We look tonight in Psalm 18, where we find the
theme for this evening, The Lord Our Refuge.
David says, I love thee, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my
deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge.
There are two Hebrew words that are used in verse
2 that are similar and communicate basically
the same truth that we're examining tonight.
The one word is the word fortress. It is a word
that is used five times in the Psalms as well
as a few other places in the Old Testament. The
word means a stronghold, an inaccessible place.
Interestingly, the Arabic word that is equivalent
to this is the word Masaidun. Those of you who
are familiar with Palestine have heard of Masada,
which is where the name Masada comes from, the
Arabic Masaidun. Masada is a very inaccessible
place, where in the time when the Roman army
was subjecting and subduing Israel. A few of
the Jews were able to escape there to Masada.
It is a high, inaccessible stronghold on the
shore of the Dead Sea. And there they held out
against the Roman general Titus and his mighty
army for months and months and months until the
Roman army could build a ramp and finally get
inside Masada. But when they got inside, they
found that all the Jews had committed suicide
rather than be taken prisoner by the Roman army.
Masada, fortress, stronghold, an inaccessible
place. David says, the Lord is my Masada, my
fortress. And then the other word is the word
refuge. Refuge is used 41 times in the Psalms.
It refers to a place of protection, a place of
escape. David related well to both of these words.
For example, Zion, which became the city of David,
was originally a fortress of the Canaanites.
It was David himself who conquered Zion and then
made it eventually his capital city. You can
find the record of that in 2 Samuel chapter 7.
David understood what a fortress was. He captured
the fortress city of Zion and it became then
his fortress capital city. On the other hand,
when you think of a refuge, you can't help but
think of En Gedi. That area of greenness in the
midst of the wilderness of Judea. A place where
there were tropical trees and plants. A stream
and waterfalls in the midst of barrenness and
brown. David spent a good deal of time in Getty
because it was there he found refuge or protection
from Saul when Saul sought his life. So David
identified well with both of these terms, fortress
and refuge. Perhaps the greatest significance,
though, of the term refuge is found in the Old
Testament cities of refuge. These are listed
for us in Numbers 35, and the basic concept is
explained there. Most of you undoubtedly are
familiar with them, but let me just remind you
what was involved. God established a system of
law that was put into place before there was
a central government. One of the primary purposes
of that system as well as central government
is the protection of human life. The basic thrust
of the law was an eye for an eye and a tooth
for a tooth. If a life was taken, then the one
who was the murderer was to have his life forfeited.
It was to be taken from him. But before there
was central government, how was that to be established?
How was capital punishment, if you want to use
that term, to be carried out? Well, God's answer
was the blood avenger. That is, the nearest relative
of the person who was killed was to avenge the
life of his relative. He was called the avenger
of blood. It was his responsibility to take the
life of the one who had killed his relative.
Now, one who had killed someone, particularly
if he had killed that person accidentally, did
not want that to be carried out, obviously. And
so, God established, for a system of law when
there was no central government, cities of refuge.
There were six of these cities. Three of them
were on the east side of the Jordan River, three
of them on the west side. Their names on the
west side were Kadesh, Shechem, and Hebron. Those
are familiar names to us. The ones on the east
side perhaps are less familiar. The one to the
furthest north was Golan, where we get the name
Golan Heights, Ramoth, and Bezer. These six cities
were established by God as Levite cities. and
also as cities of refuge. Here's the way it worked.
If a man killed another person, he had the privilege
of fleeing to the nearest city of refuge. There
he was to be protected by the elders of that
city until a form of trial could be carried out.
It's uncertain as to whether the trial was carried
out in the city of refuge itself. or whether
it was carried out back at the site of the crime.
