- Name 40 of 70Our Refuge and Strength
- HebrewMachaseh va'oz
- In plain wordsA shelter to run into and the power to stand
- Where to find itPsalm 46:1, a song for the sons of Korah
Psalm 46, one of the most loved songs in the Bible, opens by calling God our refuge and strength. A refuge is a shelter you run into when danger comes. Strength is the power that fills you so you can stand. The psalm says God is both, and it says so while describing the worst disaster people could imagine: the whole earth shaking loose.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Psalm 46:1
Who sang Psalm 46: a family with a hard history
Above the first verse, in small print, the psalm carries a heading. It says this song is for the sons of Korah. That short note opens up a surprising story.
Korah was a Levite, part of the tribe set apart to serve God at the tabernacle, the large worship tent Israel carried through the wilderness. In Numbers 16 he led a rebellion against Moses and Aaron, along with two hundred and fifty leaders of the people. God judged them in a frightening way.
And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.
Numbers 16:32
Appertained means belonged. It sounds like the end of Korah's family. But ten chapters later, almost hidden in a list of names, the Bible adds one short line: Notwithstanding the children of Korah died not.
(Numbers 26:11) Some of his children lived.
Their descendants stayed in God's service. Generations later the Korahites were keepers of the gates of the tabernacle (1 Chronicles 9:19), and in King Jehoshaphat's day they stood up to praise the LORD with a loud voice on high
(2 Chronicles 20:19). Several psalms carry their name, including Psalm 42 and Psalm 84.
Now read the next verses with that family history in mind.
Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.
Psalm 46:2-3
The family that came from a man swallowed by the ground now sings that even if the ground gives way, they will not be afraid. That is what God's mercy can do with a family story. (Selah is a word that shows up in the Psalms many times. Nobody is completely sure what it means; many think it was a signal to pause.)
The psalm does not say when it was written or what danger the people were facing. What it does say is that nations were raging and kingdoms were shaking, and then God spoke and the earth melted
(Psalm 46:6).
Refuge and strength in plain Hebrew
The word for refuge is machaseh. It means a shelter, a place you can get under or into when something is coming at you, like a storm, an enemy or a falling rock. It comes from the verb chasah, to flee for protection. That same verb is often translated trust in the King James Bible. In Hebrew, trusting God and running to Him for cover are the same move.
The word for strength is oz. Strong's dictionary, a standard word list for the King James Bible, says it covers strength of many kinds: force, security, majesty and even praise. It is the kind of strength that holds firm when pushed.
The two words work as a team. A refuge is something you go into. Strength is something that comes into you. If God were only a hiding place, you could survive, but you might never come out. If He were only strength, you might be sent into the storm with no place to come back to. The psalm promises both.
Then comes the phrase a very present help. The Hebrew words can be read as a help in troubles, found greatly. The verb is the ordinary word for finding something. The idea is that people who looked for God in their worst moments kept finding Him there. He is not hard to locate in a crisis.
One more detail. The psalm uses refuge again in verses 7 and 11, but there the Hebrew is a different word, misgab, a high place out of reach. So Psalm 46 gives two pictures of safety: a shelter you run under, and a height you are lifted to.
King James verses from Psalm 46 and beyond
There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
Psalm 46:4
Right after the roaring sea comes a quiet river. Jerusalem never had a big river running through it, so this is a picture of God's own steady supply. Wild waters crash around the city, while a gentle stream inside it makes the people glad.
The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
Psalm 46:7
This line is sung twice, in verse 7 and again in verse 11, like a chorus. The LORD of hosts means the Lord of heaven's armies. The God of Jacob is the God of a very ordinary, very flawed man. Both names stand together: endless power and personal care.
Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
Psalm 46:10
People often read be still as a gentle call to quiet time. That is part of it. But look at the verse just before it: God breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder
. The setting is war. The Hebrew verb carries the idea of letting go or dropping your hands. It is God telling the fighting nations, and His own frightened people, to stop and recognize who is in charge.
Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.
Psalm 62:8
Another psalm shows how you actually take refuge in God: you pour out your heart to Him. Say what you are afraid of, all of it.
When your own ground starts shaking
Sooner or later, something in your life will feel like an earthquake. A phone call late at night. A test result. Parents who split up. A friend who moves away or a loss you did not see coming. The psalm does not promise that the ground will never move. It tells you what to do when it does.
- Run in. Before you try to fix everything, go to God and tell Him plainly what is happening. That is taking refuge.
- Take strength. Ask Him for the power to face the next hour, not the next ten years.
- Let go. Some things you cannot hold up by yourself. Be still and let God be God.
The sons of Korah have one more lesson. Your family history does not get the last word. If you come from a line of broken people, or someone close to you has done real harm, God can still put a new song in your mouth. The psalm about the shaking earth was sung by the very family whose ancestor was swallowed by it.
The refrain of this psalm borrows the word from my high tower, and the next name in the book, my hiding place, shows a different side of safety in God. You can find more names for hard days on the praying the names of God page.
