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7th October 2024
MondayReflection
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'J. Clinton McCann, Jr.'
'is the Evangelical Professor of Biblical
Interpretation at Eden Theological Seminary,
St. Louis, MO'
The good news of Psalm 46 is
God is "with us."
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Because of God's powerful and protective presence, "we will not fear".
In short, God can be trusted; or to use the psalmist's vocabulary, God is "our refuge".
So, in addition to being a psalm of trust, Psalm 46 is also included among the Songs of Zion.
Jerusalem and the Temple, although they were specific places, also functioned symbolically as visible signs of God's presence and power.
To visit Jerusalem, to enter the Temple, was to be put in touch with God and with God's claim on the entire world.
Because God claims the world and all its peoples, God can be trusted to be a powerful, protecting presence.
The promise of God's protective presence is not a guarantee of an easy, care-free existence.
In verses 1-3, the whole earth is threatened as "the mountains shake in the heart of the sea", making "its waters roar and foam".
We might picture a disastrous tsunami, but the threat is even greater than this.
Because the mountains were understood to be the foundations or pillars that held up the sky and anchored the dry land, the shaking of the mountains represents the very undoing of creation.
The situation in verses 4-6 is equally unsettling.
The Hebrew verb translated "shake" is repeated in verses 5-6 to emphasize the threat of instability
The crisis in this section is political, involving "nations" and "kingdoms"; and we contemporary folk might think of what is often referred to as "the terrorist threat."
Countless strategists and politicians seek election and power precisely by playing upon what is usually called "the politics of fear."
We must not, they tell us, let the terrorists win; and this means arming ourselves and our allies in order to fight violence with more violence.
The implicit, and often explicit assumption, is that "God is on our side."
But Psalm 46 does not promise the U.S.A. or any other sovereign state that "God is on our side."
Rather, it promises that God is "with us."
And contrary to what we often think or are told, this means not arming ourselves but disarming ourselves.
God's "desolations," it turns out, mean nothing short of the destruction of the implements of war, and indeed, the abolition of war itself.
Following this astounding bit of information is a very explicit invitation that is very frequently misunderstood:
"Be still, and know that I am God!" (verse 10).
It is not an invitation to quiet meditation or a slower pace of life.
Rather, it is a clarion call to the nations of the world for a universal cease-fire; and it would better be translated as "Stop it!" or more paraphrastically, "Drop your guns!"
To know that God is "with us" means not the courage to wage war, but rather the courage to wage peace!
To be sure, waging peace will be a "fight" in a world seemingly fascinated with violence and warfare.
But it is in the "fight" for peace that we can faithfully claim that God is "with us" (or even say genuinely that "God is on our side").
Psalm 46 is fitting for Reformation Sunday because of Martin Luther's enduring metrical paraphrase, "A Mighty Fortress is Our God."
Luther found in Psalm 46 the inspiration, courage, and energy to resist forces that seemed irresistible; and his resolute stand changed the Church and changed the world.
The nay-sayers today tell us that world peace is not possible, and that it is naïve even to envision the possibility.
But Psalm 46 is precisely God's vision of a world at peace.
So, the psalmist and Luther together remind us that all things are possible with God!
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This is an edited version.
The full article and Bible references are avaiable on request
'J. Clinton McCann, Jr.'
is the Evangelical Professor of Biblical Interpretation at Eden Theological Seminary, St. Louis, MO.
He is the author of numerous essays and several books on the Psalms and other Old Testament material, including the Psalms commentary in The New Interpreter's Bible and Judges in the Interpretation series.
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