Fortress

"I will love You, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust."  (Psalm 18:1-2 NIV)

I was halted by the word fortress in Psalm 18 the other day.  I've read through it many times, but had never stopped to consider the words, "The LORD is my fortress."  I began looking up pictures of fortresses like the one above and I was just amazed as I pondered the implications of what it truly means for God to be my fortress.  
A fortress is designed to be impenetrable.  Usually set on a cliff or high place, with high walls made of stone, high towers to enable seeing long distances for approaching enemies, usually with one main entrance that is not easily accessible, and the entire fortress is created to not allow ease of access due to its size and location to large groups of people, such as an advancing army.  The walls of a fortress are designed to keep enemies out, but they are also designed to keep those inside the fortress hemmed in.  A fortress is a safe place; a place of refuge from all that may be assaulting the outside walls.  

The Lord is my fortress.
The Lord is your fortress.
Let that sink in...

He is your protection.
He is your fortress of defense.
He is your safe place.
He is your place of refuge.
He is impenetrable.
He sets you in a high place. (Psalm 18:3)
He puts you in the cleft of the rock. ((Psalm 27:5)

Any outside forces have to go through Him to get to you.  In order for any fortress to be effective it is crucial for you to remain inside its walls.  In John 15:4 we read, "Abide in me, and I in you.  As a branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine: no more can you, except you abide in me."  So how does He become our fortress; and how do we stay inside our fortress?  In Psalm 91 we read, "He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High will abide under the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust."  It's a secret place because you cannot see it with your natural eyes, because "we walk by faith, not by sight." (2 Corinthians 5:7) The Lord is my fortress not because I can visibly see Him as a fortress around me, but because I can see Him as a fortress around me by faith. We abide under the shadow of the Almighty, we abide in our fortress, we abide in Him by faith.  These verses require 'saying' and Psalm 18 tells us to 'call on the LORD.'  Saying causes hearing, and "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."  (Romans 10:17)  "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1)  Faith is believing until you see, not seeing until you believe.  The more we see and say the word of God the more we believe it, the more we trust it and trust Him, the more faith we develop to believe for those things that our natural eyes cannot see.  If you don't believe in the Lord, don't believe He is your fortress, your refuge, your rock, then you have no ability to walk in faith, and thus you cannot trust or speak of those realities.  Without faith, without trust, without belief you cannot abide, you cannot remain, you cannot know God as your fortress.  

I don't know about you but I need a fortress, I want a fortress; not one made with hands but one made with faith, one that believes He is my fortress, one that believes and sees that He is:

The fortress of my thoughts. The fortress of my life. The fortress of my relationships. The fortress of my heart. The fortress of my emotions. The fortress of my finances. The fortress of my will. The fortress of my soul. The fortress of my past. The fortress of my present. The fortress of my future. The fortress against attackers such as: words spoken in anger, difficult people and circumstances, offense, evil, fear, guilt, shame, rejection, loss, lies, doubt, insecurities, sickness, disease, death etc.

The Lord is my fortress.  Allow Him to be yours.  Allow Him to take all of those things that are coming against you, all of those things attacking you from without and within.  Allow Him to surround you on every side and to hem you in.  There is no safer place to be.


                                                                            Fortress

Fortress of mercy
Fortress of grace
Fortress of glory
My hiding place

Wall in my thoughts
Wall in my heart
Wall in my life 
with all that You are

Wall out my enemies
Wall out the dark
Wall out everything
that threatens my heart

Keep me my refuge
My fortress of life
Hold me my stronghold
wrap me in light

You are my fortress
The place I abide
Wall me in love
in You I hide

Nothing can touch me
No fear can come nigh
No weapon shall prosper
You are my fortress Most High




Written by Anne Marie Hawke
March 2020

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