A Refuge Worth Remembering

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

It doesn’t just say that God is present….it says He is VERY present.

In other words, God is closer than the trouble.

No matter how close the storm feels, God is closer.

No matter how heavy the sorrow feels, God is closer.

No matter how near the fear, the grief, the anxiety, or the trouble may seem, God is more present still.

When the three Hebrew boys were thrown into the fiery furnace, God didn’t just watch from a distance. He stepped into the fire WITH them, right? The fire was close, but God was closer. And you know what? When they came out, they didn’t even smell like the trouble they were in.

THAT is the kind of God we serve!

Psalm 46 is a chapter that speaks of God being our refuge. There are 11 verses in this chapter, and the word Selah is mentioned three times.

If you’re not familiar with that word, Selah suggests that we pause and think about what we have just read.

So before we move too quickly, let’s pause and let this sink in: we have a refuge. We have strength. We have help. And we have a God who is closer than anything coming against us.

God is greater, nearer, stronger, and faithful.

And today, we aren’t praising a distant God.

We have come to praise a God who is present.

A God who is faithful.

A God who steps into the fire.

A God who shelters us in the storm, strengthens us when we feel weak, and is closer than trouble.

A God who is our refuge, our strength, and our very present help.

So let everything in us rise and give Him praise.