Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Right Here, Right Now, Right Early
What is it that makes God, God? What attributes make God Who He is? There are so many attributes that it would be hard to know where to start. God is all-powerful and all-knowing. We find from the psalms that He is a merciful God. We could never have any favor from Him otherwise because there is nothing in us to merit His help, yet He gives it.
The one thing that makes all the attributes of God relevant to us is the fact that God is present. Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” When I say that God is present, I mean He is present both in time and in space. God is present right here, right now, and that is what makes everything else that God is to be relevant to us. Of course, that is connected to us by God’s goodness.
The Bible says, “God is.” Right off the bat, you find the present tense, and this is found throughout the psalm. God is. “God is our…” That is personal. He is mine, my refuge. He is my strength. Refuge would be the defense. Strength would be offense. In other words, God is both powerful and protecting, and He is this for people who are seeking Him in their trouble. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” That is what I love about this psalm.
Verse 5 says, “God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.” “In the midst” speaks of God’s presence in place, and “right early” speaks of God’s presence in time.
Verse 7 says, “The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.” “The LORD of hosts” is a reference to God as the Mighty General of His Army. The reason He is our refuge is because He is here.
Verses 10-11 say, “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.” So of all the things that God is, I am most comforted to know that He is all of that in my life right here and right now.
Psalm 44 says, “We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old.” Well, I’m thankful for all that God has done in the past, but sometimes we get this impression that God was different then than He is now or that people were of different character then than they are now. The fact is that people are people and God continues to be God. God is Who He has always been. God is not limited by our imagination, our location, our station, or the time in history in which we find ourselves living. God is our refuge not only because He is able, but because He is right here, right now, right early.