Psalms 46:4

GOD'S ASCENDANCY OVER THE ENEMIES OF HIS PEOPLE

"There is a river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God,

The holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.

God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved:

God will help her, and that right early.

The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved:

He uttered his voice, the earth melted.

Jehovah of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our refuge.

(Selah)"

"There is a river, etc." (Psalms 46:4). The text seems to identify this river as the tabernacles of the Most High, God's dwelling place; but the actual meaning might be, "The river of God's presence and favor,"[12] The tabernacles of the Most High typically represent, "God's favor, like a river, is distributed to all the Church."[13] "It was the river of God's life-giving presence."[14] "This river is the perennial fountain of God's grace."[15]

Yes indeed, these views are acceptable; but there seems also to be a prophecy of that Eternal City of God that cometh down out of heaven, the New Jerusalem, described in the last chapters of Revelation. The River of Life flows out of the throne of God in that City; and the Tree of Life grows on either side of it, the leaves of which are for the healing of the nations.

There is also something else that fits very beautifully into these wonderful verses. From Isaiah 8, we have this:

"Forasmuch as this people have refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly ... now therefore, behold the Lord bringeth upon them the waters of the (Euphrates) River, strong and mighty, even the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it shall come up over all its channels, and go over all its banks; and it shall sweep onward into Judah ... and overflow (Isaiah 8:6-8)."

The waters of Shiloah here are the same as those of the Pool of Siloam in the New Testament. "The spring of Gihon, whose waters Hezekiah brought into Jerusalem by a tunnel (2 Chronicles 32:30) are here used as a symbol of God's refreshing presence."[16] These waters emptied into Siloam from underneath; hence the statement that "they went softly." Isaiah certainly used this humble little river as a symbol of God's government and protection, as contrasted with the terrible waters of the Euphrates at flood stage; and it is likely that the psalmist does the same thing here. This little stream is certainly a river that made glad the city of God, whether or not it was the river that did so.

Delitzsch combined in one paragraph the multiple spiritual intimations of these verses:

"When the city of God is threatened and encompassed by foes, still she shall not hunger and thirst, nor fear and despair; for the river of grace and of God's ordinances and promises flows with its rippling waves through the holy place, where the dwelling-place, or tabernacle, of the Most High is pitched."[17]

"God will help her, and that quite early" (Psalms 46:5). The marginal reference or the last phrase here is, "At the dawn of morning"; and significantly, Isaiah stated that, "When men arose early in the morning, these (the whole army of Sennacherib) were all dead bodies" (Isaiah 37:36). This is a very strong link in the chain of evidence that binds these words to that great deliverance in 701 B.C.

"The nations raged, etc." (Psalms 46:6). "This means that in the past the thing that has regularly happened is that the "heathen have raged," etc.; but God had only to utter his voice, and as a result, men and nations have collapsed before Him. God controls all the raging of the nations and their tumults."[18]

"Jehovah of hosts is with us" (Psalms 46:7). "If God be for us, who can be against us," is the New Testament echo of this confidence. The great security is in God. Just as the coneys, a little animal often mentioned in the Old Testament, are very weak, but occupy impregnable dwelling places in the rocks; just so men also are weak, vulnerable, insecure apart from God; but "in Him," they are secure, safe, invincible, and unconquerable.

"The God of Jacob is our refuge" (Psalms 46:7). According to Kidner, this refrain probably should also have been inserted at the end of Psalms 46:3, thus marking the three divisions of the psalm as a refrain. He also noted that, "The word `refuge' in this refrain, here and in Psalms 46:11, is distinct from the word so rendered in Psalms 46:1. Here it implies inaccessible height; hence the New English Bible rendition, `Our high stronghold'"[19]