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“God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.”
— Psalm 46:1 (ESV)
“Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea.”
— Psalm 46:2 (ESV)
“The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.”
— Psalm 46:7 (ESV)
The central theme of this song is very clear:
In the midst of trouble, God Himself is our refuge, our strength, our fortress.
Not our feelings, not our circumstances, not our plans, but God Himself.
Notice the order:
1. Who God is: *Refuge* and *Strength*.
2. What He does: *Help in trouble*.
3. Our response: *We will not fear*.
4. Our position: *He is with us; He is our fortress*.
The Word of God does not start with our problem. It starts with God’s character. If you begin with your trouble, you will end in fear. If you begin with who God is, you can end in faith.
The lyrics of the song simply echo God’s own words. They are not human ideas about comfort; they are divine statements of reality. The Holy Spirit has framed for us, in very few words, a complete response to crisis: Refuge. Strength. Help. With us. Fortress. No fear.
Let us see what the Word of God says in its original setting.
---
Psalm 46 is attributed to the sons of Korah, a Levitical family entrusted with temple worship. This is not the song of a detached poet; it is the faith-confession of those who stood before the presence of God on behalf of the people.
The heading (in many Bibles) reads:
“To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A song.”
We are not given a precise event, but the content points to a time of severe national shaking—political, military, and even cosmic imagery of the earth itself collapsing. Israel was a small nation, surrounded by powerful enemies. She was often threatened by invasion, siege, and destruction.
Many scholars connect this psalm, at least thematically, with the kind of crises Israel faced under kings such as Hezekiah, when Jerusalem was surrounded by the Assyrian army (see 2 Kings 18–19; Isaiah 36–37). At that time, the city had no natural hope. Humanly speaking, the situation was hopeless. Yet God intervened in one night and destroyed the Assyrian forces.
Whether or not Psalm 46 was written for that specific event, it carries the same spiritual atmosphere:
Right in the middle of that turmoil, the Spirit of God gives this confession:
“God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear…”
This is not theory. This is a battle-psalm. It is how God’s people are to think and speak when everything shakes. It is a song of defiant faith in the face of overwhelming danger.
And then verse 7 anchors it:
“The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.”
The covenant name of God (YHWH) is joined to “hosts” (armies) and to “Jacob,” the patriarch who knew God in weakness and failure, yet was preserved by grace. This psalm is not only for the strong; it is for the weak who trust in a strong God.
---
Let us focus on three key expressions in the Hebrew text:
1. “Refuge” – מַחֲסֶה (machaseh)
2. “A very present help” – עֶזְרָה בְּצָרוֹת נִמְצָא מְאֹד (ezrah b’tsarot nimtsa me’od)
3. “Fortress” – מִשְׂגָּב (misgav)
### 1) Refuge – מַחֲסֶה (machaseh)
“God is our refuge…” (Psalm 46:1)
The Hebrew word *machaseh* means:
It is used of physical shelter and also of spiritual safety in God. In Psalm 91:2 we read:
“I will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge (*machaseh*) and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’”
A refuge is not an idea; it is a place. Spiritually speaking, God Himself is that place. To say, “God is my refuge” means: *I run into God; I take my position in Him; I hide in who He is.*
This deepens the lyric:
“God is our refuge and strength…”
We are not merely comforted by God; we are sheltered *in* God.
### 2) “A very present help” – נִמְצָא מְאֹד (nimtsa me’od)
“A very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1)
Literally:
We could render it:
“a help in distresses, found to be exceedingly [present and sufficient].”
Two important nuances:
1. Found – This speaks of *experience*, not theory. In trouble, He is *found* as help. You do not only read that He is help; you discover it.
2. Exceedingly – He is not barely enough; He is more than enough. Not occasionally present, but intensively, abundantly present.
So when the song repeats,
“a very present help in trouble,”
it is lining up with this truth: God is found, in reality, as more-than-enough help, exactly in our tightest places.
### 3) Fortress – מִשְׂגָּב (misgav)
“The God of Jacob is our fortress.” (Psalm 46:7)
*Misgav* means:
It is the same idea as being “set on high” out of reach of danger (see Psalm 18:2: “my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold” – *misgav*).
A fortress in biblical terms is not just thick walls. It is a height advantage. From that high place, the enemy cannot easily touch you, and you can see him clearly.
