“For You have been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat; for the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall” (Isa 25:4).
What is the world’s greatest wall? Some years ago, I stood on a section of the Great Wall of China, not far from Beijing. The wall, perhaps 10,000 miles of fortifications, is one of few man-made objects that can be seen with the naked eye from the International Space Station—barely! No, it can’t be seen from the moon. But our verse describes a far greater wall than that!
The Hebrew word for “storm” is the biting blast of a winter gale in contrast to the withering summer heat of the Middle East. Those who grew up in northern climes know the blessing of hiding behind a wall to escape a sleet-pelting frigid wind. Strength for the poor and needy; protection from the heat and cold; a wall of protection when “the terrible ones” beat on us. Lord, be such a wall to your needy people today!