But either way, the people, the elders of the
City of Refuge were responsible for protecting
the accused killer until some sort of trial could
be held. The Avenger of Blood could pursue the
killer unto the gate of the city, but he could
go no further, for that city was a refuge for
the accused. If, as a result of the trial, it
was found that the death was not accidental,
but the man was in fact a murderer, this was
not a manslaughter case, it was murder, then
the elders of the city were to cast out the killer
so that the avenger of blood could do his work
and exact the justice of God upon him. On the
other hand, if it was found that this man had
killed the other person accidentally, So it was
manslaughter, as we would call it. Then the elders
of the city were to care for this man. They were
to provide for him as long as he needed to be
there. The city of refuge became his home. If
he left the city of refuge, the avenger of blood
could find him and kill him. But as long as the
man guilty of manslaughter stayed in the city
of refuge, he was to be provided for there. There
could be no price paid that would allow him to
be released early. He had to stay there until
the death of the high priest. Now if that was
six months, it was six months. If it was 50 years,
it was 50 years. But he was to stay there essentially
a prisoner, but provided for. in the city of
refuge until the death of the high priest and
then all those who were in the city of refuge
and were being kept could be released and could
go and the avenger of blood could not exact the
toll of the man's life. That was the way God
provided for some of the system of justice in
Israel before there was a central government.
By the way that system was used as well in other
nations at that time and God used it among his
own people, established it as we have basically
explained it tonight. So you see the city of
Refuge became a place of provision because the
man was to be cared for in that city. It was
a place of petition because a trial was to be
held to determine his guilt or innocence of murder.
He could appeal to the elders of the city to
protect him from the avenger of blood, the man
who was there to carry out justice. It was also
a place of protection. For he could not be touched
as long as he was in that city. That is why the
cities of refuge are a wonderful picture of the
salvation that we have in Christ. Because following
us is the justice of God. to avenge justice upon
us, we who are sinners. We have violated the
laws of God, and God has said, the soul that
sins, it shall die. But God has graciously made
provision for us in His Son, Jesus Christ, so
that we may flee to Him and find in Him refuge.
from the justice of God that we deserve. It's
a wonderful story how he himself fulfilled that
justice of God, isn't it? He fulfilled it on
our behalf. He satisfied it. He became the propitiation
for us. But because of his work, we may flee
to him and find refuge from the justice of God.
And so you see the idea, the concept of refuge
is not just Old Testament, it is New Testament
as well. Let's turn to one passage in Hebrews
where we see it used. Hebrews chapter 6. After
delivering a stern warning to go on to maturity,
The writer of Hebrews underscores the security
that is the true child of God that belongs to
him. He says in verse 13, For when God made the
promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no
one greater, he swore by himself, saying, I will
surely bless you, and I will surely multiply
you. And thus, having obtained Having patiently
waited, he obtained the promise. For men swear
by one greater than themselves, and with them
an oath given as confirmation is an end of every
dispute." May I just say that that is the hope
of the parent of every teenager, an end of every
dispute. But here we have the spiritual concept
that there is no disputing the security of the
child of God. Why? Because God has not only promised,
but he has secured the promise with his own oath.
And it goes on to say in verse 17, in the same
way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs
of the promise the unchangeableness of his purpose,
interposed with an oath, in order that by two
unchangeable things, in which it is impossible
for God to lie, we may have strong encouragement.
We who have fled for refuge in laying hold of
the hope set before us. You see, refuge is a
concept for us too. What a wonderful thought
that is that we have fled for refuge in laying
hold of the hope that God graciously set before
us. What hope is that, by the way? He speaks
in chapter 7 of the better hope that we have
in the new covenant. Well, I would suggest to
you that the hope that he's talking about is
the hope of the complete removal of our sins
through the finished sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
There was no hope of that under the Old Covenant.
It provided merely a covering for sin, an atonement,
as it were an IOU that had to be paid sometime.
God's justice was not fully satisfied. It was
only delayed. There was an atonement, a covering.
That was the hope of the Jews. And it provided
salvation for them, but it was not the best hope.
God has provided that for us in Christ. It is
the hope that not only are our sins covered.
No, no. They are removed entirely. They are forgiven.
