Psalm 46:1-2
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;”
The phone rings, or you hear the knock on the door, and your world is immediately turned upside down. For the first time in your life, or in a long time, you feel vulnerable. The news you hear has thrown you into a tail spin and you don’t know what to do.
David felt the same way in the verse above. David said that when this happened, he discovered, “God is our refuge and strength,…” When his world was removed, David discovered that God was “a very present help in trouble.” When you read this psalm, you find there is help in trouble. Who is that help? That help is God!
One of the things that makes bad news so bad is that it gives no warning ahead of time so you can prepare. It simply comes. The heart attack hits your loved one. You family member has found themselves in trouble with the law. Your spouse leaves you for someone else, and you were completely caught off guard. A seemingly healthy loved one passes away, and your “earth is removed.” When your “earth is removed,” let me remind you that God is the One Who will protect and give you strength to face the days ahead. He is your help in trouble.
When the strength of your life is gone, God will become the strength to help you in your time of trouble. That is what the psalmist was teaching when he said, “…though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;…” When your troubles come and remove the strongholds that you have depended upon for so long, you can rest assured that God is “a very present help in trouble.”
Often, when going through troubled times of life, the troubles you face will seemingly roar at such a volume that you will want to run. The psalmist said in verse 3, “Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled,…” He was saying that troubles will certainly make themselves known to you, and the noise of fear and doubt may swirl in your head, but in these times you can be assured that God is “a very present help in trouble.”
Christian, one thing you can bank on in life is that when troubles come, they don’t come alone, because God has already come to be your strength as you go through them. That is why God says in verses 10-11, “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. Selah.” God is simply saying to calm down. Yes, the troubles may be screaming to get you to run, but “be still.” Yes, the troubles may have turned your world upside down, but God will be exalted through them. Yes, the troubles have seemingly made you vulnerable and weak, but God is with you. God is to be your refuge and strength in these times.
Whatever you are facing today, don’t let your troubles cause you to be afraid. As God teaches us in verse 10, calm down. You are safe, and God is there with you. You may not know what the days ahead may hold, but you can always be assured that in the days ahead God will give you the strength to face whatever may come.