-Kasey
