About this print

Hilltop Garden, Psalm 46:5

A terrace high above the valley, an old olive tree for shade, and a woman who has found a quiet hour with her Bible.

What is painted

A great gnarled olive tree spreads its silvery canopy over a small stone terrace. Beneath it a woman in a blue dress and a cream shawl sits on a low bench of rough blocks, her hair tied back, an open book in her hands. Terracotta pots of white and pink flowers stand at the end of the bench.

Beyond the low wall the land drops steeply to a valley where a river shines between cypresses and fields, and a hill town sits on a crag to the right beneath blue mountains. The watercolor breaks into speckled edges at the border. Below, in a classic italic: “God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved”, with Psalm 46:5.

A song for the city of God

The heading of Psalm 46 says it is a song for the sons of Korah, a family of temple singers. Three times the word Selah appears, probably a musical pause, and twice comes the refrain: “The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.”

Verse 5 speaks of the city where God dwells: because he is in the midst of her, she will not be shaken, even when nations rage and kingdoms are moved in verse 6. The picture is of a place that stands firm while everything around it trembles.

Many women read this line as a word for themselves, and it is easy to see why. The olive tree helps too: Psalm 1 describes the one who delights in God's law as a tree planted by the rivers of water, whose leaf shall not wither. The woman in the painting sits under just such a tree, deep-rooted and still green after many years.

For her birthday or Mother's Day

This bible verse wall art is a meaningful birthday gift for a mother, grandmother, sister or friend, and a natural choice for Mother's Day. It suits a bedroom, a sunroom or the corner where she keeps her Bible and her coffee.

As Christian wall art it has the light of a Mediterranean afternoon, in sage, sand and soft blue. The Christian poster is made to order in the US on thick archival matte paper, ships free within the US and arrives with no frame, bordered in paper. Sizes run from 5x7 to 24x36 as well as metric and A sizes, and a digital file is available.

Psalm 46:5 is also painted with a woman reading at dawn on the shore of a still lake. Read Psalm 46 and what it means