Ps. 46 has been designated Luther’s Psalm, because the great Reformer, who was accustomed to singing it in time of trouble, paraphrased it in his hymn, “A Mighty Fortress,” No. 261 in The Church Hymnal. The psalm is a glorious hymn on the theme that, in the midst of the upheavals of nations, God’s people are safe. To express this theme, so pertinent also to the last days, the psalmist chose a form of verse unusually regular for Hebrew poetry. Three stanzas practically equal in length, with refrain and Selah appropriately placed, present pictures involving striking contrasts:

 roaring waters and rocking mountains, and a quiet river; nations in turmoil, and the earth melting at the voice of the Lord; the desolation of war, and God ruling quietly above the nations. After a notable victory in the days of Jehoshaphat, the Israelites sang this hymn (see PK 201-203). Ps. 46, 47, 48 are closely related in thought and probably share the same background. That David was the author of Ps. 46 may be inferred from PK 203.

 Oliver Cromwell, it is said, asked the people to sing this psalm, saying: “That is a rare psalm for a Christian. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. If pope and Spaniard and devil set themselves against us, yet in the name of the Lord we shall destroy them. The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge.” Ps. 46 was sung in Paris by the revolutionists of 1848; in India, by the hard-pressed British in the Sepoy rebellion. It may well be the hymn of God’s people during the increasing perils of the last days. Compare Isaac Watts’s hymn, “God Is the Refuge,” No. 89 in The Church Hymnal.

On the superscription see pp. 617, 629.

The complete phrase reads literally, “a help in distresses has He been found exceedingly.” Since God has always proved His help, He may be depended on in dire straits.

 Verses 1-3 constitute the first stanza, which portrays the security of God’s people even when the foundations of the earth are shaken.