Previous Reflections
REFLECTIONS
September 28, 2008
But I will sing of your strength,
in the morning I will sing of your love;
for you are my fortress,
my refuge in times of trouble.
Psalm 59:16
Fortress of Strength
The city on the mountaintop made it easy to defend. It was especially made secure by the wall that surrounded it. Yet nothing man makes is totally secure. Jerusalem fell.
For years, seawalls and levies protected cities along the Gulf coast. They offered a sense of security until recent storms battered them into destruction beyond belief. And so it is also with the world financial system. It too is vulnerable to collapse as recent events have revealed.
All of these were constructed to be fortresses of strength designed to withstand the strongest of armies, the most violent of storms, and the poorest of human judgment. Yet in the end, they were unable to withstand the forces placed upon them. Mankind is unable to construct anything that cannot be destroyed. And none of us are immune to the destruction in our lives when the fortresses we build fall to the forces placed upon them.
All of us live behind penetrable walls as we learned from the horrors of 911. All of us are subject to natural disasters as we learn from the storms like Katrina and Ike. Neither are we protected from tornadoes’ twisting winds, floodwaters that ravage beyond riverbanks or devastating fires that consume precious homes and riches of our land. We live in a fragile world no matter the strength of the fortresses we build around us. But as Martin Luther wrote in his enduring hymn:
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:[1]
When adversity strikes it often reveals the weaknesses of human endeavors. Armies can conquer our strongest forts. Disasters can destroy our worldly possessions. Foolish ways can strip us of financial security. But nothing can strip us of God’s eternal love. He is our fortress of strength—a bulwark never failing. He is our refuge in times of trouble.
Let us sing of his love and praise his Holy Name.
“You are the light of the world,”
Richard Ì
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