You Are Not The Next Anyone!

Great words from Matt Chandler. I need to hear this.

You Are Not the Next Anyone! from The Gospel Coalition on Vimeo.

In the Morning...

"But I will sing of your strength;

I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning."

Psalm 59:16

Zack Eswine:

"In the morning, songs of praise and thanksgiving can rise because God's strength has gotten us through the night. The night didn't win. We awake and see once again that God's love hasn't quit on us, and we ask that he will go with us and guide us into what awaits us. The morning stirs us to pray, therefore, and to watch how God will answer these prayers through the day. 

The new dawn also calls out to us that the help of God has come. Morning is meant as a poem or sermon to console the downcast. Their soul cry is given new invitation to ask again to have hope that the dawn of God will soon come to answer. The morning enables us to think again of God's goodness and to ask him why he waits to reveal that goodness to us (Psalm 88:13-14). The ending of night also rouses us to a renewed conviction to use the day as a means of opposing what is wretched in the world and protecting what is good and beautiful and right. 

Because God gives this meaning to the morning, he poetically pictures the sun as a bridegroom love-struck and happily longing to see his bride. The sun is no melancholy like me, tired of shining again unnoticed, traveling the same old path everyday and bored with it all. No! The sun is like that running in the story 'Chariots of Fire', who, when he ran, lifted his head as one who joyfully feels the pleasure of God (Psalm 19:5)....

One of mistaken uses of the morning, therefore, is to look at the circumstances and appointments awaiting us on our calendar without attending them with an awareness of their service or surrender to God and what God may wish to reveal to us with them or in spite of them."


Zack Eswine, Sensing Jesus: Life and Ministry As a Human Being (Wheaton, Ill: Crossway, 2013), 74.

The Purpose of Sleep

"Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent." (Psalm 4:4)

"In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety." (Psalm 4:8)

From Zack Eswine's 'Sensing Jesus':

"One purpose for our bed in the night is to ponder in our hearts what troubles us and to speak such things to God. We entrust to him now what we pray the morning will relieve with fresh hope. Sleep results. Sleep is a Sabbath-like act. We rest from it all and leave it all for God's keeping while we lie motionless in the world for a while. If we hope to enact such trust out there on the horizon of another place, the practice this very night affords to us is our best hope."


Zack Eswine, Sensing Jesus: Life and Ministry As a Human Being (Wheaton, Ill: Crossway, 2013), 80. 

The Idols of the Nations

Over the next few days, I am hoping to share some quotes from a book I recently read, Brand Jesus. The author, Tyler Wigg Stevenson, poses the frightening reality of consumerism in America, especially the effect this principality has had on the Church in America. Without doubt, Stevenson's work is one of the most challenging and piercing books I have ever read. Stevenson describes what it means for us to live in a consumeristic society:

"Consumer goods ceased to be simply the things that we bought to eat, to cover our bodies from the elements, to shelter us, and to move us from place to place. And, while such goods had always served to delineate classes of people, in these decades, their ubiquity led to their becoming the very building blocks of our self-understanding as human beings" pg. 15

"To live in a consumeristic world means that who we understand ourselves to be is deeply and significantly related to what we buy/consume. And this is true to a much greater extent than we'd like to imagine. In the act of consumption, we purchase our very sense of selves...And with the digital age, the ideal of self creation through consumption has gained a new potency, given that technologically enabled, digital forms of identity are the most complete 'selves' that we can gain through purchases, without having anything given to us." pg. 27

Stevenson goes on to identify the problem with looking for our sense of meaning and self understanding from a certain consumer lifestyle or branding:

"Like prayers offers to idols, we offer the resource of our devotion to the consumer selves that are utterly of our own making. These consumer lifestyles are the never-finished goals of our own quest for meaningfulness, order, and location in the world, but they lack any integral ability to grant us what we ask from them. That we ourselves believe the meaning we ascribe to them is not surprising." pg. 44

Stevenson's words echo Psalm 135:

"The idols of the nations are merely things of silver and gold, shaped by human hands. 
They have mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see. 
They have ears but cannot hear, and noses but cannot smell. 
And those who make idols are just like them, as are all who trust in them."

