REINFORCED

Our neighbor recently had her cement driveway replaced, giving us some instructional entertainment on how it’s done. So many steps! Breaking up and hauling away the old, broken pieces. Smoothing the surface, bringing in and leveling gravel, dividing sections, laying rebar and then more prep before the cement truck rumbled down our street and dumped the mix. Then stirring and smoothing to remove air pockets, final cosmetic touches, and a wait….at least four days…before it was cured enough to drive on.

The rebar step really spoke to me. The way I understand it, those strong steel rods help absorb and distribute the pressures from the weight of a car. They are the driveway’s foundation. Similarly, the apostle Paul (long before cement technology!) remarked:

For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. (1 Cor. 3:11 NIV)

In this section he was addressing church divisions that had resulted from following certain spiritual teachers. Paul made it clear that he put down the true and basic foundation of faith in Christ as Savior. Any teaching that deviated from that—such as trusting in works or peripheral ideas—didn’t belong in the church. And not just the “church,” as interpreted as a certain gathering of believers. Each of us who is connected to Christ in faith is where God’s spirit dwells—in Paul’s phrase, “a temple.”

Sometimes I wonder if we have the same problem as that early church, in following a leader, or an idea, or our own sense of how to be acceptable to God. Perhaps they shared a problem common today—of people who “profess” Christ but whose behavior reveals they serve other gods, like pleasure, retribution, entitlement, and convenience. Such are the broken-down attributes of the “self-life.” Jesus expressed a similar idea when He talked about the foolish building on sand, and the wise building on rocks. The rock, of course, was the rock-solid word of God through Jesus Himself (Matthew 7:27). The “house” of the other guy may have looked okay from afar, but it was as vulnerable as a shanty when life’s tsunamis came at it.

The apostle Paul took the idea of “firm foundations” deeper when he associated the life choice of following Christ with the lifestyle of generosity. He reminded his protégé Timothy to commend believers to be “rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life” (1 Timothy 6:19).

We all witnessed that spirit of generosity as the coronavirus pandemic changed and challenged lifestyles. I had some raised-eyebrow-moments when the media featured wealthy stars and business icons and the frustrations they had in staying home…in their multi-million residences. And then there were ordinary people who respected the “distancing” advice or, because of their occupation in health, safety or food services, had to mask- and glove-up to help those in need.

Such times reveal whether there’s spiritual “re-bar” for daily strength, courage, and grace.

THEREFORE (Psalm 46)

Ordinary "buttes" like this one in central Washington would leave

 me breathless to climb. That's why Psalm46 and its image of
 mountains falling into the sea is so powerful!

(An ongoing series on the 48 psalms listed as "recommended reading" for times of depression, from counselor/pastor David Seamands' book Healing for Damaged Emotions.)

Whenever I run across the word “therefore” in scripture, I’ve learned to pause and ask, “What is it there for?” Typically this adjective means “consequently, for that reason, because of that, to that end.” In Psalm 46, it links God’s sufficiency as our refuge, strength, and help when our world is falling apart.

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 its surging. (vv. 1-3)

For years while reading this psalm, I’d find myself humming the tune to Martin Luther’s hymn, “A Mighty Fortress,” based on it. He had composed it while his own life was in danger from religious leaders. When Luther felt discouraged or depressed, he’d ask his co-worker Philipp Melanchthon to sing this hymn with him. Its sturdy, confident lyrics (so blunt and strong in the original German) would lift him spiritually.

IT’S STILL RELEVANT

Fast-forward five centuries from Luther. Four passenger planes hijacked by terrorists plunge into landmark high-rise business buildings in New York, the Pentagon in the nation’s capital, and a farm field, missing its presumed target of the White House. Nearly 3,000 are killed, 6,000 injured. Damage estimates are ten billion dollars. Stunned by this sick enemy attack, a reeling nation looked to an aging spiritual leader, Billy Graham, then 83. From the podium at the National Cathedral three days after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, he brought the timeless message of Psalm 46.  His points:

*This event was a reminder of the mystery and reality of evil.  God is not the author of evil.

*This event showed us our need for each other.

*This event can give a message of hope for the present and the future as it shows our nation how much we need a spiritual renewal and hope for this life, and the life to come, in Heaven for those who believe in Christ.

HISTORY REPEATED

The history woven into Psalm 46 most likely is when the Assyrians lay siege against Jerusalem during the reign of Hezekiah (725-696 B.C.). Verse 4 (“a river whose streams make glad the city of God”) probably infers Hezekiah’s public works project of an underground channel that brought water under Jerusalem’s walls (2 Kings 20:20). That pool inside the city sustained it during a long siege. The end of verse 5, “God will help her at break of day,” sounds like 2 Kings 19:35-36, when, overnight, a mysterious illness (“the angel of the Lord,” v. 35) killed thousands of enemy soldiers. The enemy king lived, but he high-tailed it out of there for safety at his palace in Assyria. Imagine having today’s on-the-spot news coverage of such events! Yet in the midst of these scary, bewildering threats to Jerusalem, God was there.

REFUGE AND STRENGTH

Therefore…as the psalm’s refrain reminds us, “The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”  Jacob was the rascal who deceived his twin Esau out of the birthright.  He was the schemer who deserved retribution and punishment.  But God saw bigger things for Jacob and broke his stubborn spirit. He was renamed “Israel,” prince.

Verse 1 says God is our refuge and strength. The concluding verse says the “LORD Almighty is with us.”  What better hope for when we’re under spiritual attack—or even the real physical attack masterminded by the forces of evil? Verse 10 reinforces that message for scary and depressing times: “Be still, and know that I am God.” Therefore, when I’m troubled, scared, or depressed, He is my refuge and strength, my ever present help in trouble, the only true place of safety.

Interested in another study I did on Psalm 46? Go to my blog for April 25, 2014:
http://jeannezornes.blogspot.com/2014/04/making-psense-of-psalms-psalm-46.html