Psalm 46
October 26, 2014
In
the days and weeks following the terrorist attacks of September 11, we were a
people in chaos. We were a people
afraid. Even though I lived far away from where the attacks happened, and I had
no direct connection with anyone who died on that terrible day, I still lived
in a state of constant fear. I’m sure I
wasn’t alone. In one clear, sunny
morning, every illusion we had of being safe was shattered. On September 10 I could put my children to
bed, lock the doors, and feel safe and non-threatened. On September 11 that disappeared. It hasn’t really returned. It’s no wonder then that in those days and
weeks after the attacks, people across our country -- perhaps across the world –
turned to God. Attendance at religious services
went up in record numbers. Whether they attended a church, a synagogue, a temple,
or a mosque, people turned to God looking for some comfort and reassurance in
the midst of that nightmarish time of death and destruction. People turned to God, and from large services
such as the memorial service held at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.
to smaller services of prayer and mourning in churches of all shapes and sizes,
the psalm we read today was heard. Psalm
46.
“God
is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
That
was a time of trouble all right, so it makes sense that this particular psalm
was read, heard, and clung to. One definition of the word refuge is “something to which one has recourse in difficulty.” The psalmist describes God as being our
refuge, but this psalm also serves as a refuge of sorts. Post September 11 was not the only time that
people have sought refuge in these particular words of poetry. Although I don’t have proof, it wouldn’t
surprise me if this psalm wasn’t read after many national crises. Wars, attacks, assassinations – whenever trouble
hovers like that proverbial dark cloud and chaos looms large, this is a go-to
psalm. It is a psalm of refuge about a
God of refuge.
“God is our refuge and
strength, a very present help in trouble.”
It is no accident that
Psalm 46 is part of the texts for the observance of Reformation Sunday. I don’t know if its history or legend, but
this was supposed to be Luther’s favorite psalm. The hymn he is best known for, the one that
we sang in our worship today, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” is based on this
psalm. “A mighty fortress is our God, a
bulwark never failing.” “God is our
refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
I can imagine why this
psalm was important to Luther.
Certainly, he must have needed to lean on its reassurance. When you take on the church and its
time-honored rituals, you’re going to need reassurance. You’re going to need a refuge. Although Luther and the other reformers weren’t
fighting a war in the typical sense of the word, they were engaged in a battle
of sorts. A fellow preacher wrote that while we are in denominations that are
considered reformed, and we have a
definite reformed theology, we are
not called reformists. We are called Protestants, because our ancestors, both of the DNA variety and the
spiritual sort, protested. They
protested abuses in the church and in the societies in which they lived. They protested injustice. They protested social ills. They protested rites and rituals which seemed
contrary to the gospel. They protested. The reformers that we remember and honor this
day both reformed and protested. They
actively engaged the powers and principalities of the church and demanded
change. They protested for what they
thought was right and true to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Yet whether we talk
about the Reformation as protest or reform or both, it is exhausting. To demand change, to work for change, to
challenge the powers that be, to put life and limb on the line for what you
believe, it is exhausting. I admire the men
and women who led the Reformation for many reasons; most notably they paved the
way for the church we sit in this morning.
But as I reflected on all that I know about the Reformation this past
week, what I found myself returning to again and again, was their persistence. It was persistence in the face of
persecution. It was determination in
spite of the dispiriting circumstances they found themselves in. It was courage and conviction to say and do
what they believed was righteous and just, even though common sense may have
warned them otherwise. Doing all that
must have been exhausting. Surely there
must have been times when they were weary; weary in body, mind and spirit. They needed a refuge.
Reformers like Martin
Luther needed actual, physical refuges.
I told a dear friend that it amazes me that he lived out a natural
lifespan. He should have been executed,
and I know he came close a few times.
So, yes, he must have needed places of refuge to hide and to continue
his work. But he must have also needed a
place of spiritual refuge as well. So we
come back to our psalm. Listen to these
first verses again.
“God is our refuge and
strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the
mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its tumult.”
The physical world is
in upheaval. The earth is changing. The mountains are shaking. The sea waters roar and foam. If the mountains weren’t changing before,
they now tremble from the tumult of the seas.
But in the midst of this physical chaos, for that is what I think is
being described; there is “a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the
holy habitation of the Most High. God is
in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved.”
Even though chaos and
quaking and trembling and shaking is happening all around, there is a river of
peace. That’s the feeling I get from
that. It is a river of peace. It is a river in a city that cannot, be
caught in the upheaval and turmoil happening all around it. It is the city of God. And God is in the midst of the city. Everything around it might be tumbling down,
kingdoms, nations, and so on. But God’s
city is a place of peace. God’s city is
a place of calm. God’s city cannot be
moved. It is a place of shelter and
refuge. God is our shelter. God is our refuge.
While
the reformers, the protesters needed physical places of refuge, they also
needed a refuge of the soul, the heart, the spirit. That is what I hear being described in this
psalm. The city of God isn’t just a
peaceful destination; it is the place where God dwells. And in God we find our refuge. In God we find our strength.
As
I said before, a refuge is something to turn to in times of difficulty. Looking around the world these days, it seems
to me that we need God as our refuge more than ever before. Not since September 11, has the world seemed
so unsettled. I feel this way. I know others have expressed this feeling as
well. Looking at all the trouble in the
world – wars, physical and ideological, epidemics, poverty, hunger, natural
disasters and the disaster we’re making of nature – this psalm seems more
needed than ever before. We need to find
refuge in God. We need to take shelter
in the peace of God. Our world feels so
chaotic and unsafe, finding refuge in God seems the only way to bear it.
Yet
even as the world seems unsafe, our own lives can feel unsafe, chaotic, and
unsettled. Many of us live with an
underlying sense of dis-ease. It is easy
to feel that God is far away, from our world, from us. But the psalmist and all of scripture assures
us that God is not far away or distant or removed. God is in our midst. So hear again these words of calm, of peace,
of refuge.
God
is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though we fail to
care for the earth we have been given, though wars over power and position are
being waged and justified in God’s name.
Therefore we will not be afraid, though violence invades our cities, our
places of work, our schools, our homes. We
will not be scared, even though so many of us don’t know when we will eat again
or where we will sleep at night. We will
not be anxious because money is tight and debts are high, because change is
upon us and we don’t know what will come next.
We will not give into our fears, because we trust that God is with
us. We trust that God is here. We hold onto God’s strength and in God our
tired souls find refuge. We will not
fear because we are in God’s hands and God’s hands are good. Even though the world seems to be falling
apart at the seams, the world is still God’s.
Chaos and confusion can change that or change God. God’s city is the midst of us. God is our refuge. In God we do not hide from the terrors of the
world. In God, we find the peace and the
strength and the courage to go into the world, to proclaim God’s Good News, to
be the instruments of God’s peace, to share through word and deed God’s
reconciling love.
God is our refuge and
our strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear because God is with us and we are God’s. Let all of God’s children say, “Alleluia.” Amen.
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