Just When I Need Him Most

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"God is our refuge and our strength; a very present help in trouble." (Psalm 46:1).

If you had your choice, which would you pick: 1) to have God's presence with you, or 2) to have God's presence really, really with you? If your smart, you'll choose number two. But, you must realize that by making that choice, you are accepting the fact that there's gonna be trouble.

God is with us always, but He is really, really with us in trouble.

Trouble? What exactly are we talking about here? The Hebrew word means tightness. The kind that is caused by adversity, anguish, distress, or tribulation. It refers to a situation or a time of extreme discomfort, any affliction which comes for many different reasons.

God delivers His people from this condition.

"God is our refuge and our strength; a very present help in trouble." It was this verse that led a tried and harried former Augustinian monk named Martin Luther to pen his famous Reformation hymn, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God." Its message is timeless and its encouragement unceasing.

Jacob built an altar at Bethel to "the God Who answered me in the day of my distress and was with me wherever I went." (Gen.35:3). Job's friend, Eliphaz, assured him that "from one disaster after another He delivers you; no matter what the calamity, the evil can't touch you" (Job 5:19). David tells us that God is "a sanctuary during bad times" (Psalm 9:9).

"Just when I need Him, Jesus is near, just when I falter, just when I fear; ready to help me, ready to cheer, just when I need Him most. Just when I need Him, Jesus is true, never forsaking, all the way through; giving for burdens pleasures anew, just when I need Him most.

"Just when I need Him, Jesus is strong, bearing my burdens all the day long; for all my sorrow giving a song, just when I need Him most. Just when I need Him, He is my all, answering when upon Him I call; tenderly watching lest I should fall, just when I need Him most." (William C. Poole, 1907).

Jesus is there for you -- just when you need Him most.
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