Thought for the day – Thursday 28th May 2020
Psalm 46:4-7 Day 2
“There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God,”
There is no river in the city of God, which is Jerusalem. But, there is a river in the new Jerusalem described by John in Revelation 22, “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river was the tree of life….the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” Perhaps the Psalmist is catching a glimpse of heavenly things in the midst of his writing about the very presence and power of God in this psalm, and he’s writing something prophetic here. All the troubles of this world will fade away for “they shall see his face”.
“The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.”
Worship took place in the tabernacle that Moses made, at the time the Psalmist was writing, before the temple was built. The holy place was the outer room which contained the table on which the bread of the Presence (shewbread) was placed, the altar of incense, and the seven-branched candelabrum (menorah). These were elements to remind the people of God’s presence among them, shining to light their way, and to assure them that their prayers would rise in the incense to God.
“God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;
God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.”
When God is in the midst of the city, as He was in the midst of Jerusalem, then she would not be moved. Just as an army might come to attack a city at day-break, so God would come at the right time to help his people.
“The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved,
He uttered His voice, the earth melted.”
Here we see the impotence of nations and kingdoms against the might of God. All God has to do is to speak the word and the very earth melts. This reminds us of the first words in Genesis, where God spoke everything into being at creation.
“The Lord of hosts is with us,
The God of Jacob is our refuge.”
These words are the chorus, which comes again at the end of the psalm. The Lord of the hosts in heaven is present with us his people on earth. The God of Jacob, ie the God of our ancestors, is our refuge – He has been a refuge to His people through all generations and is the same refuge to us now.