Psalms 46:5
in Psalms 46God is within her; she will not be moved. God will help her when morning dawns.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God will help her, and that right early.
KJV
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.
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This verse in Psalms 46
Commentary
15 notes on this verseBy his resurrection at dawn, the Lord confers on us wonderful and heavenly helps. His resurrection dispelled the night and poured on us the light of day. As Scripture says, "Rise, O sleeper; arise from the dead, and Christ shall enlighten you." Consider here a mystery. Christ suffered in the evening, and according to the Old Law, the lamb is slain at evening. … In the evening of this world, when the light is failing, he is killed. All this world would have been shrouded by even greater and more horrid darkness only that Christ came to us from heaven.
This site's exposition
There is a river
on Psalms 46:4-5
There is a river answers the roaring waters of verse 3 with quiet water inside the city. Jerusalem stood on no river, and Gill and Henry read the streams as God's presence in the place where He dwells. God is within her, and she will not be moved.
This site's exposition
when morning dawns
Help comes at the first hour of trouble. Clarke saw God resisting the attack from within the city at its onset, as the morning scatters darkness, and Barnes heard Jerusalem before Sennacherib. Chrysostom called this help ever ready.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
He was not in one part of the city and cut off from another but "in its midst," surrounding it all, protecting it all equally from the foe.
"God is in the midst of her: she shall not be moved" [Psalm 46:5]. Let the sea rage, the mountains shake; "God is in the midst of her: she shall not be moved." What is, "in the midst of her"? That God stands in any one place, and they surround Him who believe in Him? Then is God circumscribed by place; and broad that which surrounds, narrow that which is surrounded? God forbid. No such thing imagine of God, who is contained in no place, whose seat is the conscience of the godly: and so is God's seat in the hearts of men, that if man fall from God, God in Himself abides, not falls like one not finding where to be. For rather does He lift up you, that you may be in Him, than so lean upon you, as if you withdraw yourself, to fall. Himself if He withdraw, fall will you: yourself if you withdraw, fall will not He. What then is, "God is in the midst of her"? It signifies that God is equal to all, and accepts not persons. For as that which is in the middle has equal distances to all the boundaries, so God is said to be in the middle, because He consults equally for all. "God is in the midst of her: she shall not be moved." Wherefore shall she not be moved? Because God is in the midst of her. He is "the Helper in tribulations that have found us out too much. God shall help her with His Countenance." What is, "with His Countenance"? With manifestation of Himself. How manifests God Himself, so as that we see His Countenance? I have already told you; you have learned God's Presence; we have learned it through His works. When from Him we receive any help so that we cannot at all doubt that it was granted to us by the Lord, then God's Countenance is with us.
The Hebrew says God will help the city at early dawn, that is, when the shadows of sinners pass across the flowings of the river, God, who is light, gives the beginning of light to its heart, and he helps the spirit that says, Lord, …
Since God is in the midst of the city, he will give it stability, providing assistance for it at the first break of dawn … sending out equal rays of his providence from all sides to the limits of the world. Preserving the justice of God, he apportions the same measure of goodness to all.… Now, the perceptible sun produces among us the early morning when it rises above the horizon opposite us, and the Sun of justice produces the early morning in our soul by the rising of the spiritual light, making day in him who admits it. "At night" means we are in this time of ignorance. Therefore, having opened wide our mind, let us receive "the brightness of his glory," and let us be brightly illumined by the everlasting Light, "God will help it in the morning early." … For those on whom the spiritual light will rise, when the darkness that comes from ignorance and wickedness is destroyed, early morning will be at hand. Since, then, light has come into the world in order that he who walks about in it may not stumble, his help is able to cause the early morning … who on the third day, early on the morning of the resurrection, gained the victory through death.
He who is in fact so exalted, uncircumscribed by place, the ineffable being, deigned to call our city his dwelling and sustains it from every quarter. This, you see, is the meaning of "in her midst," as elsewhere also he says, "Behold, I am with you." He supports it on all sides; thus not only will the city come to no harm, but it will not even be shaken. The reason is that it enjoys the most prompt assistance, which is ever ready and prepared; this, you see, is the meaning of "as day dawns," not pending or delayed but ever fresh and abounding, and at the appropriate time.
7 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
"God is in the midst of it." Here the consolation from the divine presence is set forth. And first he sets forth the benefit of this presence. Second, its effects, at "It shall not be moved." He says therefore, "God is in the midst," namely, …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
God is in the midst of her,....
God has assured his church of his special presence with her and concern for her; his honour is embarked in her, he has set up his tabernacle in her and has undertaken the protection of it, and therefore she shall not be moved, that is, [1.] Not destroyed, not removed, as the earth may be
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
God is in the midst of her. His help is therefore sure and near. Is she besieged, then he is himself besieged within her, and we may be certain that he will break forth upon his adversaries. How near is the Lord to the distresses of his saints, since he sojourns in their midst!