Psalm 135: 15-18

Simply put, idols, or as Stevenson puts it, "consumer goods", don't deliver. They never have. They never will. I think Stevenson has a point when he talks about the motivation behind our consumption. No matter how immaterialistic you believe yourself to be, we are all trying to "brand" ourselves in a sense. We all try to build an identity off of something. In our culture, it tends to be consumer goods that brand you as part of a particular group or status.

As I will post in the coming days, Stevenson contends that this consumerism has entered American Christianity in a rather detrimental way; not merely in a rising tendency for American Christian's to "church hop," but primarily in the way Christianity has been deduced to a brand identity or accessory that we add to our self created identity. More in the days to come. 

Tyler Wigg Stevenson, Brand Jesus: Christianity in a Consumerist Age, (Seabury Books, New York, 2007). 

Lacking No Good Thing

"Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack!
The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing." Psalm 34:9-10

As we all know, the Christmas season is a time for gift giving. It is the time of year where we all make lists for all the 'stuff' that we so desire. It is the time of year to ask others, "what do you want for Christmas?" Not that giving gifts is bad in itself, but the consumeristic nature of modern Christmas does reveal something about our hearts. The craving for more 'stuff' and newer 'things' shows the deep longings that exist in our hearts. It shows that no matter how much 'stuff' we have, we will still want more.

However, as Psalm 34 points out, those who fear and trust fully in the LORD live with a deep sense of contentment. They lack no good thing. They have everything they could possibly need, because everything our human hearts long for are ultimately found in Jesus. Therefore, more than gift giving and shopping, Christmas should be a reminder that Jesus Christ has come, and with his coming, we have been given every good thing. Truly, since we have Jesus we lack nothing. The ultimate gift that truly satisfied has been given to us.

We Become What We Worship

"Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.

They have mouths, but do not speak;

eyes, but do not see. 

They have ears, but do not hear;

noses, but do not smell.

They have hands, but do not feel;

feet, but do not walk;

and they do not make a sound in their throat.

Those who make them become like them;

so do all who trust in them. 

O Israel, trust in the LORD!"

Psalm 115: 4-9

"It is a fundamental truth of Scripture that we become like whatever or whomever we worship. When Israel worshipped the gods of the nations, she became like the nations-bloodthirsty, oppressive, full of deceit and violence. Romans 1 confirms this principle by showing how idolaters are delivered over to sexual deviations and eventually to social and moral chaos. The same dynamic is at work today. Muslims worship Allah, a power rather than a person, and their politics reflect this commitment. Western humanists worship man with the result of degrading every whim of the human heart is honored and exalted and disseminated through the organs of mass media. Along these lines, Psalm 115:4-8 throws brilliant light on Old Covenant history and the significance of jesus' ministry. After describing idols as figures that have every organ of sense but not sense, the Psalmist writes, 'Those who make them will become like them, everyone who trusts in them.' By worshipping idols, human beings become speechless, blind, deaf, unfeeling, and crippled-but then these are precisely the afflictions that Jesus, in the Gospels, came to heal!"

Peter Leithart, "Transforming Worship," Foundations 38 (Spring 1997): 27. 

Who Am I?

A seemingly simple question of identity. Yet, I'd be curious as to how people would respond if you randomly stopped them and asked. Here is how King David might answer that question:

"The LORD is my shepherd"

Psalm 23:1

For David, the answer is simple. Here is how I imagine David answering:

I am the LORD's. I belong to Him. I am a sheep and He is my shepherd. 

Sheep may be dumb, stubborn, needy, weak, and often ignorant, 

and I am not too proud confess that I am those things as well. 

I may be dumb, but I am His. My shepherd leads me. 

