My Refuge and My Fortress
Posted by: ba <ba@...>
http://www.forthright.net
Straight to the Cross
COLUMN: Field Notes
My Refuge and My Fortress
By Michael E. Brooks
"He who dwells in the secret place of the most
high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my
fortress, my God, in him I will trust'" (Psalm
91:1,2).
Last Sunday afternoon in Columbia, South Carolina,
I attended the funeral of my father's younger
brother, Paul Brooks. I was asked to read Psalm 91
during the service. About a week before his death
a young nurse had come into his hospital room and
quoted this psalm from memory, and Uncle Paul's
family thought it was fitting for it to be read at
the memorial service. He had frequently commented
on the nurse's quoting of the Psalm, and was very
impressed that "she knew the whole thing by
heart." More importantly, he was greatly comforted
by its simple assertion of the value of trusting
God.
"God is my refuge and my fortress!" What a simple
yet powerful statement. Every day we find more
evidence of the evil and uncertainty of the world
in which we live. Enemies abound. Natural
disasters are commonplace. Disease, accident and
crime kill thousands daily, and cripple many more.
As James says, "what is your life? It is even a
vapor that appears for a little time and then
vanishes away" (James 4:14). Where do we go to
find safety? We must even ask the question, "can
it be found?"
The Psalmist's answer is an emphatic "Yes!" There
is security in trusting God. "Surely he shall
deliver you" (Psalm 91:3). "A thousand may fall at
your side, and ten thousand at your right hand,
but it shall not come near you" (Psalm 91:7).
These bold promises must be taken less than
literally, of course. Faithful soldiers are killed
in battle. Good Christians become ill, suffer and
die. Faith in God does not prevent all accidents,
illnesses or disasters. Yet it is still true that
evil does not overcome those who trust in God. The
New Testament expresses it in these terms:
"There is therefore now no condemnation to those
who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according
to the flesh, but according to the Spirit…And we
know that all things work together for good to
those who love God, to those who are the called
according to his purpose…What then shall we say to
these things? If God is for us, who can be against
us?…Yet in all these things we are more than
conquerors through him who loved us. For I am
persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels
nor principalities nor powers, nor things present
nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any
other created thing, shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our
Lord" (Romans 8:1, 28, 31, 37-39).
Bad things do happen to good people. But almighty,
all loving God, our Father, can preserve our
eternal souls through those things, and can
comfort and secure us in the midst of them. Trust
in God. He is our refuge and our fortress.
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