Even When Society Disintegrates, Joy
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea (Psalm 46:1-2).
Societal disintegration tempts believers to lose their joy. At the time of this writing, it is toward the end of 2020. This year in America, there has been a pandemic, quarantines, massive job losses, rioting, looting, wide-spread street violence, and largescale distrust in our political processes. And it doesn’t look like things will get better any time soon, though one can always hope. One doesn’t want to exaggerate the dangers, and things haven’t reached the state of disintegration yet, and hopefully, they won’t. Yet those terrible things have happened, all in 2020. There seem to be a lot of dark events in the world right now.
Societal disintegration tempts believers to lose their joy.
It is quite easy to get depressed or go around feeling dread. What does the future hold? Will I be able to support my family? What will the world be like for my kids? How much more pressure can this nation bear before splitting apart at the seams? These and other questions raise the specter of uncertainty about our safety and prosperity. We begin to fear that Misery may be approaching us like an assailant we cannot fight.
What will the world be like for my kids?
Are you struggling with your current cultural climate, feeling agonized over it? Depending on your particular personality, you might be tempted to respond in a multitude of ways: getting into fiery Twitter wars, heading for the hills with your bug out bag, swallowing conspiracy theories, losing yourself in entertainment, shrilly venting to all your friends. The human heart can respond in many ways to the dark things in the world.
The human heart can respond in many ways to the dark things in the world.
What we need in trying times is a word from God to give us rock-solid reasons to remain joyful and grateful in all situations—“giving thanks always for all things to God the Father” (Eph. 5:20). Many Scripture passages give us rock-solid reasons. In fact, a fruitful approach to Bible study, in general, is to read it with that question in mind—“how does the passage I’m reading minister joy in the dark places?” Or you might say, “what are the reasons this passage gives for my being joyful in dark places?” A key passage that deals specifically with the issue of joy when society disintegrates is Psalm 46.
A key passage that deals specifically with the issue of joy when society disintegrates is Psalm 46.
The setting of Psalm 46 is cultural upheaval and societal disintegration—wars and the fall of nations. The psalm describes these things using metaphors of unimaginable natural disasters, like mountains being “carried into the midst of the sea” and the mountains’ quaking at the seas’ roaring (46:2). The psalmist imagines apocalyptic-sized events, not because he expects them to happen anytime soon, but because they are apt emblems for the actual thing he has in his mind, societal upheaval. You can see that this is the setting of the psalm—“the nations raged, the kingdoms were moved” (46:6). This is upheaval (nations raging) and disintegration (kingdoms being moved). In such times, people feel their vulnerability, and fear infests society at every level. People need a Rock.
People need a Rock.
The psalm’s main theme is the stability that comes from being in covenant with God. Three times it anchors the soul on God’s covenant—“God is our refuge and strength” and “The Lord of hosts is with us” and finally, “The God of Jacob is our refuge” (Psa. 46:1, 7, 11). The covenant's most basic biblical expression is the statement that God is our God, and we are His people. The Bible often varies this by using illustrative imagery for God: “my Fortress,” “my Rock,” “my Shield.” Notice the relational meaning these possessive pronouns carry. It might be helpful to use an example from common experience: “a wife” is very different from saying “my wife.” The presence of that one pronoun changes everything. In such contexts, it expresses the unique relationship of a covenant. Once you’ve seen the covenantal emphasis of this psalm, the question becomes what specific blessings can we expect from being in covenant with God? Let’s take a look at three blessed things the psalm gives us.
“The God of Jacob is our refuge” (Psa. 46:11).
The first covenant blessing is that God is a refuge despite earth-shattering troubles (45:1-3). The “refuge” imagery means something definable—God is “a very present help in trouble” (46:1). Have you ever meditated on what a “very present help” is? It is an odd turn of phrase, but when you get to the bottom of it, it says something marvelous about being in covenant with God. If you said someone was “very present,” you’d undoubtedly mean something like “he’s always there.” One translation offered “abundantly available” as a possible rendering. In other words, God is the opposite of distant, remote, or detached. But the psalm isn’t merely saying that God is present. What good is having someone close by if they don’t help? It would provide moral support but little else. The psalm specifies that it is God’s help that is not remote. God provides abundantly available help to His people. The experiential result of accepting this fact is that “therefore we will not fear” (46:2). This fearlessness is experienced in the face of the worst, earth-shattering disasters and disorder.
God is the opposite of distant, remote, or detached.
Do you feel like God’s help is ever-present, or do you feel like God hardly ever helps you? It is vital for your spiritual health not just to believe that God’s help is ever-present but to find your refuge in that fact. If you do not, when earth-shattering events occur, you will rely on yourself, your strength, your wisdom, or that of other people. The Bible says to this, “Cursed is the man who trusts in man” and “blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord” (Jer. 17:5, 7). If you view yourself as cut off from God’s help, you will not trust Him, for you feel He isn’t there for you. Why trust a god who doesn’t help? But the reality is that God “is never wanting in the time of need, as often as any afflictions press upon his people” (Calvin, Psalms, I, 195). Refresh your faith in God as He has revealed Himself to be. Even in the worst trials that your fearful imagination can conjure up, God is our refuge and strength.
Even in the worst trials that your fearful imagination can conjure up, God is our refuge and strength.
The second covenant blessing is that God dedicates His omnipotence to bless His people (46:4-7). This marvelous thought is explained as to its results (46:4), it's timing (46:5), and then it is stated outright (46:6).
