God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah Come, behold the works of the LORD, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
Guarantees are funny things. Try to do a Google search on guarantee sometime. It’s fun to read the wild claims companies make to try to give you a feeling of security. Here are some examples. “Our products are guaranteed to give 100% satisfaction in every way. Return anything purchased from us at any time if it proves otherwise. We do not want you to have anything from [our company] that is not completely satisfactory.” How about this news story from late October? “Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz) said Sunday on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ that he can ‘guarantee’ a win on Nov.4 in a squeaker victory that won’t be clear until late that night.”
How about Biblical guarantees? If you believe some of the television preachers these days, the Bible guarantees that followers of Christ will live healthy, financially secure lives. Really? When I read the Bible, I see a guarantee that we will have storms in this life. I see that followers of Christ will be persecuted. A quick look at the lives of the apostles doesn’t show a life of ease and comfort. How many times was Paul beaten within an inch of his life? Paul was shipwrecked, imprisoned and eventually martyred for his faith. A third of the Psalms are laments. It looks like the one true guarantee we have in this life is trouble.
Our lives are and will be full of trials. God gets this. Matter of fact, we have a loving Father willing to send His Son to endure more pain and agony that we can imagine, so that we might be His children. We have a loving Savior with the power to conquer sin and death, who sits at the right hand of the Father. The Psalmist says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Our refuge, our fortress, our unassailable bunker. He is present through those trials that will besiege us. He stands strong for us in our weakness. The earth can shake, the mountains crash into the sea, and the seas can rise (perhaps the Psalmist heard of global warming), but we can hold fast in the knowledge that our Lord God is with us. What a magnificent promise! Martin Luther often would say to the people around him during times of duress, “Come, let us sing the 46th Psalm.” Then they would sing, “Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, Ein gute Wehr un Waffen,” “A firm fortress is our God, a good bulwark and weapon.”
Not only does the Father stand with us in the storms of life, He supplies us with peace and joy. “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God.” Are you tapping into that river? When troubles beset you, to which bunker do you head? Do you head for the fear bunker? How about the worry bunker? Personally, I head for the isolation bunker. When the storms hit, I slam the doors and cut the hard lines. There’s no source of joy in any of these bunkers. I tell you what bunker I need. I need to head for the God bunker. In it are things like prayer, the Word, the Body of Christ and the paraclete, the Holy Spirit. In it, there is a river to feed my soul and give me strength. His Kingdom will not be moved though the nations may rage, and the earth may melt. “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”
I want to camp on one more point from the Psalm here. Verse ten says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” The context here is talking about the nations being still, but I think there is application in our lives. I’m a kind of guy who likes to be busy. Jodie will tell you that when we first got married, carving out time for her was a serious issue. I remember my first year teaching when during part of the year, I was teaching Jazz band before school, marching band on the weekends, stage construction and design right after school for the musical I was directing on three nights of the week. On the other nights I either had worship team practice, or I had Attaboy Dave (our college ministry praise band) practice. Sundays were full with church, choir and evening church. My life was crazy, and the weird thing is that I kind of crave that kind of busyness. Jodie has to remind me frequently that I’m on the verge of filling up every night with something. When do I take time to be still? When do I stop, put down the stress and spend time with God? This is an area in which I’ve grown over the last year, but I have a long way to go. When are you being still? Are you taking time to know your God?
