Dawn 2 Dusk Sheltered in the Heart of the StormNahum wrote during a time of looming judgment and global fear. Empires rumbled, violence and idolatry spread, and God’s people could easily have felt like pawns on someone else’s chessboard. Right in the middle of a book about God’s righteous wrath against evil, we get a sentence that shines like a lighthouse in a hurricane: the Lord is not only just—He is good, and He becomes a place of safety when everything else shakes. Today, this verse invites us to run toward God, not away from Him, when the days are dark and our hearts are tired. The Goodness of God When Life Feels Harsh “Nahum 1:7 says, “The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of distress; He cares for those who trust in Him.” In a world where “good” often means “convenient” or “comfortable,” God’s goodness stands in sharp contrast. His goodness is not sentimental; it is holy, steady, and unchanging. When circumstances feel brutal—diagnoses, betrayals, prodigal children, financial collapse—His character does not shift an inch. He is good on the days we feel it, and He is just as good on the days we don’t. That’s why Scripture invites us not just to agree in theory, but to personally experience Him: “Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!” (Psalm 34:8). But this verse also confronts us: where do we instinctively run in distress? Many of us reach first for distractions, people, or our own plans, then wonder why peace seems so fragile. God offers Himself—not a quick fix, but Himself—as the safe place for our battered hearts. Through the finished work of Jesus Christ, we are welcomed into the presence of this good God without fear of rejection or condemnation. At the cross, justice and goodness met perfectly. So when we doubt His heart, we look again at Calvary and remember: a God who did not spare His own Son will not turn cold or distant in our “day of distress” (Romans 8:32). A Stronghold That Cannot Be Shaken Nahum calls the Lord “a stronghold in the day of distress.” A stronghold is more than a quiet corner; it is a fortified place, solid and defensible when the enemy advances. God is not offering a thin emotional comfort—He is offering Himself as our fortress. Proverbs 18:10 echoes this: “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe”. When we run to Him in prayer, repentance, and trust, we are not hiding in denial; we are taking shelter in the only One who is actually strong enough to protect us—body, soul, and eternity. This doesn’t mean we won’t feel the wind or hear the roar of the battle. It means that no attack can ultimately destroy what is kept in His hand. Jesus says of His sheep, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand” (John 10:28–29). The world may rattle the windows, but the foundation of the stronghold cannot crack. Even what the enemy intends for evil, God weaves into His good purposes for those who love Him (Romans 8:28). The question is not whether the fortress is strong; it’s whether we will actually live inside it—or keep pacing outside in our own strength. He Cares for Those Who Trust in Him The verse ends with a stunningly personal detail: “He cares for those who trust in Him.” The God who judges nations also notices tears on a pillow and fears no one else sees. His care is not abstract; it is intimate, attentive, and active. “Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). Many of us believe God is powerful, but quietly doubt that He is tender toward us. Nahum 1:7 refuses to let us separate those two truths: He is both mighty stronghold and gentle Shepherd. The safest place in the universe is the heart of a God who truly cares. Trust, then, is not a vague feeling—it is a decision of the will to lean the weight of our lives on Him. It looks like honest prayer instead of silent worry, obedience instead of self-protection, surrender instead of control. Philippians 4:6–7 calls us into this life of trust: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”. When we entrust ourselves—our sin, our pain, our future—to Christ, we discover that His care is not just a doctrine to affirm, but a reality to rest in. Lord, thank You that You are good, our stronghold, and that You care for those who trust in You. Today, move my heart to run to You in every distress and to choose trusting obedience in place of fear and self-reliance. Morning with A.W. Tozer He Became Poor That We Might Become RichThe announcement of the birth of Christ came as a sunburst of joy to a world where grief and pain are known to all and joy comes rarely and never tarries long.
The joy the angel brought to the awe-struck shepherds was not to be a disembodied wisp of religious emotion, swelling and ebbing like the sound of an aeolian harp in the rising and falling of the wind. Rather it was and is a state of lasting gladness resulting from tidings that there was born in the city of David a Savior which is Christ the Lord. It was an overflowing sense of well-being that had every right to be there.
