Inspiration & Devotionals :: Homeland Security
14.09 10:00 - Inspiration & Devotionals :: Homeland SecurityAuthor: NewsFeeder
Subject: Homeland Security
Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 4:00 am (GMT -4)
Homeland Security
Margaret Manning
Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, security has become a billion dollar industry. In 2003, the government designated 37.7 billion dollars for homeland security. Indeed, this became the President's top budget priority and remains a priority to this day.(1)
As a result, businesses are cashing in on the security industry. Richard Norton, the executive director of the International Biometric Industry Association, calls the security sector a "gold rush." Businesses are scrambling to corner the security market; new industries are springing up to develop new technology from fingerprint scanners and voice identifiers to biometric identifiers on visas. Three hundred eighty million was spent on visa technology alone in 2003.(2)
Of course, you and I have our own personal safety systems as well. We buy cars with advanced security systems, homes with alarm systems, and computers with both virus protection software and encryption systems to protect us from robbers, identity thieves, and computer hackers! And yet, with all the monies spent on technological development, security systems, and government initiatives, 3,000 people lost their lives on September 11th because of plastic box cutters and domestic airplanes. As Christians we should reflect on safety and security asking, "In whom, or in what, can we put our trust for protection?"
Psalm 46 provides an alternative vision for security by painting a picture of a true and safe homeland found only in God's presence. The psalm was written during or just prior to the exile of the people of Judah to Babylon, while armies were massing against them and invading their homeland. Cities were being sacked and destroyed, and the Temple of Solomon--the preeminent symbol of God's presence among God's people--was razed to the ground. Taken away from their homeland to a land of exile far away from perceived safety and security, the Israelites wondered about this same question: In whom, or in what, can we put our trust for protection?
In light of all the chaos surrounding the days of exile, the writer of this psalm remembers that the real source of security, protection, and solace comes through placing trust in God alone. The psalmist begins, "God is our refuge and our strength who is our ever present help in time of trouble" (Psalm 46:1). The original language here suggests that God is abundantly available to help us in our time of need by providing a safe refuge, or hiding place from the storms of life. The writer argues that God is our refuge and strength, even if cataclysmic events happen on earth to threaten the very foundations of the cosmos. "Therefore, we will not fear though the earth should change, and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake" (Psalm 46:2-3). Whatever the threat, the writer reminds the people, God is their refuge.
Second, the psalmist locates our true home in God. The psalmist describes the city of God--the place of God's presence--as a heavenly city with rivers of joy, where the streets are safe, and the God of the universe is near day and night. "God is in the midst of this city; she will not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns" (Psalm 46:5). This city is our real home, our real place of refuge and security, and nothing in heaven or on earth can violate it! When we find our home in God, we traverse the ups and the downs of our lives, ever in the shelter of God's presence, our secure dwelling place.
Third, the psalmist teaches that since God is in control over the earth, we can cease striving and rest. The psalmist reminds us to rest in the promise that God will be exalted among the nations, and God will be exalted in the earth. As we recognize our true home with God, we reveal the rest and security that inhabits a city-of-God kind-of-life even in the midst of the storm. Our refuge and our strength are with God.
Finally, the psalmist emphasizes God's overarching care by repeating the refrain, "The Lord of Hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our stronghold" (Psalm 46:7). Jacob wrestled with God and had tangible evidence of God's strong hold upon him. God had a hold of Jacob, but Jacob also had a hold on God. The psalmist doesn't want us to miss this powerful image: God has a strong grip on each one of us, a grip so strong that none of the most potent forces unleashed on us can loose that grip. Yet, we too must cling to God for our safety and security. When we place our trust in other things or people, we lose our grip on God. God will wrestle us out of trusting in anything else, in order to reveal our true, homeland security. "Cease striving and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10).
Margaret Manning is associate writer at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia
(1) Statistics cited from CQ Daily Monitor: Agency by Agency Analysis of White House Budget and Policy Proposals, 7 February 2002, vol. 38, no. 15A.
(2) Ibid.
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