Psalms 46King James Version
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God. 'Be still, and know that I am God.' The psalm Luther turned into A Mighty Fortress.
The psalm behind Luther's 'A Mighty Fortress.' Three strophes, each closing with 'the LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.' Earth removed, mountains cast into the sea: no fear. A river makes glad the city of God: God is there, she shall not be moved. The nations raged, kingdoms moved, he spoke, earth melted. Come see his desolations. Be still and know that I am God. Pure triumph with absolute force.
When the foundations of the natural and political world are shaking, the immovable fact is God's presence in the city, and 'be still' is a command to those who would help by doing.
verse: "Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth." 'Be still' is not invitation to quietness; it is a command to stop striving so that God can be seen.
Superscription: 'To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth.' Alamoth may indicate soprano voices or a musical key. Likely written around the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem under Sennacherib (701 BC) when the city was miraculously delivered. The 'river' of v4 is interpretively significant: Jerusalem has no river, suggesting a theological reality (Ezek 47's temple river).
The corporate 'we' of the believing community; God as refuge, strength, very present help; the waters and mountains as chaotic forces; the heathen whose raging he quieted; the sons of Korah as authors.
Luther's 'Ein Feste Burg' ('A Mighty Fortress Is Our God') is a free paraphrase of Psalm 46, written during the Reformation crisis. The psalm was used at Hezekiah's deliverance from the Assyrian siege (2 Kings 19) and in every subsequent national crisis. 'Be still and know' (v10) became the most quoted single line in the Psalter for Christian contemplative practice.
For when the world is catastrophically unstable and every competent human effort has failed or is failing. The psalm is not dismissing the catastrophe; it is locating the stillness inside it.
1[To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth.] God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
3Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.
4There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
5God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.
6The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.
7The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
8Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth.
9He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.
10Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
11The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.