A Very Present Help In Trouble

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. There is a river, the streams whereof shall 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 shall help her, and that right early." (Psalm 46: 1-5)

I'm glad that God is our refuge and strength. He's not only our help, but a "present" help. In other words, He's with you right now, where you are. Not only that, He is a "very present help."

I know some times we're guilty of treating God like a "spare tire", not really calling on Him until we're in desperate need, but He's so good to us anyway. The apostle Paul said: "If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself." (2Timothy 2:13)

God takes responsibility for us once we're His children, so much that He would consider it "denying Himself", if He didn't abide faithful to us. Even though sometimes, we don't really believe and trust Him like we should.

The reason God is such a "very present help", is because He is near us. Paul says in another passage: "... though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live and move and have our being;" (Acts 17:27-28)

Do you understand that? "In Him we live!" Not only that, He lives in us too! The verses in Psalm 46 mention a river, that God is in the midst of, the river of life that we read of in the book of the Revelation. It flows from His throne because He is the source of and the sustaining force of ALL life. Do you realize that if God ceased to live, then every plant, insect, animal, and human would also cease to live? Every star would burn out, every wind would cease to move, the Earth would halt on it's axis and fall. Why? Because all life is sustained by God Himself. In Him we live and move and have our being. Isn't it amazing that the life giving God is very close to us, very presently? I had a friend once who said that he would hear people say that sometimes our prayers didn't even make it through the rooftop. He replied, "they don't need to make it that far, God's right here with me."

The same Psalm goes on to speak of the life giving God executing judgement against the heathen, and creation, and it speaks of wars. The purpose of that is to bring us to the results of God's judgements and trials, in vv. 10-11: "Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah." (Psalm 46:10-11) We are to "be still", from our hustle and bustle of life, from our religious activities, from everything that's hindering us, and just know that God is still God, and He's our God.

God said He would have glory among the heathen and in the earth. (The earth sometimes refers to Israel, whereas the Gentiles or heathen are represented by the sea - cf. Revelation 13:1a and 13:11a) God's watchful care and love for Israel is an example of Christ's care and favor with His bride. He's on our side. He's there when we need Him (which is all the time.)

"Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof. Mark ye her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following. For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death." (Psalm 48:13-14)

(taken from Bro. Josh's Bible Thoughts)