July 5th
Psalm 46:1
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Heartache happens to everyone. Trouble comes upon all of us. We find it or more often it finds us. It can be overwhelming and debilitating. It can drive us to despair unless we find help for our heartache.
The Psalmist was not exempt from trouble, it found him. But how he engaged his dilemma by enacting divine help is what will give us incentive for our time of need. He understood that the help that was at hand was protective, powerful, and present to help him through even the most profound heartache. He know where to turn in trouble. He turned to the Lord.
The text gives us three ways in which the Lord can aid us in our anguish. But first we are told that the Lord “is” our help. This is certain help. It doesn’t say the Lord "might" help or "could" help, but "is" our help. This should bring great hope in our hurt. This is our assurance of aid in our anguish. It is the certainty of comfort in our crisis. The Lord is our help.
Notice the terms that are used to describe the nature of His help. First, His help is protective. The text says the "Lord is our refuge". A refuge is a bulwark, a strong tower, and a cleft in a rock. It is a walled city or a fortified fortress that we can flee to for safety in time of trouble. The Lord is the place where we can run to find safety and shelter from life‘s storms. The Lord is our refuge.
Second we are told that "The Lord is our . . . strength". Trouble can weaken our resolve and zap our stamina. We often cannot find the strength to stand when we are stricken with great difficulty. Our strength is drained as David says, “as the heat of summer”. (Ps 32:4). We have lost our ability to advanced beyond our struggle. We need the Lord to give us the power and the strength to turn our trouble around. The Lord is our strength.
Finally, our text informs us that "the Lord is . . . a very present help". God is there in our time of trouble. He doesn’t have to be convinced to come, or pleaded with to be present. He is there when trouble turns up and He is there throughout our trouble. This is a great comfort in our crisis. Knowing that He is present helps us persevere through the greatest of problems. He is "a God who is near"and not far away (Jer 23:23). He is ever present and never absent. Trouble doesn’t turn Him away. He is a very present help through your most difficult problems. The Lord is present.
This verse profoundly impacted the reformer Martin Luther, that he wrote a song based on this verse. The song is "A Mighty Fortress is Our God". Look at just a few lyrics in the song.
He writes, " A Mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing; our helper he, amid the flood . . . " As the song attests, God is our refuge; God is our strength; and God is our very present help.
Today thank the Lord that He is ever present throughout your problem. Praise Him that He alone can provide the protection, power and presence that your need in your times of trouble. Thank Him that he is a God that is near and not far away. Praise Him that He is the one that can always turn your trouble around. Thank Him that He is your help in all your heartache and hurt.
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