Thematic Bible: Facing challenges, climbing mountains at BibleSearch.org

Facing challenges, climbing mountains shown in American Standard Version

Tough challenges are like mountains. They’re HUGE! And when challenges tower over us, we can easily feel tiny and be overwhelmed by it all. When challenges bring us down and the future looks uncertain, look to God.

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Ps 27:1

1 Jehovah is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? Jehovah is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?

Ps 27:3-5

3 Though a host should encamp against me, My heart shall not fear: Though war should rise against me, Even then will I be confident.

4 One thing have I asked of Jehovah, that will I seek after; That I may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of Jehovah, And to inquire in his temple.

5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me secretly in his pavilion: In the covert of his tabernacle will he hide me; He will lift me up upon a rock.

The psalmist declares his confidence over the situation, even though it seems like a lost cause. He is surrounded by a whole army, and the odds are against him. Yet he throws out the stronghold that fear has on him, and let’s God take that centerpiece in his life. He focuses on God, and asks for shelter in his temple. Unlike Peter, who looked at the storm around him when trying to walk on water, the psalmist has his eyes firmly fixed on Christ, and the confidence that exudes from him comes from the knowledge that God would guide him through the stormy seas, no matter what.

Ps 42:5

5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise him the help of his countenance.

Ps 42:8

8 Jehovah will command his lovingkindness in the day-time; And in the night his song shall be with me, a prayer unto the God of my life.

Ps 46:1-3

1 God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.

2 Therefore will we not fear, though the earth do change, And though the mountains be shaken into the heart of the seas;

3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, Though the mountains tremble with the swelling thereof.

When failures come, and time is crucial, where can we place our hope? In our work? Our friends? What about God? If God can love us unchangingly and be beside us day and night, can’t we trust Him to take care of everything? When we need advice, why not seek it from someone who has the ability to see above what we can see? Do we refuse to ask for refuge and help because we don’t believe God is real? Or is it because we feel that we can do it better?