Overlooking the town of Squamish, British Columbia, is a huge rock, an ­enormous granite monolith called Stawa­mus Chief. At its tallest point, the Chief is over 700 meters (765 yards) above sea level. If you can handle a rugged hike, you can climb it and take in spectacular views of the valley below. It is also an important place for the Indigenous people who live here because it reminds them of the Creator, even if they don’t know him fully.

When we pray with the psalmist, “God is my Rock, in whom I take refuge,” we aren’t using an image of a small polished rock that we can put in our pocket. We are also not thinking of the rock as cold, hard, and unfeeling.

Instead we are thinking of other characteristics, such as protection, shelter, and solid reliability. In the Bible, God has revealed himself to be faithful, dependable, and strong. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. God has unparalleled majesty, power, and endurance. There is no one like him.

This is why, for any reason, we can hide ourselves in the cleft of our chief, our protector, our God—our Rock—and he will provide shelter for us. He will keep us safe from the storm.