The Lord is our Refuge

The Lord is our Refuge THE LORD IS OUR REFUGE
By Athens Clay Pullias

David said in the forty-sixth Psalm, the hrsl verse: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Frequently in recent days I have heard many people calmly say, referring to the dreadful crisis that has descended upon the world, “The Lo^d is our refuge.” This is both encouraging and thought- provoking. That 'a a beautiful statement, and if true, a glorious truth. Yet to declare that the Lord is our refuge is to presume that our lives are acceptable in his sight. It is not a claim to be made lightly or quickly. God is the refuge and the strength of those who place their lives in his hands. There is no possible doubt about that. Whether we are among that number who have committed themselves to Jehovah is the question that each one of us should thoughtfully and prayerfully consider. The Loid is the refuge of the righteous, but I am not at all sure that I have the right to proclaim myself as a righteous person whom the Lord will protect and bless. Jehovah has never prom ised to defend the wicked or the unrighteous. Those who have refused to do his will have never received his favor. The Lord is our refuge when, and only when, we are his people in heart and in life.

Some months ago a new popular song caught the ears and swept across the heart strings of the American people. The song was in the nature of a prayer.

“God bless America,
Land that I love,
Stand beside her,
And guide her,
Thru the night with a
Light from above;
From the mountains,
To the prairies To the oceans
White with foam;
God bless America,
My home, sweet home!”

These words have echoed in the hearts of millions from shore to shore. Yet this prayer for protection brings home a stirring question—What kind of an America will God bless ? The sacred power of the Almighty will not be prostituted in an unrighteous cause. If there ever was a time for the American people to ask themselves the question (Are we the kind of people that God will bless and protect?) that time is now. There is still shocking evidence of greed, of ambition and of licentiousness that must be removed before America can pray with confidence for the protection and guidance of the Almighty. Those who devote their efforts to making America better, spiritually and morally, will render the greatest conceivable service to our country and to all mankind.

Jesus challenged his hearers on one occasion with these words, “Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which 1 say.” It is futile to say that the Lord is our refuge unless we can say with truth we are servants of the Lord. The vital question resolves itself into this: Under what circumstances will the Lord be our refuge as individuals and as a nation? Spiritual security lies in knowing and doing the will of God. Every prayer for help and each reliance on the mercy of God must be based, if it is to be successful, on determined and unrelenting effort to do the will of Jehovah, There are some conditions that must exist in our lives before God will be our refuge. May we briefly consider some of these requirements that must be present before we can say the Lord is our refuge.

Each Christian must have a clear cut conception of things as they should be. There is grave danger that we are plunging into the future uncertain of what we are striving to attain and equally uncertain of the means which may be properly used. The world of the future, individually and nationally, must be a planned world. Aimless drifting during and after the present crisis will inevitably lead to the rocks of chaos again. The first step toward a permanent solution of the problems of man is the development of a proper conception of things as they should be. This conception can be obtained .from the word of God. The cynics have scoffed at the ideal world of which Jesus dreamed and at the methods by which he proposed to achieve these ideals. These cynics, who like to call themselves realists, have brought the earth to the brink of utter destruction. It is high time that men turn to the lowly Galilean that they may catch a vision of things as they should be.

It would not be enough to develop a Christian con-ception of what men should be and how men should live. There must then follow hard work over a long period of time to bring this vision of things as they should be into actual being. No great thing has ever been achieved without extended effort. Jesus said of himself: “I must work the work of him that sent me while it is day, for the night cometh when no man can work.” There seems to be in our land an increasing tendency to despise labor and toil. Even in this critical hour there remain many who consider the best position in life one with short hours and high pay. This country was not built on a love of leisure and luxury. When our forefathers crossed the Appalachian Mountains in the latter part of the Eighteenth century and looked down upon the lovely valley of the Tennessee they did not behold homes, schools, churches and the other equipment of civilization. Instead, they beheld a trackless wdderness infested with ferocious beasts and sav age men. Their material equipment was pitiably small; their moral and spiritual equipment was tremendously better than ours today. Armed with their faith in God and in the digmty of man they took their broad axes in hand and carved out of that wilderness the dazzling civilization which we. have inherited. To them til ere was a job to be done, a vision to be realized. There was no regard for hours and wages in their minds. Their only concern was for a goal to be achieved. They arose with the voice of the bird in the morning and toiled through the day till the set of sun. From their visions and labors we have received inestimable rewards. An unwillingness on our part to work hard and long, will insure our complete and final overthrow. Paul said bluntly: “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are. such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they wrork, and eat their own bread” (2 Thessalonians 3:10-12).

If our stake in this present crisis is no more basically moral than a desire to return as quickly as possible to our earthly pleasures, then disaster is certain.

“Heights of great men reached and kept,
Are not attained in sudden flight;
But they, while their companions slept,
Toiled upward in the night/’
Somebody has put it in these words:
“Dream that you may have the courage to work,
And work that your dreams may come true.”

America must get from the word of God a conception of things as they should be, and America must have the faith, the hope, and the love to work, day in and day out, year in and year out, to make a reality out of that vision.