I may be stubborn, but I am His. My shepherd is infinitely compassionate towards me. 

I may be weak, but I am His. My shepherd is my strength, and His strength is made perfect in my weakness. 

I may be needy, but I am His. My shepherd provides for me. He carries me through. 

I  may be ignorant, but I am His. My Shepherd shows me the way and restores my soul.

My only hope in life and death, is that I belong to my Lord. My confidence is not in my ability as a sheep, but rather in the fact that my shepherd is the Good Shepherd, who lays down His life for His sheep. I am His. 

In His Hands I Place My Cause

Prior to the Protestant Reformation, before the big names like Luther, Calvin and Zwingli, there was a Czech man by the name of John Huss. Though he didn't start the big movement, Huss served as the forerunner to the 16th century movement. Huss's fiery preaching was particularly aimed at the corruption of the clergy. He was an adamant opposer to the sale of indulgences for the forgiveness of sins. He also criticized papal authority, claiming that the Bible was the final authority, by which the pope or any other Christian would be judged. For his stance, Huss was brought to trial on June 5, 1415. The leaders of the trial wished to have Huss simply recant his position and admit his heresy in order to be let go. To this Huss replied:

"I appeal to Jesus Christ, 

the only judge who is almighty and completely just. 

In his hands, I place my cause, 

since he will judge each, not on the basis of false witness and erring councils, 

but on truth and justice."

I'll let Justo Gonzalez retell the rest of Huss's story. 

"He was then sent back to prison, where many went to plead with him; for what the leaders of the council sought was a recantation that would affirm the assemblies authority, not a condemnation that would cause many to question its wisdom. 

Finally, on July 6, Huss was taken to the cathedral. There he was dressed in his priestly garments, which were then torn from him. His tonsure was erased by shaving his head, which was then covered with a paper crown decorated with demons. On his way to the stake, they led him past a pyre where his books were being burned. When he was tied to the stake, they gave him a last chance to recant, and once again he refused. He then prayed aloud, "Lord Jesus, it is for thee that I patiently endure this cruel death. I pray thee to have mercy on my enemies." He was then heard reciting the psalms as he died."

Psalm of Affections

I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you.”
(Psalm 16:2 ESV)

The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup;
you hold my lot.
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
(Psalm 16:5-6 ESV)

Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.
(Psalm 16:9 ESV)

You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
(Psalm 16:11 ESV)

....
The word choice and tone in these lines remind me that the Lord is our joy. He is our contentment and glory. May I quit viewing God as merely a helper in time of need, and that's it! Rather, may the Lord be the object of every glad affection in my heart too! May He be the reason for our happiness, for in Him we have a rich inheritance: His presence forever.

Meditating on the Law

"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

but his delight is in the law of the LORD, 

and on his law he meditates day and night"

Psalm 1:1-2

Why would someone delight in the law of the LORD? And Why would someone meditate on the law day and night? When I first read verses like this, my initial thoughts are usually that this seems like legalism. Good people try really hard to meditate on the law, while the sinners/scoffers are those who don't do the law. The law can't justify me, so why in the world would I meditate on it?

Let me say that I think this is a misunderstanding of the law and why the psalmist would write these things. Here are a few random thoughts on meditating on God's law and what it means for us. 

First, the law was a gift given to Israel. It wasn't originally intended to be a punishment or form of condemnation. Rather, it was given to Israel so that they would know more about the God who brought them out of Egypt. God's law is a written inscription of his character. It gives us a glimpse of his holiness and his character. Therefore, we are able to know more of who God is when we meditate on this law. 

Second, the law was given as a gift that showed Israel how to live life as it was intended to be. The law was given after the Fall, because before the Fall, there was no need for correction. Since the Fall, everything got jacked up. Our relationship with God was shattered, our relationships with each other were broken, and our relationship with creation was marred. The law was an agent to bring things back to the way they were supposed to be. The law was God's instructions and guidelines to live as his holy people. This was not a form of supression intended to hold Israel down with these intense rules. Rather, it was a form of love, showing Israel the best way to live. It was for Israel's good. 