God is in the midst of her. His help is therefore sure and near. Is she besieged, then he is himself besieged within her, and we may be certain that he will break forth upon his adversaries. How near is the Lord to the distresses of his saints, since he sojourns in their midst! Let us take heed that we do not grieve him; let us have such respect to him as Moses had when he felt the sand of Horeb's desert to be holy, and put off his shoes from off his feet when the Lord spake from the burning bush. She shall not be moved. How can she be moved unless her enemies move her Lord also? His presence renders all hope of capturing and demolishing the city utterly ridiculous. The Lord is in the vessel, and she cannot, therefore, be wrecked. God shall help her. Within her he will furnish rich supplies, and outside her walls he will lay her foes in heaps like the armies of Sennacherib, when the angel went forth and smote them. And that right early. As soon as the first ray of light proclaims the coming day, at the turning of the morning God's right arm shall be outstretched for his people. The Lord is up betimes. We are slow to meet him, but he is never tardy in helping us. Impatience complains of divine delays, but in very deed the Lord is not slack concerning his promise. Man's haste is often folly, but God's apparent delays are ever wise; and when rightly viewed, are no delays at all. Today the bands of evil may environ the church of God, and threaten her with destruction; but ere long they shall pass away like the foam on the waters, and the noise of their tumult shall be silent in the grave. The darkest hour of the night is just before the turning of the morning; and then, even then, shall the Lord appear as the great ally of his church.
God is in the midst of her - God will not abandon them that trust in him; he will maintain his own cause; and, if his Church should at any time be attacked, he will help her and that right early - with the utmost speed. As soon as the onset is made, God is there to resist. As by the day-break the shadows and darkness are dissipated; so by the bright rising of Jehovah, the darkness of adversity shall be scattered.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
God is in the midst of her - God is in the midst of the “city” referred to above - the “city of God.” That is, (a) he dwelt there by the visible symbol of his presence, the Shekinah; (b) he was there “actually” as a help and a protector. It was his chosen abode, and as long as such a Being dwelt in the city, they had nothing to fear. God shall help her - That is, in her danger, he will interpose to save her. This is language such as would be used in reference to a place that was besieged, and would well apply to the state of things when Jerusalem was besieged by the armies of Assyria under Sennacherib. The language expresses the confidence of the people in the time of the impending danger. And that right early - Margin, “when the morning appeareth.” Literally, “in the faces of the morning,” as the word is commonly used; or, more literally, in the “turning” of the morning - for the verb from which the word is derived means properly “to turn,” and then “to turn to or from any one.” The noun is applied to the face or countenance, because the person is “turned” to us when we see his countenance. The poetic idea here seems to refer to the day as having turned away “from” us at night, and then as turning about “toward” us in the morning, after having gone, as it were, to the greatest distance from us. “Possibly” there may be an allusion here to what occurred in the camp of the Assyrians, when the discovery that the angel of the Lord had smitten them was made early in the morning, or when men arose in the morning: “The angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose in the morning” (that is, when men arose in the morning), “behold, they were all dead corpses,” Isa 37:36.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֱלֹהִ֣ים | ʾelohim | God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| בְּ֭קִרְבָּהּ | bekirbah | [is] in midst its | H7130 → | 227 times |
| בַּל־ | bal- | not | H1077 → | 73 times |
| תִּמּ֑וֹט | timot | it will be shaken | H4131 → | 38 times |
| יַעְזְרֶ֥הָ | ya'zereha | he will help it | H5826 → | 81 times |
| אֱ֝לֹהִ֗ים | ʾelohim | God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| לִפְנ֥וֹת | lifnot | to [the] turning of | H6437 → | 135 times |
| בֹּֽקֶר׃ | boker | [the] morning | H1242 → | 214 times |
אֱלֹהִ֣יםGod
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
בְּ֭קִרְבָּהּ[is] in midst its
bekirbahH7130 →227 times
בַּל־not
bal-H1077 →73 times
תִּמּ֑וֹטit will be shaken
timotH4131 →38 times
יַעְזְרֶ֥הָhe will help it
ya'zerehaH5826 →81 times
אֱ֝לֹהִ֗יםGod
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
לִפְנ֥וֹתto [the] turning of
lifnotH6437 →135 times
בֹּֽקֶר׃[the] morning
bokerH1242 →214 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Joel 2:27Then you will know that I am present in Israel and that I am the LORD your God, and there is no other. My people will never again be put to shame.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 37:26–28
And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary among them forever.
- Leviticus 26:11–12
And I will make My dwelling place among you, and My soul will not despise you.
- Ezekiel 37:26–28
Through
Zechariah 2:5For I will be a wall of fire around it, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory within it.’”
it leads to
- Isaiah 4:5
Then the LORD will create over all of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud of smoke by day and a glowing flame of fire by night. For over all the glory there…
- Zechariah 9:8
But I will camp around My house because of an army, because of those who march to and fro, and never again will an oppressor overrun My people, for now I keep watch with…
- Psalms 3:3
But You, O LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head.
- Isaiah 60:18–19
No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders. But you will name your walls Salvation and your gates Praise.
- Revelation 21:23
And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its lamp.
- Isaiah 4:5
Through
Zephaniah 3:15The LORD has taken away your punishment; He has turned back your enemy. Israel’s King, the LORD, is among you; no longer will you fear any harm.
it leads to
- Isaiah 51:22
Thus says your Lord, the LORD, even your God, who defends His people: “See, I have removed from your hand the cup of staggering. From that goblet, the cup of My fury, you will…
- Isaiah 51:22
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Psalms
This page draws on 15 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, COMMENTARY ON TWELVE PSALMS 46:14; Arnobius the Younger, COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 46; Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 46; Basil of Caesarea, HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 18:5 (PS 46); Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; John Chrysostom, Commentary on the Psalms; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 46:2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theodore of Mopsuestia, COMMENTARY ON PSALMS 46:6A and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.