They are expunged from the record because of
the finished sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We have
fled for refuge. to that hope that God has set
before us. And he says, this hope we have as
an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast,
and one which enters within the veil where Jesus
has entered as a forerunner for us, having become
a high priest forever according to the order
of Melchizedek. I would suggest to you that all
that the city of refuge was, and more, Jesus
is to us. He is to us a place of protection.
Protection from the justice of God upon our own
sins. He protects us because He's already paid
the price for our sins. He is our place of petition.
He is a high priest forever after the order of
Melchizedek. He is there forever to intercede
before God on our behalf so that when there is
one who comes to accuse us, as Satan does as
the accuser of the brethren, we have a great
high priest who stands before God and intercedes
on our behalf. He is our place of petition. He
is our mercy seat. And then he is also our place
of provision. For we are cared for in this world,
but beyond that, he has gone before us, behind
the veil, in the very presence of God, as a forerunner.
That means he has gone before us on our behalf.
And as surely as he has gone there and is there,
so one day we who have placed our hope in him,
our faith in him, will one day be there too.
He is our provision. He is our refuge, the Lord
our refuge. Let me just bring this concept down
to some practical ideas as we think of how the
Lord provides refuge for us in our pilgrimage
in the world. To do this I'd like to go back
to the book of the Psalms and first to Psalm
46. Psalm 46. These familiar words, God is our
refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear no matter what happens.
That last little phrase sort of explains what
the words mean in verses two and three. He says,
God is our refuge. He is a present help in the
time of trouble, therefore I will not fear no
matter what happens. God in the first place is
a refuge from worry for the child of God. Worry
is perhaps the greatest thief of our joy and
our peace in Jesus Christ, isn't it? For anxiety
and peace. cannot exist together. When you and
I allow ourselves to become anxious about the
trouble around, when we allow ourselves to worry
about our circumstances and our situation, then
the peace of God flees away. On the other hand,
when we enter into the truth that the Lord is
our refuge, the peace of God that passes understanding,
fills our hearts, and anxiety cannot stand it.
Anxiety then flees. You and I experience one
or the other, the peace of God or worry. When
we understand the Lord is our refuge, he becomes
a refuge from worry. How do we enter into that
refuge? What is the door that will allow us to
enter into and enjoy the refuge from worry? The
answer to that is faith. Isn't that basically
what Paul says in Philippians chapter 4? Look
at those verses, Philippians 4 verses 6 and 7.
We need to look at them basically because I can't
remember how to get started to quote them. Philippians
chapter 4, here we go, verse 6. Be anxious for
nothing. But in everything by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving, let your requests be made
known to God, and the peace of God which surpasses
all comprehension shall guard your hearts and
your minds in Christ Jesus." What will guard
us? What will become the refuge for us? Well,
the peace of God. How do we get into the refuge?
By doing what he says. By prayer and supplication
and thanksgiving. Lifting our requests to God,
letting him know what our concern is. How wonderful
that God has opened the way so we can do that.
I don't know what the thing is in your life that's
creating the temptation to worry tonight. I know
for some of you, some of you shared them on the
prayer request forums and some of us prayed for
them earlier this evening. I understand why you're
anxious or tempted to be anxious. Others of you
have things locked up in your heart and those
things are creating worry inside. Hey. Tonight,
do what God tells us to do. Dare to release those
things to God by petition. Dare to let go of
them by offering them up to God along with thanksgiving.
And when you do that, God will be to you a very
present help in trouble. His peace will guard
your heart and mind. He will become a refuge
for you and will guard you against worry. You
say, oh, but the temptation is still there to
worry. Yes, it is. I wish it were possible to
entirely eliminate the possibility of worry.
We can't do that in this world. The temptation
will still be there, but let's not succumb to
it, but rather enjoy the refuge that God gives
us from worry. Faith is the door that gets us
into that refuge. And then just turn over a page
or two to Psalm 48 as we see that the Lord is
not only a refuge from worry, he is a refuge
from warfare. Great is the Lord and greatly to
be praised in the city of our God, his holy mountain.
Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole
earth is Mount Zion in the far north, the city
of the great king. God, in her palaces, has made
himself known as a stronghold." Now the writer
here is talking about Zion. Remember before we
said Zion was a stronghold, a fortress city.
But he is saying that it's not Zion itself, it's
God who is now in Zion who is the fortress, the
stronghold. He says, for lo, the kings assembled
themselves. They passed by together. They saw
it. Then they were amazed. They were terrified.
They fled in alarm, panic, seized them there,
anguish, as of a woman in childbirth. So he expresses
what happened when the kings passed by. Which
situation was this? Well, we don't really know.
Maybe it was the Assyrians as they came. toward
Jerusalem, and then God in a marvelous way destroyed
their army and delivered His people. We don't
know the exact situation, but the psalmist draws
upon the fact that when the kings assembled themselves
together, they looked and saw Zion and the God
of Zion there, and they trembled and were afraid
and fled in panic. We can see the same idea back
in Psalm 46 again in verse 6. Where the psalmist
says the nations made an uproar the kingdoms
tottered He raised his voice the earth melted
The Lord of hosts is with us the God of Jacob
is our fortress our stronghold our refuge I Would
like to apply this to the reality that you and
I face of spiritual warfare For as most of us
realize, we are involved in a struggle between
good and evil, between light and darkness. We
are involved in a warfare that is invisible.
I think one of Donald Gray Barnhouse's books
is called The Invisible War. If you've never
seen that little paperback, it's not a little
paperback, it's a paperback. You ought to buy
it and read it. The Invisible War. He talks about
spiritual warfare. There is spiritual warfare
going on around us constantly. And some of us
realize it, some of us don't. If we don't realize
it, we're at the disadvantage. We need to understand
how serious the warfare is. What is at stake
may not be our souls if we're the children of
God, but it is our life that is at stake, our
effectiveness, our usefulness to Jesus Christ,
for you see Satan's end in spiritual warfare
is to cause you to be ineffective as God's servant.
It is to wreck your life and mine in such a way
that we will not any longer be able to be used
by God, disqualified, set on the shelf. That's
his goal. If we don't understand that, then we
are greatly at a disadvantage and we're in trouble.
Warfare rages around us. We need to understand
that some of the circumstances we get into are
not to be laid to the feet of the flesh and blood
that we see and that we blame, but rather Satan
is using that flesh and blood. Ephesians 6, right?
The principalities and powers, the rulers of
the darkness of this world are using those people
or those circumstances to get to us. Well, God
is our refuge. Though we're in the midst of warfare,
we need not be terrified by it. We need to be
armed, we need to be alert and vigilant, we need
to stand against the enemy in this day of evil,
but we need not be terrified by the enemy. Because
God is our refuge in warfare. Now what is it
that gets us the victory? What is it that enables
us to experience the refuge, the protection of
God in the midst of the attacks of Satan against
us? Well, the secret I think is found in Psalm
57. Verse 1. Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious
to me. For my soul takes refuge in thee, and
in the shadow of thy wings I will take refuge
until destruction passes by." He says, I will
cry to God most high, to God who accomplishes
all things for me. He will send from heaven and
save me. He reproaches him who tramples upon
me. God will send forth his loving kindness and
his truth. What is the secret to knowing victory,
to knowing the refuge in our warfare? It is going
to the mercy seat, to the shadow of his wings.
The picture here is, of course, to that mercy
seat on the top of the ark where those cherubim
were stretched out on the ends with their wings
overshadowing the ark, looking down upon that
mercy seat. That's the picture in the psalmist's
mind. He says, I will go to the mercy seat of
God, and there I will wait until destruction
passes by. I will cry out to God. When I'm under
attack, when you're under attack, when we sense
Satan on the offensive in our lives, How do we
find refuge? The answer is going to the mercy
seat of God. Going there and taking refuge in
His wings. And finding protection until destruction
passes by. God is our refuge from worry. And
God is our refuge from warfare. But in closing,
let me suggest one other way in which He is our
refuge. This is found in Psalm 71. Psalm 71 and,
well, I'll begin in verse 5. For thou art my
hope, O Lord God, thou art my confidence from
my youth. By thee I have been sustained from
my birth. Thou art he who took me from my mother's
womb. My praise is continually of thee. I have
become a marvel to many, for thou art my strong
refuge. My mouth is filled with thy praise and
with thy glory all day long. Do not cast me off
in the time of old age. Do not forsake me when
my strength fails. I want to suggest to you in
closing tonight that God is a refuge from weakness.