These are a couple reasons why a psalmist might be so excited about the law! He (unlike us) didn't view it as a burdensome legalism. Rather, the law painted a portrait of the awesome God he served. The law was a gracious gift from the Creator. The law shows us what life should be like. Meditating on the law makes sense then, because by meditating on it, we are able to see God and understand him more. 

Lastly, as it relates to us, should be meditate on the law day and night? My only thought here, is that we should meditate on the law as well. We should meditate on God and all his excellencies. Only, for us it may look a little different. Jesus was the perfect fulfillment and embodiment of the law. He was the exact image of God, and the perfect living representation of everything in the law. It is through Jesus that we know God and his character most clearly, and it is through Jesus that we see what life was supposed to be like. 

We were created in the image of God, and were intended to live in that. However, when Adam and Eve ate the fruit, that image, like a broken mirror was shattered. What remains is a broken picture. The law gave us an inscription of what it looks like to live as a restored image bearing human. But, as we all know, we fail to do this. Jesus on the other hand, is himself, the perfect image bearer. He not only gives us an example of what it looks like to live in the image of God, he himself has the power to restore us to our image bearing humanity. 

So, yes, meditate on the law, but do so in the context that Jesus is the perfect embodiment and fulfillment of the law. Jesus did what the law, weakened by the flesh could not do. Jesus saved us from the condemnation that the law brought, and he gives us power to once again live as true humans made in the image of God. He restores life to what it was meant to be. The law was powerless to do this. So yes, delight in Jesus, the perfect fulfillment of the law!

Feasting on the Steadfast Love of Jesus

A great prayer this morning from Scotty Smith's blog.

Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Ps. 143:8

Dear Lord Jesus, I totally get why breakfast is the most important meal of the day. What we consume (or don’t consume) early greatly determines our energy level, rhythms and focus for the rest of the day. I always pay dearly for too little sleep followed by too much sugar and caffeine, and others are affected as well. The same is true spiritually. When I don’t begin my day feasting on the grace and truth of the gospel, not only do I rob myself, I rob others.

So out of equal measures of delight and desperation, I make the psalmist’s cry my own: “Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love” (Ps. 143:8). That’s what I need more than anything else. Your love is my present banquet and my eternal feast.

Jesus, only your love is better than life (Psalm 63). It doesn’t just give me life; it won’t just make this day more bearable and enjoyable; it is better than life. Only your love addresses my deepest needs. Foolishly, I often settle for the caffeine of being appreciated and admired, but you know the worst about me and you love me the most. You don’t love me because of anything I do, but because of everything you’ve done for me. How humbling… how freeing.

Only your love satisfies my most intense longings. The junk food of accomplishment, success and impact offer a brief relief, but they always leave me grabbing for more, only moments later. There’s a hole in my heart that is shaped like you, Jesus, and only you can really fill that place, that cavern, that vacuum.

Only your love is unwavering, Jesus, for all other loves are filled with conditions and contingencies. You’ve met every condition for me. Because you were nailed to the cross, there are no longer any strings attached to your love. The price of your love was the currency of your life, which you gladly paid that your affection might come to us freely and fully. Buckle our knees and thrill our hearts with this good news…

Only your love is unfailing, Jesus, for all other loves are fickle and finite. Only your love can expose and replace my idols; no other love is as beautiful. Only your love can break my self-indulgent chains and set me free to love well; no other love is as powerful.

Only your love can break the lingering power of shame and the ever-present seductions of temptation; no other love is as daily. Only your love can heal the greatest heart-wounds I carry; no other love is as kind and healing. Only your love can move me from navel-gazing to kingdom living; no other love is as transforming.  Jesus, there are so many more “only’s” about your love; and we will never fully scale the height, depth, width and breadth of you love—even in eternity. It will be measureless and ours forever. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

So this morning and every morning—afternoons and evenings too, Jesus, continue to bring the word of your unfailing love to our hearts. By the power of the Holy Spirit, preach the gospel of your unfailing love to our whole being. So very Amen we pray, in your merciful and mighty name.

