In you, Lord, I have taken refuge
What a week. You know something is going down when even McDonald’s has shut.
I don’t know what you’re currently feeling...
A couple of weeks ago, some of you were facing mounting exam pressure. You may have worked so hard to sit those final exams, and now, it feels like the rug has been pulled from under your feet. Like it was all for nothing. (Others of you may see this as the only bonus to come out of a worldwide pandemic!)
Some of you may be coming to terms with how – just like that, your college experience has ended.
Some of you will be feeling trapped. Cut off from your closest friends. Locked-in with family, which may not be easy for some of you.
In all of this, where do we go?
When we turn on the news and see rows and rows of hospital beds filling huge exhibition centres…
When we think of vulnerable friends and family…
When we watch a parent leave to head into the frontline as they care for the sick or provide an essential service…where do we go?
King David wrote a Psalm when he was in the middle of a giant, pressing mess. He was surrounded by enemies, anxious, hemmed in – and all on his own. By the Spirit of God, he starts his Psalm with these words:
1 “In you, LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. 2 Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. 3 Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me. 4 Keep me free from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge. 5 Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, LORD, my faithful God”.
Psalm 31:1-5
The super-rich have taken refuge on private Caribbean islands or (less glamorously) converted old nuclear bunkers…
We may have taken temporary refuge in Netflix, Zoom Chats and our bedrooms…
As a nation, we have been asked to take refuge in our homes and practise self-isolation and social-distancing…
We must follow the guidelines to help however best we can. But ultimate security isn’t found in these things.
Where do we go? Where does the man or woman of God take refuge?
“In you, LORD, I have taken refuge. You are my Rock and Fortress.”
We go to our loving Father.
We make Him our refuge. We pour out our hearts to Him. Maybe like we’ve never done before.
In the middle of the mess - he is the God who delivers, comforts and saves (v1, 2)
In the trouble we face now and uncertainty of the future - he is the God who listens, leads and guides (v2,3)
We run to him because of who He is. Because of the extent of his love for us and for those we are lifting up in prayer…
Did you notice the last verse?
“Into your hands I commit my spirit”
If you’re thinking, ‘those words ring a bell’ then you’re right.
As David entrusts his life to the Lord, his refuge…he also prophesies the words of Jesus on the cross.
How do we know that God really is our rock and rescue?
How can we be safe even from sin and death?
How can we know God is for us and not against us?
How can we trust him to be with us now and guide our future?
How can we know God loves our world, our country, our family?
How can we share eternal hope and love – in the midst of chaos and fear?
Look to the cross.
In the coming weeks and months, as things get better or worse -make the LORD your refuge. Pour out your hearts to him for yourself, your friends, your family, our frontline workers and this nation. Commit your spirit to him.
Deliver us, LORD, our faithful God. Amen.
Claire is part of the Festive team. She lives by the sea with her husband and two children. They have perfected the art of eating Dominos on the beach as their son has developed his own seagull-defence-martial-art-skills to save their dinner!