The Stronghold

Here we come upon an island in Nahum’s stormy lake. All is calm in this verse, though the whole context is tossed with tempest.

The text is full of God, and brims over with his praise.

I. GOD HIMSELF. “Jehovah is good.”

1. Good; in himself essentially and independently.

2. Good; eternally and unchangeably.

3. Good in each person: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

4. Good in all his acts of grace.

5. Good in all former acts of providence.

6. Good in his present act, be it what it may.

7. Good for a stronghold: to be trusted in trouble.

8. Good to his own people, who find their goodness in him.

Let us praise him as good in the most emphatic and unlimited sense. Whoever else may or may not be good, we know that the Lord is good. Yes, “there is none good but one, that is, God”: Matthew 19:17.

II. GOD TO US. “A strong hold in the day of trouble.”

1. Under special circumstances our resort.

   • The day of trouble, when trial is special and vehement.
   • The day of trouble: temporary, but yet long enough to last through our life unless the Lord prevent.
   • The day of trouble: when within, without, around, there seem to be only care, and fear, and want, and grief.

2. Securing our safety at all times: for a stronghold is always strong, even when there is no immediate war.

3. Maintaining our peace. Within the walls of a castle men walk at ease, for they are shut in from enemies.

4. Defying our foes, who dare not attack such a fortress.

5. Abiding forever the same: always a sure refuge for the needy.

Let us run to him, as the poor people of the open country fly to the walled towns in the time of war.

III. GOD WITH US. “He knows them that trust in him.”

The term “he knows them” includes—

1. His intimate acquaintance with their persons, conditions, etc.

2. His tender care to supply all their necessities.

3. His divine approval of them. To others he says, “I know you not” Luke 13:25.

4. His loving communion with them, which is the best proof that they are known to him, and are his beloved friends.

5. His open acknowledgment: he owns them now, and will confess them before assembled worlds: Revelation 3:5.

Let us believe in the goodness of the Lord even when we cannot discern it with the eye of sense.

Let us fly to his protection when storms of trouble fall.

Let us confide in his loving care when hunted by our enemies.

Let us take care that we rely upon him, in Christ Jesus, for salvation.

Testimonies

The only place of safety in this world is the one in which we are sure to meet God, and to be “under the shadow of his wing.” The Bible sets forth, in grand metaphor, this idea, by speaking of a “fortress into which the righteous runs, and is safe”; and of “a strong tower,” and of “the shadow of a great rock.” When we were in the Yosemite Valley, lately, our driver told us of a series of terrific earthquakes, which visited the valley several years ago. The few inhabitants who dwelt there were thrown out of their beds in the night. Frail cottages were overturned. Loose rocks were hurled down from the precipices into the valley. These shocks were repeated for several days until the people were panic-stricken and ready to despair. “What did you do?” we inquired. The driver (pointing to the mighty and immovable rock, El Capitan, which rises for three thousand feet on the south side of the valley, and has a base of three solid miles) replied: “We determined to go and camp under old Capitan; for if that ever moved we knew the world would be coming to an end.”—Dr. Cuyler.

Tamar may disguise herself, and walk in an unaccustomed path, so that Judah may not know her; Isaac, through the dimness of his sight, may bless Jacob, and pass over Esau; want of time may make Joseph forget, or be forgotten of, his brethren; Solomon may doubt to whom of right the child belongs; and Christ may come to his own, and not be received: but the Lord knows them that are his, and his eye is always over them. Time, place, speech, or apparel cannot obscure or darken his eye or ear. He can discern Daniel in the den; and Job, though never so much changed, on the dung-hill. Let Jonah be lodged in the whale’s belly, Peter be put into a close prison, or Lazarus be wrapped in rags, or Abel rolled in blood, yet can he call them by name, and send his angels to comfort them. Ignorance and forgetfulness may cause love and knowledge to be estranged in the creature, but the Lord is not incident to either, for his eye, as his essence, is everywhere; he knows all things.—Spencer’s “Things New and Old.”

A safe stronghold our God is still, A trusty shield and weapon;

He’ll help us clear from all the ill

That has us now o’ertaken.

The ancient Prince of Hell

Has risen with purpose fell;

Strong mail of craft and power

He wears in this hour,

On earth is not his fellow.

With force of arms we nothing can, Full soon were we down-trodden; But for us fights the proper Man,

Whom God himself has bidden.

Ask you, “Who is this same?”

Christ Jesus is his name, The Lord Zebaoth’s Son,

He and no other one

Shall conquer in the battle.—Martin Luther.

Many talk of trusting God when indeed they know nothing of real faith. How are we to know who is, and who is not, a believer? This question is hard to answer in times of prosperity, but not in the day of trouble: then the true truster is calm and quiet in his God, and the mere pretender is at his wits’ end. Our text seems to hint as much. Everybody can find a bird’s nest in winter when the trees are bare, but the green leaves hide them; so are believers discovered by adversity. One thing, however, should never be forgotten: whether we know believers or not, God knows them. He does not include one hypocrite in the number, nor exclude one sincere truster, even though he be of little faith. He knows infallibly, and universally. Does he know me, even me, as one of those who trust in him? The Lord knows them that are his, and they know him as their stronghold. Have I such knowledge?