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Shaky Foundations and Solid Rock

It is in utter dismay that the Psalmist asks, “When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Psalm 11:3) This question has the answer implied in it: there is not much a person can do when the foundations are destroyed!

Foundation is basis of the existence, like a building rests on its firm foundation. A building cannot be hung from thin air! Human life also has many such foundations on which it stands. Good health is a firm foundation. When the health of the breadwinner is affected the family begins to feel the shake and eventual fall. Financial security is certainly an important foundation. I once met a man in his late sixties who lost all his money when the investment company where he invested all his retirement savings collapsed. He did not know what to do for the rest of his life. All that he has saved for the future is gone and he is too old to work.

The factors that shake the foundations are many, but they shake foundations across the board. The foundations of those who love God (the righteous) as well as that of who hate God may also be shaken. The Bible does not teach that there is no suffering for God’s people.

Though the Psalmist presented the question as if it has no answer he does have an answer to his problem. He looks down to see that his foundations are being shaken and in the process of being destroyed. However, he also looks up to heaven to see another firm foundation, which is the throne of God (Psalms 11:4). God’s throne never shaken and will never be destroyed.

Foundations will be shaken and will be destroyed. However, a believer who has made God his foundation and if his security rests on the eternal throne of God never feel the shake when he passes through struggles in life. It is the rule of God in our lives that gives stability to our lives. That is what made the hymn writer sing, “On Christ the solid Rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand; All other ground is sinking sand.” (Edward Mote, around 1834).

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