None Greater By Matthew Barrett预览

Day Six: Does God Change? Immutability

Scripture: James 1:17, 2 Samuel 22:2–3, Psalm 62:2, 7

One of our family’s most memorable vacations was a two-week stay in Wales. My favorite experience has to do with a site well off the beaten path in Pembrokeshire. Sandwiched between two giant rocks, sitting halfway down a threatening limestone cliff, rests a chapel built into the cleft of the rock. The chapel is named after Saint Govan, a sixth-century monk. As one legend has it, the monk was on the run from pirates when the cliff swallowed him up into safety until the pirates passed by.

Not only did it hide him from plain sight, but it protected him from the winds and waves of the sea, which would have crushed any pirate ship that dared approach. Never would Saint Govan have simultaneously felt so afraid and yet so safe. And here I was, hundreds of years later, as the same rock secured my footing.

The imagery of a rock conveys many things, but most vividly of all is its immutable nature. Wars come and go, countries rise and fall, and all the world changes from one century to the next. But not the rock. It is not thwarted, it does not vacillate. It is the same yesterday, today, and forever. In a small way, that rock is like God; He does not change. Come what may, this God remains the same. He is firm and secure, always there, never fluctuating, incapable of defeat, and forever steadfast as a fortress to those in trouble.

In Psalm 62, David also sees an inseparable connection between God’s character and real life. “Rock” even is used as a proper name for God, as David begins and ends his prayers, exclaiming, “O LORD, my rock and my redeemer” (Psalm 19:14). God’s immutable essence is the very foundation of David’s trust in God for salvation, both physical and spiritual. If God is not unchanging, like a rock, then He cannot act as David’s fortress in times of turmoil. But if God is a God who does not change, then David has every reassurance that he can run to God when the whole earth has given way under his feet.

In what ways does God serve as your Rock—a safety, fortress, and protection? How does God’s immutability invite you to tether yourself to Him, as the One who is faithful and unchanging?