EXPOSITION
THIS is a psalm of consolation. Israel, in great peril (Psalms 46:1-3, Psalms 46:6, Psalms 46:8, Psalms 46:9), consoles herself with the thought of God's might, his protecting care, and his ability to shatter all the combinations that her enemies may form against her. There is nothing to determine absolutely what particular peril is spoken of; but, on the whole, the allusions seem to point to the invasion by Sennacherib, rather than to any other event in Hebrew history. Critics of such diverse schools as Hengstenberg and Professor Cheyne unite in this conclusion.
The metrical construction is very simple and regular, if, with several eminent critics, we restore, after Psalms 46:3, the refrain of Psalms 46:7 and Psalms 46:11, which seems to have accidentally fallen out. We then have three stanzas of four verses each, each stanza terminating with the same refrain.
"Upon Alamoth" in the title is best explained as a musical direction—to be sung upon high notes, with voices shrill and clear, like those of "virgins."