Psalm 91:2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”
In verse 2 of Psalm 91, as if in response to himself, Moses says that given the wonderful knowledge of his safety in God, he will then make the Lord his refuge ... He will trust in Him. A refuge is a safe retreat, a sanctuary of healing and renewal and it may also be a stronghold from which a counter attack may be launched. There is only one sure refuge and that is God. However, many false refuges exist ... Among which are Idolatry, human support and self confidence.
In hard times, people turn to the things they have placed their faith in. It may be easy to evaluate idolatry in your life by honestly evaluating where you look in times of trouble. Is it to the government or perhaps to food or maybe to money? Idolatry is a false refuge ... One that looks appealing and yet turns out to be a crumbling tower built on shifting sand.
There is no person who will be a more sure sanctuary than God. Human support becomes a false refuge when it becomes the first place you go and taking your needs to God becomes a Last Case Scenario.
Jeremiah 17:5 Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the Lord.
We are taught throughout our youth that we must believe in ourselves and have confidence in our abilities and a little of that is good. But our primary confidence must be in God. He alone is infallible and any confidence we place in ourselves is confidence in a person who is quite fallible. Over emphasizing self confidence in our children creates an easy path for them to secular humanism. The Bible in many places describes God as a fortress, a shade, a rock, a shield, a tower and as sheltering wings. God is worthy of our every confidence.
Ansar says
Thank you for this verse because right now I am in a duiffcilt time in my marriage and the devil is fighting had to destroy it but I thank God that He is always there by my side.
Linda Luecke says
I love that I can go back and read these again.