Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living | The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. Deuteronomy 33:27

“If you don’t like history, better study it in the morning,” quipped one pundit, adding, “because in the afternoon, there’s more history to study.” He had a point. If you find people fascinating, however, study history, because people are history. And events are the hooks upon which all history is hung.

Take, for example, the difficulties which confronted a village priest by the name of Martin Luther back in the sixteenth century. Following his conscience resulted in criticism, hostility, and the very real danger of assassination at the hands of his enemies. As the foes of Luther were preparing to destroy Wittenberg, where Luther had nailed his 95 thesis or charges of corruption against Rome, he wrote the words of a great hymn, one of the most powerful ones ever written, “A mighty fortress is our God, A bulwark never failing. / Our helper He, amidst the flood Of mortal ills prevailing./ For still our ancient foe Doth seek to work us woe, his craft and power are great, / And, armed with cruel hate, On earth is not his equal.”

Luther based his words on Psalm 46. Make a mental note of this one and read it carefully on your own. Psalm 46 begins with these words, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”

He then talks of the dwelling place of God, a place of strength and security, adding, “The LORD Almighty is with us; the god of Jacob is our fortress” (Psalm 46:7). Just a minute. Did the writer make a mistake? Would it not have been better to say, “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is with us?” Leaving out Abraham and his son, Isaac, leaves only one man standing there—a rascal who had cheated his brother out of his legitimate birthright, who fled for his life and who was less than a candidate for an integrity award.

Yet– and this is what is so heartening–when Jacob was at perhaps the lowest point of his life, fearing the loss of his wives and children and his flocks, he went one on one with God. He literally wrestled with God. “I will not let you go until you bless me!” he cried out, as an angelic messenger grappled with him. God met this man, and he bore the mark of God’s hand for the rest of his life.

One of the good things that come from times of desperation is that we quickly strip ourselves of hypocrisy, of make-belief faith, and earnestly cry out to God. Psalm 46 talks about God being a refuge, a strength, an ever-present help in the time of trouble, and a fortress.

No, I’ve never met a person who delighted in trouble when everything you have is threatened in one way or another, yet I’ve met many people who could say, “Unless I had faced that difficulty, I would never have really known if God is enough.” And now they quietly say, “God was enough!” Discussion ended. No need for details. Lesson learned.

How much better to face the dark night of your soul and to learn that His grace is sufficient, that God is big enough, powerful enough, and caring enough to meet you at the point of your desperation than to go through life, flippantly voicing religious cliches, and wondering way down in your heart if He is enough.

After he faced his trial Job said, “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you” (Job 42:5). That’s the vantage of one who has run for refuge and found the shelter of the everlasting Arms.

Resource reading: Psalm 46.