REF NO: 024
COLUMNIST: Rudolf Nii Yemoh Mensah, Prelate, Oasis Potterlight Chapel International
BIBLE PASSAGE: Psalm 46:1, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble".
BACKGROUND: God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. In what ways has God been your refuge and strength?
THE UNCHANGEABLE CHANGER
Our faith is always being subjected to storms and earthquakes. Where can we find safety and security? Psalm 46 is a strong biblical passage that reminds us that even in the face of trouble, God is our refuge and strength.” The reality is that there will be difficult times, but God promises to be our refuge.
It quite literally says this – “God is our refuge and strength, a Helper in trials/tribulations, the ones which find us exceedingly.” In other words, these trials are extreme and terrible and it's almost like they are chasing us.
One day in the year 1505 while walking in the woods, Martin Luther got caught in a terrible thunderstorm and he began to run to seek shelter at the school but before he reached the safety of the school lightening struck near where he was running.
It was so close to him in fact that he cried out to St. Anne "Help, St. Anne! I'll become a monk!" (according to catholic tradition St. Anne is the mother of the Virgin Mary).
Martin Luther survived the near death experience and true to his word, he dropped out of law school and entered the monastery.
It was in 1529 that Martin Luther wrote "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" and it has been called "The Battle Hymn of the Reformation. He wrote this hymn when he understood from scripture (Psalm 46) that it was actually the Almighty God who came down to be his rescue during the thunderstorm and lightening strike that endangered his life. He found Jesus to be his mighty fortress on that fateful day.
Three things are said about God here in relation to when we run into trouble. Thus, God is our REFUGE, STRENGTH and HELP!
God Is Our Refuge
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
1. (n.) Shelter or protection from danger or distress.
2. (n.) That which shelters or protects from danger, or from distress or calamity; a stronghold which protects by its strength, or a sanctuary which secures safety by its sacredness; a place inaccessible to an enemy.
3. (n.) An expedient to secure protection or defense; a device or contrivance.
How does God manifest Himself to us as a refuge?
The Hebrew word there is 'chasad'. It means a refuge, a dwelling place. "Chasad' means " a place for the refugees to run towards" The word is spelt with a Cheth which indicates that He becomes our refuge when we join ourselves with Him and receive a revelation from God.
In modern English, "shelter" is often applied to structures providing safety from things like rain, natural disasters, or enemy attacks. As in the Assyrian invasion, God sheltered the people of Israel. He demonstrated that He was the source of their protection.
The next letter is 'Samekh' which shows that this joining ourselves with God and receiving a revelation from him will come through our memories. As David said: “Forget not the past.”
We look at how God brought us through in the past and this will assure us that He will not let us down today. The last letter is 'hei' which represents the presence of God. So refuge is a joining of ourselves with God by thinking on the past faithfulness of God and receiving a revelation from Him that His faithfulness is forevermore. He will never change. He is the unchangeable changer.
God Is Our Strength
The Hebrew word study identifies 'ozze' in relating to strength which has the idea of inward reflection through an involvement with God resulting in a rest. When we rest in Him we are not worried about all our troubles. This gives us the chance to renew our strength. The word 'ozze' shows physical, financial, and relationship strength.
The word ‘strength’ implies that we can rely on his might when we feel weak and defenceless. And we’ve all felt like that at times. You know of course that nothing sucks our strength like stress.
It means that he has ‘proved’ himself to be such a help in the past and we can therefore trust in him in the present. He has been ‘tested’ and found to be trustworthy. No crisis is too big for God to handle and nothing will happen to him. Because of this, we do not have to fear.
God is Our Help
The word help means just that, to assist. However, the ever-present aspect found in the word 'masa' means to 'find something with a light'. We sometimes find something through torch, through uncovering something or by shining a light on it. 'Mesa' is the third, finding something by shining a light on it. God is our help as He shines his light to reveal what his revelation is. In other versions, they use the phrase ever-present help. And that means God is quick to assist.
What type of trouble or distress is He delivering us from? The word for trouble is very interesting, it is closely related to our word 'ozze'. That word is 'ezra'. It means a pebble. A small stone or pebble that gets lodged in your shoe. It is an annoyance, but it is not dealt with, it will cause you to go lame.
C.S. Lewis pointed out that the enemy knows better than to hit us with huge disasters, because that will only drive us to our knees, so he hits us with little pebbles in our shoes, annoyances that soon manifest themselves as huge problems that paralyze us. God is our refuge—our fortress and shelter. God is also our strength, our help—the one who deals with the perils surrounding us. And because God is our refuge and help, we have nothing to fear, even if nature throws its worst tantrums at us.
