GOD IS OUR REFUGE

Pacific Press Publishing Company · OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA · May 3, 1899

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 25, No. 18.

"GOD IS OUR REFUGE."

THE Forty-sixth Psalm is not written for a time of outward calm. It can not be uttered in its fulness in times of sunshine, outward peace, or prosperity. It is a song expressive of triumph in the midst of strife; of safety in the midst of peril; of strength in the midst of weakness; of a safe refuge when the very foundations are giving way. But all this assurance is in God.

"God is our refuge." He is the "Clefted Rock," opened that man may find shelter from the blasts without. He is the great Rock which lifts its refreshing shade in a "weary land," and from which bursts forth the living fountain in the parched desert. He is the City of Refuge to which the red-handed sinner may flee and find safety from his cruel master, Satan. He is a "fortress," a "high wall," a "strong tower," which no Gatling or Krupp gun can batter down; which no ancient or modern explosives can demolish. God, the Creator of heaven and earth, is our refuge.

He is our refuge. It is good to know that there is a refuge; it is blessed to enter its inclosing walls, secure from the danger without. And all the fitness He requires is a sense of our need of Him—simple faith to cast all upon Him, to leave all and come to Him. Here is the door; it stands wide open. Flee to it and be safe. Know that God is "our refuge," by knowing that God is my refuge, the Saviour in time of trouble.

He is our refuge because He is the Mighty One. "God is our refuge and strength." Nothing is too hard for Him. He is infinite in power, the Omnipotent. Of all the shining, rolling spheres it is said, "For that He is strong in power not one faileth." He is "the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the earth," and He "fainteth not, neither is weary." "The Lord is my strength." "He giveth power to the faint, and to those who have no might, He increaseth strength."

And "God is our refuge and strength" not occasionally, not now and then, not rarely; no, He is "a very present help in trouble." He is always at hand. If we have not been helped, it is because we have refused His help. We have turned to the Babylons and Egypts for help and found only trouble, when God desired to help us, when He had made provision to help us in Jesus Christ.

And this is true even in the greatest trouble, for the divine psalm continues its assurance:—

"Therefore will we not fear tho the earth do change, and the mountains be moved in the heart of the seas."

God is good for all time. In the last great cataclysms, which will convulse the earth to her very center, and in which the mightiest works of men will be brought low, God will be the safe, sure refuge of His people.

Then, O soul, why not trust Him now? If you can not trust Him in the little things, how will you trust Him in the great things? If you grow weary in your own strength running with the footmen, how will you run with the horses? And if in the land of peace and plenty you yield to doubt and discouragement, what will you do in the swelling of Jordan, in the time when all outward perils are multiplying a thousand-fold? The time to trust God is now. He is not a future but a present help, "Today if ye will hear His voice." "Behold, now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation."