A city built alongside a river tends to have opportunities for growth and prosperity. In Psalm 46:4,5, we learn of a river “whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.”

This is a river of God’s protection and blessing for those who dwell in his kingdom. 

The reality of God’s protection gave the psalmist the confidence to say earlier in this psalm: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear” (verses 1,2).

When the Lord makes plain to us that we are depending on ourselves for protection, we are called to change. God himself is the source and substance of that change. Rather than being fed by fear, we can be fed by the Lord and his goodness and love. Everything that God is and does flows in the water of this river: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17).

These unchanging waters of God’s love redeem every area of our lives. We have opportunities to grow and flourish. 

This is what God does for us when he is our source. When we are well-satisfied and protected by God’s love, it allows us to reach out to others with openhearted love, wanting them to flourish and be filled as well.