What do we do when all our world is falling apart?
Where can we look? To whom can we go for help?
Psalm 46 can be divided easily into three parts based on the Selah's at the end of vs. 3, 7, 11.
46:1-3 Describes a natural calamity
It does not seem to be a literal description but a statement that even in the worst case scenario that we can trust God.
46:4-7 Describes armies gathering for war outside Jersualem.
Isaiah 36-37 and II Kings 18-19 describe a situation like this. But the nations gathered against God and His city will fall while God will not be moved.
46:3 The word "roar" is the same word translated "uproar" in 46:6. The natural calamity of vs. 1-3 has a parallel in the the military crisis in vs. 4-7.
46:8-11 God is our stronghold in all the earth
10 To whom are these words addressed? It seems as it they are addressed to the nations which are told to stop fighting and acknowledge God as God.
Jesus and Psalm 46
46:5 Jesus is God's presence with man- John 1:14; 2:19-22; 4:19-24. The presence of God today is not tied to one city or one building like the Jerusalem temple, but to Christ.
46:5 when morning dawns- The women came to tomb only to find Jesus was raised from the dead early in the morning- Matt. 28:1-2; Mark 16:1; Luke 24:1; John 20:1-2
46:9 He causes war to cease- Zechariah 9:9-10 is quoted in Matt. 21:4-5 and John 12:14-15 and said to be fulfilled in Jesus.
46:10 I am- In the Greek OT are the same words used by Jesus in John 6:35; 11:25; 14:6.
46:10 I will be exalted- exalted is the same word in the Greek translation in John 3:14; 8:28; 12:32-33; Acts 2:33; 5:31
Christ is exalted in His death, His resurrection, and His ascension.