Jesus is Lord

I got goosebumps watching this one.

Psalms: Highlight Reel

For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
(Psalm 32:3-5 ESV)

.... We were dying. You are gracious ....

“O LORD, make me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am!
Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,
and my lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah
(Psalm 39:4-5 ESV)

.... We are finite. You give us hope in the eternal ....

Attend to me, and answer me;
I am restless in my complaint and I moan...
My heart is in anguish within me;
the terrors of death have fallen upon me...
Cast your burden on the LORD,
and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
the righteous to be moved.
(Psalm 55:2,4,22 ESV)

.... We have angst. You are peace ....

So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
(Psalm 90:12-14 ESV)

.... We are empty. You are filling ....

My soul clings to the dust;
give me life according to your word!
(Psalm 119:25 ESV)

I will thank you forever,
because you have done it.
I will wait for your name, for it is good,
in the presence of the godly.
(Psalm 52:9 ESV)

The Gift of Peace to God's People

"Let me hear what God the LORD will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints"

Psalm 85:8

"The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace"

Psalm 29:11

"And he will be called:

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

His government and its peace will never end."

Isaiah 9:6-7

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ"

Romans 5:1

"I have said this to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation. but take heart; I have overcome the world."

John 16:33

Are You A Smuggler?

HT: Itsabeautifulgospel

A great post from Dan Orr. Thanks Dan, I needed to hear this. 

Are you a smuggler?

Answer:  Yes, you are a smuggler.

Psalm 62:2 says, “He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress;  I shall not be greatly shaken.”

He only…  

If you are anything like me, and you are (because you are human), you do not fully believe that He only is your rock and salvation.  We all smuggle something else into the equation.  For example, I may say that He only is my rock and salvation, but really it’s He + me being a good dad.  Or, it could be He + being able to pay my bills (+ knowing the future…  + having a husband/wife…  + having your dream job, etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc).  We are master smugglers.  We smuggle in anything and everything into the He only equation, and thereby rob ourselves of experiencing the only great treasure – God Himself.  So, if you recognize you are a smuggler, pray like David did in Ps. 61:2, “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”  Repent of your additions and ask God to give you a heart that treasures Christ alone. 

Come and See What God Has Done

"Come and see what God has done: 

he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man"

Psalm 66:5

What are the awesome deeds that God has done? The psalmist goes on to describe them.

1. "He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot" (vs. 6)
2. He has defeated his enemies. (vs. 3)
3. He rules and keeps watch over the nations. (vs. 7)
4. He has given life to our souls (vs. 9)
5. "Yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance." (vs. 12)
6. "But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer." (vs. 19)
7. He is steadfast in his love. (vs. 20)

This morning, let us recall the awesome deeds of God. Let us remember the faithfulness and steadfast love of our Lord, who has created us, and who has saved our life from the destruction of sin. Because of who God is, and because of what He has done, our response should be the same of the psalmist in Psalm 66.

"Shout for joy to God, all the earth;

sing the glory of his name;

give to him glorious praise!

Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds!

so great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.

All the earth worships you 

and sings praises to you;

they sing praises to your name."

This day, let us shout for joy, and glory in the awesome deeds of our God!

Dad

DAVID R. LAWRENZ

Dec. 30, 1951 - Sept. 4, 2011

Dad,
I love you. There is none who could ever replace you in my life. You were my beloved father, and mom's sweetheart of 30 yrs. More evidently, your heart was set on the things of the Lord. I know at this moment you are dancing and singing praises in the presence of your Savior, Jesus. Praise the Lord for your life here with me.
Love,
Josh

....

Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
yet I will be confident.
One thing have I asked of the LORD,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to inquire in his temple.

