Scripture
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
~Psalm 46:1, NRSV
Quote
God has all power and His divine purpose will not suffer defeat. He will have the last word.
~Alton H. McEachern
Martin Luther loved Psalm 46. In times of extreme opposition, Martin Luther would say to his friend, Philip Melancthon: “Come, Philip, let us sing the 46th Psalm.” Luther even composed a hymn from the Psalm, A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD. Go to YouTube and bring up this hymn with the words and listen quietly: you will be moved I promise. The KJV, RSV and many other translations use the word ‘refuge’ three times in the Psalm, 1,7,11 but the word refuge in verse one means ‘shelter’ and the word used in 7 and 11 means ‘defense, high tower, fortress or stronghold.’ Your home, a shed or even a cave could give you shelter from a storm but we believers face more than storms. As Luther so aptly states in his hymn:
A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and pow’r are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.
Indeed we need a shelter from the storms of life but we also need a defense from the evil one, our ancient foe who seeks to work us woe. Jesus is our High Tower; He puts us out of Satan’s reach. Jesus is our Defense and our Fortress. We would have no chance against Satan left to ourselves.
The Psalm was probably written by King Hezekiah during the Sennacherib crisis. The Assyrian butcher had surround the city of Jerusalem and was threatening to starve the inhabitants of the city. Hezekiah turned to the LORD. He called his pastor, Bro. Isaiah, and they had a prayer meeting. Hezekiah turned to the LORD for help. He knew there was no human alive who could save them. His faith paid off and the Angel of the LORD killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night. Hezekiah affirmed his faith in Psalm 46, Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Hezekiah was familiar with earth quakes which I am told are a bit unsettling to the mind. Hezekiah demonstrated that during crisis, shaky, disturbing times, we can turn to the LORD for help: He is our Shelter and Defense.
- We got another rain yesterday morning. I think that makes 3 inches this week. I do prefer rain over a drought but the grass and weeds are taking over. I had rather cut wet grass as dry dust.
- I am assuming we have a normal schedule Sunday with LCBS at 9:15 and worship at 10:15 and 6:00. LORD willing, I will have biscuits and donuts there by 8:45.
- Seth left last night for Smyrna, TN last night where he will be on standby for up to three days. When a flight becomes available, this platoon will be going to the Ukraine for a training mission. I hope Trump get this military thing fixed: these boys have to pay for their passports and their supplies. This is not right.