The birth of Christ told the world something. That He should come to be born of a woman, to make Himself of no reputation and, being found in fashion as a man, to humble Himself even to death on a cross--this is a fact so meaningful, so eloquent as to elude even the power of a David or an Isaiah fully to celebrate. His coming, I repeat, told the world something; it declared something, established something. What was it? Music For the Soul Strength of CharacterAnd cast forth his roots as Lebanon. - Hosea 14:5. A GOD-BEDEWED soul that has been made fair and pure, by communion with God, ought also to be strong. He shall cast forth his roots " like Lebanon." I take it that simile does not refer to the roots of that giant range that slope away down under the depths of the Mediterranean. That is a beautiful emblem, but it is not in line with the other images in the context. As these are all dependent on the promise of the dew, and represent different phases of the results of its fulfillment, it is natural to expect thus much uniformity in their variety, that they shall all be drawn from plant life. If so, we must suppose a condensed metaphor here, and take " Lebanon" to mean the forests which another prophet calls "the glory of Lebanon." The characteristic tree in these, as we all know, was the cedar. It is named in Hebrew by a word which is connected with that for " strength." It stands as the very type and emblem of stability and vigor Think of its firm roots by which it is anchored deep in the soil; think of the shelves of massive dark foliage; think of its unchanged steadfastness in storm; think of its towering height; and thus arriving at the meaning of the emblem, let us translate it into practice in our own lives. " He shall cast forth his roots as Lebanon." Beauty? Yes! Purity? Yes! And braided in with them, if I may so say, the strength which can say "No!" which can resist, which can persist, which can overcome; power drawn from communion with God. "Strength and beauty" should blend in the worshipers, as they do in the "sanctuary" in God Himself. There is nothing admirable in mere force; there is often something sickly and feeble, and therefore contemptible, in mere beauty. Many of us will cultivate the complacent and the amiable sides of the Christian life, and be wanting in the manly " thews that throws the world," and can fight to the death. But we have to try and bring these two excellencies of character together, and it needs an immense deal of grace and wisdom and imitation of Jesus Christ, and a close clasp of His hand, to enable us to do that. Many a stately elm that seems full of vigorous life, for all its spreading boughs and clouds of dancing leaves, is hollow at the heart, and when the storm comes goes down with a crash, and men wonder, as they look at the ruin, how such a mere shell of life, with a core of corruption, could stand so long. It rotted within, and fell at last because its roots did not go deep down to the rich soil, where they would have found nourishment, but ran along near the surface, among gravel and stones. If we would stand firm, be sound within, and bring forth much fruit, we must strike our roots deep in Him who is the anchorage of our souls and the nourisher of all our being. Spurgeon: Morning and Evening 1 Thessalonians 5:6 Let us not sleep, as do others. There are many ways of promoting Christian wakefulness. Among the rest, let me strongly advise Christians to converse together concerning the ways of the Lord. Christian and Hopeful, as they journeyed towards the Celestial City, said to themselves, "To prevent drowsiness in this place, let us fall into good discourse." Christian enquired, "Brother, where shall we begin?" And Hopeful answered, "Where God began with us." Then Christian sang this song-- "When saints do sleepy grow, let them come hither, And hear how these two pilgrims talk together; Yea, let them learn of them, in any wise, Thus to keep open their drowsy slumb'ring eyes. Saints' fellowship, if it be managed well, Keeps them awake, and that in spite of hell." Christians who isolate themselves and walk alone, are very liable to grow drowsy. Hold Christian company, and you will be kept wakeful by it, and refreshed and encouraged to make quicker progress in the road to heaven. But as you thus take "sweet counsel" with others in the ways of God, take care that the theme of your converse is the Lord Jesus. Let the eye of faith be constantly looking unto him; let your heart be full of him; let your lips speak of his worth. Friend, live near to the cross, and thou wilt not sleep. Labour to impress thyself with a deep sense of the value of the place to which thou art going. If thou rememberest that thou art going to heaven, thou wilt not sleep on the road. If thou thinkest that hell is behind thee, and the devil pursuing thee, thou wilt not loiter. Would the manslayer sleep with the avenger of blood behind him, and the city of refuge before him? Christian, wilt thou sleep whilst the pearly gates are open--the songs of angels waiting for thee to join them--a crown of gold ready for thy brow? Ah! no; in holy fellowship continue to watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. Spurgeon: Faith’s Checkbook Home BlessingsHe fears the LORD, and therefore he comes under the divine protection even as to the roof which covers himself and his family. His home is an abode of love, a school of holy training, and a place of heavenly light. In it there is a family attar where the name of the LORD is daily had in reverence. Therefore the LORD blesses his habitation. It may be a humble cottage or a lordly mansion; but the LORD’s blessing comes because of the character of the inhabitant and not because of the size of the dwelling. That house is most blest in which the master and mistress are Godfearing people; but a son or daughter or even a servant may bring a blessing on a whole household. The LORD often preserves, prospers, and provides for a family for the