◄ Psalm 46:11 ►














Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
The Saint's Stronghold
Psalm 46:1-11
C. Clemance
This psalm is one of those "for the sons of Korah," on which see our remarks on Psalm 42. It is "a song upon Alamoth," which, according to Furst, is the proper name of a musical choir. As the word "Alamoth" means "virgins," it is supposed that the song was for soprano voices. We have, however, to deal with the contents of the song itself. It has long been a favourite with the people of God. "This is my psalm," said Luther. To this we owe his "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott," and many other songs of the sanctuary. It would seem to have been suggested by some one of the many deliverances which the Hebrews had from the onsets of their foes; but to which of those it specially refers, is and must be left an open question. There are phrases in it which remind us of the redemption from Egypt (cf. ver. 5 with Exodus 14:27, Hebrew). There are others which recall the deliverance for which Jehoshaphat prayed (cf. vers. 10, 11 with 2 Chronicles 20:17, 22, 23). Other words vividly set forth the boasting of Sennacherib and the destruction of his army (cf. vers. 3, 6 with 2 Kings 18:29-35; 2 Kings 19:6, 7, 15-19, 28, 35). At each of these crises the four points of this psalm would be

(1) a raging storm;

(2) a commanding voice;

(3) a humbled foe;

(4) a jubilant song.

And how many times this song has been sung by individuals, by families, by Churches, by nations, the closest students of history best can tell. And in setting forth this song for homiletic use, we might show that it records the repeated experience of the Church; that it becomes the grateful song of the family; that it fits the lips of the believer in recounting providential mercy; that it is the constant song of the saints in rehearsing redemption's story. To deal with all these lines of thought would far exceed our space. We will confine ourselves to the last-named use of the words before us, showing that this forty-sixth psalm means far more on the lips of the Christian than it did on the lips of Old Testament believers. It is not the song itself that is our chief joy, but that revelation of God which has made such a song possible for believers - first under the Old Testament, and specially, in Christ, under the New Testament.

I. THE SAINTS NOW HAVE A CLEARER VIEW OF GOD. (Hebrews 1:1, 2.) Of old, God spake through prophets; now he speaks in his Son. And when we hear our Lord say, "He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father," we know at once to whom to turn for the interpretation of that greatest of all words, "God." To the Hebrews, their covenant God was revealed in words (Exodus 34:6, 7); but to us he is revealed in the living Word, in the Person of the incarnate Son of God. "In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."

II. THE SAINTS NOW CAN RECORD A GREATER DELIVERANCE than Israel of old could boast - an infinitely greater one. Not only was there all the difference between rescues that were local, temporary, national, and one that is for the race for all time, but also the difference between a deliverance from Egypt, Ammon, Moab, and Assyria, and one that is from Satan and from sin; from the curse of a broken Law, and from the wrath to come. The song of Miriam is infinitely outdone by the new song, even the song of Moses and the Lamb.

III. THE SAINTS CAN NOW REJOICE IN A BETTER COVENANT. At the back, so to speak, of the psalm before us there was a recognized covenant between God and the people (Exodus 19:5, 6; Psalm 46:7, 11). In the later days of David "the everlasting covenant" was the aged monarch's hope and rest. But now, in Christ, we have the "better covenant," "the everlasting covenant," sealed and ratified with blood (Hebrews 8:6; Hebrews 13:20; Matthew 26:28). This covenant assures to the penitent, forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified. It includes all that Christ is and has, as made over to those who rely on him, for ever and for ever. It is not dependent on the accidents of time or sense. No duration can weaken it; no ill designs can mar it; not all the force of earth or hell can touch these who look to "the sure mercies of David."

