We all desire stability. Like toddlers learning to walk, however, stability often proves elusive. Unexpected disruptions threaten to knock us off balance. Relational wounds from loved ones introduce insecurity and uncertainty. Changes that we neither sought nor asked for throw us out of routine.
Before we know it, a perfectly good day can crumble beneath our feet, and we feel the disorienting sense of falling out of control. For those who desire stability so much, why do we spend so much of our time experiencing instability? How on earth can we actually maintain — or regain — stability when we find ourselves falling?
The author of Psalm 46 understands the perils of human experience. Breathed out by God, the psalm insists on three realities that plant our feet on firm ground and create an immovable people. Forget any one of these realities, and the foundation of our life soon shudders. We fix our minds on truth to fix our feet on rock.
1. God is all-powerful.
The psalm first fixes our heart upon God’s power. The psalmist obsesses over God’s power, anchoring himself in the overwhelming might of the Almighty. God “makes wars to cease to the end of the earth,” wielding authority over all (verse 9). Twice the psalmist names God as “the Lord of hosts” (verses 7, 11), referring to the endless heavenly warriors who hail God as King. All wars cease at the command of such power. No moment showed this more clearly than when Christ — God in flesh — levied his might to defeat death itself. No opponent triumphs over the will of the unshakable God.
The psalmist reiterates his point in verse 6. In a comparison of powers, he notes that “the nations rage, the kingdoms totter,” but when “[God] utters his voice, the earth melts.” Like the raging nations, the troubles of this life can introduce headaches and heartaches. But a mere utterance from God can unravel the world itself. He speaks things into or out of existence. When our schedule falls apart, God has the power to piece it back together. When we grieve a fresh glimpse of our own sin, God’s power stands sufficient for us. Even if the earth threatens to give way, God can speak it into standing its ground — and it must obey.
When life fractures, we often forget this power. We neglect the One who wields all strength and authority, and who can change or destroy the very fabric of creation. The last time you fell into upheaval, did you meditate more on God’s power or on the upended chunks of your life? What played on loop in the theater of your mind? With the psalmist, we can form the habit of obsessing over the power of our God. We can interrupt our anxious thoughts with greater thoughts of our great God.
2. God is very present.
Cascading from this first reality, immovable people also meditate on the presence of God. God is capable of rescuing me from the cliffs of life, but is he here with me?
Verse 1 emphatically points to God as “very present.” Merely “present” does not capture the nearness of God. He is very present. God does not stand at the top of the cliff you dangle from, offering a hand if you can reach to him. He effortlessly clambers down the sheer rock to come to your side. As verse 5 says, God “is in the midst of” us — right in the middle of our instability and chaos.
Such nearness asserts itself in the repetition of the fact that the Lord of hosts is “with us” (verses 7, 11). The Hebrew underlying this phrase is where the name Immanuel comes from — meaning “the with-us God.” God took on flesh in order to dwell “with us,” and nothing will keep him from being at our side. God remains near enough to feel every breath he gives and hear every heartbeat he sustains. Even when we falter, God remains very present.
When we feel abandoned by the failures of those we trust, what thoughts fill our minds? Do we meditate on the nearness of God? Can we habituate ourselves to stop focusing on the tumbling circumstances around us and instead lean on the Almighty One who stands “with us” in them all?
3. God is your protector.
If we give thought to these two realities, though, we may see the problem of an all-powerful, ever-present God remaining in direct contact with such sinful people as ourselves. We are painfully aware that we are stained with sin. He radiates holiness. What if his power works not for us but against us? The answer to this question reveals the third meditation of immovable people.
The psalmist reveals that, for God’s people, his power is unspeakably bent toward giving aid. Rather than presenting himself as the harbinger of punishment, God has made all necessary preparations to serve as our “fortress” (verses 7, 11). For those who dwell in the “city of God,” the psalmist promises that “God will help her when morning dawns” (verse 4). God does not destroy or smite his people when morning dawns. Rather, he helps them.
God’s aid comes quickly to those who belong to him. Faster than next-day shipping, God brings rescue. This help may entail sustaining your strength to hold on longer in your grief, or it may look like the repentance of the one who wounded you. He may change your circumstances dramatically, or he may give you the courage to keep enduring them. Either way, the God of all power who abides with you has devoted himself to your aid in all things.
Christ Our Rock
Christ revealed God’s saving heart when he rescued us from our greatest enemy. Through his death on the cross, and subsequent resurrection, Christ disarmed Satan of his only damning weapon — unforgiven sin. In the avalanche of implications of Christ’s work, the requirement of punishment and death attached to our sins perished as well.
When dangling from the cliffs of life, we may not fear the fall as much as we fear what comes at the end of the fall. Christ took away that deepest fear by eliminating sin’s power to kill us and keep us from God. That relational wound will not ultimately overwhelm you. The fearful what if scenarios will not steal your sanity. He will faithfully protect you, just as he always has.
The next time you find yourself losing your footing in life, meditate on these realities. In fact, meditate on them every day of your life. Let these realities mark you, holding your attention and shaping your outlook on life. In Christ, your God holds all power. Your God is with you right now. Your God is helping you and has promised to uphold you. The circumstances of life may harass and threaten, but they cannot undo you. Earthquakes come and go, but Christ’s people remain. The city of God never moves, nor do her inhabitants.