Mar 22

A Mighty Fortress

Todd Pruitt |Psalm 46


Psalm 46
There is a world-wide perspective to the Psalm. It proclaims God’s supremacy over nature (vv. 1-3), over hostile forces (vv. 4-7), and over the whole violent world (vv. 8-11). “Its robust, defiant tone suggests it was composed at a time of crisis, which makes the confession of faith doubly impressive.”1 As we are currently living during a time of global pandemic we need to see once again the universal reign of the God who is our help in time of trouble.

We know from the superscription that this Psalm was written as a song. Certainly all of the Psalms can be and are sung. But some passages of Scripture beg to be sung. Certainly this is one. In difficult times, is there a more appropriate theme of which to sing than that of God as our refuge and strength? Indeed, it was this Psalm that inspired Martin Luther to write his great hymn A Mighty Fortress is Our God.