Fathers

Psalms 46

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God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we won’t be afraid, though the earth changes, though the mountains are shaken into the heart of the seas; though its waters roar and are troubled, though the mountains tremble with their swelling. There is a river, the streams of which make the city of God glad, the holy place of the tents of the Most High. God is within her. She shall not be moved. God will help her at dawn. The nations raged. The kingdoms were moved. He lifted his voice and the earth melted. Yahweh of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Come, see Yahweh’s works, what desolations he has made in the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow, and shatters the spear. He burns the chariots in the fire. “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.” Yahweh of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge.

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What the Fathers say

Psalms 46:4

Western Saints

Augustine of Hippo

"The streams of the river make glad the City of God" [Psalm 46:4]. When the mountains shake, when the sea rages, God deserts not His City, by the streams of the river. What are these streams of the river? That overflowing of the Holy Spirit, of which the Lord said, "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believes in Me, out of his bosom shall flow rivers of living water." [John 7:37-38] These rivers then flowed out of the bosom of Paul, Peter, John, the other Apostles, the other faithful Evangelists. …

Exposition on Psalm 46 ↗

Thomas Aquinas

"Of the river." Under a certain likeness he set forth the tribulations that the saints endured; here, however, under another likeness he proposes the divine consolation with respect to two things: namely, with respect to the abundance of divine grace, and with respect to the solace of the divine presence, at "God is in the midst of it." And just as tribulation is expressed under the likeness of roaring and troubled waters, so consolation is expressed under the likeness of a river, which signifies grace on account of the abundance of …

Exposition on the Psalms of David ↗

Bonaventure

"There is a stream whose runlets gladden the city of God," that is, the one "coming forth from the throne of God and of the Lamb," the Holy Spirit. And there will be no inner defect, since "they shall neither hunger nor thirst" through lack of sustainment by which life is lost; "neither shall the sun strike them" through any external harm.

Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 1 ↗