You Are My Fortress

YOU ARE MY FORTRESS, MY REFUGE IN TIMES OF TROUBLE. Psalm 59.16.

We often have torrential rains and thunder storms. Many parts of the city get flooded. There are several hours of traffic jams. Many cars on the road get submerged in muddy waters. Worse still, thousands of homes get water-logged. Often, the damages are great and the loss untold!

I have no doubt that many Christians also have suffered the same fate as others. I had been contemplating on today’s text, “for the LORD is my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble” for some days and these flood incidents complicated my perceptions and puzzled me much. I found myself asking the LORD, “Could Christians say truthfully with David, ‘the LORD is my fortress and my refuge’ when going through times of trouble?”

The circumstances in which David wrote and sang today’s psalm caught my attention. King Saul had sent men to kill him. David cried out, “Deliver me from my enemies, O God; protect me from those who rise up against me”. As he did so, he also expressed his strong and unwavering faith and confidence in the LORD.

I don’t know whether there ever was a man like David who had so much trouble in his life-time and yet continuously expressed his fullest confidence in the help and deliverance of his God. ‘David was a man after His own heart’, the Lord said. He was anointed by the LORD to be the king over His people. There were times when the LORD delivered him from his enemies and he praised the LORD. But at other times there was no help or deliverance. He still praised the LORD, often with music and singing and with shouts too!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, like David, in times of trouble, rather than doubting You, I will sing of Your strength. In the morning I will sing of Your love. You are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. Amen.