Editor's note: Enjoy today's devotion written for Devotionals Daily by Kristin Nave, author of 20-Minute Bible Studies in Psalms.
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Psalm 46. To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A Song.
Last month I got a call that took my breath away.
A childhood friend, one of my bridesmaids, had been killed in a car accident. And as if that grief wasn’t enough, I found out the next day that her husband and two young daughters had been in the car with her. Physically, they were unharmed. But emotionally? I could hardly bear to imagine the trauma of what they saw and lost.
My friend was an amazing woman of God. I knew with certainty that she went immediately to be with Jesus. And through my tears, I felt a joy rise up in me as I pictured her standing before the One she loved most, hearing the words every faithful servant longs to hear: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
But the deeper grief came when I thought about her husband, and especially her girls.
I could not stop thinking about them. My peace over knowing my friend was in Heaven felt threatened by the ache of wondering what would happen to her daughters. Would they ever recover? Would their hearts ever feel safe again? Would this moment mark them in a way that pushed them away from God?
Later that day, I went on a bike ride wearing sunglasses and a hat because I knew the tears would come. And they did. But more than tears came.
From deep within me, a guttural lament rose up.
I had just finished writing 20-Minute Bible Studies in Psalms, and I had spent months sitting with the laments of Scripture, soaking in lament. I knew God and the Psalms gave us permission to bring our pain and confusion before Him.
But knowing that lament is biblical did not make the moment tidy.
As I rode, my heart cried out, God, I have peace and even joy that my friend is with You. But her girls? Why couldn’t she have been alone when she passed? Why did her daughters have to see that? Why, Lord? Why?
The bewilderment of what God allowed nearly engulfed me.
And then abruptly, but powerfully, the Holy Spirit spoke His Word into my heart through remembrance.
I remembered one of the psalms I had written about, one I had read many times before. A psalm that had already been one of my favorites, but whose historical context I had not fully appreciated until writing the Bible study: Psalm 46.
God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea. — Psalm 46:1-2 NIV
For the first time while writing the study, my eyes and heart had stopped on that phrase: though the earth gives way.
Those words had always moved me. But when I studied the introduction of the psalm—“Of the Sons of Korah”—they moved me like never before. God used that remembrance to transform my near-despair into hope.
You may know the story of Korah from Numbers 16. Korah, along with 250 others, rebelled against God’s appointed leadership through Moses and Aaron. Because of their rebellion, the earth opened up and swallowed them.
But in Numbers 26:11, we read a stunning line:
The line of Korah, however, did not die out. — NIV
The sons of Korah lived.
And instead of following in rebellion, they chose worship. They became doorkeepers and caretakers in the house of God. They became worship leaders. They became authors of psalms.
And knowing that context sends chills down my spine when I read the words they penned:
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth gives way.
The very thing that could have held them back became a testimony of their faith. Their family trauma did not have the final word or push them into despair. Instead, by the redeeming grace of God, their story became worship.
That day on the bike, God breathed remembrance into my heart through the Sons of Korah.
And while there is a very important difference—my friend loved Jesus with all her heart, and Korah had rebelled against God—the children in both stories faced a pain no child should have to carry. And the question that had been haunting me was this: Would this tragedy push my friend’s daughters away from God?
But through Psalm 46, God gently reminded me to ask a better question:
What if this is not the end of their story?
What if the God who redeemed the story of Korah’s sons is still able to redeem the stories of grieving children and adults today?
In that moment, I sensed the Lord reminding me:
I am a God of redemption.
I was humbly reminded through my tears that God loved those girls more than I did. Even more than their parents do. And I was reminded of a Father who willingly gave His own Son, Jesus, over to death, and then used even that for the greatest act of redemption the world has ever known.
The Psalms remind us; there is nothing our God can’t do.
Psalm 46 does not tell us the earth will never give way. It does not promise we will never get the call that takes our breath away. But it does tell us that when the ground beneath us gives way, God is still our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
This is one of the reasons I wrote 20-Minute Bible Studies in Psalms. Not merely to help us feel comforted, though the Psalms do comfort us. Not merely to give us words for our pain, though they do that too. But to shape our theology in the middle of real life. As I like to say, in the middle of raw, real life. Because sometimes twenty minutes in God's Word can uncover a truth that becomes an anchor when the ground beneath us gives way.
Psalm 46 reminds us that the earth may give way, but our God never does. He remains our refuge, our strength, and our ever-present help in trouble. And that is why, even in the darkest moments, the Psalms continue to lead us not away from our pain, but through it and into the presence of God.
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Written for Devotionals Daily by Kristin Nave, author of 20-Minute Bible Studies in Psalms, copyright Kristin Nave.
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Your Turn
Has the earth given way beneath you? Or maybe it has for your children, grandchildren, or other people you love. Remember that God will never give way. He loves you, your kids, your family and loved ones more that you do. He is faithful! Dive into the Psalms with your pain and meet Him there. ~ Devotionals Daily