When I was in college, I did a lot of theatre productions (enough that I’ve picked up the pretentious habit of spelling live theatre with an R-E, thankyouverymuch). I remember that after one late night, one of the actors didn’t want to commute home (he lived off campus) and so I offered him a place to crash in my dorm room.
That night, a severe thunderstorm rolled into the area and the authorities set off the tornado siren. The next thing we knew, we had to leave my room and find shelter in the basement of the dorm. Everyone was a bit nervous at first, but then, as we realized that we were safe, it turned into something of a party.
That’s what safety does for us. We all need a place where we feel safe, a place where we know that the storms of this life can’t touch us.
For the Christian, though, it’s not so much a place as a Person.
In Psalm 90, we read:
Lord, you have been our dwelling place
in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
The Psalmist knows where we find safety. We find it in the Lord, our dwelling place. He’s existed from before the beginning of everything, a solid rock that withstands everything and gives us refuge.
And that is in spite of our sin! The Psalmist goes on to lament how our sins could separate us from God, but we know that because of what Jesus did, our sins are forgiven. We’re God’s people and we have Him as our refuge, our stronghold, our place of safety.
He is our mighty fortress.
Which only reminds me of this clip from one of my favorite TV shows. Just a warning, there’s a little bit of salty language in it:
No matter how confused they may have been about the wording, they got the gist of it. God is our mighty fortress. May we always find safety in Him.