StrongholdProtected

"The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."
~ Psalm 18:2

Sometimes I like to flip to a random page in my Bible and see if there are any highlights on it. Well, earlier this week, I flipped to the Psalms, which are typically pretty marked up. There are two main reasons for this: I have had my Bible since I was thirteen and I went through this phase of reading the Psalms and highlighting all the verses that offer encouragement (which is the majority of the book) and because I just find the Psalms to be incredibly uplifting. This particular page of Psalms is no different then the others, but this was one of the passages highlighted, and it hit me just when I needed it to. God works in mysterious ways.

When I first read this verse I thought, "Oh cool, God is protecting me from life basically." And then I looked at it some more, and realized that God has built himself around me to be my refuge and my shield. And man, could I need a shield.

The "horn" reference threw me for a loop at first, but my footnote says that horn means strength in this context. God is not only my refuge and shield but also my strength. How incredibly true! If I didn't have God in my life right now I would be a mess. He is the strength of my salvation.

In the New Testament Jesus talks about being the rock after he tells the parable of the man who built his house upon the rock. The psalmist is saying that God his rock, his foundation, and I think it's important to keep that in mind as we go through our daily lives.

Now, when I start to read about strongholds and horns and shields my mind almost automatically goes to The Lord of the Rings (LotR). And then I started thinking about how I could compare the verse with the classic tale so eloquently told by Tolkien. One of the greatest examples of a stronghold or fortress in LotR is at Minas Tirith in the Return of the King. It looks like there is no hope and all is lost, but the enemy cannot get to the heart of the city. Now, in the movie the orcs get through the gate, but it took them a lot of work to get through! And even though they broke down the door, they didn't overrun the city. Just think, there's no way that God is shaken and He will not let anyone through his defenses. He is the ultimate fortress and stronghold.

You and I? We're StrongholdProtected. Don't forget that God has wrapped Himself around you and you can take refuge in that knowledge.