The Lord, My Refuge!

Psalm 16:1 - 2----

Keep me safe, O God, for in You I take refuge.

I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.”

There are times when we feel unsafe. There are times when we fear, when we are anxious or worried or threatened. King David, who wrote this psalm, had times in his life when he was running for his life. Saul wanted to kill him.

This psalm shows that we can turn to the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. He is our refuge and our safety. He is also our treasure. We see that David said that he had nothing good apart from the Lord. The Lord was his treasure.

But what is it that we need to be kept safe from? We’re not kings. We’re not running from a Saul who wants to do us in. What is it that we need to be kept safe from?

The Bible says that “It is appointed for man once to die—and after that the Judgment.” (Heb 9:27)

There is the Judgment Day. The Day when God has said that everyone will be judge according to what he or she has done. This judgment day is called “the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” (Mal 4:5) We are warned that is it a “dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Heb 10:31)

Why is this such a horrible thing?

Because God is a righteous God. He is a holy God—and we are unrighteous and unholy. God said that “there is none righteous—no not one!” Nothing that we have pleases God. All that we have done in our own strength has offended Him.

That is why this is such a dreadful day! That is why we should fear and be afraid. That is why we should be very concerned and seek some refuge.

That is why King David prayed: “Keep me safe, O God, for in You I take refuge!”

King David looked to this God for His refuge! This God who is a consuming fire (Heb 12:29). Yet David prays to Him—“keep me safe!” How can this be? God said there is none righteous—no not one. And His anger burns against the workers of unrighteousness everyday. Yet David who was a sinner could pray—keep me safe, O God!

How?

Because God provided a way. God provided a refuge. God provided a substitute. We deserve His wrath and punishment. Yet God punished Jesus Christ in our place.

Jesus took our sin and our punishment and then He gives us His righteousness so that we may approach the Father.

Oh! What an amazing thought! God takes dirty rotten sinners and cleans them up and gives them shelter. Shelter from the storms of life—shelter from the great and dreadful day of His Judgment.

But this is not a FIRE INSURANCE sort of escape. You know, insurance? The type of thing that you would buy and then place in your desk drawer and never think about? Maybe if you had a fire or someone else had a fire, you might think about your insurance. But basically it just sits there and does nothing.

No, this refuge that we have in God is not to be like that at all! See what King David wrote? “I said to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord.’”

This God who can be our refuge and our safety must be our Lord. We had not security in Him unless we make Him our Lord.

So what does that mean? Lord?

He is in control. He says what to do. He is the King. Imagine that: King David look to this Lord as his own King. We must look to Him as our King too.

But there is something more. David went on and wrote, “Apart from You, O Lord, I have no good thing.” David delighted in this God and Lord. Do we look to Jesus as our King? Do we look to Him as our delight? Do we read His word and find our joy and our comfort there?

If so, we can look to Him as our refuge and our safety—our security and shelter in the Day of Judgment.

If you are not looking to Him as our King and as our Joy, you cannot look to Him for shelter. His wrath still burns against you. You are in danger and you need to call out to this God for mercy. Save me, O God. Change my heart and wash me to make me clean. Save me, O God. I trust in Jesus who took my punishment. Save me, O God. I make You my Lord and my delight. Apart from You I have no good thing.

If we do look to Him as Lord and we find our delight in Him, we are secure. We are safe. We can stop worrying. No matter where we are in life this Jesus will be with us. This Jesus promised to be with us. He will abide with us and we will abide with Him. Even when our time comes and we leave this life, we may rest secure and safely in Him. He won’t let us down. He abides with us and we abide with Him.