He Is My Refuge

Psalm 91: 1 Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. ² This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. ³ For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. ⁴ He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings.

His faithful promises are your armor and protection. ⁵ Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. ⁶ Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,

nor the disaster that strikes at midday. ⁷ Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you.

Most theologians say this Psalm was written by King David and his background as a shepherd who relied on God's protection through many different attacks from animals, to later on in life, King Saul. Whomever wrote it or however it was written, the promise of God is throughout the whole Psalm, and I really like it and rely on those promises. The first seven verses speak to the Lord being a protector, a provider, and a shield against the enemy. The thought is very real that we need to live under God's shelter so close that His shadow covers us. I have heard song lyrics that talk about us living under the shadow of a church steeple, and that is noble, but the real shadow we need is the shadow of the Lord. He is our only hope and our best hope, and He is for sure my refuge.

Verses 9-16 speak to the actual activity of God being our refuge and our strength. There is a big IF involved in the deeper truth here, and our faith in God being our provider and our refuge is necessary for the whole reality promised in the Psalm. The writer of Hebrews cut to the chase in the "faith" area when he wrote the following verses in Hebrews 11:1 Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. It is very important to make the promise of Psalm 91 a "reality" and not just an empty hope we look at from afar. FAITH in God being our refuge brings the reality of this truth to the forefront, and it tells not only of God being or doing something, but it becomes our reality, and our faith becomes sight.

Here is the scenario: We are born again in the Spirit, and we trust in God's protection, and then a troubling situation comes our way, and we just trust God to handle it, and He does. Is that clear enough for us? Of course it is, and no amount of doubting from the father of lies can keep us from claiming this great truth that God Is Our Refuge. When we wake up to that kind of faith, our Heavenly Father is pleased, and that is our goal:

to glorify Him. This Psalm is even more meaningful to me when I read it aloud. Just sayin.

The Pilgrimage Continues,

David Warren