My Stronghold

Casey and I were thinking and talking a lot on the word stronghold last week. We were feeling the weight of strongholds in our lives, and in the lives of many people we love. Sometimes we look around and feel hopeless because we see ourselves falling into the same traps over and over. Stuck in the same habits, believing the same lies, struggling with the same sins.

At the same time that we were feeling the weight of that word "stronghold", I was also reading through a few psalms, and noticing the way that David continually refers to God as His stronghold. I thought, "Could this word actually have a good connotation?"

Surely, David was a man who knew what it was like to struggle with the same things for a long time. He spent a good portion of his life running away. From Saul, from his sons, and in a season of rebellion, even from God's voice in his life (see: adultery and murder). He knew what a stronghold of sin looked like - in his own life, and in the lives of those he loved (Saul, Amnon, Absalom). And, he came to realize that the only safe stronghold to hide in was God:

The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. (Psalm 18:2)

He acknowledged that there were strongholds he could not defeat on his own (boy, that sounds familiar):

He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. (Psalm 18:17)

He who took refuge in God, his stronghold:

This God—his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. (Psalm 18:30)

And he learned to keep fighting from within the stronghold of God's power:

He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. (Psalm 18:34)

And, these promises are for us, too. For me, and all who take refuge in our stronghold Jesus, Son of David, Son of God:

Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever. (Psalm 18:50)