Refuge (Psalm 71:1-8)

¹ In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
² In your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me;
turn your ear to me and save me.
³ Be my rock of refuge,
to which I can always go;
give the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
⁴ Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of those who are evil and cruel.

⁵ For you have been my hope, Sovereign Lord,
my confidence since my youth.
⁶ From birth I have relied on you;
you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.
I will ever praise you.
⁷ I have become a sign to many;
you are my strong refuge.
⁸ My mouth is filled with your praise,
declaring your splendor all day long.

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The word that stands out to me in this passage is “refuge.”  God is a rock of refuge (verse 3), a strong refuge (verse 7) and in God the psalmist has taken refuge (verse 1).  A refuge is a place of safety, a secure location from which one is protected from all that would threaten and harm.

And so I am meditating on the Lord as refuge this morning.  Do I take to heart what a blessing this is?  The psalmist focuses on the Lord as a refuge from the threats of the wicked.  But I’m also thinking about the Lord as a refuge from worry and from fear.  When I take to heart, for instance, Jesus’ incredible promises of provision in Matthew 6:33, then the Lord becomes for me a refuge protecting me from worry and want.  When I meditate on the promise of the Lord’s presence in hard times in Psalm 23:4, then the Lord is a refuge in the face of fear.  In these days of COVID and all the related current troubles, the image of the Lord as our refuge is an especially appropriate and comforting one.

And so I am praying in thanksgiving this morning for the peace that I have because of my refuge.  I am praying that the Holy Spirit keep my faith firm and constant, that I may walk today in the peace and the hope that my Refuge wants me to have in him.

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