Psalms 46:5

God lives within it, ¹  it cannot be moved. ²  God rescues it ³  at the break of dawn. ⁴ 

Ex 14:24,27; De 23:14; Ps 30:5; Ps 62:2,6; Ps 68:18; Ps 112:6; Ps 125:1; Ps 143:8; Isa 12:6; Eze 43:7,9; Ho 11:9; Joe 2:27; Zep 3:15; Zec 2:5,10,11; Zec 8:3; Mt 18:20; Lu 18:8; Re 2:1

¹ tn Heb “God [is] within her.” The feminine singular pronoun refers to the city mentioned in v. 4.

² tn Another option is to translate the imperfect verbal form as future, “it will not be upended.” Even if one chooses this option, the future tense must be understood in a generalizing sense. The verb מוֹט (mot), translated “upended” here, is used in v. 2 of the mountains “tumbling” into the seas and in v. 6 of nations being “upended.” By way of contrast, Jerusalem, God’s dwelling place, is secure and immune from such turmoil and destruction.

³ tn Or “helps her.” The imperfect draws attention to the generalizing character of the statement.

⁴ tn Heb “at the turning of morning.” (For other uses of the expression see Exod 14:27 and Judg 19:26).

sn At the break of dawn. The “morning” is viewed metaphorically as a time of deliverance and vindication after the dark “night” of trouble (see Ps 30:5; Isa 17:14). There may be an allusion here to Exod 14:27 (where the Lord destroyed the Egyptians at the “break of dawn”) or, more likely, to the miraculous deliverance of Jerusalem from the Assyrian siege, when the people discovered the dead bodies of the Assyrian army in the morning (Isa 37:36).