I SHALL NOT BE MOVED (PSALM 46)
How were you affected by the November 26 (2025) Taipo fires? More than 160 people died as of Tuesday (December 9, 2026), of which more than a quarter were foreign maids. I cried daily for a week. Then I was told one of the Indonesian maid, E, a Muslim, visited our church’s Indonesian worship before.
My Mainland coworker said he is reminded to remain in Hong Kong for ministry. I was told that a coworker on holiday in USA for Thanksgiving was very sad when the fire erupted. I asked him how he was, and he replied, “I cried my heart out and only want to return to Hong Kong. Now I’m OK.”
Life is never short of fires and floods, feuds, frauds, foes and foul play. The city is rife with scammers, scoundrels and schemers taking advantage of people’s misery. Two days after the fires, our church opened the worship center on Friday noon and night for those who would like to remember the victims. The text read was Psalm 46, so I prepared this sermon in 10 days.
How is God present in our suffering and struggles? Where is God when it hurts? What in the world has one wrong and how can we make it right?
God is Present to Assist
For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth. A song.
1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah
A friend’s second sister and her family lived on the upper floors of the first block of the seven blocks that was on fire. They had lived there for a few years. The son’s day off is on Wednesday (the day of the fire), where he spends the time catching up on sleep at home since he works the night shift! By the grace of God, the family was in Japan on holiday. The mother (friend’s sister) and her son left three days before the fires and the husband on the eve of the fire.
My friend texted her sister about 3-4pm to break the news to her, “Your apartment is on fire,” to which she replied reading the news, “I think so.” Thankfully, besides their lives, the family had their passports and important documents with them on holiday. They returned to Hong Kong a week after their holiday, still figuring where to live two weeks after the fire though they were offered short-term government housing in Cheung Sha Wan.
This is only the second time the word “refuge” (v 1) appears in the Bible, the noun that made its way into the Bible because of Job (Job 24:8 they are drenched by mountain rains and hug the rocks for lack of “shelter”), so refuge is the anchor, accommodation, arrangement, availability and asylum. No one coins the word better than Job through all his heartbreaks, hardship and hopelessness. The noun “strength,” on the other hand, occurs 92 times in the Bible, of which 45 times are in the Psalms, nearly half, mostly praising God’s strength, power and might. Strength is the security.
V 1 Refuge Strength Help
Shelter Security Support
Accommodation Assertion Assistance
Place Power Provision
Residence Reliability Resources
Readers might be surprised to know that the main verb is “–present,” and “ever-” is the regular word for “exceeding,” very or much. “Present” is mostly translated as find or found. God is active, available and attentive. He is always found, faithful and finding us always. “Ever,” on the other hand, is never translated as “ever” in the Psalms, but commonly as “much” (Ps 119:107) or very (Ps 50:3).
The personal declaration “I shall not fear” occurs five times in the Bible, but the group declaration “We will not fear” (v 2) occurs just this once. It means not lose hope, your heart or head. “We will not fear” is not a commanding imperative nor a courageous jussive (“let us not fear”), but a calm statement. It is a reminder, resolve, reaction, reliance, readiness and resilience.
It’s been said, “FEAR means ‘forget everything and run.’”
"We shall not fear" means choosing faith over panic, trusting God's presence and strength to overcome challenges, and acting with courage despite uncertainty, not the absence of feeling fear, but the resolve to move forward with hope, relying on divine protection and purpose. It's a call to stand firm, knowing God provides power, love, and guidance, making fear unwarranted because He is greater than any worldly threat. (Google AI)
There is no “though” in Hebrew and in life and it occurs only in verse 2 in Hebrew; instead it is the “in” preposition, meaning crisis, calamities and catastrophes happen. When it rains, it pours. Troubles come in threes. Misfortunes never come singly.
Verses 2 and 3 are connected. The overall picture of verses 2 and 3 is Hebrew is sharper and stout than any translation. First, there are two “though” in verse 2 and none in verse 3. “Give way” (v 2) is change in Hebrew, and “fall away” is collapse. The word “fall” occurs three times (vv 2, 5, 6). Change (v 2) is the content or circumstances, the other is the collapse and crumble.
Verse 3 has three verbs – roar, foam and quake. Roar is the sound, foam is the color, and quake is physical. Verse 3 is the revere continuation of verse 2 continuing on the theme of seas before backtracking back to mountains – A, B, B1, A1 interchange.
V 3 Roar Foam Quake
Sound Spout Shake
Thunder Throw-up Tremor
Flooding recovery efforts underway in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand as death toll tops 1,000. 1,150 killed in the 2025 floods in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Malaysia.
God is Powerful to Abide
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. 5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. 6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. 7 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
When Abba Anthony thought about the depths of the judgments of God, he asked, 'Lord, how is it that some die when they are young, while others drag on to extreme old age? Why are there those who are poor and those who are rich? Why do wicked men prosper and why are the just in need?' He heard a voice answering him, 'Antony, keep your attention on yourself; these things are according to the judgment of God, and it is not to your advantage to know anything about them.' Anthony the Great
Streams (v 4 “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God”) refer to rivers. River is central, crucial and critical to life, living, livelihood, livability and livestock. Make glad (v 4) is rejoice (Lev 23:40), cheer (Deut 24:5), joyful (Ezra 6:22) and be merry (Eccl 8:15). I am quite content with my living room window facing the coast of Sham Tseng.
