Psalm 46

¹God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear,
Even though the earth be removed,
And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
³ Though its waters roar and be troubled,
Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah

⁴ There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God,
The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.
⁵ God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;
God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.
⁶ The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved;
He uttered His voice, the earth melted.

⁷ The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

⁸ Come, behold the works of the Lord,
Who has made desolations in the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
He burns the chariot in the fire.

¹⁰ Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!

¹¹ The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble

It’s a common theme that keeps recurring in the psalms, but an important one, nevertheless. Do you remember Aslan’s How in Prince Caspian? If not, it looks something like this on the inside:

And this on the outside:

 It was a giant burial mound built over the Stone Table that was so prominent in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In case you don't know the mythology of Narnia, the Stone Table is where Aslan, a thinly veiled reference to Christ, was sacrificed in place of the traitor, Edmond, but then rose to life again and helped some kids beat a white witch and all sorts of other stuff. Anyway, Aslan's How is not only this place of great spiritual significance, in Prince Caspian, it becomes their fortress when they are in this really huge battle. They are in a time of pretty big trouble, since, y'know, they are a bunch of kids and mythical creatures against an army, but Aslan's How provides them with a refuge, safety against the other army. It also provides them a place of strength, at least in the movies, where they can place archers or get underneath the ground and collapse it to trip up the other army. God is just like that. He can provide a perfect defense and hide us from all the problems out there, but He also gives us the strength to withstand the attacks of the enemy from a place of power.

We will not fear...though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea

Sorry, I couldn't get that line about mountains crumbling into the sea out of my head. And yes, according to my sources, those lines in the song are, in fact, based on this psalm. One of the last lines in the song is even "whenever you're in trouble, won't you stand by me." See there, God is such an amazing refuge and strength to us that as long as we stand by Him, we don't have to fear anything or cry or even shed one tear.

Be still, and know that I am God

Speaking of mainstream songs that picked up on this psalm:

I first heard this song on Vampire Diaries (I told you you shouldn't judge). You see, the series is all about this girl Elena who is in love with two good vampires (or one good one and one morally ambiguous one?), and she and her friends have to protect their town from bad vampires. When they used this song, Ric, the only parental figure left to Elena, was in the process of sacrificing himself to protect Elena and her friends from the vendetta of an evil witch. The whole world is crumbling around Elena because this witch wants to destroy all the vampires (and Elena only has, like one normal, human friend), but Ric refuses to let the witch get her way and tries to protect Elena and her interests.

God is even better than that. He is our refuge and strength when we are in trouble. It doesn't matter if mountains are crumbling into the sea, He stands with us. And, He tells us "Be still and know that I am God." Why should we fear anything in His refuge when He controls the entire universe?