Verse of the Day Devotion: Psalm 46:1 

“God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.” – Psalm 46:1 

This verse to me is one of the most encouraging in all the scriptures.  It tells us that God is a place of safety for us in a world that is filled with danger.  The word ‘refuge’ is from a word meaning to ‘flee’ and then ‘to flee to’.  It has the idea of taking shelter: a place one would flee to in a time of danger.  Earlier in the psalms we read the following from David.  “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies.” Psalm  18:2-3.  And as the last part of the verse states. He is a very present help in our times of trials.

And because He is our refuge, we have no reason to fear.  “Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea, Though its waters roar and foam, Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah.” Psalm 46:2-3. No matter what may come our way, whatever disaster my come upon us.  He knows everything and is with us at all times.  Therefore, we know that if we are in His presence, we are safe.  As the writer of proverbs puts it, “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is safe.” Proverbs 18:10. 

This idea is not just in the Old Testament.  Jesus Himself taught this to His disciples.  “On that day, when evening came, He said to them, Let us go over to the other side.  Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up.  Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?  And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, Hush, be still. And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.  And He said to them, Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?  They became very much afraid and said to one another, Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” Mark 4:35-41. I believe this was set up as a point of learning, but I will not say this dogmatically.  Here they were with Jesus, the very Son of God.  They had seen Him do many miracles of healing and the casting out of demons.  And now they were in a boat with Him with a powerful storm, they lacked the faith to believe everything was OK.  Jesus was not concerned, for He just continued to sleep peaceably.  But they were afraid and said, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Mark 4:38b.  Then after Jesus rebuked the wind, He asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

It is important that we truly grasp the words found in Psalm 46:1.  No matter what comes upon us He is there with us and is our refuge.  Today we are seeing so many instances where people fear what is going to happen to them.  As Christians, we must remember what Paul wrote to the Philippians.  “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21.  He had the confidence that God would address any situation that may come up, whether he lives of dies.  Another way to put this is ‘whatever happens, I win’.  During any trial we happen to endure, we can always run to God as our refuge.  He will either protect us here on earth, or He will take us home.  Either way, as our focus verse says, “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries.