God Our Refuge
Present Help
“God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).
What does it mean to you that God is a present help? Does it change anything? Does it mean that you don’t worry since He’s present with you and is a help? Does it mean that you’re not fearful? It made all the difference for the one who penned the words of Psalm 46:1. He continued, “Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the sea; Though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling” (vv. 2-3).
How could he not fear? I like commentator Charles Ryrie’s explanation. “A refuge provides a shelter from danger. Strength gives us courage in danger. Very present help can have the idea of ‘well-proved help.’ God’s help is both present and proven, ready and reliable.” 1 What a gift God gives us! He’s present to help us.
Lord, I rejoice! You are my PRESENT HELP. I thank You and praise You!
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1 “Charles Caldwell Ryrie, Ryrie Study Bible: New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update (Chicago: Moody Press, 2008).
A Symbol of Strength
“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold” (Psalm 18:2).
Why is our Lord described as the horn of salvation? Scholar Herbert Lockyer explains: “The figure of the horn is taken from those animals whose strength is in their horns. Because the horn was once the instrument of the oxen’s strength, it became the symbol of power. And our God and Savior came as a horn, or mighty instrument of salvation. In addition, when horns were fixed to an altar they became projections to which sacrifices were bound and to which those who needed protection could cling.” 1
If Jesus is your horn of salvation, then He has all the strength to keep you saved and safe. He is not like the Grecian king described as “the great horn that was broken” (Daniel 8:8, 21, 22). Nothing or no one can break our indestructible Horn.
HORN OF SALVATION, I praise You, my strength and salvation…today and for eternity.
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1 Herbert Lockyer, All the Divine Names and Titles in the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1975), 40.
A Tower of Strength and Refuge
In this world we will have trouble (John 16:33), but we don’t need to be left battered by the storms of life. Instead, we can find reassurance that God is a refuge in times of trouble as David states in Psalm 61:3, “For You have been a refuge for me, a tower of strength against the enemy.”
A tower is a high place from which we can look at life and see it from God’s perspective. A spiritual tower of prayer is the place from where we can pray, pour out our hearts to God, intercede for others, and quietly listen for His counsel. If we want to experience God’s best, we can. Our Father is a tower of strength and refuge to whom we can go.
With your face set like flint toward heaven, with your pen in your hand, write words of praise to your Father and your prayers for your family, church, nation, friends, and yourself.
The Bible is a journal of God’s interactions with man, of people’s struggles, and of God’s faithful interventions. Let His Word speak to you as you scale the tower of God in prayer.
Jesus, TOWER OF STRENGTH AND REFUGE, I praise You. When I don’t know how I can get through the next minute, You are my strength and help. Thank You for all the ways You guard and guide me.
In her teaching on John 16, Debbie touches on Jesus’ words from John 16:33, “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” Watch her teaching on the subject HERE.