Psalm 46 Overview

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God is Our Fortress

Psalm 46

  How to Use This Page

Welcome to the Overview of Psalm 46

This page will introduce and provide orientation to Psalm 46 as a whole. It includes the following sections:

• Introduction
• Structure
• Background
• Participants

Introduction to Psalm 46

Author

Book

Book 2 of the Psalter (Chapters 42-72)

Psalm 46: A Brief Summary

Psalm 46 narrates a story from the perspective of a city very much threatened by forces far stronger than it. Even though the psalm offers no details about the city’s identity, it is most likely Jerusalem, due to its close association with YHWH, Israel’s God. In the psalm, the city faces mighty enemies, which are first metaphorized as chaotic natural forces (raging waters, shaking mountains, and the changing earth) and then identified as nations and kingdoms. Faced with their aggression, the city, however, cannot be defeated, since God himself is in its midst. For the city’s residents, he is a refuge, a stronghold, and a mighty fortress. Tracing the city’s journey from tumult and chaos to peace and security, the psalm offers a vision that stronger than any chaos, stronger than any nations, stronger than anything is YHWH, who will manifest his supremacy when he is exalted over all.

"God is our Fortress" This title is a memorable phrase that helps remember the unique character and content of this psalm.

The phrase “God is our Fortress” identifies the one fact that determines the fate of this city. When the rest of the earth is trembling and even falling into the sea, the city alone is unshaken, unmoved, because God is part of its fortifications. He is its defensive structures.

Purpose The Purpose was the psalmist's probable intent or reason for writing this psalm.

To encourage God's people to trust in God as their defense.

Content The Content is a concise summary of the whole psalm's content.

God cares for his people. That is why God is our refuge, even if God's city is threatened by enemies, and even if the earth quakes and the sea roars.

Message The Message is the main idea the psalmist probably wanted the audience to remember upon or after hearing the psalm.

God’s city can never be overthrown.

Psalm 46 At-a-Glance

These sections divide the content of the psalm into digestible pieces , and are determined based on information from many of our layers, including Semantics, Poetics, and Discourse. The columns, left to right, contain: the verse numbers; the main title of the section; a brief summary of the content of that section (quote marks indicate the text is taken directly from the English text of the psalm (as per our Close-but-Clear translation); and an icon to visually represent and remember the content.

v. 1 For the music director. By the Korahites. As young women. A psalm.	Superscription
v. 2 God is a refuge and stronghold for us. He is readily available, as a help, in great trouble.	Stronger than Chaos	Chaotic forces cause the earth and mountains to shake and threaten the city of God.		anxious, yet confident
v. 3 Therefore, we will not fear though the earth change and the mountains topple into the heart of the deepest sea.
v. 4 Though its waters foam in rage. Though mountains quake at its surging. Selah.
v. 5 [There is] a river whose streams gladden the city of God—the holy dwelling of the Most High.	Stronger than Nations	God supports the city so it is not shaken, even when the nations rage and kingdoms are shaken.		secure
v. 6 God is in its midst. It cannot be moved. God helps it at the approach of morning.
v. 7 [When] nations raged, [and] kingdoms fell down, [then] he thundered with his voice, [then] the earth would melt!
v. 8 YHWH, [the God] of Hosts, is with us. The God of Jacob is a fortress for us. Selah.		As a fortress, God shelters his people from all threat.
v. 9 Come! Perceive the works of YHWH who has wrought great devastation in the land.	Stronger than All	God devastates the earth and is exalted among the nations.		confident & reverent
v. 10 The one who terminates wars to the end of the earth breaks the bow and snaps the spear. He burns transport wagons with fire.
v. 11 Be still and acknowledge that I am God! I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted throughout the earth.”		As a fortress, God shelters his people from all threat.
v. 12 YHWH, [the God] of Hosts, is with us. The God of Jacob is a fortress for us. Selah.

Background Orientation for Psalm 46

Following are the common-ground assumptionsCommon-ground assumptions include information shared by the speaker and hearers. In our analysis, we mainly use this category for Biblical/Ancient Near Eastern background. which are the most helpful for making sense of the psalm.

