The song softly fills the air as I clean, bringing back memories of my granddaughters first learning to construct castles with their Duplos. As imagination, creativity, and understanding came together, they each figured out how to build them so they would be tall, strong, and last for a few days. Watching them was thought provoking.

Hidden in our hearts is this longing for a castle, for protection.
We long for a fortress.

“A mighty fortress is our God
A sacred refuge is Your Name
Your Kingdom is unshakable
With You forever we will reign”
(from “A Mighty Fortress” as sung by Christy Nockels)

The psalmist used this imagery in referring to God. Repeatedly. The psalmist knew it to be true, for God was always the protection he sought after.

“Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me.”
(Psalm 31:3, NIV)

• God is our Rock. The title “rock” fully encompasses that of Savior, Redeemer, Refuge.  It reminds us of all that is strong, secure, and safe about God. The psalmist often referred to God as his Rock when he needed to remind himself to trust God. The question came to mind – Do I live each day maintaining, declaring, believing that God is my Rock? When we stand firm on His character and His Word, our faith will be unshakable.
• God is our Fortress. The title literally means  “a net, a castle, a strong place.” Fortification is the means by which we are strengthened, reinforced, and supported. David was trusting God to be his ultimate defense, not depending on any other source. This brought a second question -  Am I letting Him be the source that I go? Is God my support, my means of fortification?

“Adversity does not make us frail; it only shows us how frail we are.”
(Anonymous)

It’s true. In discovering our “frailness”, we also discover our only true source of strength, of reinforcement, and support is our God.

We come to discover we are stronger than we thought because
His strength will be our strength.
God is our Rock and our Fortress.

*An edited version of an older post.