Comfort in the Shelter
I love you, O LORD, my 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.
I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.
Psalms 18:1-3
Yesterday was the celebration of our country's independence and boy did our neighborhood celebrate. The festivities began a couple of days ago and culminated, in what I would assume was millions of dollars, in a magnificent display of illegal pyrotechnics well past midnight. It was something else; however, our two poodles, Henry and Gus, did not think so. They were terrified and became more so at each explosion. They had no idea what was going on and all they knew was the world was coming to an end. They barked, whined, and growled and paced the floor until they were exhausted and finally found comfort piled up in our lap where they found some safety and comfort.
As I watched our poodle’s reaction, I could not help but think how we often respond when things happen that we don’t quite understand. Oftentimes, our response is to freak out and run around in a panic because all we can think is our world is crumbling and coming to an end. But if we are followers of Jesus that is just not true. In fact, the things that seem to threaten our joy in life are really like those harmless fireworks that make a lot of noise, flash a lot of light, and give the perception that our world is ending when it really isn’t. But in the moment we don’t realize that. That is why we need the great reminder of a reality bigger than what we can see in the here and now.
The psalmist reminds us that The LORD is our rock, He is solid and unmovable. He is our fortress, deliverer, stronghold, refuge, and shield. This means that He protects us and He is the one that rescues us. He is our safe place, meaning that He may not remove us from the danger but He protects us in the midst of it. We would do well to remember and embrace this, but how? The psalmist gives us some advice in that as well. The answer is simple. We worship Him. We call upon Him because He is worthy to be praised. This means that He delights in being our refuge and fortress. It brings Him glory to shield us because it is us trusting in Him and not giving way to the lesser things of the world.
Lessons learned from two poodles, kind of, but more so lessons learned from God Himself is that we can run to Him and He is glorified when we do so. When we do, we can find comfort in the shelter of the Most High. We do this by calling upon Him and worshiping Him and in so doing we realize that the troubles of this world are often like those fireworks. They are loud and scary but harmless when we find shelter in the Lord.
I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.
Psalms 18:1-3
Yesterday was the celebration of our country's independence and boy did our neighborhood celebrate. The festivities began a couple of days ago and culminated, in what I would assume was millions of dollars, in a magnificent display of illegal pyrotechnics well past midnight. It was something else; however, our two poodles, Henry and Gus, did not think so. They were terrified and became more so at each explosion. They had no idea what was going on and all they knew was the world was coming to an end. They barked, whined, and growled and paced the floor until they were exhausted and finally found comfort piled up in our lap where they found some safety and comfort.
As I watched our poodle’s reaction, I could not help but think how we often respond when things happen that we don’t quite understand. Oftentimes, our response is to freak out and run around in a panic because all we can think is our world is crumbling and coming to an end. But if we are followers of Jesus that is just not true. In fact, the things that seem to threaten our joy in life are really like those harmless fireworks that make a lot of noise, flash a lot of light, and give the perception that our world is ending when it really isn’t. But in the moment we don’t realize that. That is why we need the great reminder of a reality bigger than what we can see in the here and now.
The psalmist reminds us that The LORD is our rock, He is solid and unmovable. He is our fortress, deliverer, stronghold, refuge, and shield. This means that He protects us and He is the one that rescues us. He is our safe place, meaning that He may not remove us from the danger but He protects us in the midst of it. We would do well to remember and embrace this, but how? The psalmist gives us some advice in that as well. The answer is simple. We worship Him. We call upon Him because He is worthy to be praised. This means that He delights in being our refuge and fortress. It brings Him glory to shield us because it is us trusting in Him and not giving way to the lesser things of the world.
Lessons learned from two poodles, kind of, but more so lessons learned from God Himself is that we can run to Him and He is glorified when we do so. When we do, we can find comfort in the shelter of the Most High. We do this by calling upon Him and worshiping Him and in so doing we realize that the troubles of this world are often like those fireworks. They are loud and scary but harmless when we find shelter in the Lord.
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