IV. THE SAINTS NOW MAKE UP A MORE PRIVILEGED CITY. (Ver. 4.) While nations were proudly and angrily raging like the wild waves of the tossing sea, there was a calm, peaceful river, whose branches peacefully flowed through the city of God. Thus beautifully does the psalmist indicate the calm which took possession of believers then, while the nations roared around them. And in "the new Jerusalem," the present "city of God," which Divine love founded, and which Divine power is building up, there still flows the deep, still, calm river of Divine peace and joy and love. Or, if it be preferred, let Dr. Watts tell " That sacred stream, thine Holy Word, That all our raging fear controls; Sweet peace thy promises afford, And give new strength to fainting souls." Through the new city of God, the Holy Catholic Church, made up of all believers, this peaceful stream ever runs, refreshing and fertilizing wherever it flows. No frost congeals it; no heat can dry it up; it will eternally make glad the city of God. Hence -

V. THE SAINTS NOW PEAL FORTH A MORE JUBILANT SONG, We can sing this psalm, especially its first verse, with wider intelligence, larger meaning, deeper peace, and more expansive joy, than were possible to the Hebrews of old. As revelation has advanced, the believer's joy in God has grown likewise. Faith becomes larger as faith's Object becomes clearer. And no Hebrew could sing of the deliverance of his fathers so joyously as we can sing of the redemption of a world - a redemption in which we can rejoice, not only in our days of sadness, but in our days of gladness too. And as the psalmist could think of God as the Lord of hosts, and yet the God of Jacob; as the Leader of the armies of heaven, and yet the Helper of the lonely, wayworn traveller; so the believer, in thinking of the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, can say, "He died for all," and also, "He loved me, and gave himself for me."

VI. THE SONG IS GRANDEST WHERE TROUBLE HAS BEEN THE GREATEST. "He has been found a Help in trouble exceedingly " - the adverb expressive of intensity may refer to the greatness of the trouble. But however this may be, certain it is that it is in the troubles of life that the believer finds out all that God is to him. And the man who can sing this psalm most jubilantly is the one who has been weighted with care most heavily. This is the glory of our great redeeming God. He is a Friend for life's dark days, as well as for the bright ones. Note:

1. The troubles of life often bring out to us our need of God. It is easy to be serene when trouble is far from us, and to spin fine philosophic webs; but let trouble come upon us, - that will make all the difference. The late beloved Princess Alice was almost led to the dark negations of Straussianism; but when she lost her child, her trouble led her to feel her need of a Refuge, and then she sought and found the Lord. Ellen Watson, the accomplished mathematician, revelled in exact science, and "wanted nothing more," till the death of a friend broke in on her exact science, rent her heart, opened her eyes, and was the means of leading her to Jesus. The experience of a young civil engineer, whom the writer visited in his last illness, was precisely the same.

2. Those who can give us no comfort or rest in the troubles of life are of little use in such a world as this. In a letter of an aged Unitarian minister to a friend of the writer, the expression is used, "I am just battling with the inevitable." "Battling with the inevitable!" So it must be, if men turn away from our God as the Redeemer from sin, the Saviour of the lost.

3. It is the glory of Christ as our Refuge that he can hide us securely in the fiercest troubles of life.

"Should storms of sevenfold thunder roll, And shake the globe from pole to pole No flaming bolt shall daunt my face For Jesus is my Hiding-place." ? C.

Biblical Illustrator
The Lord of Hosts is with us.
Psalm 46:11
God with us
W. Hoyt, D. D.
The Lord of Hosts — that means the God of power; the God who has all hosts of all sorts at His beck and under His control; the great King whom all created powers, whether marshalled in heaven or ranked on earth, somehow must obey. The Lord of Hosts is the God of Providence, therefore — the circle of whose wise government embraces the least and greatest persons, forces, things. The God of Jacob — that means the God of covenant-keeping; the God who promises, and never breaks His promises. And our Scripture asserts that He is with us, that He is our refuge. "We are thus reminded of the double prop on which our faith rests; the infinite power, whereby He can subdue the universe unto Himself; and the fatherly love, which He has revealed in His Word. When these two are joined together, our faith may trample on all enemies."

I. This God is with Us AS AN INWARD INVIGORATION. "There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God." No city was supplied with water as was Jerusalem within itself. For there was within Jerusalem a living spring beneath the temple vaults. It was this spring whence the water welled to fill the two Siloam pools. In this way this God of power and of promise will be with us, if we will have it so. Even as Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit as the fountain of living water within the believing man. God shall be, for such a man, internal supply and strength, making the man the master of difficulties, not the slave of them. Right here is the mightiest need for all of us — that we have God thus with us, in the meaning of within us, by the Holy Spirit.

