Dear Friends:

Things are a mess. The very earth is changing. There are earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes. Nations are in an uproar of violence, political upheaval, economic crisis, and old regimes are falling.

This isn’t CNN. It is Psalm 46.

God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its tumult.           Selah.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;
God will help it when the morning dawns.
The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Selah.

Come, behold the works of the Lord;
see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
“Be still, and know that I am God!
I am exalted among the nations,
I am exalted in the earth.”
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Selah

(Psalm 46, NRSV)

The waters of chaos surge and batter at the created order. The Lord’s rule is challenged.

Clinging to God through landslide and flood, war and violence, the believer’s only hope is that God is with us. He does not fail us.

Wherever else the Lord of the Universe might choose to be, He is with us, right now, right here. We are assured that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble. Therefore we will not fear” whatever comes (Ps 46:1-2).

The river of His cleansing, healing grace rolls on unimpeded making glad those who gather around God. He does not move. He will not move. Because of His steadfast protection we will not be overcome and swept away, even when the night is so dark that we have to accept His presence on faith alone.

There will be a morning. When it dawns, God will help the besieged and suffering who have taken refuge within His walls.

The Voice that uttered “Let there be light” at the beginning, now speaks again with earth-melting power. There is no doubt that God is with us, surrounding and covering us.

The Lord declares “cease-fire” over every war and conflict. He disarms the combatants and trashes their weapons. There will be no more fighting.

He has one thing to say to His loved and His own, “Be still and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth” (Ps 46:10).

This is not an invitation to sit on the patio while sipping lemonade and gazing over the garden. It is a command with an exclamation mark and a reason — “I am God! I am exalted.”

He has wearied of the futile attempts to dethrone Him. He has outlasted the chaos and destruction that raged against Him and His creation. There is nothing more for us to say or do. The parsing, caviling, and questioning that mark our self-righteous attempts to keep pace with Him have proved wrong.

We cannot retreat to the past or fantasize about the future. We are not dealing with a “I-was-once-upon-a-time-exalted” God of ancient history and legend or a “I-will-be-exalted” God of inchoate future. He announces Himself as the “right-here-right-now-right-where-you-live” God of “present help” and the “Lord of hosts who is with us.”

He towers over us. This is our “angle of repose,” the point of contact when a larger, weightier upper mass is about to slide over a lower mass and subsume it (think landslide). It stops being about us. It is all about Him. Our stillness in His presence is the only fitting reverence. Our silence is the only worthy praise.

We surrender to His possession and we know that this is our God. There is no other.

What is it like to be truly and utterly loved? If you will only be still in His presence you will know the God who is love. It will be enough.

I first heard Psalm 46 as a child when my mom would read it from the King James Version at family worship. The vivid imagery caused me to ask a lot of questions.

Mom and dad said that there was big trouble ahead, but I needn’t be afraid because Jesus loved me. If I gave my heart to Him and trusted Him, and if I did what He told me to do, He would take care of me, keep me safe, and take me home to live with Him in heaven.

I believed them and, while I had to make the truth of those words my own over the past fifty years or so, they have brought me real peace and freedom. It is knowing that Jesus loves me and has me covered that makes all things bearable and possible. It is my fondest hope and prayer that you also live and take courage in the truth and love of Christ.

“O taste and see that the Lord is good. Happy are those who take refuge in him” (Ps 34:8).

Under the mercy of Christ,

Kent

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Please note that the content and viewpoints of Mr. Hansen are his own and are not necessarily those of the C.S. Lewis Foundation. We have not edited his writing in any substantial way and have permission from him to post his content.

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Kent Hansen is a Christian attorney, author and speaker. He practices corporate law and is the managing attorney of the firm of Clayson, Mann, Yaeger & Hansen in Corona, California. Kent also serves as the general counsel of Loma Linda University and Medical Center in Loma Linda, California.

Finding God’s grace revealed in the ordinary experiences of life, spiritual renewal in Christ and prayer are Kent’s passions. He has written two books, Grace at 30,000 Feet and Other Unexpected Places published by Review & Herald in 2002 and Cleansing Fire, Healing Streams: Experiencing God’s Love Through Prayer, published by Pacific Press in spring 2007. Many of his stories and essays about God’s encompassing love have been published in magazines and journals. Kent is often found on the hiking trails of the southern California mountains, following major league baseball, playing the piano or writing his weekly email devotional, “A Word of Grace for Your Monday” that is read by men and women from Alaska to Zimbabwe.