Sermon at St. Mary’s Parish Church, West Dean – 11th Sunday after Trinity – Sunday 9th August 2026
Psalm 46
May I speak in the Name
of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and may these words of yours be a joy and
blessing to all who hear them. Amen
In a similar
way to last week’s readings from Isaiah (Elijah’s calling out of despair) and
Matthew’s description of Jesus walking on water to comfort the disciples, Psalm
46 is another piece of scripture to inspire confidence and reassurance. It
speaks to us in a world where life can sometimes feel uncertain, frightening
and beyond our control. Its central message is simple but profound: God is
our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
The
historical background and context to this psalm is that the author is writing
about Jerusalem following it having been shaken by a severe earthquake, and his
reference to a river flowing through the centre of the shaken city in verse 4
is a metaphorical reference to God’s continued life and presence, His continuity
through the turmoil and destruction of all around Him and us.
The psalm
begins, therefore, not by pretending that trouble does not exist, but by
acknowledging that it does. The earth may give way, the mountains may fall into
the sea, and the waters may roar and foam. These are powerful images of chaos
and instability and of the earthquake itself. They remind us that there will be
times when the things we normally depend upon seem to be collapsing around
us. It’s very much a psalm for today.
Yet the
psalmist says, “Therefore we will not fear.”
That is a
remarkable statement. It does not mean that there is nothing to fear. Rather,
it means that fear does not have the final word. Our confidence rests not in
the circumstances around us, but in God who remains with us through them.
How often do
we find ourselves worrying about things that we cannot control? We can become
anxious about the future, about our families, our health, our finances, our
work or the state of the world. We’ve experienced all sorts of troubles in our
lives – we’ve lost our car keys, we’ve fallen disastrously in love with the
wrong person, we’ve flooded the kitchen, we’ve had health problems, our
children have been a challenge and so on and so on, but above all this, we are
still here and alive and so is Jesus and God is still bearing us up. Sometimes, though, circumstances can seem so
incredibly overwhelming that we still wonder where God is.
Psalm 46
gives us a very straight-forward answer: God is with us.
The psalmist declares,
“The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.” The
repetition is important. God is not a distant observer who watches from afar.
He is our refuge. He is present in the midst of our difficulties.
There is also
a beautiful contrast in the psalm between the noise and turmoil of the world
and the quiet presence of God. In the middle of all the upheaval comes the
command:
“Be still,
and know that I am God.”
Perhaps these
are some of the most challenging words in Scripture for us today. We live in a
world that rarely seems still. There is always another message, another piece
of news, another problem demanding our attention. Even when we are physically
quiet, our minds can remain busy with worry.
I know that this seems to be my life – always somewhere to go, something
to do, someone to see, bins to take out, a sermon to write and the general
busyness of just living.
To “be still”
does not necessarily mean that our problems will disappear. It means that, for
a moment, we stop struggling to control everything ourselves and remember who
God is.
It is an
invitation to trust Him. That is the
essence of Faith, to believe and trust.
When we are
still before God, we can remind ourselves that we are not alone. We do not have
to understand everything that is happening. We do not have to know what
tomorrow will bring. We simply need to place ourselves into the hands of the
God who does.
Whenever I
look up at the heavens, and this week I have been doing a lot of that with a
solar eclipse and the Perseid meteor shower, despite having much scientific
knowledge of the cosmos, the one fundamental aspect I can never get out of my
head is the awesomeness of God as Creator and the smallness of us as
individuals on this little planet. It is those moments of stillness and calm,
looking up at the heavens, that I can often feel the closeness of God.
The psalm
also reminds us that God is not merely our refuge in private troubles. He is
the God who brings peace into the world: “He makes wars cease to the end of
the earth.” This gives the psalm a wider vision. Our faith is not simply
about finding personal comfort. We are called to trust in the God who desires
peace, reconciliation and restoration for all creation.
For
Christians, this confidence finds its fullest expression in Jesus Christ. Jesus
does not promise His followers a life without storms, as we saw last week, but
He promises His presence in the storm. Just as the disciples discovered when
the waters threatened their boat, faith does not mean that the waves will never
rise. It means that Christ is with us when they do.
Psalm 46
therefore invites us to change our perspective. When life feels secure, it is
easy to believe that we are in control. But when the mountains seem to shake
and the waters roar, we discover where our true security lies.
Our security
is not ultimately in possessions, circumstances, other people, or even in our
own strength.
Our
security is in God.
So when we
are troubled, let us remember: God is our refuge. When we are weak, He is our
strength. When we are afraid, He is with us. And when we do not know what to
do, we can be still, place our trust in Him, and remember that He is God.
The final
message of Psalm 46 is therefore one of hope:
Whatever
storms may come, God remains faithful. Whatever changes around us, He remains
our refuge. And whatever tomorrow may bring, we need not face it alone.
“Be still,
and know that I am God.”
Let us
pray
God of Jacob
When the earth shakes
And the nations are in uproar
Speak, and let the storm be still,
Through Jesus Christ our Lord
Amen MFB/239/14082026
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