The God who is known in a time of all the unknowns.
Be still and know I am God- Psalm 46:10a.
Some of you know that I often use The Message translation to hear a familiar word in a new and fresh voice. Here is beloved Psalm 46 from The Message:
Psalm 46
1-3 God is a safe place to hide,
ready to help when we need him.
We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom,
courageous in sea storm and earthquake,
Before the rush and roar of oceans,
the tremors that shift mountains.
Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,
God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.
4-6
River fountains splash joy, cooling God’s city,
this sacred haunt of the Most High.
God lives here, the streets are safe,
God at your service from crack of dawn.
Godless nations rant and rave, kings and kingdoms threaten,
but Earth does anything he says.
7
Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,
God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.
8-10
Attention, all! See the marvels of God!
He plants flowers and trees all over the earth,
Bans war from pole to pole,
breaks all the weapons across his knee.
“Step out of the traffic! Take a long,
loving look at me, your High God,
above politics, above everything.”
11
Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,
God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.
Tonight as the holy water pours from eyes, as I connect with another who is suffering, struggling, heart-broken and hurting —I take in the deep breath of God’s grace and exhale the fear that wants to shut me up and shut me down. Together we share our grief and sorrow, our joys and triumphs. Together we get to trust in all the re-routing that is happening-God is present.
Psalm 46:1-3 (NRSV)
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
3
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its tumult.
So for this moment on this night I will pause and remember to be still and know- that deep, deep knowing- that in our bones knowing- that God is God. And as we sleep and rest, as we shelter in place and come to terms again and again with our own powerlessness over so much and so many that God is with us- a very present help in trouble.