Trust in Him at all times, O people! Pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us.
(Verse 8)
Refuge: sanctuary, shelter, haven, asylum, protection, cover, retreat, harbor, security, safe house, stronghold, citadel or hideaway.
Refugee: fugitive, runaway,escapee, displaced person, exile or emigre.
"I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world just as I am not of the world." Jesus to His Father on the night He was arrested.
Feeling like a refugee today? Need a shelter, a sanctuary? Someplace safe to hide if only for a few minutes in order to catch your breath? The world has any number of asylums for us. Don't run there. Medicating in order to endure this life makes this life unendurable. There are no safe havens for the Christian except our God.
I know that sounds fuzzy. How does it look to run to God as a refuge. We can't just run into a building or into tents set up in a refugee camp. It isn't a physical thing we go to. It's not like being in the rain and finding an awning to wait the storm out under. So what does it mean?
The altar of sacrifice in the temple had horns at the four corners of it, as did the altar of incense. On the Day of Atonement blood was smeared on the horns of that altar showing sacrifice for sins. Fugitives seeking asylum could cling to the horns, thus putting themselves under divine protection. This picture of running to the place of sacrifice for refuge is what David is speaking of. There is no physical place to run to anymore. It is more a matter of falling face down and crying out with our whole hearts to a God Who has His own blood sprinkled on a much broader altar for us. Running away is not our alternative. Running to is. Grabbing ahold of the Father's robe and pouring out our need to Him alone.
Would you trust the Lord at all times if you were convinced beyond the shadow of a doubt that He loves you with an everlasting, profound, immutable love? Would we then know our safety is secured in our God because all He does is out of that immeasurable and unconditional love? Were we to bring to Him all the unholy, selfish and conceited thoughts and desires we have and have them dealt with as Father to daughter instead of inquisitor to prisoner, would we then feel safe to bear all? Should we become absolutely convinced that our God knows not only our name, but our path, we would stay in the place of refuge He is. Not venture far from the sanctuary of His great grace. Grab the horns of the altar as an exile from our sinfulness and a safe house from the world that throws its hollow escapes our way. It is God's love that shelters us under His wings, opens the doors to the strong tower of His protection, and creates a safe place to be our truest selves. Only our certainty that we are loved unconditionally, Mother Teresa believed, gives us the strength to abandon ourselves to God completely and without reserve. Refugees in search of safe harbor, we find our home in Him.
(Verse 8)
Refuge: sanctuary, shelter, haven, asylum, protection, cover, retreat, harbor, security, safe house, stronghold, citadel or hideaway.
Refugee: fugitive, runaway,escapee, displaced person, exile or emigre.
"I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world just as I am not of the world." Jesus to His Father on the night He was arrested.
Feeling like a refugee today? Need a shelter, a sanctuary? Someplace safe to hide if only for a few minutes in order to catch your breath? The world has any number of asylums for us. Don't run there. Medicating in order to endure this life makes this life unendurable. There are no safe havens for the Christian except our God.
I know that sounds fuzzy. How does it look to run to God as a refuge. We can't just run into a building or into tents set up in a refugee camp. It isn't a physical thing we go to. It's not like being in the rain and finding an awning to wait the storm out under. So what does it mean?
The altar of sacrifice in the temple had horns at the four corners of it, as did the altar of incense. On the Day of Atonement blood was smeared on the horns of that altar showing sacrifice for sins. Fugitives seeking asylum could cling to the horns, thus putting themselves under divine protection. This picture of running to the place of sacrifice for refuge is what David is speaking of. There is no physical place to run to anymore. It is more a matter of falling face down and crying out with our whole hearts to a God Who has His own blood sprinkled on a much broader altar for us. Running away is not our alternative. Running to is. Grabbing ahold of the Father's robe and pouring out our need to Him alone.
Would you trust the Lord at all times if you were convinced beyond the shadow of a doubt that He loves you with an everlasting, profound, immutable love? Would we then know our safety is secured in our God because all He does is out of that immeasurable and unconditional love? Were we to bring to Him all the unholy, selfish and conceited thoughts and desires we have and have them dealt with as Father to daughter instead of inquisitor to prisoner, would we then feel safe to bear all? Should we become absolutely convinced that our God knows not only our name, but our path, we would stay in the place of refuge He is. Not venture far from the sanctuary of His great grace. Grab the horns of the altar as an exile from our sinfulness and a safe house from the world that throws its hollow escapes our way. It is God's love that shelters us under His wings, opens the doors to the strong tower of His protection, and creates a safe place to be our truest selves. Only our certainty that we are loved unconditionally, Mother Teresa believed, gives us the strength to abandon ourselves to God completely and without reserve. Refugees in search of safe harbor, we find our home in Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment