Psalms 46:7

The Lord of hosts. See on Ps. 24:10. Verse 7 is the refrain to the second stanza (see v. 11). The refrain sounds the keynote of the psalm.

Is with us. Compare Ps. 23:4.

Refuge. Or, “a secure height,” “a retreat.” The verb from which the Hebrew noun is derived is used in Ps. 20:1: “the name of the God of Jacob defend thee [set thee on an high place].”

Selah. See v. 3.

Comforted by this verse, John Wesley courageously met the approach of death. He quoted it the night before his decease, and was heard repeating its promise all through the night hours.

Our strength lies not in self, nor in alliance with worldly power, but in God. Calvin said: “That the faithful might learn that, without any aid from the world, the grace of God alone was sufficient for them. … Therefore, though the help of God may but trickle to us in slender streams, we should enjoy a deeper tranquillity than if all the power of the world were heaped up all at once for our help.”