Psalms for Turbulent Times - Psalm 46: Never give up, never despair

Socially-distanced street party in Chester, where people wore 1940s costumes to mark VE Day

Psalm 46[1]

¹ God is our refuge and strength, a very present^[a] help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
    though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
³ though its waters roar and foam,
    though the mountains tremble with its tumult. 
⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy habitation of the Most High.
⁵ God is in the midst of the city;^[b] it shall not be moved;
    God will help it when the morning dawns.
⁶ The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;
    he utters his voice, the earth melts.
⁷ The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.^[c]
8 Come, behold the works of the Lord;
    see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
    he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.
¹⁰ ‘Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations,
    I am exalted in the earth.’
¹¹ The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.^[d]

Today has been the 75^th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day – for at midnight on May 8^th 1945 the Second World War ended. The German Army High Command signed papers of surrender. In the evening of what has been a very warm and beautiful day, the Queen gave a short televised speech to the nation which was flavoured with the sense of courage, faith and steadfastness that generation displayed during some of the darkest years of our nation’s history. 'Never give up, never despair - that was the message of VE Day,' she said.Those same dispositions and characteristics – of learning not to be afraid even when everything is being shaken and the world seems turned upside down – are needed today; and they are echoed in Psalm 46. This psalm is a spiritual exercise in imagining the worst possible thing, preparing for it and then putting every fibre of our trust in God who equips us to say: 'I will not be afraid.'

This psalm, therefore, calls people to make a decision – and that decision is to put their trust in God who is ‘a very present help in trouble’. And because God is to be trusted and is a sure ‘fortress’ or ‘refuge’, even if the whole world changes, we are invited not to be afraid. In these early verses of the psalm, the poet’s imagination takes wing and produces a series of terrifying images:  of mountains shaking and seas foaming in the tumult. It is something akin to the end of the world, the very foundations of its existence under threat (vs2-3). Nations in uproar and kingdoms tottering – even these are not to make us afraid (vs6). For God is sovereign, contends the psalmist. God will make wars to cease (vs9), proclaims the psalmist. Are only recourse we have is to stop what we are doing (‘be still and know that I am God’ vs11) and depend upon God rather than our own self-sufficiency. The psalm has an image of the streets of the eternal city of God flowing with God's life giving waters. In speech, the Queen spoke of our empty streets in this time of Covid-19. But she saw something else too (just as the psalmist's hope-filled vision did): she saw streets flowing with love in these times. Such is the vision of a person who has held to the vision of God.

The good news of the psalm for us on this day is that God remains a refuge. And that we can prepare for the worst while putting our trust in the best - which is God, active and present and sustaining. 

That the war ceased, suddenly and unexpectedly, after six gruelling years, and prompted such celebrations, perhaps is also a sign of God's sovereignty then and now. That this last 75 years of peace, wrought out of great suffering (330,000 British troops lost their lives), has been so long-lasting and has made friends of enemies, is also something for which we can all be thankful. This surely is a sign of God’s sovereignty and not of our own nationalistic sovereignty. I end with the Queen’s VE day speech in full:

“I speak to you today at the same hour as my father did, exactly 75 years ago,” the Queen said. “His message then was a salute to the men and women at home and abroad who had sacrificed so much in pursuit of what he rightly called a ‘great deliverance’. The war had been a total war; it had affected everyone, and no one was immune from its impact. Whether it be the men and women called up to serve; families separated from each other; or people asked to take up new roles and skills to support the war effort, all had a part to play.

“At the start, the outlook seemed bleak, the end distant, the outcome uncertain. But we kept faith that the cause was right – and this belief, as my father noted in his broadcast, carried us through. Never give up, never despair – that was the message of VE Day.

“I vividly remember the jubilant scenes my sister and I witnessed with our parents and Winston Churchill from the balcony of Buckingham Palace. The sense of joy in the crowds who gathered outside and across the country was profound, though while we celebrated the victory in Europe, we knew there would be further sacrifice. It was not until August that fighting in the Far East ceased and the war finally ended.



“Many people laid down their lives in that terrible conflict. They fought so we could live in peace, at home and abroad. They died so we could live as free people in a world of free nations. They risked all so our families and neighbourhoods could be safe. We should and will remember them. As I now reflect on my father’s words and the joyous celebrations, which some of us experienced first-hand, I am thankful for the strength and courage that the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth and all our allies displayed.

“The wartime generation knew that the best way to honour those who did not come back from the war, was to ensure that it didn’t happen again. The greatest tribute to their sacrifice is that countries who were once sworn enemies are now friends, working side by side for the peace, health and prosperity of us all.

“Today it may seem hard that we cannot mark this special anniversary as we would wish. Instead we remember from our homes and our doorsteps. But our streets are not empty; they are filled with the love and the care that we have for each other. And when I look at our country today, and see what we are willing to do to protect and support one another, I say with pride that we are still a nation those brave soldiers, sailors and airmen would recognise and admire. I send my warmest good wishes to you all.”[2]

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[1] Footnotes:
Psalm 46:1 Or well proved; Psalm 46:5 Heb of it; Psalm 46:7 Or fortress; Psalm 46:11 Or fortress
New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised (NRSVA)  New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-queen-ve-day-speech-read-full-a9506226.html?jwsource=cl