O Lord, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in the day of trouble, to you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth and say: “Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, worthless things in which there is no profit. Can man make for himself gods? Such are not gods!”
– Jeremiah 16:19–20
Oh, see the contrast here and the declaration of faith and the urgency of mission. All in these two short verses, as Jeremiah looks to God and says, “Oh Lord.” I love these descriptors, these phrases, “My strength, and my stronghold, my refuge in the day of trouble.”
Jeremiah 16:19–20 teaches us to look to God as our strength.
I want to just encourage you today, look to God as your strength amidst whatever you are walking through in your life. Lift your eyes to heaven and see that God is your strength and your stronghold. He’s the one who surrounds you, who protects you, who is committed to providing for you, and he is your refuge in the day of trouble.
When you walk through trial with temptation, God is a refuge for you around you. He is your strength and your stronghold, your refuge in the day of trouble. That alone would be enough for us to just praise God and pray for these things in our lives. But then listen to what Jeremiah says next. He says, “To you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth and say…” What will all the nations eventually come and say to God? “Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, worthless things in which there is no profit.”
Jeremiah 16:19–20 reminds us our God is the only source of true security.
And this is a reference to false gods who have spread in the world, claiming to provide strength and protection and provision and security and refuge when those Gods little G Gods cannot do that. They’re not God. And when you think about in our lives all the things that we might be tempted to look to, money, success, relationship with this or that person’s achievement or the list goes on and on and on, and not just in our lives but all around the world.
Things in this world that promise to help you, sustain you, satisfy you, but cannot do what only God can do, which means all of us who know the Lord as our strength and our stronghold and our refuge in the day of trouble, let’s spread the good news about our God, the one and only true God to all the nations starting with our neighbors right around us. So we pray, oh God, you are our strength and our stronghold.
This verse reminds us the desperate condition of those without God.
God, we are weak in and of ourselves. We need your strength. You are God. We are not. Lord, we need your provision. We need your protection. We need your grace, your mercy, and your power at work in our lives, oh God, especially when we walk through trials and temptations. You are our refuge. And God, we praise you for being all these things for us. God, we praise you for your strength in working on our behalf and for being a stronghold for us.
We praise you for being a refuge for us in the day of trouble and not just for us. God, you’re the only refuge for the nations to trust in God. We pray for nations people, and groups around the world that have inherited lies. We pray for them every day on this podcast. God, we pray for thousands of people, groups, and nations that are worshiping false gods in different ways.
God, we pray that you would draw them to see you are the Lord. You are the source of strength and refuge for them. Ultimately salvation from sin and death. God, we pray that you would draw the nations to know you.
Prayer for the Yahudic Jewish People
We pray specifically today for Yahudic Jews. Jewish men and women who once lived in Iraq, now live back in Israel. This small group of Jewish people, about a hundred thousand of them. God, you know them.
You love them. God, please draw them to trust in Jesus as their strength and stronghold and their refuge in the day of trouble. And God, help us we pray, to spread the good news of who you are as the one true God to people around us today in our neighborhoods who are believing lies about where trust, hope, happiness, joy, peace, and life are found. God, we pray you’d help us to point people lovingly, boldly, and humbly to you as the strength and the stronghold, the refuge in the day of trouble that every one of our souls needs all glory be to your name. We praise you in light of JJeremiah 16:19–20. In Jesus name, amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
