"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."
Psalm 46:1
Many years ago, about the time I was entering elementary school, nearly 230 miles off of the coast of Miami Beach, there was a communist dictator who had recently acquired atomic weapons and the ability to launch them into the US mainland with his missiles. So in first grade, along with learning how to hold the giant pencils correctly, and how to stand in line quietly, we learned how to “protect ourselves” if there was ever an atomic blast. We even had drills for “just in case” scenarios. When the alarm sounded we jumped under our flimsy wooden desks and held our head in our arms! And, that’s it…! That is what we learned in order to protect ourselves in an atomic blast! As a grade-school kid, I felt confidently safe in the knowledge that I would be protected under my little desk. As I think back on those times I now realize the absolute silliness of believing that my little desk could protect me from the bomb.
Our verse today gives us great confidence, not in ourselves or our feeble abilities, but in God and His help. There are at least three comforting thoughts here that we need:
God is our refuge,
God is our strength,
and God is our help.
The “refuge” that the Sons of Korah are singing about is God. He is the one who is our shelter “from rain or storm,” or “from” any kind of “danger.”1 Notice that the verse doesn’t say that “the police” are our refuge, or “the military,” or even our “panic rooms!” This is because the only “sure thing” in this life is a trusting relationship with our Creator. He alone is our refuge.
The “strength” of God is also seen here. He is the “mighty God.” When Moses prayed to enter the Promised Land with Israel, he is spot on with his view of the LORD when he said, “O Lord GOD, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might? (Deuteronomy 3:24). And the answer to Moses’ rhetorical question is, “no one can do what only God can do!” And as Moses had to trust God even when he did not get the answer to prayer that he wanted, so we need to trust God who is the only one who has the strength to help us.
The “help” of God is always a comfort to His child. Daniel Webster helps us to understand this word “help.” “To assist; to succor; to lend means of deliverance; as, to help one in distress…”2 As we recognize our need we turn to Him for our refuge, strength, and help! We have the “mighty God” who comes to help us! Believers, why do we worry?
There is one more word we need to think about here. It’s the word “our.” We need to take that next step of faith that moves us from saying, “our refuge,” “our strength,” and “our help,” and leads us on to say “God is my refuge,” “my strength,” and “my help!”
Will you trust Him with your life today?
1. Brown-Driver-Briggs, see Brown-Driver-Briggs’ Hebrew Definitions, electronic version in eSword.
2. Webster, Daniel, Webster’s Dictionary of American English (1828), electronic version in eSword.