For the choirmaster. Of the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A song. God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in times of trouble.
Parallel translations
- WEB For the Chief Musician. By the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
- KJV God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
- NKJV God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.
- NASB God is our refuge and strength, A very ready help in trouble.
- NLT God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God is our refuge and strength, a help always ready in trouble. It matters because it anchors confidence in God amid any crisis.
Overview
This famous opening of Psalm 46 declares God to be both shelter and power for His people, present and available precisely when trouble comes. It is the theme that inspired Luther's hymn 'A Mighty Fortress.' For believers, this refuge is secured in Christ, in whom God draws near as our ever-present help.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 21
- Ps 145:18The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call out to Him in truth.
- Ps 9:9The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
- Prov 18:10The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
- Ps 62:7–8My salvation and my honor rest on God, my strong rock; my refuge is in God.
- Ps 91:1–9He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
- Ps 142:5I cry to You, O LORD: “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”
- Ps 46:11The LORD of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
- Deut 4:7For what nation is great enough to have a god as near to them as the LORD our God is to us whenever we call on Him?
- Prov 14:26He who fears the LORD is secure in confidence, and his children shall have a place of refuge.
- Heb 6:18Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged.
- 2 Sam 22:17–20He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters.
- Gen 22:14And Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. So to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”
- Ps 46:7The LORD of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
- Ps 14:6You sinners frustrate the plans of the oppressed, yet the LORD is their shelter.
- Luke 13:34O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!
- Ps 66:1For the choirmaster. A song. A Psalm. Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth!
- Ps 84:1For the choirmaster. According to Gittith. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. How lovely is Your dwelling place, O LORD of Hosts!
- Ps 85:1For the choirmaster. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. You showed favor to Your land, O LORD; You restored Jacob from captivity.
- Ps 48:1A song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, His holy mountain.
- Ps 87:1A Psalm of the sons of Korah. A song. He has founded His city on the holy mountains.
- 1 Chr 15:20Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play the harps according to Alamoth.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 46:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.