River has always been important and indispensable in the Bible, from the river in Eden (Gen 2:10) to the pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. (Rev 22:1) Further, God founded the world and upon the seas established it upon the waters (Ps 24:2). “Fall” (v 5 God is within her, she will not fall) means “moved,” but also a few times as slide (Deut 32:35), slip (Ps 38:16) and shake (Ps 60:2).
While it is safe to assume Jerusalem is implied, but the city is not identified, so it could be any city, country or continent.
“Within her” (v 5 God is within her, she will not fall) is actually “in her” in Hebrew. “In her” means direct involvement – integral and on the inside, while “within her” suggests external indicator –influential but on the outside.
“Not” (v 5 not fall) is not the regular “no” but the stronger “not at all,” never (Ps 10:11), none (Ps 93:1). God’s promise to us is that she (city) will not fall. She might stumble, stagger, suffer, slump and strain, but not fall. Fall is downfall, defeated, disgraced, destroyed and discarded.
Readers might be surprised to know the word “break” (v 5 God will help her at break of day) is a verb, and the word origin for “break” (v 5 God will “help” her at “break” of day) is the infinitive “to face,” so the apt translation is “to face” the break of day.” There are times we do not know how to face the future, the fears, the frustrations, the fallout, the futility. KJV has the translation “right.” meet
Melt (v 6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts) is equally translated as faint (Josh 2:9), dissolve (Job 30:22), and lesser as “makes soft” (Ps 65:10) and “consume” (Isa 64:7). The “earth + melts” occurs for only the third time in the Bible. The first two refers to the residents in the new “land + melting” in fear at the advance of Joshua and his army (Joshua 2:9, 24). Melt is more than fear, but dissolve, disintegrate, dehydrate, diffuse, dissipate, deaden in fear.
Fortress (v 7) is translated as high tower (2 Sam 22:3), defence (Ps 59:9) and high fort (Isa 25:12).
The “Lord Almighty with” is taken from David’s life.
God is Patient to Act
8 Come and see the works of the Lord, the desolations he has brought on the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the ends 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 will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." 11 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Thomas a Kempis said in “The Imitation of Christ”: “He is not truly a patient person who is only willing to suffer as much as he chooses and from whom he pleases. The truly patient person does not care by whom he is tried, whether by his superior or by someone equal or inferior, whether by a good and holy person or by a perverse and worthless one. No matter how much or how often anything bad happens to him, and whatever creature in this world might be its cause, he takes it all from God’s hand gratefully and considers it a great gain, for nothing suffered for God’s sake, no matter how small it may be, goes without its reward.
So be prepared to fight if you want to have the victory. You cannot gain the crown of patience without a struggle. If you will not suffer, you refuse to be crowned, but if you want to be crowned, fight bravely and endure patiently. Without labor there is no rest; without struggle
there is no victory.” https://humblehandmaid.com/real-patience/
Quotes:
Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet. Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
Our patience will achieve more than our force. Edmund Burke.
The strongest of all warriors are these two — time and patience. Leo Tolstoy.
The last section is the climax with four imperatives: come (v 8), see, be still (v 10) and know. The noun “earth” occurs three times (vv 8 in the earth, 9, 10 in the earth) in the last section, five times altogether in the chapter (vv 2, 6). God is passionate about the earth, earthling as we are.
Works (v 8 Come and see the works of the Lord, the desolations he has brought on the earth) occurs the first time in the Bible. It is plural. It is liken to a performance - a spectacle, a showstopper and a sight. It is qualified by the three verbs (v 9): smash (break), shatter and (smoke) burn. The bow, the spear and shield (v 9 he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire) are different instruments of war, of which the last (shield) is chariot in Hebrew. The bow is feather, the spear is wood, and the chariot is with steel. The bow is mid-travel, the spear is short-range, and the chariot is long-distance.
Cease (v 9) is rest (Shabath), break is “ruin” and shatter is pieces, and burn is smoke.
V 8 Come V 8 See V 10 Be still V 8 Know
Assemble Ascertain Abide Movement Acknowledge
Return Recognition (Identify) Restrain Realization (Understand)
Call Concentration Calm Commitment
Readers might be surprised to know “be still” (raphah) occurs only here in the Bible. It means be faint, fail or feeble, not to fight it, force it or fear it.
Verse 10 has an important reason (ki): THAT I am God, followed by two “I will be exalted.” Exalted is sometimes translated as high (Ps 18:27), lifted (Ps 27:6) and lofty (Ps 131:1). It means to be extoled, elevated and eminent; to be promoted, prominent and proclaimed.
Conclusion: For Such a Time as This…
Stir Up. Emotional
Shape Up. Spiritual
Show up. Personal
Stand Up. Social
Save Up. Financial
