or this morning and this afternoon; when, at the same time
that the Assyrians were crushing, one by one, every nation in the East,
there was, as the elder Isaiah and Micah tell us plainly, a great
volcanic outbreak in the Holy Land. But all this matters very little to
us; because events analogous to those of which it speaks have happened
not once only, but many times, and will happen often again. And this
psalm lays down a rule for judging of such startling and terrible events
whenever they happen, and for saying of them, "God is our refuge and
strength, a very present help in trouble." It seems from the beginning
of the psalm that there had been earthquakes or hurricanes in Judea--more
probably earthquakes, which were and are now frequent there. It seems as
if the land had been shaken, and cliffs thrown into the sea, which had
rolled back in a mighty wave, such as only too often accompanies an
earthquake. But the Psalmist knew that that was God's doing; and
therefore he would not fear, though the earth was moved, and though the
hills were earned into the very midst of the sea. It seems, moreover,
that Jerusalem itself had, as in Hezekiah's time, not been shaken, or at
least seriously injured, by the earthquake. But why? "God is in the
midst of her, therefore shall she not be removed." It seems, also, as if
the earthquake or hurricane had been actually a benefit to Jerusalem--
which was often then, and has been often since, in want of water--that
either fresh springs had broken out, or abundant rain had fallen, as
occurs at times in such convulsions of nature. But that, too, was God's
doing on behalf of His chosen city. "The rivers of the flood" had made
"glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the most
highest."

Moreover, there seem to have been great disturbances and wars among the
nations round. The heathen had made much ado, and the kingdoms had been
moved. But whatever their plans were, it was God who had brought them to
naught. God had shewed His voice, and the earth melted away; and (we
know not how) discomfiture had fallen upon them, and a general peace had
followed. "O come hither," says the Psalmist, "and behold the works of
the Lord, what desolations He has made in the earth." Not a desolation
of cruelty and tyranny: but a desolation of mercy and justice; putting
down the proud, the aggressive, the ruthless, and helping the meek, the
simple,