Thursday, December 12

SOMEONE IS A REFUGE: A TIME TO TRUST

Psalm 91

     We have seen over the last week that the One and only God, without fail, provides the way to preserve His truth in His people, defends His Holy Word through His people, and  rescues His people from unrighteousness and delivers them into His holiness.  How can we then not “say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust”?

     Trust!  Trust, as you might imagine, means to be sure, to be confident, to be secure.  But, this confidence, this security, is not self-willed, but is a confidence and a security that is reflexive – a response to something.  A hurrying and a hastening to trust as a response to seeing God as a place of refuge.   A place to flee to for protection, a place of having hope, a place of shelter.   “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man,” says the book of Psalms.  Isaiah says, “The man who makes Me his refuge, will inherit the land and possess My holy mountain.” Donald Stamps writes, “The secret for receiving God’s protective care is a heart that is intimately attached to the Lord in gratitude and affection.”  To be intimately attached to the Lord means to know His innermost character. 

     This place of refuge also refers to a “safe conduct pass or passport.”  God has provided this “passport” through Jesus Christ, the only Son of God.  Jesus shields His own from injury, danger, and loss.  He guards and defends His Holy Truth.  “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust.”

     We can trust after we submit to and abide in Jesus.  We can trust in the hope that He offers.  We can trust when we recognize the Lord Jesus as a refuge.  He is the only One who has the power to avoid danger, who has the authority to escape danger, and who has won victory over the danger – of sin.  If we are not in His protection, we are in a dangerous place – of sin.

     Have you ever said, “I will trust God” without Him as your refuge?  I have.  The question then becomes, moment by moment, to where do I flee?  To His protection or from His protection?  Do I take refuge and abide in His Holiness or separate from Him and shun His Holiness? 

     Those who know your name will trust in You, for You have never forsaken those who seek you.  This is a trustworthy saying.   “Because he loves me”, says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges My name.”

Merry Christmas with love,

~ Cheryl Helgert