Psalm 27: 3-4

Jesus, The Ransom For Many

"Truly no man can ransom another 

or give to God the price of his life,

for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice,

that he should live on forever

and never see the pit."

Psalm 49: 7-9

"even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, 

and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Matthew 20:28

Our ransom is a price so costly that no man, nor we ourselves are able to pay it. This psalm tells us that no man is able account for ransom price of ones life, in order that they should live forever. Yet, most of us spend our entire lives trying to justify our existence and in some sense 'ransom' our lives. The previous verses in this psalm reminds us that regardless of physical wealth, we are still not able to pay the price. We need the same reminder. The comfort of having physical 'things' and possessing earthly wealth  will not solve this problem. In the same way, many of us try to pay our own ransom, that we should live forever, with the wealth of our good works. We figure if we do enough good things, or are good, upstanding citizens, then surely this is enough that we should live forever. But the truth remains, no man can suffice for his own, or another's ransom. We cannot pay the price.

However, the gospel tells us that this is exactly why Jesus came. Our sin has created a debt that we could never repay, whether with physical wealth, or spiritual. Jesus is the only one qualified to pay this ransom. No man can pay for another mans ransom, because each man himself is sinful, and is in need of being ransomed himself. Yet, Jesus was fully man and fully God. He himself was sinless. Therefore, he is qualified to pay this ransom price. And how did Jesus pay the ransom? He ransomed us from the price of our sin by dying on the cross. He payed the debt for our sins by taking upon himself, the iniquity of us all. 

So, this morning, let us be reminded that in ourselves, we are helpless and hopeless. We are sinful, and could never ransom ourselves that we may live forever. We are sentenced to the pit. But, in the gospel, we have hope. Jesus lived the life we should have lived, and died the death we should have died, in order to ransom us from the reign of sin. Jesus tasted death, so that we could live forever, and not see the pit. Let us look away from ourselves this morning, let us look away from our self-justifying attitudes and ego-centric hearts, and let us look to the cross, where Jesus so lovingly paid our ransom. This is our hope, joy and peace. 

Centering Our Thoughts On God's Steadfast Love

"We have thought on your steadfast love,

O God,

in the midst of you temple"

Psalm 48:9

Is that something you have done today? Have you spent a period of time dwelling on how the Father has loved us. He has redeemed us from the shackles of sin, he has restored us unto himself, to know and enjoy him forever. He has adopted us into his family when we were alienated orphans. He loved us when we were loveless. Indeed,  throughout the day we should be centering our thoughts on the steadfast love of God in Christ. Re-orientating our minds and hearts on the gospel of God's love will have a transforming effect on our life. Reality is completely changed when we know and experience the steadfast love of our God. And this is the steadfast love of God, 'not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.' (1 John 4:10)

A Psalm of Confidence

"God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble. 

Therefore, we will not fear though the earth gives way,

though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam,

though the mountains tremble at its swelling.....

The LORD of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress."

Psalm 46: 1-3,7

What are your troubles today? What is it that bears down on your soul, threatening to crush you? Where are you weak? Come what may, this psalm tells us that God's people dwell secure. Our hope is not in our own ability to lift our own burdens, or that in our own strength we can withstand the devastating blows of this life. In times of trouble, we are not strong enough.

But, God tells his people that He himself is there strength. He is an unshakable, impenetrable refuge. With the Lord as our refuge, the troubles of this life are as raindrops falling onto a concrete shelter. We dwell in the only shelter that is able to protect us from the storm. More so, our God is a very present help. Our hope doesn't rest in a distant, theoretical God. Our hope is in the God who is there and who is not silent. His strength becomes our strength. He actively protects His people. The thoughts of his children are many. 

Martin Luther said of this psalm,

"We sing this psalm to the praise of God because God is with us and powerfully and miraculously preserves and defends His church and His Word against all fanatical spirits, against the gates of hell, against the implacable hatred of the devil, and against the assaults of the world, the flesh, and sin."