HELEN SANDERS
10-9-2024
OUR REFUGE AND STRENGTH

Again, as I was praying concerning Hurricane Milton, the Lord took me to Psalm 46. Let’s see what we can learn from a few verses found in this psalm.

Verse 1: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” The word God is Elohim, which is the supreme God, the trinity. The word refuge means shelter, hope, and trust. Strength means security, power, majesty, and of course means He is our strength. Present is a now word, not later; it means to appear, acquire. Help means he is there to help us. The Holy Spirit is our helper. Trouble means adversity, affliction, distress, tribulation. Taking this verse in context, we can trust that God is our shelter NOW and is our strength when we need him. His strength is made perfect in our weakness [2 Corinthians 12:9]. He is our shelter as Psalm 91 has taught us in the past, but we must dwell in him to be protected.

Verse 2-3: “Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; 3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.” This verse lets us know that we are to fear when earthquakes come. We aren’t to fear when volcanoes erupt. We aren’t to fear when hurricanes come. We are to trust God will be with us no matter what comes at us!

Verse 5: “God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.” Jesus dwells in us. He is our high tower that keeps us safe. Put your name in that verse and speak it over yourself. It brings peace to know that God will be our defense NOW.

Verse 10: “Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” We must get quiet when chaos is all around us. God wants us to know that He has an answer in his word for every situation. If we are not quiet and listen to his voice, we will miss it. He will not yell at us. He comes, defends us, and because of this, He will be given all the praise and glory throughout eternity. Trust God that when he gives a promise such as this Psalm 46 that He is with us as our refuge and strength no matter what the situation might be. He is Lord!