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Lord, I seek refuge in You;
let me never be disgraced.
Save me by Your righteousness.
Listen closely to me; rescue me quickly.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a mountain fortress to save me.
For You are my rock and my fortress;
You lead and guide me
because of Your name.
You will free me from the net
that is secretly set for me,
for You are my refuge.
Into Your hand I entrust my spirit;
You redeem me, Lord, God of truth.
Psalms 31:1-5
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In You, LORD, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
deliver me in Your righteousness.
Turn Your ear to me,
come quickly to my rescue;
Be my rock of refuge,
a strong fortress to save me.
Since You are my rock and my fortress,
for the sake of Your name lead and guide me.
Keep me free from the trap that is set for me,
for You are my refuge.
Into Your hands I commit my spirit;
deliver me, LORD, my faithful God.
Psalms 31:1-5
I can’t imagine what David was feeling when He was penning these words to God…I can’t imagine what his life’s struggles led him to think or to feel. But I do know what these words make me feel. I do know what it feels like to know these words for myself—and believe these words for myself.
Not only in times of strife and struggle have I called on God to be these things for me, but He has proven, in times of hurt and pain, that He always is here in all of these roles. He is my Rock and my Fortress when I juggle the everyday mundane tasks. When I wake to iron, make lunches, drive people to school and practice, He is my Strength. When I interact with my family, friends, colleagues, He is my Leader and Guide. When I am tired at the end of the day but still have things to finish, He is my Rock. He is Faithful to help me when life gets crazier than it seems I can handle.
The beauty in David’s words is that God is not a sometimes God…He is an always God…He is always these things. Always and all the time. Good times. Not so good times. We could be living in a palace at this place in our life, or we could be running through the wilderness. Beautiful sisters, remember that He is constantly these things to me, and to the woman next to you in line at the store, to your friends and family…and to you. He is always and He is all the time.
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Let’s Pray: Dear Heavenly Father, sometimes I forget that You are Here all the time, sometimes is easy to only reach out for You when times are bad, when I’m in the wilderness. But David’s words remind me that You are an ‘always and all the time’ God. And we need that reminder because life can get crazier than we can handle alone. Lord, thank You for being a constant Refuge in the good and bad. Thank You for being our Strength, our Rescuer, and our Rock. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Lord, I seek refuge in You;
let me never be disgraced.
Save me by Your righteousness.
Listen closely to me; rescue me quickly.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a mountain fortress to save me.
For You are my rock and my fortress;
You lead and guide me
because of Your name.
You will free me from the net
that is secretly set for me,
for You are my refuge.
Into Your hand I entrust my spirit;
You redeem me, Lord, God of truth.
Psalms 31:1-5
In reading this passage I was captivated by David’s personal, confident prayer of faith. Faith and prayer go together hand-in-glove. Charles Spurgeon wrote:
“Faith is the foundation of prayer. Faith gives to men on earth the protection of heaven.”
David cries out for help. He has great faith in God. In Psalm 18:2 (AMP) he confidently asserts that God alone is His protection.
The Lord is my Rock, my Fortress, and my Deliverer;
my God, my keen and firm Strength in Whom I will trust and take refuge,
my Shield, and the Horn of my salvation, my High Tower.
David was wise to recognize his weaknesses. As Chuck Smith states: “Wisdom is knowing your weakness.” I would add that wisdom is also knowing where to turn for help. In Proverbs 30:26 the hyraxes (or conies) are considered wise because they realize they are small and weak then seek shelter in the rocks. In 2 Samuel 22:2, 7 (HCSB) David cried out to his Rock, his Fortress to be rescued. He said:
The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,
I called to the Lord in my distress; I called to my God.
From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for help reached His ears.
I searched for definitions of “rock”:
I want to be like David—
He has sheltered me before…is defending me even now…and will continue to keep me securely in His grasp. With faith-filled anticipation, we pray; and in faithfulness, He answers.
“Faith establishes a claim to have it’s anticipations made good”
– Pulpit Commentary
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Lord, we are so very thankful and grateful that we can seek refuge in You, our Rock and our Fortress, knowing we will be protected and secure as we stand behind the rock solid walls of Your promises. Thank You for hearing our cries for help. Let us always be mindful to seek shelter in Your stronghold and nowhere else. In your Mighty and Holy name we pray, Amen – it is so!
In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
deliver me in your righteousness.
Turn your ear to me,
come quickly to my rescue;
Be my rock of refuge,
a strong fortress to save me.
Since you are my rock and my fortress,
for the sake of your name lead and guide me.
Keep me free from the trap that is set for me,
for you are my refuge.
Into your hands I commit my spirit;
deliver me, Lord, my faithful God.
Psalms 31:1-5
Everyone experiences rough patches in their lives. Sometimes it may seem like we go through more roughness than we think we deserve. Right now in the Middle East, Jews and Christians are being persecuted at an alarming rate. They are being forced from their homes or even brutally murdered—men, women, and children—for worshipping Christ. We are being warned that the same is coming all around the world.
In our little corner of the world, we are fighting those that want to take prayer out of public life. We are fighting those who want to make religion a private relationship maintained behind the closed front door at home. We are fighting those that are wanting to take our voice away and not wanting us to voice the good news of Jesus Christ because they either do not believe it themselves or worship some other idol.
Yea, and all that will live Godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
2 Timothy 3:12
We have been explicitly warned that we will be persecuted if we ‘live Godly’ lives and choose to worship Jesus. Jesus already knew that it was going to happen before He was crucified. Yet we know who wins in the end. God will rescue us in the time of great need. He will be the Rock that we lean on when the world gets to be too much. He is our Refuge. He is the guiding Spirit that keeps us from trouble. He comes to our rescue in ways that we cannot ever imagine. He is our Fortress. God is our guiding Light.
God is our Savior. He is our Shield of faith. He is our rescuer. Through our relationship with Him, God guides us through a turbulent world that is only going to get more turbulent. God will be our Refuge no matter when or where we call on Him. We deliver our spirits to Him because He is faithful and will keep us safe.
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Dear Heavenly Father: Thank You for Your refuge and love. Without Your greatness, we would not have anywhere to turn when times get rough. You rescued me from death and now You lead and guide me through life and keep me from wandering into the trap that the devil sets everyday. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
