Psalms 46:2, commentary and pictures

Because God is a refuge and strength and a very present help in trouble, His people will not fear even when the earth is removed and the mountains are carried into the sea, picturing total upheaval in which the world seems to collapse and the most solid and stable things fail and are swept away. That refuge and help is the Lord Jesus to all who trust Him, whose promise of all power in heaven and earth and to be with His followers always even to the end makes Him an abiding all-powerful Saviour with whom nothing is impossible, so that even if mountains depart and hills are removed His kindness and covenant of peace do not depart. The shaking pictured is the calamities of the last days, literally taking place in roaring seas and troubled waters, shaking mountains, plagues, famine and death, seen as signs of Christ's coming alongside the opening of the vials of wrath. It is the triumphant song of God's commandment-keeping people at their sudden deliverance in the final time of trouble, sung while the earth is convulsed and shaken, the waters roar, and there is darkness, thunder, lightning and heavens dark with wrath. Those who sing it have sacrificed all for Christ, held fast integrity in the face of death, kept God's commandments and the faith of Jesus, and are delivered from deadly oppression into security in Christ's righteousness and God's protection, their pale anxious faces made aglow with wonder, faith and love, which speaks hope to them and wrath to transgressors.

Assurance in Upheaval

Because God is refuge and strength and a very present help in trouble, His people will not fear even though the earth is removed and the mountains are carried into the midst of the sea. That trust holds steady amid overwhelming upheaval, when the world seems to collapse and the greatest sources of stability are swept away. It is holy trust and security in God as refuge and strength and very present help, sung in triumph even while the earth is shaken and removed, the mountains carried into the sea, the waters roaring and the heavens dark with wrath, darkness, thunder, lightning and convulsion. It is sung after sudden deliverance from deadly oppression and the dark and terrible tyranny of men, when the faithful, having sacrificed all for Christ and held fast integrity and fidelity even in the very face of death and proved faithful before the world, are made secure and hidden as in the secret of His pavilion. Then pale, anxious, haggard faces become aglow with wonder, faith and love, and what speaks hope and joy to them, like a star beaming through the clouds, speaks severity and wrath to transgressors of God's law.

The removing of the earth and the carrying of the mountains into the sea pictures total catastrophic upheaval in which the world seems to collapse. It pictures the failure and sweeping away of the most solid and stable things, the strongest things overwhelmed, the mountains shaken, plunged into the sea and carried into its midst. Even when the most stable things are overturned there is no need to fear, because God is refuge and strength and ever-present help in trouble.

That assurance was shown in action when Judah was delivered from its enemies, proving God to be fortress and refuge and giving His people understanding to sing with confidence that they could trust Him though the world seemed to collapse. The refuge and help promised is the Lord Jesus to all who put their trust in Him. His promise of all power in heaven and earth and to be with His followers always even unto the end of the world makes Him an abiding presence, an all-powerful Saviour with whom nothing is impossible, so no one who trusts Him need despond or fear.

Those who commit the keeping of their souls to Jesus and look to Him as author and finisher of faith have fearless confidence, for there is no difficulty within or without that cannot be conquered in His strength, and as He calmed the stormy sea of Galilee He can subdue every stormy temper and nature in the surrendered heart and speak peace to it. The verse belongs to a life that finds no lasting resting place on earth, where days are as a shadow and people are strangers and sojourners with no abiding, and finds abiding security in God alone. God is in the midst of His city so she shall not be moved and helps her, remaining with His people as refuge and guide even unto death, while the waters roar and the mountains shake yet His people will not fear. Even if mountains depart and hills are removed, God's kindness and covenant of peace do not depart, so those who trust Him are secure and not forsaken though earth and mountains are shaken or removed.

Last-Day Deliverance Song

The shaking pictured — earth removed, mountains carried into the sea — is the calamity and shaking of the last days, already literally taking place in roaring seas and troubled waters, in shaking mountains, and in the terror of people facing plague, pestilence, famine and death. Those who keep God's commandments and the faith of Jesus have in that shaking a defense in Christ's righteousness and in God's protection. These upheavals are terrible scenes that mark the signs of Christ's coming, standing alongside roaring waves and the opening of the vials of wrath, with pestilence, famine and death.

The verse is the triumphant song of God's commandment-keeping people at their sudden deliverance in the final time of trouble. It is sung while the earth is convulsed and shaken and removed, while the mountains are carried into the sea, while the waters roar, and while there is darkness with thunder and lightning and heavens dark with wrath, yet they will not fear. Those who sing it have sacrificed all for Christ, held fast their integrity in the very face of death, proved faithful before the world, kept God's commandments and the faith of Jesus, and are among those whose names are written in the book of life. They are therefore suddenly delivered from deadly oppression and from the dark and terrible tyranny of men, and are made secure and hidden as in the secret of His pavilion.

At that deliverance their pale, anxious, haggard faces become aglow with wonder and faith and love. What speaks hope and joy to them, like a star beaming through the clouds, speaks severity and wrath to the transgressors of God's law.

Living Without Fear

In trouble the call is to praise God for the blessings that remain and for His power to help, rather than yielding to mourning, despair or fear, for those who trust Him need not fear even when the world around them seems to collapse and the greatest sources of stability are swept away. Trust removes despondency in the face of things that cause sadness and growing pressure to hedge up the way, because God is refuge and strength and a very present help in trouble. That trust means being settled and grounded in the truth, holding fast the Word of God and keeping prayers ascending to God. It means refusing criticism that breaks up faith, grasping infinite power by union with the Source of all power, and continuing the work of preaching the gospel to every creature in defiance of all satanic agencies, confident that sufficiency is provided.

When wills are daily surrendered to God, His promise of grace for grace is fulfilled, giving power from Christ to reveal His mercy, love and power in thought, word and deed and to speak and act Christ Jesus, so there is every encouragement and no fear even amid total upheaval. Those who commit the keeping of their souls to Jesus and look to Him as author and finisher of faith have fearless confidence, for God is refuge and strength and a very present help in trouble and Christ is an all-powerful Saviour with whom nothing is impossible. His help is present in trouble and His power is sufficient for every emergency, so no one who trusts Him need despond or fear even amid upheaval as great as the earth being removed and mountains cast into the sea. Therefore there is no difficulty within or without that cannot be conquered in His strength, though the earth be removed and the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. As He calmed the stormy sea of Galilee He can subdue every stormy temper and nature in the surrendered heart, speaking peace to it.

Because God is all-powerful and acts according to His will, His people are to move according to His directions even if led to the very gates of death, and then their lives will be safe because they are hidden with Christ in God. They will not fear even when the most stable things are overturned, because God is their refuge and strength and ever-present help in trouble.