1. It is the cure for cold and laggard hearts.

2. It is the inspiration of delightful and loving service.

3. It is the power and defence against bad habits.

4. It is the sweet expeller of all unbrotherliness.

II. This God of power and of promise will be with us also AS A HELPING PRESENCE. "God is in the midst of her," etc.

III. This God of power and of promise shall be with us AS A MASTERFUL DELIVERANCE (ver. 6).

(W. Hoyt, D. D.)

O clap your hands, all ye people.
Psalm 47
Messianic triumph predicted
A. Maclaren, D. D.
The psalmist looked far ahead. His immediate experience was as "a little window through which he saw great matters." The prophecy of the universal spread of God's kingdom and the inclusion in it of the Gentiles is Messianic; and whether the singer knew that he spoke of a fair hope which should not be a fact for weary centuries, or anticipated wider and permanent results from that triumph which inspired his song, he spake of the Christ, and his strains are true prophecies of His dominion. There is no intentional reference in the psalm to the Ascension; but the thoughts underlying its picture of God's going up with a shout are the same which that Ascension sets forth as facts — the merciful coming down into humanity of the Divine Helper; the completeness of His victory as attested by His return thither where He was before; His session in heaven, not as idle nor wearied, but as having done what He meant to do; His continuous working as King in the world; and the widening recognition of His authority by loving hearts. The psalmist summons us all to swell with our voices that great chorus of praise which, like a sea, rolls and breaks in music round His royal seat.

(A. Maclaren, D. D.)

The praiseworthy and the faultworthy in worship
Homilist.
Man is a worshipper. The deepest craving of his soul is for worship, and in true worship alone he can find the healthy excitement and the full and felicitous development and exercise of all his powers.

I. The PRAISE-Worthy in worship.

1. Exultancy. "O clap your hands," etc.; "shout unto God." "Sing praises to God," etc. Among the reasons indicated in the psalm for this exultancy is His supremacy over all the earth.(1) His government of the world is founded upon the reason of things.(2) His government of the world is founded upon laws suited to the nature of His subjects.(3) His government of the world is exercised for purely benevolent ends.(4) His government of the world affords opportunities for rebels to be restored.

2. Enthusiasm. In worship all the faculties and susceptibilities of the soul are interested, and into it conscience pours its whole force.

3. Monotheism. There is one God, and one only, to be worshipped. The supremely good is to be loved supremely, the supremely great to be adored supremely, the supremely just to be obeyed supremely.

4. Intelligence. "Sing ye praises with understanding." Worship is not an unmeaning act, not a burst of blind passion; it is founded in the profoundest philosophy, it implies the grandest truths.

II. The FAULT-Worthy in worship.

1. There is something like selfishness here. Worship may begin in gratitude, may spring from a sense of God's personal kindness; but it only becomes virtuous and noble as it rises into self-oblivious adoration.

2. There is something like revenge here. "He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet." "God reigneth over the heathen." "The shields of the earth belong unto God"; i.e. the rulers of the earth are in His hand.

(Homilist.)

People
Jacob, Korah, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Armies, Chief, Fortress, Hosts, Jacob, Korah, Musician, Psalm, Refuge, Selah, Sons, Stronghold, Tower
Outline
1. The confidence which the church has in God
8. An exhortation to behold it

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 46:11

     1235   God, the LORD
     1240   God, the Rock
     1245   God of the fathers
     2227   Immanuel
     8666   praise, manner and methods

Library
God is Our Refuge
Westminster Abbey, 1873. Psalm xlvi. 1. "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." This is a noble psalm, full of hope and comfort; and it will be more and more full of hope and comfort, the more faithfully we believe in the incarnation, the passion, the resurrection, and the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. For if we are to give credit to His express words, and to those of every book of the New Testament, and to the opinion of that Church into which we are baptised, …
Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other Sermons

