July-31-0480-Be still and know that He is God
480_Be still and know that He is God Psalm 46 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah 4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. 5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. 6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. 7 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah 8 Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. 10 “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” 11 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah In 2010, a massive earthquake struck Haiti. Over 200,000 people were killed, and millions were left homeless. In the midst of this devastation, one story stood out. At a collapsed school building in Port-au-Prince, rescuers heard a faint sound—a voice singing. After nearly four days beneath the rubble, they discovered a young girl, no older than seven, trapped but alive. She was singing a simple Christian song she had learned in Sunday school: “God is so good, He’s so good to me.” Over and over she sang those words in the dark, buried under broken concrete and twisted steel. When they finally pulled her out, weak and bruised but alive, one of the rescuers said, “We found her by following the voice of hope.” How powerful was hope for that child, buried under the wreckage of disaster, but still singing because she believed in the goodness of God. That’s the heart of Psalm 46. It’s not a promise that disasters won’t come. It’s not a denial of pain or fear. It’s a bold declaration in the midst of it: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” This psalm strengthens people who are buried in grief and uncertainty, by life’s sudden catastrophes. It speaks to all who feel the ground beneath them shift. It is not a call to bravery, but a call to trust: God is our refuge. He is not distant. He is not an idea. He is a present help—right here, right now, in the mess. He is a refuge and help present amidst the most uncontrollable forces we know—natural disasters. “Though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea.” Earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis—amidst the events that make us feel utterly powerless, we can declare, “We will not fear.” Not because we are strong, or above suffering. But