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A Stronghold for the Oppressed ...

Monday, June 29, 2015. There is a lot of trouble on the planet. I have been in Greece a week ago, and many people suffer from the financial difficulties which the country faces. It is not only the finances, but the whole state does not work as it would be needed. And people suffer - many who are not responsible for the situation! Who can help?

Who can help? …

You can turn here or there, when you are in trouble. Often, there are strong personalities or charismatic leaders around, who promise to guide and lead you out of your trouble. But that is not always true! Many do not know, what to do, they are just pretending! And when the trouble deepens, they blame everything on you.

The bible deals with this situation many times. It is somehow the general or generic situation on earth: it is a sign of sin, of separation of mankind from the eternal God. But God has come into his creation. And he is there, inside as well as outside, deep in its core and way beyond all created things at the same time. He is God, he is the Lord!

God usually provides help on three levels. First, he helps us to live with the trouble and in the trouble. He uses the trouble, to purify our own attitude. He uncovers our own sin, our own responsibility, our own wrong ways.

Second, he provides a perspective beyond the trouble. All trouble will end. God's perspective is far beyond our own life. He is an eternal God and wants us to be with him in eternity. But eternity is not the only thing he offers us. Third, he will bring help into our trouble. He will guide us through it and away from it. He is the Almighty, nothing is impossible to him. He is the creator, he creates new possibilities and new ways every day. He just wants us to turn to him and to ask him for help in a sincere and persevering way.

Psalm 9 …

Let us read one of the psalms of David, where he talks about his own trouble and how God led him through it.

1 To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David. I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. 2 I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. 3 When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before your presence. 4 For you have maintained my just cause; you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment. 5 You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish; you have blotted out their name forever and ever. 6 The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins; their cities you rooted out; the very memory of them has perished. 7 But the Lord sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice, 8 and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness. 9 The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. 10 And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you. (Psalm 9, 1-10)

The psalm proclaims God's deep righteousness and justice. And it proclaims his help, which David clearly received. God wants to play a similar role in my life and in your life. Let us turn to him and ask him to be our God and the center of our life! (RWEP) ... more texts