The psalmist here bases his claim that God is
a refuge from weakness upon a lifetime of experience.
He says, in my birth, you've sustained me. And
in my youth, when I was young, you were my confidence.
And then as he looks ahead to his old age, he
knows that God will not cast him off nor forsake
him, but will be his strength. The psalmist says
that God is a refuge for him in the time of weakness.
Now we can apply that to any kind of weakness
that you and I have. It may be physical weakness
that we experience, frustrating as it may be.
God is a refuge. I never cease to be amazed at
people like Johnny Erickson. To hear her share,
as she does on her radio broadcast, with such
confidence in God, such faith in God's sovereignty,
God's goodness, and yet being quadriplegic, weakness
physically, is her daily experience, and yet
how God has become a refuge for her. She does
not cry out and complain against God, but she
finds God to be a refuge, a protection. God is
her provision in the time, the experience of
her weakness. And then emotional weakness? Times
when we just feel drained, when we don't have
any more response to give. God can be a refuge.
Mental fatigue is where a lot of us are tonight.
God's a refuge. What about spiritual vulnerability?
God's a refuge. When you and I are weak, the
Lord is our refuge. The fact is that we cannot
look to ourselves or to others to provide the
refuge we need. Whether it be refuge from the
wrath of God or refuge from worry, some people
put their trust in others. And they don't worry
because of what others can do, but the fact is
that others can't always do what's necessary
and sometimes others forget or others fail. We
can't look to others as a refuge from worry.
God's the only refuge. A refuge from warfare?
Only God. He is our refuge in weakness? Only
the Lord, not others. Others may encourage us,
yes, but God's our refuge. One final text in
Psalm 142. At a time in my life when I was probably
at the lowest I've ever been, before we moved
to Minneapolis St. Paul, at a time of ministry
that was extremely difficult, Psalm 142 became
for me bread. that my soul fed on. Maybe tonight
if you are pressed with despair, if you feel
weak, if you feel there's no strength left, look
at this. I cry aloud with my voice to the Lord.
I make supplication with my voice to the Lord.
I pour out my complaint before Him. I declare
my trouble before Him. When my spirit was overwhelmed
within me, thou didst know my path." Are you
overwhelmed tonight by what you're passing through?
Isn't it great to know when our spirit is overwhelmed,
God knows our path. He hasn't left us. In the
way where I walk, they have hidden a trap for
me. Look to the right and see, there is no one
who regards me. There is no escape for me, no
one cares for my soul. I cried out to thee, O
Lord, I said, Thou art my refuge, my portion
in the land of the living." To paraphrase something
that M .R .D. Hahn said a number of years ago,
I look to others and I'm disillusioned. I look
to myself and I'm disgusted. I look to the Lord
and I'm delivered. I'm talking to some people
tonight who need to know to enter into, that
is, the truth that the Lord is your refuge. Let
him be that for you tonight. Let's pray. If that's
you, if you are tonight overwhelmed, overwhelmed
with worry, overwhelmed with warfare, overwhelmed
with weakness, will you say to the Lord, Thou
art my refuge? He cares, my friend. Others may
fail you, even if they don't want to. You can't
trust your own self, but you can trust Him. Tell
Him so right now. Lord, encourage us, each one
of us, I pray, with this truth. May our hearts
respond to the refuge you provide. with great
joy, deep appreciation, and warm devotion. Thank
you that you are to us our protection, our petition,
our provision, that you are all that we need.
Thank you. In Jesus' name, Amen. May the Lord
bless you. May you live in the refuge that is
the Lord this week. We're dismissed.