Yesterday morning, as news was breaking of the invasion of Ukraine, I read Psalm 46. It seems the place to go at dangerous times. The Bible is a book that’s familiar with empires and dictators, armies and invasions, allies and enemies, violence and oppression, and all the other inhuman ways that human beings treat those they consider as a threat, or ‘other’, or an obstacle to political ambition.
The starting point of this call to courage, trust and hope is God. “God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” Whatever the threat of conflict and political collision, God is not going anywhere, other than where God is – in the midst of the conflicting ambitions and military power-plays of nations and people.
This verse is not a way of saying keep your head down, God will deal with it. We are right to be concerned, to fear war and to defend peace. But in all our worrying and working remember this. God is ever-present, a place of refuge and strength whatever happens. As often in the Bible, one of the most important words is “therefore.” Precisely because God is a place of refuge and safety for our souls, and the source of strength for the life we are called to live, “THEREFORE we will not fear.”
We wouldn’t be human if we were not afraid of the outbreak of war, wherever that is in the world. Perhaps especially when war begins to feel near to us, literally too close for comfort. It’s then we come back to those words, “God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear…”
What difference does God make to the geo-political earthquakes which shake our confidence and undermine the foundations of our lives? How are we to think about tanks and missiles, fighter planes and attack helicopters, hundreds of thousands of heavily armed and intensively trained soldiers focused on simply taking over another country?
This Psalm writer has seen these tragedies and outrages before. He shows us the way to hope, to believe in justice, and the possibilities of peace. “Come and see the works of the Lord…he makes wars to cease to the ends of the earth, he breaks the bow and shatters the spear.” God’s purpose is a kingdom of peace. Whatever else the cross of Christ stands for in our world, it is a declaration of God’s opposition to sin and his redeeming purpose, a demonstration that God’s ways are justice, forgiveness, mercy, peace, and reconciliation.
“Come and see the works of the Lord…” Faced with military aggression against another country, and threats against other countries including our own, what are we to do? It is one of the most frustrating and perplexing experiences in any of our lives when huge events that cause suffering, disruption and death for others, are so far beyond our power to help or heal. What can we do? While world leaders agonise over decisions and consequences, risks and dangers, there seems very little left to us to influence events, or make any real difference to what is happening and what will happen, regardless of how we feel about it.
But then there’s this. “Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.” Twice the emphatic statement, “I will be exalted.” Christian faith is embedded in our experience of God, our refuge and strength, who breaks bows and shatters spears. We rest in Him, our shield and our defender. A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing.
These are words we sing because God has revealed himself in Christ. The resurrection is God’s no to death, and God’s yes to life; God’s no to violence and God’s yes to peace; God’s no to hate and God’s yes to love; God’s no to despair and God’s yes to hope.
So, what to do? Be still and know that God is God, and pray. To think about the world situation as one who knows God is God and Christ is risen. Someone has said, “Prayer is the slender thread that moves the muscle of omnipotence.”
To believe and confess that Jesus is Lord, and to pray in His name, is to bring to bear on even the most frightening situations, all the resources of Eternal love poured out in merciful purpose, divine power and redeeming intent.
Be still, and know that. Be still, and acknowledge that God is God. Be still, because God is our refuge and our strength, therefore, we will not fear. Be still and pray for peace in our time. Don’t do nothing, pray, and when you pray you’re not doing nothing. Remember the words of our Lord, and finish your prayer with them in full assurance of being heard, “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…for Yours is the Kingdom, the power and the glory – and You will be exalted among the nations.”
“God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” Amen.
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