REFUGE

REFUGE BECAUSE

Psalm 91 has a few things which I want to touch on right now. It has been quoted many times by many people who were in bad circumstances, and has given them strength to hold up in those hard places.

Three times the word "because" is used, leading us to condlude that there is a reason for our safety in Jesus, and our being delivered when in time of trouble.

Psalms 91:9 Because thou hast made the LORD, [which is] my REFUGE, [even] the most High, thy habitation;

Psalms 91:14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

It would seem, on the surface, that the matter of PRIORITIES enters into the picture, if we are to enjoy the privilege of entering into the REFUGE of the Lord.

Look at the word "habitation". We need to determine where our habitation is. Our TOP PRIORITY could well be the determining factor of our habitation.

The angel of the Lord asked, Judges 2:2 -- but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?

What would be the reason for us not obeying the voice of the Lord? Simply, that we place more value on something else besides the Word of the Lord.

It might be material things that hinder. It might be the good will (favor) of people, and the fear of losing it. It might be our feeling of being too important to do the things which a close walk with God would require.

These things can be lost or stolen from us. They are NOT RELIABLE refuges anyway. They are altogether temporal.

BUT REFUGE IN GOD is NOT TEMPORAL. It will NEVER fail. It is NOT TANGIBLE. It can NEVER BE STOLEN from us, nor taken by force from us.

It is REFUGE IN THE SPIRIT-- in GOD HIMSELF, who has never failed, and will not fail in the future.

Hebrews 6:18 That-- we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: On the Passover night in Egypt, the blood applied to the door of the house was the REFUGE of the children of Israel.

OBEDIENCE TO GOD caused the blood to be put there. OBEDIENCE TO GOD is what will constitute a sure place of refuge for us also today.

For Hezekiah, when Jerusalem was under seige, refuge was provided for him in answer to his prayer to God. The angel of the Lord smote 185,000 men with "Sudden (Infant) Death Syndrome" in a single stroke.