The results of God’s all-powerful help are said to be like a river— “There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God.” If you’ve ever wondered what this is all about, just contrast it with the raging tumult in verse 3. Here is the idea: there is disorder and disaster in the world on a cataclysmic scale. But for people who are in covenant with God, those in “the city of God,” life is like resting by a tranquil river. It’s a stark contrast—mountains being moved into raging seas, and now suddenly a river of serenity. It is expressed this way to show the joy that results from being in covenant with God. The ultimate experience of this will be in heaven, but we are to experience immense joy now (Gal. 5:22). Peace like a river is already and not yet.
Peace like a river is already and not yet.
The timing of God’s help corrects our impatient culture. I imagine that some Christian people want to accept all this about God’s being an ever-present help, but then they hesitate because, deep down, they feel like God rarely helps them. If you feel like this, the psalm speaks in a special way to you—“God shall help her, just at the break of dawn” (46:5). This is a message to those who feel like God just lets them struggle in a trial that never ends, an interminable, everlasting dark place. See, there is a dawn coming, so trials have an end. Troubles are not everlasting, no matter how we may feel. And God plans to let the trial last as long as He thinks best and then brings in help at the right time for those who wait for Him. God has a timing and rationale for the help He delivers. We must not presume upon His help; we must not be demanding as to its timing or indignant when it tarries but humbly and hopefully wait for God’s dawn to break and shed light upon the dark places. God is all-wise, and help is coming in His good time.
God is all-wise, and help is coming in His good time.
The help which God brings is stated outright as the help of omnipotence. “The nations raged ... He uttered His voice, the earth melted” (46:6). This shows the greatness of the help; God “has made over” His almighty power to bless believers, as Puritan William Strong put it (Discourse of the Two Covenants, p. 265). The earth melting is imagery designed to depict God’s powerful salvation. The earth was heaving at the nations’ rage but will melt at the mere sound of God’s voice “as snow before the sun, or fat cast into the fire” (David Dickson, Psalms, I, 268). Dickson’s imagery evokes campfire experiences for me; can you imagine yourself sitting around a campfire and tossing a bit of bacon fat onto a blazing log? It would almost instantly melt and disappear. That is the nations before the Lord’s power. How important it is to give weight to God and not to the day’s agitating crowds! People think great things of themselves, but they really are just scuttling about on this globe for a short time, and then they die and stand before God. People are not to be feared. There is something delightful in contemplating God’s great power. Nothing thrills a child more than seeing his father’s power as long the child is assured of his father’s love.
How important it is to give weight to God and not to the day’s agitating crowds!
The third covenant blessing is that God’s sovereign providence is purposeful (46:8-11). The psalmist insists on viewing the desolations in the earth from a God-centered perspective. God is the one who “made desolations in the earth” (46:8) and brings wars to an end (46:9). Most importantly, His providential control is purposeful. Events are not random; dark times are not just happening. God is guiding history forward and doing so according to plan. “Be still and know that I am God” must be interpreted in light of the next comment: “I will be exalted among the nations” (46:10). The statement is meant for the nations and for the godly. The nations are to stop raging and come to know God, and God’s people are to stop fretting, for God controls events and is bringing them around to accomplish His purpose of glorifying Himself. Believers should not join the raging nations. Though there is tumult in the earth, there should be love, joy, and peace in Christians’ hearts. God will be glorified.
Though there is tumult in the earth, there should be love, joy, and peace in Christians’ hearts.
It might seem strange to gain comfort by reminding yourself that God will glorify Himself. You might expect comfort to sound more like “be still, for I will protect you,” not “be still, for I will be glorified.” It seems to me that if people are made to glorify God, then a Christian, who is a new creation with godly desires, will want God’s glory more than anything. In other words, these words of the Lord here in Psalm 46 are the most comforting that could be communicated. Nothing brings peace and joy in the dark places more than knowing that darkness cannot reach God’s throne, and God is bending His omnipotence to ensure His will be done. Even when cataclysmic things happen, and society threatens to disintegrate, nothing is out of God’s control. God is exercising His providence to accomplish His purposes. “The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea (Hab. 2:14).
Nothing brings peace and joy in the dark places more than knowing that darkness cannot reach God’s throne…
It is worth noting that the blessings of Psalm 46 are guaranteed to us in Jesus Christ. Psalm 46 shares imagery with Psalm 2. In both psalms, the nations rage (2:1; 46:6). In Psalm 2, God gives the ends of the earth to Christ, who breaks them in pieces (2:8-9). In Psalm 46, God speaks to the earth, and it melts (46:6). In Psalm 2, the nations are offered peace if they will trust in Christ (2:12). In Psalm 46, they are told to be still and recognize God (46:10). I bring up these parallels to note that the judgment and gospel communicated in Psalm 46 ought to be understood in light of Psalm 2. Though Christ is not mentioned in Psalm 46, He is definitely in view. How will God be exalted in the nations except by Jesus Christ as He brings redemption for His people and judgment upon the wicked?
God gives the ends of the earth to Christ, who breaks them in pieces (2:8-9).
We may be in dark places now, and we may not know how much longer it will be before dawn breaks, but in the meantime, we can raise a joyful song and rest assured. Christ is our refuge, and He will bring light upon the dark places of the earth. He will bring God’s omnipotence to the help of His people. And He will return so that every knee will bow to the Father’s glory. We can have great joy, even when society disintegrates, as long as we keep our gaze on Him.
Joy is possible. No matter the darkness.
Tom Parr’s book on joy is available from Reformation Heritage Books.