sake of one or two in it, who are "just" persons in His esteem, because His grace has made them so. Beloved, let us have Jesus for our constant guest even as the sisters of Bethany had, and then we shall be blessed indeed. Let us look to it that in all things we are just -- in our trade, in our judgment of others, in our treatment of neighbors, and in our own personal character. A just God cannot bless unjust transactions. The Believer’s Daily Remembrancer Fear Thou NotTHE Lord’s people are prone to fear; because they do not realize their relation to God, their interest in the promises of God, and that they are always in the presence of God. How graciously our God forbids our slavish fears, and encourages confidence in Himself! Our slavish fears dishonour Him, our filial confidence glorifies Him. He loves to be trusted; He is grieved by our doubts and fears. We should fear nothing but sin; and if we fear sin, follow holiness and preserve a conscience void of offence toward God and man; if we live upon His word, daily use the open fountain, and cultivate communion with our God, we can have no cause to fear. Beloved, leave anxiety, distrust, and slavish fear, to the poor godless worldling; but trust thou in the living God always, and everywhere. Hope in God; wait upon God; expect from God; follow hard after God; and all you want will be given, and all that would injure you will be frustrated. Be not afraid, only believe; Jesus is with thee; therefore, "FEAR THOU NOT." And art Thou with me, gracious Lord, To dissipate my fear? Dost Thou proclaim Thyself my God, My God, for ever near? Then farewell, anxious, gloomy care, Since God forbids my soul to fear. Bible League: Living His Word "He will guard the feet of His saints, But the wicked shall be silent in darkness. For by strength no man shall prevail."— 1 Samuel 2:9 NKJV Do you want to win in life? Do you want to overcome life's adversities and troubles? Then you have to look to the Lord God of heaven and earth. Like Hannah, who spoke the words of our verse for today, you have to go to Him in prayer and receive from Him what you need. Hannah went before the Lord in prayer and overcame the shame and heartache of infertility. In gratitude, she spoke a psalm of praise to the Lord that lists many of the wonderful things we can expect from Him (1 Samuel 2:1-10). Our verse is a part of what she said. First, "He will guard the feet of his saints." It is the Lord that keeps people from stumbling in their walk of life before Him. David said, "You have delivered my soul from death. Have You not kept my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?" (Psalm 56:13). and Moses said, "For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone" (Psalm 91:11-12). Indeed, even if we do fall, we shall not be utterly cast down, because the Lord upholds us with His hand (Psalm 37:24). Second, "But the wicked shall be silent in darkness." The wicked do not have the help of the Lord in their walk of life. As a result, "They meet with darkness in the daytime, And they grope at noontime as in the night" (Job 5:14). Even worse, the Lord is opposed to them: "But You, O God, shall bring them down to the pit of destruction; bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out their days" (Psalm 55:23). Third, "For by strength no man shall prevail." The reason why the wicked fail in the walk of life is because they think they can prevail by their own strength. The people of God, on the other hand, prevail because they realize it all depends on the Lord. "'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the Lord of Hosts" (Zechariah 4:6). Hannah's message, then, is clear: look not to the world or the flesh for power in this life; look only to the Lord for protection and success. Daily Light on the Daily Path Psalm 38:14 Yes, I am like a man who does not hear, And in whose mouth are no arguments.Psalm 123:1,2 A Song of Ascents. To You I lift up my eyes, O You who are enthroned in the heavens! • Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, So our eyes look to the LORD our God, Until He is gracious to us. Psalm 61:1-4 For the choir director; on a stringed instrument. A Psalm of David. Hear my cry, O God; Give heed to my prayer. • From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. • For You have been a refuge for me, A tower of strength against the enemy. • Let me dwell in Your tent forever; Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings. Selah. Isaiah 25:4 For You have been a defense for the helpless, A defense for the needy in his distress, A refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat; For the breath of the ruthless Is like a rain storm against a wall. 1 Peter 2:21-23 For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, • WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; • and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion How lovely is your dwelling place,O LORD of Heaven's Armies...What joy for those who can live in your house, always singing your praises. Insight The writer longed to get away from the bustling world to meet God inside his dwelling place, his holy temple. Challenge We can meet God anywhere, at any time. But we know that going into a church building can help us step aside from the busy mainstream of life so we can quietly meditate and pray. We find joy not only in the beautiful building but also in the prayers, music, lessons, sermons, and fellowship. Devotional Hours Within the Bible Living Up to Our Prayers“My