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My Dear Friends,
 Do Bible verses ever speak with special power and immediacy to you? Sometimes I read things in the Scriptures that I have read many times before, and then one day, they simply jump off the page and take hold of my soul. Sharing a lunch recently with a colleague, we talked about the joy of having spent the better part of our lives studying, teaching and preaching from the Bible. It is, of course, a Living Word, because it witnesses to the Living God. My friend said, “The Bible doesn’t change at all, but we do when we read it. What you studied to preach on five, ten or twenty years ago speaks in a new and completely fresh way because of all that God has done to bring life and growth to you.” Recently, I ran across these simple words in the book of the prophet Nahum: “The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him” (Nahum 1:7). The Bible is infinitely interesting and worthy of our attention because most of what it speaks of is not us, but God.
Like so many words of the Bible that come to us, this one came at just the right time. Daily I learn about dear and beloved friends who are seriously ill, facing life-threatening, life-altering diseases. This past year I have done funerals that I would rather not have had to do. People dear to me and to this church have gone, and some days it weighs upon my soul how very much we shall all miss them. Just as I was caught up in this thinking, this word in Nahum spoke.
“The Lord is good…” This is such a basic, yet reassuring thought. “What is God?” asks the Westminster Shorter Catechism. “God is a spirit, infinite, eternal, unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.” God is many things, but among them all, we know that God is good. The Psalmist assured us of this in Psalm 100. “For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, his faithfulness to all generations.” When I could see that Josh and Sarah had fallen in love and were going to marry, the most significant question I wanted to answer was this: “Are they good people?” When I answered that in the affirmative, it went a long way to calming any fears or concerns. Well, in as many ways as it possibly can, the Bible wants us to know that “the Lord is good.” Remember the prayer so many of us prayed at the table at meal time? “God is great. God is good. Let us thank him for our food.” This is seen supremely in the revelation of God through Jesus Christ, whom we worship as God the Son, the one theologian Karl Barth called “the one sufficient revelation of God.” Jesus shows us many things, but chief among them is the goodness of the Lord our God. God is good. Could anything be more basic, yet more important to affirm?
“The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble.” The Psalmist put it this way in Psalm 46: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble.” If you do not know God as a present help in time of trouble, then you do not know God well enough. God is a stronghold, a place where we can go for shelter and protection in the storms of life. To find our refuge in God is not to escape from the world, but to find help and strength in the midst of the world. Jesus is honest about the world in which we live. “In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.” Martin Luther believed this about God when in his darkest hours, he could write the words to that immortal hymn, the clarion call of the Reformation: “A Mighty Fortress is our God, a Bulwark never failing; Our Helper He amid the flood, of mortal ills prevailing.” Find your refuge and your strength not in yourself, but in God, who is ever and always the same, “a refuge in times of trouble.” When all else may fail, when the things you place your security in falter, know that God is a refuge, a stronghold, a sure and certain source of strength.
Finally, hear this of God: “He cares for those who trust in Him.” I Peter 5:7 puts it like this: “Cast all your anxieties upon him, because he cares for you.” God is not only good, and not only a refuge in times of trouble. This God is a God who cares for you. Saint Augustine said, “God loves each one of us, as if there were only one of us.” God is personal, infinitely and eternally personal. Jesus reveals to us the deeply caring, compassionate side of the Holy God. One of Jesus’ best known parables was of the Good Samaritan, the one who refused to pass by on the other side, but stopped to care for the man who had been robbed, beaten and left upon the road to die. This parable reveals to us the very heart of God. Jesus sees and seeks those that others might avoid or ignore. This is all because God cares. Sometimes we wonder about this. Let the prophet Nahum speak simply, directly, powerfully about who God really is. “The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him.” Trust in the Lord with all your heart!
With Love and Prayers,
Todd Jones
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