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Verse
There is a river
There is a river
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God
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Refrain
God is our home, God is our journey
We will not fear though trouble comes, for we are carried
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Psalm Synopsis
This part of Psalm 46, mainly 46.4 for the verse, 46.1-2 for the refrain, sings a beautiful image of how God’s presence surrounds God’s people. In particular, during trouble.
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Liturgical Theology
One beautiful moment in Psalm 46 is the image of water flowing through Zion city. Whatever this river is, wherever its origin and destination, these streams are gladness to the community, the “city of God’ where the Most High lives. Consider it a metaphor for God’s healing, life-giving presence among God’s people. Note that community seems to be a condition of salvation here.
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The refrain unpacks the image with the joyously gospel style. Our relationship with God is both something set in covenant stone through God’s claim on us in Baptism, and also a dynamic, developing, ongoing relationship. So God is both home (refuge, shelter, haven as in 46.1,7) and journey. The latter speaks of God as bestower of Torah, even as Christ is named the Way. I like this connection across the Testaments. It has been written by authors Donald Miller and Brian McLaren that faith in the post-modern era is about relationship, not belief. “God Is Our Refuge and Strength” insists both sensibilities are important. God is encountered in creed as a rational ascent to truth. God is also encountered in deep wordless mystery along the way of life.
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46.2: “Therefore we will not fear…” Now, fear is not always a bad thing. Fear can save your life. But in the context of post-9/11 USA, the bold statement, “We will not fear” resonates with African-American spirituals as a radically counter-cultural confession. Some may see it as unpatriotic not to participate in the terror-feeling as a response to terrorism in our world. To be faithful in this time and place means exploring the ways we make our confession for a broken world.
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Line two of the refrain, “we are carried” refers to the River of God’s covenant in Baptism that both supports us and always carries us outward from the ‘city’.
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Place in Worship
A Call to Worship
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