“The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is
the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1).
Stronghold is a word with double-entendre or meaning. It is
the strength we have in the Lord as identified in this wonderful psalm. It is
also the besetting sin that holds onto you in life even when you try harder.
The concept here is that our greatest strengths may also be our greatest
weakness.
I love the psalms. In fact I wrote a book on them and their faithfulness
to me, Great is God’s Faithfulness. They
speak to emotions of every kind, joyful and peaceful as well as troubled and
fearful. In other words, they speak to the real lives of all of us. David
starts Psalm 9 praising the Lord with “all my heart.” He praises His wonders with gladness and joy.
It is a praise to God for His deliverance from his enemies asking Him to
continue to do the same. “The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a
stronghold in times of trouble” (Psalm 9:9). What is this stronghold?
It is the place where we can stand firm with confidence. David was exhorting
the Lord for His strength in Psalm 27 and Psalm 9 in times of trouble. I did
the same as I stood in the smoke and acrid steam standing between two cars in
which I had once driven before a dramatic halt in a head-on accident in the
Virgin Islands. The twisting, jungle ensconced and narrow, left-side drive
trails along the mountains and beaches are a terrifying carnival ride I don’t
plan on experiencing again soon. But there I stood staring at the crumpled cars,
viewing the license plate, “Ps 27.” I immediately went to this empowering and
steadying verse written above. He is my “stronghold” and the centering light of
my life. I can trust and not be afraid.
Scripture is alive and dynamic, sharper than a two-edged sword and
penetrating deeply. And so it did that day as it has on many others in my life
of faith. It has become my stronghold.
But there is another side to stronghold and that is
“besetting sin.” These are sins that keep coming back. They are sins or
selfishness against God as all sin. They are perhaps bad habits where we go
when feeling down or our low self-esteem is feeling sorry for itself. For
Abraham it was lying. For some it might be sneaking a drink of alcohol or looking
at pornography on the Internet. These sins can be overcome, but not easily.
Some say we can become sinless this side of heaven. I don’t believe the Bible
teaches us so. Although; we can and must become more like Jesus by the power of
His Holy Spirit. Yet strongholds may still exist is us. Perhaps another word
for stronghold is idol.
Idols are not necessarily carved images or gold, silver or
wood as the third command speaks. But the concept is the same, as we may
worship them. Is your idol your work
where you spend 16 hours a day and many weekends? Is it your constant training
for another marathon run, even though your body and marriage are falling
apart? Is it your obsession with
anything other than God? If you are struggling with this question you probably
have issues. For me over my lifetime I
have struggled with weight resulting in an eating disorder in my teens caused
primarlily by living with an alcoholic and mentally ill parent. This is an
obsessive and serious psychological illness, usually needing intense therapy
and even hospitalization to break. It can and does end in death for some who
cannot let their dysmorphic or flawed view of their bodies go. It may be pornography or alcohol, which are
addictions and illnesses. Indeed they need help and much of it is spiritual
illness. It is not being obedient to God’s commandments and the fruit of the
Spirit, which is self-control. It requires discipline to break such habits and
often, professional help. For me it includes having an accountability brother
to hold me to my promises and walk with God.
So do you have a stronghold in your faith in a loving and
ever-present God, or do you have a stronghold apart from God? You might have
both, but need to ask God to take away your obsession with anything other than
Him as your center and purpose for life. Pray about it, journal about it, share
with another close friend or counselor. It will not go away by itself. Center
your life on Jesus Christ, the only perfect sinless human and model.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.