Since it lies on the fault line of the Syrian-African rift, many earthquakes have hit the Land of Israel over the course of its history. In fact, Sefer Amos (1:1) refers to a major earthquake that shook Eretz Yisrael in Biblical times. The psalmist, aware of this phenomenon, will not fear when the earth overturns or when the mountains take over the seas and vice versa (verses 3-4), because “Hashem is our refuge and stronghold, a help in trouble, very near.” Perhaps what he means by this is that not only does the Lord protect His people in times of trouble, but these ‘natural’ phenomenon, seen as disasters, are really Hashem’s mysterious way of offering protection to His people. One theory about this psalm is that it was written after the miraculous destruction of Sennacherib’s army during their attack on Yerushalayim (II Kings 19:35), when the Lord caused a war to cease (verse 10) overnight. Indeed, the Lord protected the Children of Israel and helped them in their time of trouble.

Source: Israel in the News