I have been anticipating this time of study with you and looking forward to our gathering (it might be cyber but I know our connections are real). We will continue reading and focusing on the idea of refuge. We will dissect a few verses on the subject (all three in the book of Psalms... 9:9, 46:1, and 91:9-10). We will cover the other three verses in the next post. So let's get going...
Dear God, Good morning! We are eager and excited to study Your Word again today. I am looking forward to what new lessons and meanings You are going to reveal to us! For me, it's been a crazy week but I thank You for being a part of it and guiding me through all of it. I ask that Your Spirit will guide us in this study of refuge - a subject that many verses and sayings have pointed to and referred to in my week alone. You reaffirm this study to me!!! Let Your Words imprint on our hearts and stir us to love You deeper and serve You more with willingness and eagerness! Amen.
So a few weeks ago I felt a huge tug in my heart to study refuge - the physical, the spiritual, the emotional meaning to this word. It is found all throughout the Psalms. It is used in other books to describe locations where people could go in the Kingdom of Israel (Cities of Refuge). In Hebrew, the word refuge is machaseh (makh-as-eh') and occurs about 20 times in the Bible, according to Strong's Concordance. Other sites mention it being used in the Bible more than that. Either way, the depth of the meaning of this word intrigues me! Hope, shelter, trust!
I recently dealt with a situation involving a student bouncing from our school to two other schools and then returning to my classroom all within one week. The inconsistencies in his home life are not of his doing - he is a child!! But it broke my heart... my heart cried for him (I cried for him)! I remember how upon his return to our school he turned the corner to head to my classroom and both of our faces just lit up! The moment he walked in to my classroom, I hugged him long and hard and told him how excited I was to have him back with us!! He told me he had been thinking of us and wanting to be here, not in another classroom or with another teacher. I knew that to the best of my abilities I would provide him consistency at school. I would keep him safe. I would have the best of intentions for him. Even when he might want to just play and mess around, I would still do what was best for him since I know his educational (and emotional) needs. And I am only his teacher!!!!!!! How much deeper and stronger are our Father's feelings and intentions for us. I can guarantee you the hug that I feel like sending up to my Father is as tight, if not tighter, than the one this little kiddo gave to me on his return. And the squeeze that my Father "sends down" to me is more consuming than the one I could muster up for this child. Oh, the refuge of safety and love our Father consistently provides in our times of need for comfort and security.
Psalm 9:9 states "The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble." Although some folks have been told, and believe, that Christians are promised a good, happy-filled, fluffy life, that is not biblical. What is biblical is that God's people will have hard times and be oppressed. That might not sound too peachy but it's the truth. On the flip side of that though, we can flee to Him and faithfully know that no REAL harm will be done. I'm not saying we won't get boo-boos on our elbows, scrapes on our knees, and knocks to our egos. But when I say real I am relating that to the spiritual and eternal. My God has promised protection in that. This gives believers a "sweet satisfaction and repose of the mind." (Matthew Henry's commentary of Psalm 9:1-10) THAT is what I will cling to, knowing how this relates to "real harm".
So then that brings us to Psalm 46:1 and 91:9-10. I jump to these two because of what they state and have in common with the above verse.
Psalm 46:1 - God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Here we hear refuge and strength used together. To know that we not only have a shelter of protection but a STRONG shelter is even more awesome! Think about it - the THREE LITTLE PIGS!! The Big Bad Wolf destroyed the first two shelters (aka refuges)! But he couldn't conquer the third. I give credit to the little piggy that built it because he knew what to use as building materials. The other little piggies might have had to swallow their ego to run to his house (or they had really just ran out of options...). But they ran to the most promising structure, one that would offer refuge in their troubled times. Hear me out though ya'll... don't seek vacations outside of this refuge! Who doesn't like a nice getaway vacation?!?! In our relationship with God, we shouldn't take those vacations away from His promised shelter. Stay in His protection. For the enemy is always prowling around. He doesn't work 8-5 and then honor the Sabbath. So flee to the Father and be secure. One final thought on this verse: it states He is a very PRESENT help. This is a promise to us that we won't have to seek His whereabouts: no GPS directions we will have to follow, get frustrated with, and give up. NO! He is present. He is near. Though Big Jake is not sitting at my very side while I type this, he is near. If I needed him, he'd be right by my side. Even if he was at the store, he'd be "present" in the sense of a phone call away and a quick drive down the street. I may not be physically present to my amazing girlfriends, but I am present in their lives (or at least try to be). How much greater presence our Father in Heaven offers us as our refuge and strength!!! We will never find anything comparable in all of creation.
Psalm 91:9-10 - Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place - the Most High, who is my refuge- no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent. There is a discussion whether this chapter (91) was penned by Moses or David. Matthew Henry seems to lean more towards David, who possibly wrote this during the time of his "punishment" following the census (2 Samuel 24:1). Back story: David had been provoked by Satan to sin (nothing new there) which offended God. David counted his men to know his army's size - offering him a reason to boast of his greatness, taking the focus off of God. As a military wife, I was introduced to this chapter as the Soldier's prayer (Marine's... Airman's... Seaman's... Troop's... whatever!!!) It is full of great promises, guaranteed to all His people. In this chapter, David speaks to us about making God our habitation. And, good news! There's room for all of us in His mansion!!! Because, let's be serious... I don't care HOW loving you are, in a cramped space we are all going to get crabby!! But back on focus... we are told no real evil will fall upon us though we will experience troubles. I read this great part of the commentary by Matthew Henry: ...at times it (life) may be grievous, not joyous... but no evil will befall you... there is a mixture of good in it and a product of good by it... not only the person, but the dwelling shall be taken under divine protection. I love how it says "No evil shall be allowed...". I think of Gandalf and his staff: "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!!"
How much greater is my God who stands as my protector and shelters me from evil, rearing His mighty hand and outstretched arm, commanding no evil to fall on His people. Now that's an awesome visual!! Get on it, Hollywood! Make this amazing scene using your high-tech visual effects! *but don't ruin it
I think of this house that surrounds me. Inside I am dry, warm, and safe. It is spacious. It is clean (uh, ok... it's "tidy"). But it has marks, nail holes, and scratched floors. Termites might make their home in the walls someday. And the wind might push through some of the lifted seals over time. And, yikes! A cracked foundation if it ever came to that. But in my God I find a perfect refuge. He covers me from the storms of this worldly life - I might get sprinkled on or shaken from the thunder but no real danger will come of it. His walls will not be corroded, His foundation will not be shaken. So in His refuge is where I find myself. And if there is a day when I don't find myself in His security (and in all honesty there has been that "day"), I know I can (re)turn to my Maker and He will offer me vacancy in His spacious mansion with an extended-stay promise. Won't you join me in His refuge? And let's invite a friend while we are at it!
Dear God, this time with You has been awesome! Thank You for flooding my mind with reflections and knowledge. How great it feels to apply Your truths to my life - to my decisions. God, as unclear as this posting might have seemed at times, Lord I ask that its focus and intentions are made clear to the readers and it glorifies You. My thoughts and understandings can get all tangled up so I ask they are made perfect and clear in You. Lord, I pray I have given way to Your Spirit and not of my desires. I walk away from this post with an excited spirit, just reaffirmed in what all You offer us as Your adopted sons and daughters! Thank you God for Your blessings and provisions. I ask that we remain in You and are guided by You in our lives. And that we arrive not at the unsteady tents of this world but at the fully protected shelter of the Lord. Amen.
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