Psalm 71:1-7
Introduction
When my family and I moved from our starter home in the Falls to a home here in Stow, we do all the things you do to make a house a home. And chief among them for me is to make the home safe for my family. We got new smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, etc. There was already one of those roll-out window ladders for a second floor bedroom so we went over how to use it. We have a meeting spot at one neighbor’s front porch if ever there was a fire. When I said I wanted to conduct random, middle of the night fire drills complete with simulated smoke from dry ice and water I was vetoed.
From there I’ve continued to add more and more safety features. None of which I am going to mention here lest I tip my hand— but let’s just say I have consulted both a security expert and an expert electrician (shout out to Joe Ott at Ott Electric) who are helping me further secure my home—and more importantly my family. Porch pirates and sundry burglars beware!
Add in, I have recently been tutored by our new Director of Church Relations on how to better secure my identity and my online presence with updated, longer, more secure passwords, and two factor authentications. Did you know using your children’s names with no spaces makes for a bad password?
And why do we do this? To keep those we love safe and secure. It is among the single most important focus we adults make. Safety. Make our homes a fortress. Make our means of travel a fortress with bigger and bigger vehicles. Anyone have a Nissan Armada—cuz that’s what I want. It’s the biggest most bad…as can be vehicles on the road. (I was vetoed on safety idea too.) The methods we take to fortify the means of safety we surround our loved ones with knows no bounds.
Still though, no matter how many cameras we install, no matter how complex our “somewhere between eight and sixteen characters long, complete with at least one capital letter and one number and one symbol” passwords may be, no matter how big our cars get, the truth is it can’t always protect us. Hackers are still breaking into computer systems. Car accidents still result in the unthinkable. And porch pirates still boast our Amazon packages.
For years, we have trusted government to provide national security; law enforcement to provide community security; our medical system to provide health security; and our financial system to provide economic security. But every day there are breakdowns in these systems, resulting in not only loss of money, possessions, identity, and even person—the result is an ever growing sense of never feeling safe and secure—a growing belief that if we aren’t already, sooner or later, we will become victims.
We are learning—dare I say we have learned— to believe we are not safe. Not safe from the wicked, the unjust, the cruel that plagues our world. This was the feeling of the Psalmist who wrote, “Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel”, crying out the same cries we have as we grow in the sense of never being safe and secure. But the psalmist shows us our cries for rescue and safety, our beliefs that we are never safe enough, can in fact subside, and that the fortress we desire is already surrounding us.
Move 1
The writer of Psalm 71 prays, “Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress, to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.”
Now we don’t know what the psalm-writer needs saved from. Were they being chased by enemies and needed to hide; struggling with illness, weakness or age; maybe there were sheep pirates stealing their livelihood but glitter bombs disguised as sheep hadn’t been invented yet. Whatever the case may be, the Psalmist is pleading to God, “… deliver me… rescue me… save me.”
And it is worth noting, he is not seeking any security this world offers. He is instead putting his faith and trust in God to be who God has always been—compassionate, empathetic, loving, while providing rescue from the wicked and being a fortress of refuge.
And so the take away from this text is the reminder that at some point in our lives we all need a rock of refuge; we all need compassion and empathy, we all need love, we all need rescue from the wicked; a strong fortress that cannot be penetrated by criminals, hackers, illnesses, or even porch pirates. That, however, is a hard reminder to believe, let alone trust, because we live under the perpetual message—turned belief— we can never have enough security. But the writer of Psalm 71 not only reminds us, but assures us, rescue from the wicked is not only possible, but available—right here, right now—no installation or password required. And it is more mighty than anything an expert consultant can provide.
Move 2
“In you, O Lord, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame.”
German priest and theologian, Martin Luther, felt the need for such a place of safety and refuge when he sparked the Protestant Reformation. And in response to that need, in 1529, he wrote the familiar hymn, “A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing; our present help amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.”
Words in the English language that are powerful for sure, but the original German is even better. Historian Michael Streich points out that Luther compares God not only to a single standing fortress, but to a stronghold—a “feste burg.” The word “feste” refers a single strong and completely secure tower. But Luther, using the German language, goes further than a single structure when he adds “Burg.” A “burg” was a town. So a “feste burg” would be a heavily fortified town.
Streich explains “When invaders approached a ‘feste burg’ the surrounding populace fled to the safety of the strong, secure, fortified town— that would have layers of walls within walls. They would then be together, united, ready to stand against whatever was coming to do harm.”
