How to hold on

 

I think we are all agreeing with the psalmist that our God is sufficient, that He can provide us with refuge and protection. We may be asking ourselves why don't we feel that way sometimes? How can we "grab hold" of that sufficiency?

We know that we need to depend upon Him. We know it is God Himself Who is our refuge. Not our armies. Not our fortresses that we think are invulnerable. Just our God. It's so easy for us as humans to lose focus - we try to build up our own defenses against trouble and we put our trust in them. We may trust in our bank accounts, our stock portfolio, our insurance policies, or maybe we trust in our five year plans for the future. There's nothing wrong with those things; in fact, the Bible encourages us to be prudent and plan for the future, to "count the cost" before moving forward with our plans. But those things can become wrong if we allow them to shift our trust away from trusting God alone.

We can best learn to depend on Him alone by getting to know Him better. Searching out our God as He is revealed in His Word. Trust can develop out of knowledge . . . a person who is just learning to fly will be very apprehensive about flying through rough weather. An experienced pilot, who knows his aircraft and knows weather and his plane's capabilities, will not be afraid. Since he has greater knowledge, he has greater trust that all will be well.

There are two areas in our psalm that give us clues:

The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah (V 7)

This is repeated in verse eleven -- and you remember what we've said about a verse that is repeated! (Grin) It's not that the writer had a lazy streak! It's because it's important, we humans catch on to things better sometimes when it's repeated!  Of course, the scholars tell us that sometimes when a verse is repeated, slightly different words are used, to help us understand the precise meaning. I think here it's for the importance, just as much as for a refrain to the psalm (song).

We can read in the Word and gain knowledge of God as the Lord of hosts. In our Bible, "hosts" can refer to both the heavenly bodies of the universe and also to the angels. Our God spoke this vast universe into existence and rules over billions of stars and planets. It is He Who is Lord and Commander of all the armies of heaven. He is not a feeble, white-haired old man, teetering at the edge of a cloud, looking down at the earth. He is mighty! Verse six says that at the sound of his raised voice, the earth can melt. If such a God is for us, who can be against us? 

We can know Him as the Lord of hosts, and we can also know Him as the God of Jacob. (v. 7) When I was a teen, I didn't understand why He would ever be referred to as the God of Jacob. Why not the God of Abraham? I mean, just look at the life of Abraham - compare that to Jacob, a man whose name means "deceiver." It was only after his night of striving with God that he was called Israel. 

As I grew and as I studied, I realized that this points to God's grace. God chose Jacob over Esau so that everyone could see: He saves us on the basis of His choice and His grace, not because of how good we are. 

for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, (Romans 9:11)

Secular humanism, psychology, and even some modern churches will tell people that Christ Jesus died "for you because you were worthy." But our Bibles tell us that He died for us while we were unworthy:

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

Here's the good news! He chose us in spite of our unworthiness, and He will keep us and enable us to persevere until the day of Christ - because He is the God of Jacob.

So even if we have failed; even if we have sinned; we can depend on Him if we know Him as the Lord of hosts and the God of Jacob. His helping us is not dependent upon OUR strength, but on His strength and His grace. When troubles come our way, we can depend on the Lord of hosts and the God of Jacob as our refuge. We can hold on to Him.