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Psalm 46:9
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow, and shatters the spear. He burns the chariots in the fire.
7The LORD of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
8Come, see the LORD’s works, what desolations he has made on the earth.
9He makes wars cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow, and shatters the spear. He burns the chariots in the fire.
10“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted on the earth.”
11The LORD of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
Notice
The broken bow and burning chariots portray peace through God's destruction of weapons, a forceful picture amid the surrounding words about refuge and stillness.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What do you notice about peace pictured through shattered weapons and burning chariots?
Write on thisWhich current conflict comes to mind as you read “to the end of the earth”?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Isaiah 2:4He will judge between the nations, and will decide concerning many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. …Both passages describe God ending warfare, with spears shattered in the psalm and turned into pruning hooks in Isaiah.
Micah 4:3–4and he will judge between many peoples, and will decide concerning strong nations afar off. They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into …Both passages connect the end of warfare with God's authority over nations and the removal of weapons from battle.
Micah 5:10“It will happen in that day”, says the LORD, “that I will cut off your horses from among you and will destroy your chariots.Chariots are destroyed in both passages, showing God's power to take away the equipment used for war.
Psalm 18:34He teaches my hands to war, so that my arms bend a bow of bronze.Both passages place warfare under God's power, though one describes him breaking a bow and the other training hands for battle.
Joshua 11:9Joshua did to them as the LORD told him. He hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.Burning chariots connect these texts: the psalm names God's action, while Joshua burns them as the LORD commanded.
Isaiah 60:18Violence shall no more be heard in your land, nor desolation or destruction within your borders; but you will call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.War ceases in the psalm, while Isaiah describes a land where violence and destruction are no longer heard.
1 Samuel 2:4“The bows of the mighty men are broken. Those who stumbled are armed with strength.Broken bows mark the collapse of military strength in both passages.
Psalm 76:3–6There he broke the flaming arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah.Both psalms describe God breaking weapons of war, naming the bow among the arms he renders useless.
Isaiah 11:9They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.Both passages describe an end to violence, with the psalm naming warfare and Isaiah naming harm on God's holy mountain.
Hosea 2:18In that day I will make a covenant for them with the animals of the field, and with the birds of the sky, and with the creeping things of the ground. I will …God breaks the bow in both passages, ending warfare in the psalm and granting safe rest in Hosea.
Joshua 11:6The LORD said to Joshua, “Don’t be afraid because of them; for tomorrow at this time, I will deliver them up all slain before Israel. You shall hamstring their …Chariots burned with fire appear in both texts, as God's act in the psalm and his command to Joshua.
Ezekiel 39:3I will strike your bow out of your left hand, and will cause your arrows to fall out of your right hand.God disables the bow in both passages, breaking it in the psalm and striking it from a hand in Ezekiel.
Where this verse fits
Fear for the future. injustice and anger. praise and worship.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The verse gives no timetable for the end of any war; it declares that even the weapons of nations are subject to God.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).