There are many wonderful and reassuring verse in the Bible that
tell me God wants to be my refuge and strength.
I especially like the ones that talk about His wings and our ability to
crawl up under His wings, when the alligators are on the move. By far my favorite is the very well-known
Psalm of David “The Shepherd Psalm.
When most talk about refuge they refer to Psalm 46 or 91 but
David’s words, “Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with
me. Your rod and Your staff they comfort
me; You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies” (verse.
4-5) are also neat promises for us. I
think because I tend to be a rod and staff person that I am comfortable knowing
His rod and staff, they comfort me.
Hey Gang: the Lord
has promised that when the alligators begin to come out of the swamp and nip at
your heels, when you face persistent, ever present evil – God Himself will be
your ‘ever present help”. David wrote, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble”. Ever present, meaning He is always there,
always available, with unlimited access.
And that you can take to the bank!
And, if He is ever present, He wants ever present
conversation with His children. One of
the blasphemies that is gaining momentum in our day and age is, ‘There is no
God’, therefore He is not talking to His creation. David felt that way when he cried out, “Why do You stands afar off O Lord? Why do You hide Yourself in times of
trouble? But later he declared, “The
Lord is King forever and ever….You have heard the desire of the humble and you
will; strengthen their heart” (Psa.
10:1).
The enemy wants us to think that God has allowed Satan to
grow in power and influences, but that He hasn’t equipped His own people with
greater authority. Truth:
“When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall
lift up a standard against him” (Isaiah 59:19). John, the beloved, wrote these powerful
words, “Greater is He that is in you
than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
But we are often like a lamp that is not plugged in. If we do not
appropriate that power we become like tingling brass.
It is neat to know this verse from Isaiah actually refers to
the flag-bearer who rode ahead of Israel’s army. The Lord always led His people into battle
behind His own mighty standard. It is
the same today. God has a glorious army
of heavenly hosts who ride forth under His banner, ready to execute His battle
plans on our behalf. Does that get your
thumper thumping?
So my friends and neighbors, is God truly your refuge and
strength? This you can count on, the
closer you walk with God the angrier Satan gets, and you can count on his using
you as a dart board. As I have gained in
maturity, I have learned that we need to put on God’s armor (Ephesians 6) and
have a constant input of the promises that God has given to His children -that
He will never leave us or forsake us and will be ever present when the
rubber-hits-the-road.
King David is one of my favorite characters in the
Bible. Partly because he was a man after
God’s own heart. I have always prayed
that I would be a man after God’s heart.
But also because David made mistakes along the path. Hey gang, his Bathsheba and Uriah escapade
rated off God’s ‘Richter Scale’, but
after being confronted by Nathan for his sin, he cried out “I have sinned against the Lord” (2 Sam.
12:13).
When you read the whole story of David, you can see clearly
that God was David’s refuge and strength.
In 2 Samuel 22 we find David’s Psalm of Deliverance. I would like to copy it all here- because I
fear some of you will not take the time to get alone and read it. So I will pick and choose several of what I
would call the most powerful words of his song.
he wrote: “Words of
this song to the Lord in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of
all his enemies and from the hand of Saul” (Verse 1). “The
Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer’; the shield and the horn of
my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge;
My Savior, You save me from violence.” (vs. 2-3). “In my distress I called upon he Lord, Yes, I
cried to my God” (v. 7).
Later in the same chapter David listed some of the fringe
package that God provided because of his repentant heart and obedience: First it let it be known “…that God rewarded him because of his righteousness according to the
cleanness of his hands, For he had kept the ways of the Lord, and had not acted
wickedly against my God” (vs. 21-22).
He gave hope to all when he said, “He, God, is a refuge to all who take refuge in Him” (v. 31).
This I have learned in my sojourn, we have two choices when
the alligators escape the swamp and come after us – we can do as David did and
trust in the Lord with all our heart and soul and crawl up under His wings, or
we can do as most and try and tough it out in our own strength. David said, “You have given me a shield of Your salvation and Your help makes me
great” (v. 36).
Soo the ball is in your hands; your choice. Try David’s way.
Blessings,
Gramps
No comments:
Post a Comment