I am preaching through the Palms of Ascent and just finished Psalm 125 which reminds us of where true security lies. "Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion which cannot be moved, but abides forever." It seems that the burning question of the Psalmist is does it really pay to trust the LORD.

The life that stands as a living testimony that it really does pay to trust the LORD is the life of St. Patrick. Today is his day - March 17, 2009. The below piece from James Montgomery Boice on Patrick's life has spurred me on to take greater risks in serving my LORD given how incredibly secure we are!

Boice writes: "Patrick brought the gospel to the pagan land of what is now known as Ireland.  Irish pirates kidnapped him in England when he was only sixteen years old. He worked as a slave for six years. He escaped and returned to his family.  But the Lord did something very unexpected with Patrick. God led him to return to Ireland as a missionary.

What a task Patrick faced! Behind him lay the collapsed wreck of the Roman empire. Before him were the fierce, wild natives of Ireland. He had no outward security, but he persevered in his calling. He died at the age of seventy-six. In thirty years of ministry, He was used of the Lord to single-handedly change Ireland. Thomas Cahill reports, “As the Roman lands went from peace to chaos, the land of Ireland was rushing even more rapidly from chaos to peace. Instead of viewing the collapse of his own culture as an unmitigated tragedy, Patrick seized it as an unprecedented opportunity to declare the gospel.

Where did Patrick find such strength for such a daunting task? He gives his answer in a surviving prayer known as St. Patrick’s Breastplate.

I arise today through God’s strength to pilot me: God’s might to uphold me; God’s wisdom to guide me; God eye to look before me; God’s way to lie before me. God’s shield to protect me, God’s host to save me from snares of devils, from temptations of vices, from everyone who shall wish me ill…

Christ to shield me today against poison, against burning, against drowning, against wounding. Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me. Christ in me, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise… I arise today through a mighty strength…"

That is true security – the security we need in 2009. It is the same security given to the people of God throughout the ages so that we can be like Mount Zion which cannot be shaken but endures forever.