God Is Our Fortress

God’s word is a wonderful place to find peace and comfort. Regardless, of the difficulty’s life seems to hurl at each of us, the first place you and I must turn is Scripture. And, to Scripture we will turn. 

Psalm 46:1 reads this way, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

Psalm 46 is a hymn celebrating Zion (Jerusalem) as the special city to which God has pledged himself and through which he will bless the world. The first verse alone, should bring great peace, comfort and hope to all who read and rest in the reality of who God truly is. 

According to this verse, God is compared to a mighty fortress; our mighty fortress. As our fortress, God is our refuge. He is our shelter or our place to hide. Like a child seeking the shelter of loving parent, we too should seek shelter from our loving parent.

God is also our strength. This means that God is our stronghold for defense. It is also interesting to note, the psalmist is not suggesting here that God gives us strength, although God does give us strength, but he is making clear that God himself is our strength. In other words, we don’t need to have strength because our Mighty Fortress is our strength, and that is all the strength we could ever need. 

Finally, God is our helper. The psalmist speaks here of speed and completeness. Thus, God as our helper means that God is the helper who can always be found in times of troubles. And he is always there to provide whatever help we need for whatever troubled times we are facing. 

Even in the midst of tumultuous and difficult times, the people of God can rest secure. God is our refuge and our strength, and he longs to help his children. Praise his name!