God is our refuge, our safe place, our retreat, the place we go when we are afraid. And there is a lot of fear going around. God is also our strength or “power.” This is the same word that Jesus uses in Acts 1:8 when he promises to give us “power” with the coming of the Holy Spirit who now lives within us.
Psalm 46:1, CSB: "God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble."
Our God is a strong shelter and a rock of refuge in Whom we can hide during the storms and difficulties of life. He is our tower of strength, our firm fortress and our secure stronghold to Whom we can run for protection and safety in an increasing world of evil, plagues and in a generation that is so perverse.
A group of Jesus’ followers feared for their lives in a storm one day, out on a boat in the middle of a huge lake. Then their teacher stood up and said to the wind and the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind quit; there was dead calm. “Who is this?” they asked. “Even the wind and the waves obey him!” (See Mark 4:35-41.)
The mighty Jesus was in that boat as their refuge, strength and help the helper.
There is a certain and trustworthy basis for our faith—the God who made us and everything in our world. In all circumstances, no matter how terrible or frightening, our unchanging God is our refuge, strength and ever-present help.
Psalm 46 is the answer to our concerns, our worries and our needs. It may seem as if the world as we know it is crumbling around us, but our God is the same. He has not changed, we can and must trust him. “God is our refuge and strength and ever-present help in trouble.
In the midst of whatever you're feeling today, God wants to be your refuge, strength, and your help. God is our protection even when what seems ...
This psalm was written in the context of problems. It’s a song about stress and uncertainty. The writer’s world was crumbling all around him and he kept coming back to the truth that since nothing can happen to God, everything would be alright.
If we run to him we will not be afraid. If God is your refuge and strength, you don’t have anything to worry about. If you are full of worry or anxiety, then perhaps you haven’t yet put your trust in Almighty God. He will do his part as you seek protection in him.
Life can be really tough at times. People let you down, situations let you down. You experience heartache, disappointment and all these difficult things that can sometimes make you want to give up on God. When you experience tough times, what do you do? Where do you go? Who do you lean on?
The Bible tells us that He is our refuge and strength. He wants to be where you go when things are tough. Psalm 46 reminds us that we hope in Jesus as our refuge, a place we can run to for protection from life’s unexpected and scary moments.
The word "refuge" in verse 1 is from a verb that means to flee, and then to flee to, or to take shelter in, it, according to Albert Barnes, "denotes a place to which one would flee in time of danger - as a lofty wall; a high tower; a fort; a fortress."
Proverbs 18:10, NASB: "The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is safe."
I have fallen in love with the Literal Standard Version "The Name of YHWH [is] a tower of strength, The righteous runs into it, and is set on high".
Nothing protects like Jesus. No witch doctor or Malam solves problems better than Jesus. No secret society, occult temples or shrine protects, gives strength or help as the name of the Lord. No charm is strong enough to forty our mortal bodies and souls like Jesus our fortress! The New Living Translation (NLT) packages the concept!
Proverbs 18:10, NLT: "The name of the LORD is a strong fortress; the godly run to him and are safe."
Yes, Jesus is our fortress! He is the embodiment of God's provision for refuge, strength and help through the power of the Holy Spirit. He is the unchangeable changer. Unchangeable because His nature of providing for refuge, strength and help has never changed and can never change. Unchangeable 'changer' because only Jesus can change the circumstances of our past, present and future. In Him, we find our peace, safety and progress!
It is the name of the Lord that is our strong tower. The name of the Lord is the name of Jesus. The name of Jesus is the place of safety which He promises to those who run to Him. ...
Believers who call on God with faith are declared righteous and are protected from all enemies because they are safe in the strong spiritual tower of God, the name of Jesus.
Whenever the name of Jesus is mentioned, a high tower is erected and the beneficiary is caught up into the safe room of the tower beyond the rich of the pursuer.
When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift a standard against him.” Isaiah 59:18
This paints a rich picture of God riding in to defend His people against overwhelming odds and unspeakable evil. The Holy Spirit is God's standard! No standard can match up with the standard of God when the name of Jesus is erected to step in as a stronger tower in our defence!
Let us run to Jesus, our strong tower, knowing that in Him alone will be found our refuge, strength and help -- our peace, our supply and our safety. Shalom Aleichem!