So the lyric,
“The God of Jacob is our fortress… He is our help, our fortress,”
carries this meaning: In God, we are lifted to a secure position, above what threatens us, not merely surrounded but elevated.
---
Now let us walk through the themes of the lyrics in the light of Scripture.
### A) “God is our refuge and strength”
This is the opening declaration of the psalm and the song. Notice:
This is a statement of identity and relationship. Our security is not in a thing, but in a Person.
This is echoed throughout Scripture:
The “name of the Lord” represents His revealed character. To run into His name is to consciously take shelter in who God has declared Himself to be: faithful, merciful, sovereign, almighty, righteous.
Spiritually, this confronts a major problem in the church: We often run to methods, people, or emotions instead of running to God. We may say, “God is my refuge,” but in practice we seek refuge in entertainment, relationships, money, or self-pity.
This line of the song is a call to align:
### B) “An ever-present / very present help in trouble”
There is no promise in the Bible that believers will never face trouble. In fact, the opposite is stated:
The issue is not the absence of trouble; it is the presence of God in trouble.
The psalm does not say, “God is our refuge and strength, therefore we will never know trouble.” It says: God is our refuge and strength in trouble.
The Hebrew *b’tsarot* means “in tight places, in pressures, in distresses.” This includes:
When trouble comes, Satan’s strategy is to isolate you—make you feel abandoned, alone, cut off. He whispers: “God is far. God is silent. You are on your own.”
This verse directly contradicts that lie. God is:
Hebrews 13:5 echoes this in the New Testament:
“I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
In Greek, it is very emphatic—literally:
“I will not, I will not, I will NOT leave you; I will not abandon you.”
The lyrics bring that into our mouths: we sing, we declare, we align with God’s truth against the lying feelings of abandonment.
### C) “Therefore we will not fear…”
Faith always has a “therefore.” Theology that does not change our response is not biblical faith.
Notice the logic:
1. God is refuge.
2. God is strength.
3. God is present help in trouble.
Therefore
4. We will not fear.
If the “therefore” is missing, something is wrong. Many Christians affirm the first three, but still live in fear. Why? Because they have never made the “therefore” their own decision.
Psalm 56:3 says:
“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.”
Fear is a temptation, not a destiny. The psalmist does not say, “I never feel fear.” He says, “When fear comes, I choose to trust.”
The lyrics, “Therefore we will not fear,” are a corporate decision—the people of God agreeing together to refuse fear as their master.
This is vital in spiritual warfare. One of Satan’s primary weapons is fear. Hebrews 2:15 speaks of those “who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.” Fear enslaves. Faith liberates.
When we say, “We will not fear,” we are not denying danger; we are denying fear the right to control us. We are transferring authority from circumstances to God.
### D) “Though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea”
This is extreme language. It describes total instability:
We see something similar in Haggai 2:6–7:
“Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all nations…”
Hebrews 12:26–27 quotes this, explaining that God shakes what can be shaken so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
So Psalm 46 is not just about personal problems; it is also about cosmic shaking—political, environmental, economic, and spiritual disturbance.
When such shaking comes, the natural response is panic. But the psalm teaches a supernatural response: we will not fear—because our refuge is not the earth, not the mountains, not the systems of this world, but God.
You cannot live this way if your security is in:
All these things can be shaken. Only God cannot be shaken. That is why He must be our refuge.
### E) “The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress”
This is the refrain of the psalm (vv. 7 and 11). It appears twice to fix it in our hearts.
“The Lord Almighty” in Hebrew is YHWH Tseva’ot—“The Lord of hosts,” or “The Lord of armies.” It reveals God as the Commander of angelic armies, the One who controls all spiritual and earthly powers.
2 Kings 6 gives us an example. Elisha’s servant saw only the Syrian army and was terrified. Elisha prayed, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” The Lord opened his eyes, and he saw the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha. The Lord of hosts was present.
“The Lord of hosts is with us.”
Then: “The God of Jacob is our fortress.”
Why “Jacob”? Jacob was not a perfect man. He was a struggler, a deceiver, a man who failed and feared. Yet God revealed Himself to Jacob in his weakness, preserved him, and changed him.
