Ps.46:1 – God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Ps.46:5 – God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.
It’s hard to comprehend just how close the Lord is to us and how ready He is to help us. The Holy Spirit is the One Who gives us a sense of this very real and available supernatural help. How can I describe this nearness ? I could say He is closer than my skin, nearer to me than my very breath, I could even say He is like a coat wrapped close around me keeping me warm on a winter day. He is there with me when trouble strikes me suddenly, He is watching over me in my sleep, He is so near that I walk in His very footprints into His plan for my life. He is ever present and always attuned to my circumstances. Here is how Charles Spurgeon describes this supernatural help.
“A very present help in trouble, or in distress he has so been found, he has been tried and proved by his people. He never withdraws himself from his afflicted. He is their help, truly, effectually, constantly; he is present or near them, close at their side and ready for their succor, and this is emphasized by the word very in our version, he is more present than friend or relative can be, yea, more nearly present than even the trouble itself. To all this comfortable truth is added the consideration that his assistance comes at the needed time. He is not as the swallows that leave us in the winter; he is a friend in need and a friend indeed. When it is very dark with us, let brave spirits say, “Come, let us sing the forty-sixth Psalm.”
As many of you know this passage took on new significance in my life several years ago when I was close to death in a hospital room in New Orleans. The Lord visited me and spoke this word over my life (actually He quoted the entire Psalm). This verse became alive to me and actually brought me back to life. I became aware of His utter nearness during that week of isolation in the hospital. No one could visit me but the Holy Spirit never left my side. I have never had such an awareness of God for such an extended time. I became convinced that He was and is my constant help.
