_The confidence which the church hath in God.—An exhortation to behold
it._
To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah. A song upon Alamoth.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though
the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
_Though_ the waters thereof roar, _and_ be troubled, _though_ the
mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.
_There is_ a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of
God, the holy _place_ of the tabernacle of the most high.
God _is_ in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help
her, _and that_ right early.
The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the
earth melted.
The LORD of hosts _is_ with us; the God of Jacob _is_ our refuge.
Selah.
Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in
the earth.
He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the
bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the
fire.
Be still, and know that I _am_ God: I will be exalted among the
heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
The LORD of hosts _is_ with us; the God of Jacob _is_ our refuge.
Selah.
This is a thanksgiving which the people of Israel sang, at that time,
for their divine blessings, and miraculous deliverances, because God
had powerfully defended Jerusalem, situated in the midst of hostile
nations and enemies, and guarded it against all opposing kings, and
against all the snares and hostile attempts of the surrounding
nations; and had preserved it in peace against all the furious
counsels of war and bloodshed. Hence, after the manner of the
scriptures, David calls all that present flourishing state of his
kingdom’s affairs, the river of God, whose streams should never be
dry; which was but a small rivulet, in comparison of the great streams
and torrents of the sea by which he was surrounded, (that is, by those
immense kingdoms and islands of the nations, and Gentile kings,) which
although they were great, would yet, one day, dry up and disappear,
while the river of God should endure for ever.
We sing this Psalm to the praise of God, because God is with us, and
powerfully and miraculously preserves and defends his church and his
word, against all fanatical spirits, against the gates of hell,
against the implacable hatred of the devil, and against all the
assaults of the world, the flesh, and sin. So that our little river
remains a living fountain; whilst so many heresies, so many tyrants
and their doctrines, as so many stinking sewers and sinks, are
dispersed, like broken cisterns, and disappear, and are lost for ever.