So in his hymn, Luther calls God “a mighty fortress”— the most powerful of all “burgs”— strong and secure, where nothing can breach its refuge and security, where all come into the care, compassion, grace, and love of God.
Move 3
So how do we, like the Psalmist in verse six, lean into such refuge? How do we put our faith and trust in God to rescue us from the wicked and be the “feste burg” we need?
To trust God in this way is to concentrate on living according to God’s priorities. It is to know that in these bodies we live, but yes, in these bodies we will also die. However, until such a time, we put our trust and faith in the one who has promised what the Apostle Paul speaks to in his letter to the Romans, that “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Or, in a little more modern vernacular, from the British indie folk band Mumford & Sons, who sing in their song “Awake My Soul”, “In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die. And where you invest your love, you invest your life.
We have learned that safety devices, security systems, and video cameras will separate us from the wicked, unjust, and cruel. We have learned to secure our money and futures through complicated passwords and two factor authentications. We have learned to care for ourselves by seeking out professional care takers. We have learned to build up our homes with safeguards from weather, fire, and porch pirates. All important. All necessary. But not all we can do. And what more can we do? We answer that when we first ask ourselves…
Have we learned how to put into words and actions loving deeds that serve our neighbors with honor and dignity? Have we learned to show clear evidence that we have put our complete trust and security in God? Have we learned to invest as much time and effort in loving our neighbor as we have in securing our homes and Amazon packages?
Where we invest our love, we invest our life.
Conclusion
There are wicked, unjust, and cruel intentions always lurking, and so yes we have to take safety precautions. But we have to remember it’s never just us. Our text implores us to lift our fears to God, and to place our faith not just in technological fixes, but in theological foundations as well.
And when we need a place of refuge, God offers us God’s feste-burg. This stronghold stands as a fortified city with eternally unbreakable walls. It cannot be hacked or broken into, and within it we find rescue. But we often forget that God’s feste-burg … Anyone… everyone… is welcome to come in. No password required. No two factor authentication. No security or background checks of any kind.
Hardly seems like a mighty fortress if just anyone can come in. But the security God offers is about securing our lives to a right way of life—a way of grace, compassion, empathy, and love. For that is who God is, and that is who the Psalmist seeks out as a refuge—the God who is a mighty fortress of love.
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Where we invest our love, we invest our life.
Yes, we love our families, and so we will do what is needed to make them safe. But let’s not stop when we have stopped the porch pirates. Let’s keep investing our love for family by seeking to share love as God shares love—as a mighty fortress where all are welcome to come in and find refuge.
For when we love in such a way, then all will find their way to God’s feste-burg—God’s mighty fortress. Do that and together we make everyone safe and secure. Amen.
Pastoral Prayer, February 6, 2022
Compassionate and loving God, you are our refuge. In your gentle care, we have all we need. When we are fearful, you bring security. When we are lost you show us the way. When we cry out, your Spirit responds. If we walk through the deepest valleys of trouble, disease or sorrow, we are not afraid, for you are with us. Even in the presence of hatred and violence, your peace-filled love takes away hatred and births beloved community.
And if that wasn’t enough, your strength and your awesome presence, your love and your grace always comfort us. Surely then, your goodness and your peace will be with us all of our days, and we will live in your mighty fortress of love forever and ever.
And because we know what you are able to do, we hold before you in prayer our entire world, for truly it is filled with wicked, unjust, and cruel intentions. We pray your mighty ways of compassion and grace and love are shared in ways that bring forth the new and secure life you intend for all.
Help us then to share these gifts and invitations, these ways of right paths, in all that we say and do. Help us to see the opportunities to bring others into your mighty fortress of community and safety. Help us to overcome the wicked, unjust, and cruel intentions with intentional acts of dignity and love.
Gracious God, we thank you for your providential love and grace. We rest in the knowledge that when all seems out of control, you are still God of the universe. When life seems chaotic, we find order in you. When evil appears to have the upper hand, your goodness is not threatened. When violence shakes the foundation of our lives, you still come in peace.
So give us eyes to see beyond what seeks to harm us, and see the ways in which you never stop working to rescue all your children—and how we can be part of that life changing, world changing, work.
Hear now the prayers of our hearts shared in this time of Holy Silence
All this we pray in the name of your son, our Savior, who taught us to pray saying, “Our …”