There is another quality which those who can truly say, “The Lord is my refuge,” must possess. Let us call it moral stability, the ability and the determination to stand for right, truth and decency regardless of the cost and regardless of the circumstances. Such a course is far from easy. When the crowd is going in one direction it requires both courage and conviction to set your face in the opposite direction. A thrilling example of moral stability is recorded in the Old Testament in the case of Joseph. At a tender age he was sold by his own brethren into bondage, a heartbreaking experience. While he sought to faithfully serve as a slave in Potiphar’s house, that evil woman, Potiphar’s wife, planned his moral ruin. This boy, though a slave, had the resolution to steadfastly refuse to do wrong. It sent him to prison for a while; because he dared to do the right, he lost even the humble station of a slave, but his courage and faith were not lost. It was tins unyielding will to do right in the heart of Joseph that bridged the yawning chasm between the bottom of Pharaoh’s jail and the prime ministership of the Egyptian Empire. Godliness lifted this boy out of the prison and on to the throne.

Victory doesn’t always come in a day. Those who have the courage and faith to say, “The Lord is my refuge," must also have the patience to- wait until God in his own way and time brings victory to his people.' There lies before us hardship and suffering. The storm which has arisen over the face of the earth will not quickly pass. To use the words of another, “Let us go into the storm and through the storm, trust ing in the final victory of righteousness and decency.” How long we must wait and how much we must bear before the glorious moment of triumph comes no man can possibly know. Whatever may be the burdens which this stoi m and tempest may place upon us, they must be borne with patience and fortitude. The people of God must have the patience, and the faith, to leave the future in the hands of God. The Christian is in partnership with God, ready to stand or fall upon the truth and power of the Olimtian gospel. Let us be very sure that our hves harmonize with his will, then we can say with certainty, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

These then are the qualities that will enable the sons of men to say, “The Lord is our refuge.” A conception of things as they should be, gained from the word of God; a willingness to work hard and long in the cause of righteousness; a determination to stand for right come what may; the patience to leave the time and manner of victory completely in the hands of God; and finally, a realization that the Christian lives in constant partnership with God. When these things have been achieved in our lives, then the Lord is our refuge. \Ye have his own righteous word to sustain us in that conviction. Through Isaiah he said: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength” (Isaiah 26:3-4). “That peace which passeth all understanding” is the exclusive possession of the faithful children of God. The promises contained in the first Psalm are enough to thrill the hearts of God’s people: “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper” (Psalms 1:1-3). In the fifth Psalm David said: “For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield” (Psalms 5:12). The thirty- seventh Psalm is equally comforting to the people of God. “Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.- Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday” (Psalms 37:1-6). Again in the same thirty-seventh Psalm David said: “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord up- holdeth him with his hand. I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed. Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore” (Psalms 37:23-27). In the New Testament our Master was even more positive in pledging the protection of God to the people of God. “And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, 0 ye of little faith?” (Matthew 6:28-30). In the eighth chapter of the Roman letter the apostle Paul expresses with eloquence and beauty unlimited confidence in the power and goodness of the Almighty. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1). We have taken great pains to show that men call fall by the wayside, and so many have fallen that it is difficult to see how anyone could ever doubt man’s ability to fall. On the other hand, it is not necessary for man to fall. If we would get in Christ and stay out of everything else, “there is, therefore, now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.” In the twenty-eighth verse of the same chapter Paul assures the children of God that whatever may come will redound to the glory of God and the good of his people. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). In the last verses of this eighth chapter of Romans the total power of the Almighty is pledged to the protection of his saints. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or perd, or sword? ... Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35; Romans 8:37-39). In his last letter to Timothy, which was almost the last message of the great apostle Paul, that battle- scarred veteran revealed a faith unshaken and un* diminished by the storms that raged around him. “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day” (2 Timothy 1:12). The Hebrew letter impressively asserts that God will never desert his people. Listen carefully to these words: “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me” (Hebrews 13:5-6).

Alexander Stephens has well expressed the athtude which a Christian should take toward whatever fate may chance to bring. He said: “I fear nothing on the earth, nor above the earth, nor under the earth, man nor beast, angel nor devil, except that I may do wrong.” The Christian has only one thing to fear, and that is doing wrong. Do the will of God, and fear nothing. . Our ability to assume this attitude will depend upon cur faith in God. Often we will not be able to understand the stormy events that surge around us. A lack of understanding only serves to make faith more definitely essential to victorious living.

“Not now, but in the coming years,
It may be in the better land,
We’ll read the meaning of our tears,
And there, sometime, we’ll understand.
Then trust in God thro’ all thy days;
Fear not, for he doth hold thy hand;
Tho’ dark thy way, still sing and praise; Sometime, sometime we’ll understand.”
In the face of whatever may come, let us say:
“I know not what the future hath Of marvel or surprise;
I only know that life or death His mercy underlies.
I know not where his islands lift Their fronded palms in air;
I only know I cannot drift Beyond his love and care.” The people of God can say with Browning: “God’s in his heaven—All’s right with the world,” for those who trust in Jehovah and do his will. And so we plead again: “Hold fast to the eternal things.”