But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love;
for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.

Psalm 59:16

Times of trouble?  Shouldn’t we who follow Jesus avoid trouble by all means?  Jesus is with us, why all the trouble?  As I recall, Jesus does not promise us trouble-free lives, but promises to strengthen us when we are troubled!

Trouble seem to be swirling around our heads as we begin this new week in the middle of February.   Premature death on our street, our nation caught up in turmoil, strife and struggle all around, and despondency!

How about you, how about me?  Are we immune from these trials?  The Psalmist writes that we have a sure fortress, Jesus Christ, as we now know, who strengthens us to sing in the morning of God’s almighty love.   We sing in his strength, not our own!  We are blessedly weak.  That enables the power of God to flow in our lives to help us in what we call good times, and bad.

As I grow older it seems like the challenges I face raise the question of the power of Jesus in my life.  Obviously the Psalmist felt the same.  He determined to sing of God’s love in the morning, and the whole day through, certainly.  God is our fortress into which we run and our refuge from the troubles.

I need this reminder today and every day!