voice shall you hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto you and will look up.” “In the morning will I direct my prayer unto you and will look up.” That is, he would watch to see the answer coming. One interesting illustration of this watching for the answer to prayer is in the case of Elijah’s prayer for rain. The prophet bowed himself on the ground, and began to pray. Then he sent his servant up to the crest of the mountain to look out toward the sea, to keep watch, and tell him what he saw. The servant came back and said he saw nothing. Seven times did Elijah pray, each time bidding the servant to go to the mountain-top to look. At length the servant reported that he saw a little cloud as small as a man’s hand coming up out of the sea. The prayer was answered. The prophet believed that rain would come when he prayed, and he looked up and watched for the rising of the cloud, until it appeared. That is the way we should always pray. “In the morning will I order my prayer unto you and I will keep watch.” Must we not confess that ofttimes when we pray we never think again of our requests, and would be greatly surprised if what we asked for, would come to us? But if we really desire the things we ask for, we will expect them and will eagerly watch for their coming. Our prayers should be part of our life. They should rule and influence all our living. Always when we pray we should look up, expecting to receive what we have asked for. There are some of our prayers which if answered, will work deep and radical changes in our lives. If we tried seriously to live up to them, we would be rising every day into higher spiritual altitudes. We pray to be made unselfish. Do we mean it! Do we really want to become unselfish? If we put ourselves under discipline, to grow into unselfishness, we would constantly find a restraining hand upon our desires and dispositions, upon our conduct and acts, and would feel in our hearts evermore an impulse toward love and all serving of others. “Love seeks not its own.” It lives for others. It forgets self. “As I have loved you, that you also love one another,” is the Master’s statement of the law of Christian life. We pray to be made unselfish. Dare we let the prayer be answered? It would change many things in our conduct, in our treatment of others. It would set us in new relations to all about us. It would check in us the crafty desire, so common in dealing with men, to get the better of the other man in all transactions, to have the best place. What would happen in our lives if these prayers would he answered? We pray to be made patient. If we are sincere, and then begin to live up to our prayer, what will the effect be? We shall find our tongues checked and restrained again and again, on the very edge of angry outbursts, when about to speak unadvisedly. We shall have our harsh and bitter feelings softened continually, by an irresistible influence toward quietness and gentleness. If our prayer to be made patient were to be answered at once, by one mighty access of grace in our hearts, what a change it would make in us! There is no prayer that most Christians breathe out to God oftener than that they be made like Christ. But if we really wish to be transformed into Christ’s likeness, the desire will burn like a fire in us, cleansing and purifying us, and the new life will become so overmastering in us that it will possess us body and soul, until Christ shall indeed live in us! If while we pray to be made like our Master we live up to our prayer, old things in us will pass away and all things will become new. The prayer will affect every phase of our behavior and conduct. It will hold before us continually the image of Christ and will keep ever full and clear in our vision a new standard of thought, of feeling, of desire, of act and word. It will keep us asking all the while such questions as these: “How would Jesus answer this question about duty? How would Jesus treat this man who has been so unkind to me? What would Jesus do if He were here today, just where I am?” When we pray to be made like our Master, are we truly willing to have all in us that is unlike Him, taken out; and all His beauty now lacking in us, wrought in us! Our Lord has given us some specific and very definite instructions concerning praying and living. For example, He teaches us that if we would have our own sins forgiven, we must forgive those who have sinned against us. The prayer runs, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.” There is no mistaking the meaning of this petition. Each time we sin and make confession, asking God to forgive us it commits us to an act toward others, which we ask God to perform toward us. We solemnly pledge ourselves to show the same mercy to our fellow men, which we beseech God to show to us. Yesterday someone wronged us, injured us, treated us unkindly, did something which stung us, hurt us. Last night we looked back over our day and it was blotted and stained. We prayed God to forgive us all these wrong things. He is very merciful and loves to forgive His children. But after our prayer we still kept in our hearts the bitter feelings toward the man who wronged us yesterday the resentment, the unforgiveness. Jesus tells us very plainly what we should do when praying, if we discover a wrong feeling in our heart, or if in the bright light we remember something we have done that was not right. He is exhorting against anger in any form, telling us in words that should