Psalm 46:1-2 — God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

The first two verses of Psalm 46 were some of the first I learned. Even before I was saved, before I was a Christian, these verses meant a lot to me. 
Today I found a version of Psalm 46 that I hadn’t seen before. (Anyone who thinks the King James Version is the only proper English version should leave now!).

Eugene Petersen’s Message Version translates the first three verses like this:

God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need him. We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom, courageous in seastorm and earthquake, Before the rush and roar of oceans, the tremors that shift mountains. Jacob-wrestling God fights for us, GOD -of-Angel-Armies protects us. (Psalm 46:1-3 MSG)
I love that translation. Two ideas, in particular, stand out for me. The first is the thought of standing fearlessly at the cliff-edge of doom. It’s not just the literal edge of a physical cliff. How often in your life have you been on the edge of spiritual or emotional disaster and known that God is holding you upright in the storm?

The second idea is that of the God-of-Angel-Armies protecting us.

I think I’ve quoted Chris Tomlin’s great song “Whom Shall I Fear?” before:

Whom shall I fear

I know Who goes before me

I know Who stands behind

The God of angel armies

Is always on my side

The One who reigns forever

He is a Friend of mine

The God of angel armies

Is always by my side

I had never connected the title “God of Angel Armies” with the title “Lord of Hosts”. But it’s a perfect translation. So just imagine — the God of Angel Armies is protecting you.
Psalm 46 is one of the Psalms of the Sons of Korah. They were Kohathite Levites, and famous singers — but they had a shadowed heritage. The first Korah was that rebel who was part of the group of 250 who challenged the right of Moses and Aaron to the priesthood. Somehow Korah’s sons survived and over time rose to prominence as worship leaders for King David. Heman wrote many of the psalms — perhaps when he wrote Psalm 46 he was thinking of how the God of Angel Armies had pulled his family back from the cliff-edge of doom. However that might be, I am always comforted knowing that God is my refuge and strength.