Psalms 46:1

1 To the overcomer, the song of the sons of Korah, for youths. Our God, thou art refuge, and virtue; helper in tribulations, that have found us greatly. (To the overcomer, the song for the sons of Korah, for youths. O God, thou art our refuge, and our strength; a great helper in the midst of all the troubles, that have found us.)

Psalms 46:1 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 46:1

God [is] our refuge and strength
That is, Christ, who is God as well as man, is the "refuge" for souls to fly unto for safety; as for sensible sinners, in a view of danger, wrath, and misery, so for saints, in every time of distress; typified by the cities of refuge, under the legal dispensation; (See Gill on Psalms 9:9); and he it is from whom they have all their spiritual strength, and every renewal and supply of it, to exercise grace, perform duties, withstand enemies, bear the cross patiently, show a fortitude of mind under the sorest distresses, and hold on and out unto the end: in short, he is the strength of their hearts, under the greatest trials, of their lives, amidst the greatest dangers; and of their salvation, notwithstanding all their enemies;

a very present help in trouble;
whether inward or outward, of soul or body; the Lord helps his people under it to bear it, and he helps them out of it in the most proper and seasonable time: they are poor helpless creatures in themselves; nor can any other help them but the Lord, who made heaven and earth; and he helps presently, speedily, and effectually: in the Hebrew text it is, "he is found an exceeding help in trouble" ^F20; in all kind of trouble that the saints come into, the Lord has been found, by experience, to be an exceeding great helper of them; moreover, he is easily and always to be come at, and found by them for their help.

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FOOTNOTES:

F20 (dam aumn) "inventum valde", Michaelis.

Psalms 46:1 In-Context

1 To the overcomer, the song of the sons of Korah, for youths. Our God, thou art refuge, and virtue; helper in tribulations, that have found us greatly. (To the overcomer, the song for the sons of Korah, for youths. O God, thou art our refuge, and our strength; a great helper in the midst of all the troubles, that have found us.)

2 Therefore we shall not dread, while the earth shall be troubled; and the hills shall be borne over into the heart of the sea. (And so we shall not fear, when the earth be troubled; and the mountains be carried over into the heart of the sea.)

3 The waters of them sounded, and were troubled; hills were troubled (al)together in the strength of him. (And when the waters roar, and be troubled; and the mountains be altogether troubled by his strength, or his might.)

4 The fierceness of [the] flood maketh glad the city of God; the highest God hath hallowed his tabernacle. (There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God; and the Most High God hath hallowed his Temple.)

5 God in the midst thereof shall not be moved; God shall help it early in the gray morrowtide. (God is there in its midst, and that city shall not be shaken, or destroyed; God shall help it early in the gray morning/at the break of day.)