---

Great, indeed, is the honour sustained by the man who fulfils the mission of being a comforter to others, who is enabled to minister to sorrowing and stricken ones, who watches with them in their Gethsemanes, and by his gentle words and tender sympathy imparts consolation to their wounded hearts. "I dwelt as a king in the army; as one that comforteth the mourners (Job 29:25). No service makes a greater demand upon a man than this, yet he has an abundant reward for the self-sacrifice involved, in beholding the objects of his regard no longer in ashes," but raised out of the dust and made comely; no longer with disfigured countenance through grief, but radiant with joy; no longer arrayed in gloom, but clad in the beautiful garments worn on festal days (Isaiah 61:2, 3). Nahum, whilst the minister of condemnation to the Ninevites, was also the minister of consolation to his own people in their sadness and sorrow. Only a few of his words to Israel are recorded, but they are words full of consolation and hope. Here he pointed to God as the Stronghold of his servants. "He is a Stronghold in the day of trouble" (ver. 7). We have here -

I. A COMMON UNIVERSAL EXPERIENCE. "Trouble." Man is born to this. Trials arise; conflicts must be engaged in; the cares and anxieties of life press; hopes are frustrated; injustice triumphs; slander blights; sickness, disease, death, prevail; our best and dearest pass away from our view; graves are opened; the tears fail fast; and immunity from all this is granted to none, each must pass through dark experiences and encounter adverse influences: this is the discipline of life.

"In this vain world the days are not all fair;
To suffer is the work we have to do;
And every one has got a cross to bear,
And every one some secret heart, ache too."

II. A DEEP INWARD NEED ARISING OUT OF THIS EXPERIENCE. It is implied here that man circumstanced thus needs help. He knows not how to bear the ills of life unaided and alone. He who has to face the pitiless storm needs to be robed to resist the stress of adverse weather, and he who has to confront the foe requires to be armour clad. This need of the sorrowing heart cannot be supplied by earthly sources. The world's cheer then comes to the man like songs to a heavy heart, and he has no taste for its music. Scepticism can east no bow of promise across the cloud; whilst human philosophy may counsel the cherishing of the spirit of indifference, but which under the pressure it is impossible to cultivate.

III. THIS NEED AMPLY MET IN GOD. "He is a Stronghold in the day of trouble." The figure is a very striking one. There stands the castle with its thick walls and buttresses and its brave defenders ready to resist any attack. The foes attempt a landing, and the inhabitants, old and young, hasten to the fortress. The drawbridge is lifted, the moat is filled with water, and all are safely lodged in the stronghold, and in the day of visitation are securely guarded and safely kept. Even thus is it with the good in "the day of trouble." So David cried, "Thou hast been a Shelter for me and a Strong Tower from the enemy" (Psalm 61:3, 4). God was his "Light and his Salvation" (Psalm 27:1), his "Pavilion" (Psalm 27:5), the Solace of his every grief as well as the Centre of his every joy. He loved him, he trusted him, he knew that the dearest experience in life is the experience of God's love and care. So Hezekiah and his people when threatened by Sennacherib. The Assyrian army gathered in all its strength around "the city of God," and Jerusalem became as a mountain shaken by the swelling of the sea, portions of which were crumbling and falling through the violence of the waves, and the whole of which seemed ready to be borne entirely away; yet the king and his subjects were calm and tranquil; they committed their cause to "the Strong One," and rested in his protection, and cried with holy fervour, "God is our Refuge and Strength," etc. (Isaiah 36.; 37.; Psalm 46.). And let us only realize that Jehovah is to us a living Presence, the Source of our inspiration, the Strength of our hearts and our abiding Portion, and we shall give to the winds all craven fear, and in our darkest seasons shall sing -

"A sure Stronghold our God is he,
A timely Shield and Weapon;
Our Help he'll be, and. set us free
From every ill can happen.

And were the world with devils filled,
All eager to devour us,
Our souls to fear shall little yield,
They cannot overpower us." S.D.H.

---

---

Parallel Verses

KJV: The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.

WEB: Yahweh is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knows those who take refuge in him.