So this phrase combines:
This is the God who is our fortress. Not a distant, impersonal force, but the covenant-keeping God who stands with frail believers in their battles and lifts them into a secure height.
The lyric echoes this:
“The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.”
It is a double assurance:
1. We are not alone.
2. The One who is with us is both infinitely strong and intensely merciful.
### F) “He is our help, our fortress”
The song closes by combining two key truths:
Spiritually, this describes two aspects of God’s salvation in Christ:
1. Deliverance from – God helps, rescues, intervenes in time of trouble.
2. Establishment in – God sets us in Christ, in heavenly places, out of reach of principalities and powers.
Many seek only the first (help out of trouble) but neglect the second (position in Christ). God wants both: intervention and elevation.
When we sing, “He is our help, our fortress,” we are aligning with this twofold work:
“Lord, come into my trouble—and lift me into Your secure position.”
---
Truth must be applied. Let us consider four practical steps.
### 1) We must make God, not circumstances, our starting point
Most of us instinctively start with the problem:
Psalm 46 starts differently:
“God is our refuge and strength…”
This is a spiritual discipline. When trouble arises:
You can do this by proclaiming Scripture aloud:
“God, You are my refuge and my strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore, I choose not to fear.”
This shifts the spiritual atmosphere. Satan wants you problem-conscious; God wants you God-conscious.
### 2) We must respond to fear with proclamation, not passivity
Fear will come. The question is: what do you do with it?
The psalm’s answer: speak.
“Therefore we will not fear…” is a declaration. Not a feeling, a decision.
Make it specific:
Attach it to the Word:
Faith speaks (2 Corinthians 4:13). Your mouth is a weapon in spiritual warfare. Silence in the face of fear is surrender. Confession of the Word is resistance.
### 3) We must consciously “run into” God as our refuge
If God is a refuge, we must enter Him by faith. How?
You can pray something like:
“Lord, I run to You as my refuge.
I bring this specific trouble (name it) before You.
I refuse to seek false refuges.
I choose to hide myself in Your Word, in Your character, in the finished work of Jesus.”
Then, saturate your mind with scriptures that reveal God as refuge (Psalms 18, 27, 31, 46, 91). As you meditate, you are entering into that place of shelter.
### 4) We must see ourselves “lifted high” in Christ, above the storm
Remember, fortress (*misgav*) implies height. In Christ, this is already true:
You may feel surrounded on earth, but in the Spirit you are seated with Christ above every demonic force. You need to see yourself there by faith.
Declare:
This does not mean you deny the reality of the battle; it means you fight it from the right position—*from victory, not for victory.*
---
### Proclamation
Speak this aloud, slowly and deliberately, in the first person:
> God is my refuge and my strength,
> a very present help in trouble.
> Therefore I will not fear,
> though the earth should give way,
> though the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.
>
> The Lord of hosts is with me;
> the God of Jacob is my fortress.
> He is my ever-present help,
> He is my high tower,
> He is more than enough in every trouble.
>
> I refuse the spirit of fear.
> I take my refuge in God.
> I receive His strength.
> I stand in His fortress.
>
> The Lord Almighty is with me now,
> and I will trust and not be afraid,
> in the name of Jesus. Amen.
### Prayer
Now pray:
“Lord God,
I acknowledge You today as my only true refuge and my only true strength.
Forgive me for the times I have run to other refuges,
for trusting in people, in money, in my own understanding,
instead of hiding myself in You.
I bring before You every area of trouble in my life—
every pressure, every fear, every assault of the enemy.
According to Your Word, You are a very present help in trouble.
I ask You now: reveal Yourself to me as Help that is found,
Help that is more than enough.
Lord Jesus,
I submit myself to Your Lordship.
I renounce the spirit of fear.
I refuse to agree with its lies.
By Your blood and by Your victory on the cross,
lift me into that high place in Yourself—
far above all rule, authority, and power of the enemy.
Holy Spirit,
write Psalm 46 on my heart.
Teach me to say, in every shaking,
‘God is my refuge and strength; I will not fear.’
Make this more than words on my lips;
make it a reality in my spirit.
I take my place now in the fortress of God.
I declare that the Lord of hosts is with me,
and the God of Jacob is my fortress.
I thank You for it, in the mighty name of Jesus.
Amen.”
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