“I will be exalted in the earth!”

Psalm 46

To the victor; for the sons of Korah, upon the alamoth¹; a song.

God is for us a refuge² and strength,

He is found an exceedingly great help in adversity.

Therefore we will not fear, when the earth alters,

And when the mountains are moved in the heart of the seas.

Its waters make noise, they churn;

The mountains quake in their uprising³. Selah.

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

The holy place of the habitations of the Most High.

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

God will help her at the turn of the morning.

The nations make noise, the kingdoms are moved;

He gives forth His voice, the earth is dissolved.

Jehovah of Armies is with us,

A high tower for us is the God of Jacob. Selah.

Go, behold the works of Jehovah,

Who sets desolations in the earth,

Who makes wars to cease even to the end of the earth;

He breaks the bow, He clips off the spear,

He burns up the chariots with fire.

Let go, and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations;

I will be exalted in the earth!

Jehovah of Armies is with us;

A high tower for us is the God of Jacob. Selah.

verses	topic	Summary of the Spiritual Sense
title, 1-3, 6-7	15	There will be protection by the Lord when the last judgment comes and continues.
5-6	17	Those who are of the church and in the doctrine of truth will be saved by the Lord when He comes.
8-9	17	They will have no fear of the hells, nor of infestations from them.
10-11	17	This is from the Lord.

The mountains are moved in the heart of the seas (v. 2).

AE 405:45. Jehovah, that is the Lord, is angry with no one, and does evil to no one, neither does He cast anyone into hell, as may be seen in the work Heaven and Hell (n. 545-550). But it is so said in the sense of the letter of the Word, because it appears this way to an evil man, and also to a simple man, for the Word in the letter is according to appearance, because it is according to the apprehension of natural men. But as angels, who are spiritual, see the truths themselves of the Word, not apparently, according to the apprehension of man, but spiritually, therefore with the angels the sense of such expressions is inverted, and this is the internal or spiritual sense.... There it may be seen what is signified by “the mountains are moved in the heart of the seas,” and “the mountains shall quake in the uprising,” namely, that the evils of the loves of self and of the world will cause distress according to their increase (see AE 304:17).

God shall help her at the return of the morning.

TCR 764. This night is followed by a morning which is the coming of the Lord. As the successive states of the church in general and in particular are described in the Word by the four seasons of the year, spring, summer, autumn, and winter, and by the four divisions of the day, morning, noon, evening, and night; and as the present church in Christendom is the night, it follows that the morning, that is, the beginning of a new church, is now at hand. This can be seen from Psalm 46:5....

Jehovah makes wars to cease to the end of the earth (v. 9).

AE 734:15. This signifies that He makes combats, understood in the spiritual sense, to cease; these are the combats of falsities against the truths and goods of the church.

¹“Alamoth” are young virgins. Here possibly high-pitched music or instruments are meant.

²Literally, a protection; AE 405:45 has refugium

³“Uprising,” “exaltation,” or “pride”

Questions and Comments

Many catastrophes occur in this world, including earthquakes and tsunamis, pandemics, wars, economic depressions, and also more personal and private catastrophes. In what sense is God a refuge and strength for us, an exceedingly great help in adversity?
How are we to think of catastrophes, knowing that the Lord does evil to no one? Why is the Word written according to the appearance that He causes bad things to happen?
When a church falls, it rejects and attacks the two essentials of the church, namely, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as the God of heaven and earth, and being conjoined with Him by a life according to the Ten Commandments. Today we are in a war zone spiritually. How does this psalm give us hope?

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