Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living | The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him. Nahum 1:7, NKJV

Visit Corregidor on Bataan in the Philippines, and there you will find a deep tunnel. Originally built to store arms and munitions, Malinta Tunnel was also a stronghold, a safe-haven where the bombs and shrapnel of the enemy couldn’t penetrate. It served as a hospital, a haven for wounded soldiers as well as headquarters for General Douglas McArthur and the American and Filipino troops.

Go to Saipan, and there deep in the rocks, you will also find strongholds, cut from the rock where there was relative safety. Again should you go to Europe, you’ll find the same thing—strongholds in mines, caves, tunnels, and the rocks.

Strongholds are not modern inventions. One of the most elaborate was Masada, built by Herod on a rocky prominence overlooking the Dead Sea. Taken by Zealots during the Jewish Revolt, it became virtually impregnable… at least for three years until the Romans built siege ramps.

An interesting observation: the strongholds of history eventually were overrun and destroyed, and now you visit them with a guide and read the plaques telling how they were eventually destroyed by the enemy.

The fact is, nonetheless, that strongholds are important. They give you immediate security and protection. They allow you to sleep at night without fear of what may happen to you or your children.

During the seven years he hid as a fugitive from Saul, David, the man whom God had chosen to be king, hid in strongholds in the Negev which was a burning, desolate waste which offered little protection from the sun, from thirst and drought, and even more important, from his enemies. During those years of desperation, David learned that safety is not the absence of danger but the presence of the Lord.

Repeatedly he referred to the Lord as His stronghold, his tower, his fortress. In Psalm 18 he wrote, “I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge” (Psalm 18:1-2). He talks of death all about him and the distress which vexed his soul and then records: “In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help.” In a rather lengthy discourse, David told how he endured and God gave him ultimate victory.

Nahum, writing when Nineveh, one of the great cities of the ancient world, was crumbling, wrote, “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him” (Nahum 1:7, NKJV).

You will never know or understand that God is a refuge until you run to Him, until you throw yourself upon His mercy, until you beat on the door and say, “Take me in. I need your protection and help!”

Far too many stand outside the door, debating the strength of the walls, wondering if they are good enough, or even thinking, “I can handle this on my own.” If someone was chasing you with a weapon, and they were getting closer and closer, would you stand outside the walls of a rock-solid fortress guarded by soldiers armed to the teeth and wonder if the fortress was strong enough to survive?

“Yes,” you may be thinking, “that worked for David but I’m not so sure it works for me!” How do you know until you try it? Never have I heard someone honestly say, “I threw myself upon the Lord and He pushed me away, told me, ‘I was not good enough,’ or closed the door of help in my face.” I rather doubt that you will be the first one. Need a refuge? God’s still in business.

A closing thought. Most strongholds have massive, towering doors. The refuge God provides is entered by kneeling. That’s the difference.

Resource reading: Nahum 1.