startle us if we are indulging in any harsh feelings against any other that hatred, bitterness, and contempt of others are violations of the commandment, “You shall not kill.” Then He illustrates His meaning by an example: “Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you; leave there your gift before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” When we approach God’s altar a glorious light shines upon us, the light of the divine Presence. If in this intense brightness we remember that today or yesterday we did something to another that was not right, that we were unjust to him, that we wronged or injured him, we should seek to get right with our brother before we go any farther with our worship. In order to do this it may sometimes be necessary for us even to interrupt our devotion and go away and confess what we have done and obtain forgiveness, before we can finish our worship. An old Psalm writer says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear.” So we really cannot go on with our prayer if there are bitter feelings in our heart. We must get these out before we can find an open way to God for ourselves. We must get right with God before we can be right with men. “First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” This might stop the easy flow of our words sometimes, while we go out to get something right which we see in God’s presence to be wrong. But it would save us from some of the mockeries of prayer which now mar our worship. Take another phase of the subject. “In the morning will I order my prayer unto you, and will keep watch.” There are prayers which we cannot finish on our knees. They can be ended only in some field of duty. When the Hebrews were leaving Egypt, they seemed to have been caught in a trap beside the Red Sea. Moses was lying on his face, crying to God for deliverance. The Lord called to him, “Why are you crying unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward.” Clearly, duty, for Moses, that moment, was not to stay on his knees, crying to God for deliverance. He must rise and lead the people forward. There are many illustrations. Your neighbor is in some trouble. You hear of it, and being a believer in prayer, you go to your place of devotion and plead that God would send him the help he needs. But almost certainly, prayer is not the duty of the hour. Rather, it is to rise from your knees and go to your neighbor and with your own hands do for him what he needs to have done. If a friend of yours is taken suddenly ill, or is injured in an accident, your duty probably is not to go to your closet and spend a season in prayer for him but to hasten for a physician. It is our duty to pray always, to take everything to God. But usually prayer is not all our duty. Ofttimes, we must go out to answer our own prayers. There is too much selfish praying praying only for ourselves. Such prayers are not heard. The Lord’s Prayer teaches us that we must include all men in our supplications. Love never ends with ourselves, nor does prayer. We must pray for others, and if we pray for our neighbors, we must go forth to answer their cries for help. While we pray for those in distress, we must open our hand toward those who need. It is the weakness of many people’s prayers that they end with their utterance. We may think we are keeping watch for the answers but we are only idly waiting for God to do what He is waiting for us to do! We ask God to give bread to the hungry and drink to the thirsty, not remembering that the Master will say, “For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in; I was naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not take care of Me.” Prayer for the relief of others in distress must be followed at once by personal ministries of love. We are to pray and then to hasten out, filled with the Spirit, to do the work that needs to be done. Take another phase of the lesson. All praying has for its highest reach, its divinest attainment, perfect submission to the will of God. Every true prayer we make must end with “not my will but Yours, be done.” Many prayers therefore never become prayers, because they never become acquiescent in God’s will. Before we can look up and see the answers coming, we must learn the great lesson of self-surrender. We know not what to pray for as we ought. We do not know what is best for ourselves. Only when we are ready to commit all things that concern us into the hands of God, and let Him order our ways are we sure that they will be well-ordered. When we are ready to pray thus, we are ready to look up and watch for the answer which God will give. Such consecration of the will is the supremest reach of faith and life. When we have come to this point we can always look up and know that the answer will come. Some things we hoped for may not come but if not, then something better will come instead. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingNumbers 34, 35, 36 Numbers 34 -- Borders of Canaan NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Numbers 35 -- Designation of Cities for the Levites and Refuge NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Numbers 36 -- Zelophehad's Daughters Marry NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Mark 10:32-52 Mark 10 -- Divorce; Let the little children; Rich Young Ruler; Jesus Predicts His Death; James and John's Request; Blind Bart NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. |
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