God is Our Unshakeable Rock and Strong Foundation

Whether they be the soft, misty hills of the Smoky Mountains or the towering peaks of the Rockies, a mountain has always lifted my spirits. Even now, I can sit at the base of a glacier-scarred peak, and I can feel dizzy with amazement at what it does to my soul.

I wonder if that’s how David felt when he wrote Psalm 61, “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” Or when he was in the foothills of Mount Hermon, I wonder if he sang Psalm 121, “I look to the hills; from where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.”

When you look through the Bible, there are hundreds of references to mountains. Moses got the law on Mt. Sinai. Abraham sacrificed on Mount Moriah. Blessings flowed from Mount Gerizim. Jesus was transfigured on one mountain, crucified on another, and finally ascended on yet another mountain. God certainly makes a big deal about lofty peaks.

Is it to show himself to be like a rock, eternal and unshakeable? God is strong, high, and lifted up; we are but a wisp, a fading vapor, here for an instant and then, gone forever.

God is like Mount Zion, solid and secure. We are weak, lowly, and powerless. Everything that he is, we are not.

So why does God confront us in scripture with vista after vista of his might and splendor? It is not so we feel crushed under his strength, but that we’ll recognize our total and desperate need of him.

It is these thoughts about great mountains that inspired me to paint a watercolor and pastel pencil rendering I call “Mountain Majesty.” When I penciled in the composition, I pulled from one photo to compose the basic design, but mostly, I painted things that were in my heart, things I remembered from all the mountains I have studied.

I had fun shaping a series of small and large triangles that, with careful shading, became the snow-capped peaks. I created a wide middle distance with a fog bank to push the mountains further away, making them appear as though they loom even higher than they would otherwise. Even the few trees in the foreground, so dark and undetailed, were meant to make the viewer focus up on the mountain scene.

“Mountain Majesty” reminds me that God intends to be our range of mighty mountains. He is our strong, high rock in whom we can find refuge. 

And so I pray, Yes, Lord, lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

-Joni Eareckson Tada