You don’t have to be alive for very long before you understand that this is an often difficult and troubling world that we live in. Even with the evidence all around us, it is funny to me how many Christian teachers gloss over this fact and pretend that the skies are blue and bright all the time. We know better, and apparently, so does Paul David Tripp, author of a wonderful new book called, A SHELTER IN THE TIME OF STORM. The reason Tripp (a pastor at Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia) addresses the storms of life is because the Bible does. In particular, Psalm 27, which is the subject of the entire book, is a heartfelt response to God amidst the difficulties the writer is experiencing.
The book is divided into 52 separate meditations which are based on a verse, a passage, or a word or two from that one Psalm. One of the more interesting aspects of this is Tripp’s approach. He doesn’t write from the position of a teacher or a theologian who is expositing the verses (though for sure, the meaning of the Psalm is brought to light throughout), but as a human who has learned a thing or two in the midst of struggles and has found a source of help to share with others in the journey.
Tripp himself explains that his approach to the Psalm in this book is like a wood butcher who cuts into a log, looking for boards with an interesting or exquisite grain. He then cuts them out and assembles them intentionally to help others see their individual and collective beauty. The result fits his goal, and is very interesting to read. There are several chapters that are the author’s poetry expressing some heartfelt insight and emotion which reveal an empathy to the Psalmist’s plight which can only be explained by experience. Sometimes I felt challenged directly (What am I grabbing for when times get tough?). Other times I felt a sense of clarity (What does it mean to “wait for the Lord” anyway?). The many stories of real people peppered throughout the book were not only welcome, but it helped to emphasize that the truths contained in the Psalm are needed now as much as ever (and are not just some intellectual exercise). Throughout the read I got a very real sense that we share the storms together, and that somehow there is a strange beauty to be found in the brokenness. Love seems to show its true nature in times of difficulty.
The subtitle of the book is Meditations on God and Trouble, though I think the subtitle could’ve easily been something about hope, because that is the real theme that runs throughout the book. Even by acknowledging that the world is troubling, as God does clearly in Psalm 27, we acknowledge our desire for things to be made right. This book acknowledges the tension of living in a world that is messed up yet still not forsaken. It offers some guidance on how to live there by helping your eyes notice and focus on some of the light poking through behind the very dark clouds that can gather in our lives, knowing that the light is what will remain after all.
Reviewed by Matt Milligan
