Psalm 91:2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”How often do you mention God in the course of a day? When the conversation turns toward Him what do you say? What would you say if given the chance? Let’s look to the Psalmist as a guide as to what to say the next time it comes up.
Look at the first thing he says,He is my refuge, and because I’m all about the definitions:
ref•ugeI especially like the etymology of a “place to flee back to”. If we continue in the thought of the last post about God being the place that we live it also seems fitting to think of Him as the place that we return to when we are threatened.
noun
1. shelter or protection: a sheltered or protected state safe from something threatening, harmful, or unpleasant
2. sheltering place: a place, or sometimes a person, offering protection or safe shelter from something
[14th century. Via Old French from Latin refugium, literally “place to flee back to,” ultimately from fugere “to flee” (source of English FUGITIVE).]
Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
What does it mean for God to be our place of refuge? Does it mean that we will not suffer harm as a Christian? Look at the examples from our Bible; several of the prophets in the O.T. were murdered, David was pursued by an insane king, Samson died in a building collapse, Stephen was stoned, etc. Doesn’t sound like a very “safe” place to be, does it? To quote Obi-Wan ,”It all depends on your point of view”.
What enabled these people in history to stand for God no matter what the outcome? They all had the Holy Spirit whispering in their ear that their enemies may be able to kill the body but God would preserve their soul. Look at this stanza from A Mighty Fortess Is Our God by Martin Luther:
That word above all earthly pow’rs,It is upon the heavenly that we must focus. Go and read the back half of Romans 8 and see what can separate us from the Father - nothing (yes I’ve sent you there before and I’ll probably send you there several more times). When we understand that God is our refuge we know that there is nothing anyone can do to separate us from Him. The worst thing that can happen to us is that we die but to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
No thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours
Thro’ Him who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go,
This mortal life also;
The body they may kill:
God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.
He goes on to call God a fortress, an impregnable place, a place that armies could not bring down, a place of security where you cannot be harmed. Isn’t it comforting to think of Him in that way.
But I’d be selling you short today if all I left you with is the thought of God being a place of refuge and safety. Look at what is dancing around in our verse today that you may just miss if you don’t look close. It’s a small word but it means so much – the word my. The psalmist says God is “my refuge”, “my fortress”, “my God”. He is his! Do you understand how wonderful that thought is?
It would be enough if we were to be simply included in the corporate protection of God wouldn’t it? Simply to have the blessings of being “one of His children” or “a part of the kingdom” should be enough for any of us. But we can claim God as ours! How much more precious is something to you when you refer to it as “mine”? Doesn’t that put it in a different realm? Doesn’t it carry much more weight when we claim that personal tie?
Look at how the psalmist closes – “in Him I will trust”. That’s pretty dogmatic isn’t it? No wavering there at all. He simply is going to trust in God. He knows that God is above everything, he knows that God can protect him from those that seek to destroy him and he knows that God is his. Why wouldn’t he trust Him? I hope we catch a little bit of that as we walk with Him. Trust God – he loves you and will ultimately preserve you.
God is yours! The next time that someone asks you about Him I hope the conversation starts with “My God is…”
Grace and peace to you all...
2 comments:
Hey all you fellow bloggers/readers, what do you think is worse, to have seen God or a minfestation of Him like in the old days (Old Testament) and then be waiting day after day for the next glimse / encounter with Him (is this day? rats no, maybe tomorrow) or what we have today - yes we know Him with our minds and experience Him in a way with our hearts but only abstract encounters? I'm curious what you think......
In John 14:16-26 Jesus describes the ministry of the H.S. and based on what is there I would say we have it better. God is with us all of the time. We do not need the visible manifestations of the O.T. because He is with us always. Based on the ground we've covered in these last two Psalms I'd say the "trick" is to understand that we are always in His presence and therefore do not simply have abstract encounters with Him. I would argue that if we look we will realize that we experience Him in a very tangible way throughout the day.
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