This is a meditation on Psalm 46, perhaps my favorite psalm since 2021 when I first reflected on these words in this way.

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A narrator, or perhaps a reporter, steps into view and speaks to us looking directly into the camera. He is calling us to something. As he speaks, behind him appear images of memorable biblical passages.

First, the image of a fortified city like you might have seen during the time of David.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear …

Behind the reporter we see images of creation and the deep, dark waters out of which it emerged:

… though the earth give way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea …

Perhaps a faint reflection of Jonah in this last picture:

… though its waters roar and foam, and though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

The chaotic scene fades to black and a peaceful scene appears, like that of Psalm 23. Our reporter walks beside a stream in the shade. He turns and speaks to us over his shoulder:

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.

As the camera pans way out, we see that we are in a garden or a scene of new creation.

God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved. God will help her when morning dawns.

At this point, the scene changes dramatically. Images of our world appear — grotesque and disappointing and sad like the evening news.

The nations rage, the kingdoms totter …

We don’t stay there long. Images of victory from Revelation break in:

… he utters his voice, the earth melts. The LORD of hosts is with us! The God of Jacob is our fortress.

The reporter’s appearance has changed. He now speaks with life or death urgency, as a panorama of biblical images flood the screen in rapid succession. He now speaks like a prophet, slamming his thesis onto the page. His point is to call us to Scripture:

Come! Behold the works of the LORD, how he has brought desolations on the earth! He makes wars cease to the end of the earth! He breaks the bow and shatters the spear! He burns the chariots with fire!

Our reporter has stepped out of the frame. We now stare into the face of the Son of God himself.

Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth.

The scene fades to black once more, and we hear the voice of our narrator one last time:

The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.