• God resides in his city and when the city and its residents are under attack, God himself is under attack.
• In times of war and peace, God is made known by his actions. Just as in human warfare, victors destroy their defeated enemies' weapons (cf. Josh 11:6, 9; Isa 2:2-4; Mic 4:1-4), God also disarms his opponents. Hence, no weapon formed against his people can prosper and God's people do not need to fight.
• In HB, God is exalted cultically (Isa 6:1; 57:15) and politically (Pss 47:2-3, 9; 86:10; 95:3). In HB war texts, "exaltation" can signify a military victory (Ps 47:2-3; Isa 33:3, 5, and 10).

Background Situation for Psalm 46

The background situation is the series of events leading up to the time in which the psalm is spoken. These are taken from the story triangle – whatever lies to the left of the star icon.

Participants in Psalm 46

There are 4 participants/characters in Psalm 46:

Profile List

A Community of God's People

"we/us" (vv. 2, 3, 8, 12)

The City of God

"the holy dwelling [of the Most High]" (v. 5)

YHWH

"God" (vv. 2, 5, 6, 11)

"refuge" (v. 2)

"stronghold" (v. 2)

"YHWH of Hosts" (vv. 8, 12)

"the God of Jacob" (vv. 8, 12)

"the Most High" (v. 5)

Enemies

"nations" (vv. 7, 11)

"kingdoms" (v. 7)

Natural Forces

"the earth" (vv. 3, 7)

"the deepest sea" (v. 3)

"the deepest sea's waters" (v. 4)

"the mountains" (vv. 3, 4)

All humanity

Profile Notes

• A Community of God's People: is the main speaker in the psalm. The text also identifies them through self-referential appellations, i.e., “we” and "us". As per the superscription, this community was supposed to perform the psalm about God's military triumphs in the manner of a choir of young women. As such, the group was to embody their city personified as a woman (see further Participant Tracking notes). Accordingly, the community has a set of related participants (“the city of God”, “the holy dwelling of the Most High”, and “it”) who are featured as recipients of God’s care and protection amidst an international conflict.

• The City of God: The psalm offers no specific details about the identity of the city and its geographical location. The mention of mountains, sea, a river with streams providing water for a city indicates a northern site, e.g., Dan. However, "the preservation and ongoing use of the psalm so that it came to be in the Psalter imply that it came to be a Jerusalem psalm (a “Zion song”; see on Ps. 48) even though Jerusalem is unmentioned"; see further The River and Its Streams in Ps 46).

• YHWH: one of the main participants in the psalm is God, who appears under various names and appellations, i.e., Elohim, the Most High, YHWH, YHWH of Hosts, and the God of Jacob. Other descriptors featured in the song for God are “refuge”, “fortress,” and "stronghold". These architectural designations for God make his identification with the city and its community particularly intimate. In a song about attempted urbicide, the metaphorization of God as urban artifacts and landmarks links the city's fate with God's own and guarantees its inviolability.

• Nations and Kingdoms: The identity of these synonymous participants is not specified. "In the Prophets, plural 'nations' often refers to the great imperial superpower (e.g., Isa. 5:26; 14:26; 30:28), and this reference would make sense here. Ephraimite and Judean royal cities such as Dan, Samaria, and Jerusalem were vulnerable to attack by powers such as Assyria. The psalm’s declaration is that when that happens, these nations themselves fall down in the way that mountains might (v. 2), but, because of God’s presence, God’s city does not (v. 5). The nations are also characterized as kingdoms, another plural that can be used to refer to the superpower (Isa. 13:4; 47:5; Jer. 1:10, 15)."

• The Natural Forces: In this set of inter-related participants, the earth, the raging waters, and the shaking mountains are given agency and literarily correlated with God’s human enemies (nations and kingdoms). Such correlation of the two groups of participants should be understood as a historicization of the ancient Near Eastern "divine conflict" motif. With various degrees of personification and agentivization, these entities all engage in hostility against God and his city and people.

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