The Lord of Hosts, the God of Jacob
'The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our Refuge.' --PSALM xlvi. 11. Some great deliverance, the details of which we do not know, had been wrought for Israel, and this psalmist comes forth, like Miriam with her choir of maidens, to hymn the victory. The psalm throbs with exultation, but no human victor's name degrades the singer's lips. There is only one Conqueror whom he celebrates. The deliverance has been 'the work of the Lord'; the 'desolations' that have been made on the 'earth' …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The City and River of God
'There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. 5. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early. 6. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: He uttered His voice, the earth melted. 7. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.'--PSALM xlvi 4-7. There are two remarkable events in the history of Israel, one or other of which most probably supplied the historical …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Desolations of the Lord, the Consolation of his Saints
IT SEEMS THAT EVERYTHING Christlike must have a history like that of Christ. His beginnings were small--the manger and the stable. So with the beginnings of that society which we love, and which we believe to be the very incarnation of the Spirit of Christ. Its beginnings also were small; but its latter end shall doubtless greatly increase--for, hath not the end of Christ become exceedingly glorious? He hath ascended up on high; he sitteth at the right hand of God, our Father; and doubtless this …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 4: 1858

Eighteenth Day for Peace
WHAT TO PRAY.--For Peace "I exhort therefore, first of all, that supplication be made for kings and all that are in high places; that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and gravity. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour."--1 TIM. ii"He maketh wars to cease to the end of the earth."--PS. xlvi. 9. What a terrible sight!--the military armaments in which the nations find their pride. What a terrible thought!--the evil passions that may at any moment bring …
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

Of the Presence of God
Of the Presence of God The soul that is faithful in the exercise of love and adherence to God above described, is astonished to feel Him gradually taking possession of their whole being: it now enjoys a continual sense of that Presence, which is become as it were natural to it; and this, as well as prayer, is the result of habit. The soul feels an unusual serenity gradually being diffused throughout all its faculties; and silence now wholly constitutes its prayer; whilst God communicates an intuitive …
Madame Guyon—A Short and Easy Method of Prayer

Higher Degree of Prayer, which is that of the Simple Presence of God, or Active Contemplation.
The soul, faithfully exercising itself in the affection and love of its God, is astonished to find Him taking complete possession of it. His presence becomes so natural, that it would be impossible not to have it: it becomes habitual to the soul, which is also conscious of a great calm spreading over it. Its prayer is all silence, and God imparts to it an intrinsic love, which is the commencement of ineffable happiness. Oh, if I could describe the infinite degrees which follow! But I must stop here, …
Jeanne Marie Bouvières—A Short Method Of Prayer And Spiritual Torrents

The Stronghold
[Psalm 46] [41]Luther. 1530. trans. by William Gaskell, 1855 A sure stronghold our God is He, A trusty shield and weapon; Our help He'll be and set us free From every ill can happen. That old malicious foe Intends us deadly woe; Armed with the strength of hell, And deepest craft as well, On earth is not his fellow. Through our own force we nothing can, Straight were we lost for ever, But for us fights the proper Man, By God sent to deliver. Ask ye who this may be? Christ Jesus named is He, Of Sabaoth …
Catherine Winkworth—Christian Singers of Germany

The River of God
C. P. C. Ps. xlvi. 4 From the Rock that God has riven Flows the sacred river, Through the wastes of barren ages, Ever and for ever. Still on this side and on that side, Grow the healing trees-- Bearing fruit for all who hunger, Leaves for all disease. From the everlasting fountains Still it flows along, Making glad the holy city Of eternal song. From the throne of Christ in glory, Rock that God has riven, Onward still the crystal river Bears the life of Heaven. Sheep lie yet in quiet pastures …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity. Be Strong in the Lord
Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity. Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 8,7,8,7,6,6,6,6,7 Ein feste Burg [118]Luther. 1530. Hymn composed on the road to Worms. trans. by William Gaskell, 1855 A sure stronghold …
Catherine Winkworth—Lyra Germanica: The Christian Year

