Where is Your Refuge?

You know, I love Psalm. I read through it a year or so ago, but I have only read a few chapters here and there since then. So boom, last week I decided to enlighten myself and read through it again! I had barely gotten started on the second chapter of Psalm when I read:

“Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.”

-Psalm 2:12 (NIV)

I paused, and I started thinking back to one of my favorite shows, Godspell. It’s a show about Jesus’s life and the parables he told, and I remember this one scene where everyone has a line that starts with “Blessed are…” To be 100% honest with you guys, I never really liked that part. I was in the show when I was in 6th grade and when I was in 10th grade, and that scene was just never my favorite. I guess it was because it was so repetitive and I knew what was coming, but still. While we’re on the subject though… photo op!

I somehow ended up with those fancy pants braids for both shows. And we had an awesome set.

Anyway.

I was thinking about Godspell, and all the “blessed are”s, and I started to really think into it. I went back to the verse…”Blessed are all who take refuge in him.” Hm. Hmmm. It didn’t quite click with me, so I just skipped over it, hoping it would make sense eventually.

(next night)

“But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.”

-Psalm 5:11 (NIV)

Does that verse not just sound HAPPY? Yet there it is again - “refuge.” I KNOW what refuge is, but I wanted to look up the actual definition. (If you can’t tell by other posts, I love words and definitions.)

refuge: “a condition of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger, or trouble”

Like it says in the previous verse, if we take refuge (or, if we let God protect us), we will be glad! We will rejoice in Him and sing praises and live with no fear! All we have to do is put our faith in Him, trust Him, and let Him do His thing!

But that’s not always easy for us humans, is it?

We like doing things OUR way, and we like handling things on OUR own. Plus, how hard is it to believe in someone we cannot see? That’s the challenge though. Humans trust tangibility. Therefore, there are many different “earthly refuges” that people turn to. Drugs, alcohol, eating, relationships, work, sleep… these are things people turn to when they want to get away from the craziness of their life. Now, some of these aren’t BAD things! We have to eat and relationships rock, but overeating and devoting all of your time to one single person is not good (and obviously, doing drugs and getting drunk are not really great things either). An earthly refuge is anything that pulls you away from God. It is something that you do to feel safe, when really, it should be God.

So, how do we make the Lord our refuge? I found this verse, it may help us out a little bit:

“But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and those who pursue me.”

-Psalm 31:14-15 (NIV)

We have to put everything in God’s hands, and surrender all of our pride to do that. Earthly refuges do not even compare to His unfailing love, so once we give up our earthly desires for Him, we will be rewarded and we will be glad! We can sing “Awesome God” literally for the rest of eternity. YES. But look back at that verse really quickly... it says "my times are in your hands." Replace "my times" with whatever your earthly refuge is, and there's your answer. THAT'S how we make Him our refuge! We have to put everything in His hands, no matter how difficult it is, and trust that His ways and His plans are greater than ours. It kind of makes me think of a picture I saw the other day.

Where are you going to feel sheltered from trouble in your life? Where is your refuge?

“O Lord my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me.”

-Psalm 7:1 (NIV)

Here are some other verses about refuge that I’ve jotted down while reading. I’m haven’t finished the entire chapter, so this is not a complete arsenal of verses in Psalm about refuge! Just food for thought.

Psalm 9:9-10

Psalm 16:1-2

Psalm 17:7

Psalm 18:2

Psalm 18:30

Psalm 25:20

Psalm 31:2

Psalm 31:19

Psalm 34:8

Psalm 37:7

Psalm 46:1