Last Sunday we recognised the Reformation through Martin Luther and what then became the Lutheran Church throughout the world.
The Psalm for this day is invariably Psalm 46, the Psalm that formed the basis for Luther’s hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is our God”.
The opening verse is striking – “God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble.”
I know of non-Christians who would see this phrase and consider this as one of those ‘crutches’ that people of faith have. They often consider people of faith as being weak and needing a being that they have formed to be a ‘god’ so that they can be excused from responsibility for their own actions or to blame when anything goes wrong.
It is no accident that when God gave to Moses the ten commandments that the first is, “I am the Lord your God; you will have no other gods before me.”
There is in this statement inherent the fact that we all have a ‘god’ of sorts. It may not be theGod, or any form of spiritual being, but if we are honest with ourselves we will recognise that there are ‘places’ we go to for refuge from what may be happening in our lives. This may take the form of food, drink, shopping, a spouse or other members of the family, a close friend, nature, escape into a another world through reading ……
We all need a place of refuge.
I have often been asked why I believe in such an archaic concept as God. I have invariably rejected the premise of the question, as in the first place, I consider God to be very present and not just part of history. Whenever I do go through a time of doubt, I recall again the writing of Paul Tillich, a theologian, who wrote about onthology – the science of knowing, of existence. He taught that if you accepted that God is real, it is in the living out of that belief that the truth of this became evident. To a large extent this has been the case for me.
On this basis, by studying scripture, having a life of prayer, I do believe that God has gifted me with faith through His grace and that it is then through God’s plan for the salvation of humanity through Christ that I am able to find my refuge in Him.
A constant reminder for me is how Martin Luther expressed it in his explanation of the third article of the Apostles’ Creed, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him, but He has called me …” This is for me the amazing thing – faith is not something I can, on my own, make happen. It all comes down to trust.
Psalm 46 goes on to speak of some of the things from which we may seek refuge – mountains falling into the sea, waters roaring and foaming and mountains quaking. A summary of events occurring in nature. In the first instance, God created this world, and so seeking our refuge in Him, its creator, at such times is the great comfort.
But the psalmist doesn’t stop there. He goes on to say that, “Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.” Yes, it is not just the natural world that can cause us concern, but that constructed by humanity and its desire for power and authority. It’s not hard these days to find things within our various levels of society that can drive us to want to find refuge.
The psalmist however goes on to say, “The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” It is interesting that the ‘fortress’ is not a place, not a location, but God himself.
And then there are the words in this psalm that are a favourite for many as the psalmist quotes from the words of God, “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
It is easy sometimes to read this verse and only go as far as, “Be still”. There are many devotions and meditations around us seeking opportunities to just seek stillness from our busy lives or from whatever may be concerning us. However, the strength of this verse is in its latter phrase, “… and know that I am God.” Yes, this is my God, the one that I know and who knows me.
The use of the word, “refuge’ throughout the psalm is also a timely one. We are in world at the moment where there are many refugees, people seeking refuge from war, famine, violence. Yes, they are seeking a refuge. I can’t help but look at such people and identify with them as I too am a refugee from what disturbs, frightens and stresses me. I may not be seeking a physical refuge, but the need is the same. The benefit of having God as my refuge is that even in the midst of what may be happening I don’t have to go anywhere, God is ever present.
I wonder where you find ‘refuge’.
Faye Schmidt's Thoughts 