Our God is a place of refuge and strength,
a helper when afflictions find us exceedingly.
On account of this, we will not fear when the earth is troubled
and the mountains are transferred in the hearts of the seas.
Their waters roared and were stirred up;
the mountains were troubled in his might.
The Most High sanctified his habitation.
God is in the midst of her. She will not be shaken.
God will help her with his countenance.
The nations were stirred up; kingdoms fell.
He gave his voice; the earth was afflicted.
The Lord of powers is with us.
The God of Jacob is our helper.
which he set as wonders upon the earth.
Removing wars until the ends of the earth,
he will crush bow and shatter weapon,
and he will burn shields with fire.
“Cease from action, and know that I am God.
I will be lifted high among the nations.
I will be lifted high in the earth.”
The Lord of powers is with us.
The God of Jacob is our helper.
Do not flee, then, what you do not need to flee, and do not have recourse to him to whom it is unnecessary. But, one thing you must flee, sin; and one refuge from evil must be sought, God. Do not trust in princes; do not be exalted in the uncertainty of wealth; do not be proud of bodily strength; do not pursue the splendor of human glory. None of these things saves you; all are transient, all are deceptive. There is one refuge, God. ‘Cursed be the man that trusteth in man,’ or in any human thing.
Therefore, ‘God is our refuge and strength.’ To him who is able to say: ‘I can do all things in him,’ Christ, ‘who strengthens me,’ God is strength. Now, it is the privilege of many to say: ‘God is our refuge,’ and ‘Lord, thou hast been our refuge.’ But, to say it with the same feelings as the prophet is the privilege of few. For, there are few who do not admire human interests but depend wholly upon God and breathe Him and have all hope and trust in Him. And our actions convict us whenever in our afflictions we run to everything else rather than to God. Is a child sick? You look around for an enchanter or one who puts superstitious marks on the necks of the innocent children; or finally, you go to a doctor and to medicines, having neglected Him who is able to save. If a dream troubles you, you run to the interpreter of dreams. And, if you fear an enemy, you cunningly secure some man as a patron. In short, in every need you contradict yourself—in word, naming God as your refuge; in act, drawing on aid from useless and vain things. God is the true aid for the righteous man. Just as a certain general, equipped with a noble heavy-armed force, is always ready to give help to an oppressed district, so God is our Helper and an Ally to everyone who is waging war against the wiliness of the devil, and He sends out ministering spirits for the safety of those who are in need.
Since God is in the midst of the city, He will give it stability, providing assistance for it at the first break of dawn. Therefore, the word, ‘of the city,’ will it either Jerusalem above or the Church below, ‘The most High hath sanctified his own tabernacle’ in it. And through this tabernacle, in which God dwelt, He was in the midst of it, giving it stability. Moreover God is in the midst of the city, sending out equal rays of His providence from all sides to the limits of the world. Thus, the justice of God is preserved, as He apportions the same measure of goodness to all. ‘God will help it in the morning early.’ Now, the perceptible sun produces among us the early morning when it rises above the horizon opposite us, and the Sun of justice produces the early morning in our soul by the rising of the spiritual light, making day in him who admits it. ‘At night’ means we men are in this time of ignorance. Therefore, having opened wide our mind, let us receive ‘the brightness of his glory,’ and let us be brightly illumined by the everlasting Light, ‘God will help it in the morning early.’ When we have become children of light, and ‘the night is far advanced for us, and the day is at hand,’ then we shall become worthy of the help of God. Therefore, God helps the city, producing in it early morning by His own rising and coming. ‘Behold a man,’ it is said, ‘the Orient is his name.’ For those upon whom the spiritual light will rise, when the darkness which comes from ignorance and wickedness is destroyed, early morning will be at hand. Since, then, light has come into the world in order that he who walks about in it may not stumble, His help is able to cause the early morning. Or perhaps, since the Resurrection was in the dim morning twilight, God will help the city in the morning early, who on the third day, early on the morning of the Resurrection gained the victory through death.
Basil of Caesarea, Homilies on the Psalms 18:1–2, 5
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