READING SCRIPTURE IN CONTEXT - PSALM 46:5

 

Modern-day women's ministries seem to have hijacked a particular verse in Scripture and applied it to women.  I've seen women's T-shirts with the first two statements emblazoned across the front.  That verse is Psalm 46:5 which reads:

"God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns."

Sounds really good, right?  What woman, or anyone for that matter, wouldn't find comfort in this verse?

Well, if these women Bible ministries were "worth their salt" as far as being able to use proper hermeneutics is concerned, they would know this verse is not speaking of any woman at all.

Proper reading of Scripture involves reading it IN CONTEXT.  To take a verse out of context means to pick a particular verse out of the Bible and basing its interpretation on specific situations/events or applying it to those it's not meant for.

When you go back to verse 4, you will see what verse 5 is referring to:

"There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High."

So, now let's read those two verses together:

"There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.  God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns."

When you read these two verses together, you discover the proper context of verse 5.  It's not referring to women, but to the city of God, Jerusalem.

There is so much misunderstanding of the Bible these days because we've become lazy in our study of Scripture.

If a women's Bible teacher uses this verse to say it applies to you as a woman, gently refer her to verse 4 and show her that the "she" is referring to Jerusalem, the city of God.