A STRONG HABITATION

 

3 Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress. Psalms 71:3 (KJV)

 

            From our dining room table, I was looking out at the back yard one morning.  A squirrel was making his way from the woods to one of two oak trees near the rear of our house.  The little rodent would run, then stop and stand still as a statue, then take off again until he completed his journey to the oak tree.  Arriving at the oak, he could become virtually invisible.  He probably felt quite safe in this tree for it had many branches and plenty of leaves in which he could hide.  The tree was large and strong.  For the squirrel, this could be a safe and strong habitation.

            I well remember in nineteen ninety, when we were trying to get grass started in the back yard, I found a little oak sprout about eight to ten inches high with two leaves on it in the middle of the yard.  There was a great temptation to run over it and get on with mowing the grass, but I rather decided to save it.  Twenty-three years later it is twenty-five or thirty feet tall and has become a strong habitation for birds, squirrels and insects. 

            For the first few years I took special pains to protect the tree because it was not strong at all.  It could have been easily destroyed by the lawn mower or the tire of almost any vehicle.

Wind might have broken it or rain may have drowned it.  Now the lawn mower would not hurt it but rather it would hurt a lawn mower.  It would take a large machine to move this tree at all.  It is a strong habitation.

            God is my strong habitation.  Unlike the oak tree, He did not become this strong habitation or grow into it; rather He is, has been, and always will be a strong habitation.  The Psalmist calls Him his rock and fortress.  He also used these words in his description of his habitation, “whereunto I may continually resort,” it was a place that was always there for him.  I need that, don’t you? 

I’ve taken notice that my little rodent friend makes numerous trips every day to his strong habitation.  I have a strong habitation in My Lord that is always available to me.  May I resort to this blessed place in my Lord and not just visit, but dwell therein.

 

 

Yours in Christ,

 

Brother Randy Burtram