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Gustave Doré’s engraving of David standing crowned and bowed as he mourns Absalom

Psalm 46

What St Athanasius said to pray when God has brought you through, in a letter from the 300s.

  • 11Verses
  • 1Situation

St Athanasius, Letter to Marcellinus

When to pray it

In the 300s, St Athanasius of Alexandria wrote a letter to his friend Marcellinus about praying the Psalms. In it he matched psalms to what people go through. This is what he gave this one for.

You ran to God, He brought you through, and you want to tell people what He did.

When you have run to God and been saved from the troubles around you, and you want to thank Him and tell of the kindness He showed you, you have Psalm 46.

Letter to Marcellinus

11 verses, Berean Standard Bible

The whole psalm

Psalm 46

Its own heading For the choirmaster. Of the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A song.

  1. 1God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in times of trouble.
  2. 2Therefore we will not fear, though the earth is transformed and the mountains are toppled into the depths of the seas,
  3. 3though their waters roar and foam and the mountains quake in the surge. Selah
  4. 4There is a river whose streams delight the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.
  5. 5God is within her; she will not be moved. God will help her when morning dawns.
  6. 6Nations rage, kingdoms crumble; the earth melts when He lifts His voice.
  7. 7The LORD of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
  8. 8Come, see the works of the LORD, who brings devastation upon the earth.
  9. 9He makes wars to cease throughout the earth; He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; He burns the shields in the fire.
  10. 10“Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted over the earth.”
  11. 11The LORD of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

Psalm 46 is 45 in the Greek numbering Athanasius used, which Orthodox Bibles and some older Catholic ones still follow.

After God has brought you through

Close to this

All 53 situations, in one guide.

Your turn

Which Psalm are you living right now?

A few honest taps about your life right now, and the psalm an early Church Father gave for exactly that.

  • 3 min
  • 7 questions
Start

Suggest a correction. Corrections that are applied are recorded in the public changelog.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Athanasius’s advice is paraphrased from his Greek.