The Stronghold

“The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him.” (Nahum 1:7)One of my favorite things to do is to dissect God’s Word; after-all, we are told in II Timothy 2:15 to “Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing (rightly handling and skillfully teaching) the Word of Truth” (Amp.).

Nahum is a short (three chapters long) book in the Old Testament in the middle of all the other wondrous Books in the Minor Prophets. It may be short but it is “chucked full” of marvelous wisdom, knowledge and promises. As I intently looked at this particular Nahum scripture, I noticed all the letters in the name of God, “LORD,” were capitalized.

I have learned that when LORD or GOD is capitalized it is referring to YHWH (Yahweh) or Jehovah, “The self-existent One Who reveals Himself.” So in this verse the LORD is revealed as being “good” (righteous; right in everything). Nahum says this “good GOD” is also a “stronghold” (“a fortified place, a defense”) in the day of trouble (“adversary, adversity, anguish, distress, tribulation”). It seems every day we face “trouble” of some kind; so every day we have the opportunity to trust our good LORD Who has revealed Himself as our “strong defense.” He is our “Hiding Place.” Psalm 139:5 says, “You have beset me and shut me in – behind and before, and You have laid Your hand upon me” (Amp.). We are covered by God’s might hand! We stay in His hand by trusting His might and power to keep us. In His hand not foe can defeat us (Ps.91).

The LORD is right there with us in the midst of our trouble, Jehovah-Shammah, (“the God Who is here”). You cannot go into any experience where GOD, Shammah, is not there (see Psalm 139 below). He will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb.13:5).

The next phrase that caught my attention was, ‘He knows.’ GOD is revealed in this phrase as the omniscient, all seeing, all knowing and all wise God. In David’s Psalms 139, he describes GOD’s complete knowledge of us and His presence with us.

“O LORD, you have searched me thoroughly and have ‘known’ me. You know my down sitting and my uprising; you ‘understand’ my thought afar off. You sift and search out my path and my lying down, and you are ‘acquainted’ with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue (still unuttered), but, behold, O LORD, You ‘know’ it altogether. Your infinite ‘knowledge’ is too wonderful for me; it is high above me, I cannot reach it.

Where could I go from Your Spirit? Or where could I flee from your presence? If I ascent up into heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in the place of the dead, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning or dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall Your hand lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me and the night shall be the only light about me, even the darkness hides nothing from You; but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You.

My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret and intricately and curiously worked, as if embroidered with various colors, in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance, an in Your book all the days of my life were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them. How precious and weighty also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I could count them, they would be more in number than the sand. When I awake I am still with You.”(Amp)

Do we trust God’s “keeping” enough to relinquish our everything to Him? Only then will we get to know Him as our “Stronghold.” Only then will we know His peace and presence. Then is when we will have “joy unspeakable and full of glory!”