Psalm 46 for 9/11

The President of the United States recited Psalm 46 in that clipped way of his at the recent New York 9/11 ceremony. Here is Psalm 46 from the NIV* Holy Bible. The 9/11 recitation, which is slightly different, can be viewed on a plethora of YouTube sites.

Psalm 46

- For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth. A song.

God is our refuge and strength,

an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear,

though the earth give way

and the mountains fall into

the heart of the sea,

though the waters roar and foam

and the mountains quake

with their surging. - Selah

There is a river whose streams

make glad the city of God,

the holy place where the Most

High dwells.

God is within her, she will not

fall;

God will help her at break of

day.

Nations are in uproar, kingdoms

fall;

he lifts his voice, the earth

melts.

The LORD Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our

fortress. - Selah

Come and see the works of the

LORD,

the desolation he has brought

on the earth,

he breaks the bow and

shatters the spear,

he burns the shields with

fire.

"Be still and know that I am

God;

I will be exalted among the

nations,

I will be exalted in the earth."

The LORD Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our

fortress. - Selah

So what does it all mean, when the President of the world's most powerful military power, a nation with sufficient nuclear power to destroy the world in a day, quotes at some length from the Book of Psalms, in fact quotes a few lines from the mouth of God himself, before a worldwide TV audience? What are we, his world audience, to make of the President's choice of psalm? What, if anything, does it portend for mankind?

gw2011/

* NIV - New International Version