The Lord of Hosts. --Ps. Xlvi.
The Lord of Hosts.--Ps. xlvi. Come, and behold the works of God, What desolations he will make; In vengeance when He wields His rod, The heathen rage, their kingdoms quake; He utters forth His voice;--'tis felt; Like wax the world's foundations melt; The Lord of Hosts is in the field! The God of Jacob is our shield. Again He maketh wars to cease, He breaks the bow, unpoints the spear, And burns the chariot;--joy and peace In all His glorious march appear: Silence, O Earth! Thy Maker own; Ye gentiles, …
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

An Antepast of Heaven. --Psalm Xlvi.
An Antepast of Heaven.--Psalm xlvi. There is a river pure and bright, Whose streams make glad the heavenly plains, Where, in eternity of light, The City of our God remains. Built by the word of His command, With His unclouded presence blest, Firm as His throne, the bulwarks stand; There is our home, our hope, our rest. Thither let fervent faith aspire; Our treasure and our heart be there: Oh! for a seraph's wing of fire! No,--on the mightier wings of prayer,-- We reach at once that last retreat, …
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

Letter Lii to Another Holy virgin.
To Another Holy Virgin. Under a religious habit she had continued to have a spirit given up to the world, and Bernard praises her for coming to a sense of her duty; he exhorts her not to neglect the grace given to her. 1. It is the source of great joy to me to hear that you are willing to strive after that true and perfect joy, which belongs not to earth but to heaven; that is, not to this, vale of tears, but to that city of God which the rivers of the flood thereof make glad (Ps. xlvi. 4). And in …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

God is Our Stronghold and Our Stay
[835]Ein Feste Burg: Martin Luther, 1529 Psalm 46 Version by Elizabeth Wordsworth, 1903 God is our stronghold and our stay, Our hope in tribulation; What though the mountains rock and sway To earth's long-hid foundation? What though the ocean roar, Fast gaining on the shore, The hurtling storm rage loud Beneath the thunder cloud? Our hearts are all untroubled. The might of water sinks to rest; How calm yon river glideth, God's city mirrored on its breast, The house where he abideth! Hushed be all …
Various—The Hymnal of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the USA

The Faults Committed in this Degree --Distractions, Temptations --The Course to be Pursued Respecting Them.
As soon as we fall into a fault, or have wandered, we must turn again within ourselves; because this fault having turned us from God, we should as soon as possible turn towards Him, and suffer the penitence which He Himself will give. It is of great importance that we should not be anxious about these faults, because the anxiety only springs from a secret pride and a love of our own excellence. We are troubled at feeling what we are. If we become discouraged, we shall grow weaker yet; and reflection …
Jeanne Marie Bouvières—A Short Method Of Prayer And Spiritual Torrents

The Opinions
Of the Hebrew Doctors on the great Day of Judgment, and of the Reign of the Messiah then to come. Carpentarius, in his Commentary on the Alcinous of Plato, p. 322, asserts, that "the seventh millenary was called, by the whole school of the Cabalists, the great day of judgment, because then they think that God will judge the souls of all." He means, by the name of Cabalists, (if I am not mistaken,) the Talmudic doctors, according to whom, in more than one author, that tradition is found to be recorded. …
Joseph Mede—A Key to the Apocalypse

A Manifestation of God in Answer to Prayer
A MANIFESTATION OF GOD IN ANSWER TO PRAYER ". . . When they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness." -- Acts 4:31. This remarkable manifestation of God reveals the effectiveness of prevailing prayer. It vividly discloses the fact that prayer can accomplish much. It is apparent that neither the apostles, nor the assembled company of devout believers were astonished at the marvelous …
T. M. Anderson—Prayer Availeth Much

Notes on the Third Century
Page 161. Line 1. He must be born again, &c. This is a compound citation from John iii. 3, and Mark x. 15, in the order named. Page 182. Line 17. For all things should work together, &c. See Romans viii. 28. Page 184. Lines 10-11. Being Satan is able, &c. 2 Corinthians xi. 14. Page 184. Last line. Like a sparrow, &c. Psalm cii. Page 187. Line 1. Mechanisms. This word is, in the original MS., mechanicismes.' Page 187. Line 7. Like the King's daughter, &c. Psalm xlv. 14. Page 188. Med. 39. The best …
Thomas Traherne—Centuries of Meditations

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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