Psalms 46:7

The refrain of Psalm 46 — 'the LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress' (Selah) — appears twice (verses 7 and 11) as the theological anchor of a psalm structured around three threats (natural chaos, verses 2-3; national chaos, verses 4-7; cosmic war, verses 8-11). The title 'LORD of hosts' (YHWH tsvaot — LORD of armies) presents the God of Israel as commanding the powers of heaven and earth that threaten the city. 'The God of Jacob' grounds the universal sovereignty claimed in 'LORD of hosts' in the particular covenant with a specific patriarch, binding cosmology to history. The psalm was Luther's inspiration for 'A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,' becoming the most theologically influential Reformation hymn and the paradigmatic expression of the gospel's sufficiency against all opposition.