A Hiding Place for the Helpless

How abundant is your goodness, which you have . . . worked for those who take refuge in you. (Psalm 31:19)

The experience of future grace often hangs on whether we will take refuge in God, or whether we doubt his care and run for cover to other shelters.

For those who take refuge in God, the promises of future grace are many and rich.

None of those who take refuge in him will be condemned. (Psalm 34:22)

He is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. (2 Samuel 22:31)

Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (Psalm 2:12)

The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. (Nahum 1:7)

We do not earn or merit anything by taking refuge in God. Hiding, because we are weak and need protection, is not a work to commend our self-sufficiency. All it does is show that we regard ourselves as helpless and the hiding place as a place of rescue.

In all those promises I just quoted, the condition of great blessing from God is that we take refuge in him. That condition is not a meritorious one; it is the condition of desperation and acknowledged weakness and need and trust.

Desperation does not demand or deserve; it pleads for mercy and looks for grace.

John Piper 

Do You Know Where You Are?

“Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.” PSALM 62:8

 

PONDER THIS

If someone were from out of town and called me and said, “Adrian, we’re in town. We want to come by and see you. How do we get to your house?” The first question I would ask that person is, where are you now? I ask this question because I cannot give my friend directions to my house unless I can help him establish where he is right now. You can’t get to where you need to be until you understand where you are. We need to take an inventory of ourselves to find out where we are.

We need to think through our problems. We need to pray and search our hearts to understand where we are in our souls. You have to ask yourself, “What is standing between me and God? What are the obstacles? What are the roadblocks?” The roadblocks don’t mean God is not with you. There are difficulties. The door to the room of opportunity swings on the hinges of opposition—problems in God’s hands are just opportunities. We need to reverse our thinking. In whatever area of life you’ve got problems, thank God for those areas and talk to Him about the problems. He can open the doors of opportunity. We need to know where we are and share that with God before we can go anywhere new.

What is hard about being honest with God about where you are?

What are some things going on in your life right now that you haven’t talked to God about?

 

PRACTICE THIS

Write down in a journal or on a sheet of paper where you are in your walk with God. List some potential obstacles and roadblocks between you and God.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

A Hiding Place for the Helpless

How abundant is your goodness, which you have . . . worked for those who take refuge in you. (Psalm 31:19)

The experience of future grace often hangs on whether we will take refuge in God, or whether we doubt his care and run for cover to other shelters.

For those who take refuge in God, the promises of future grace are many and rich.

None of those who take refuge in him will be condemned. (Psalm 34:22)

He is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. (2 Samuel 22:31)

Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (Psalm 2:12)

The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. (Nahum 1:7)

We do not earn or merit anything by taking refuge in God. Hiding, because we are weak and need protection, is not a work to commend our self-sufficiency. All it does is show that we regard ourselves as helpless and the hiding place as a place of rescue.

In all those promises I just quoted, the condition of great blessing from God is that we take refuge in him. That condition is not a meritorious one; it is the condition of desperation and acknowledged weakness and need and trust.

Desperation does not demand or deserve; it pleads for mercy and looks for grace.

John Piper 

A Hiding Place for the Helpless

How abundant is your goodness, which you have . . . worked for those who take refuge in you. (Psalm 31:19)

The experience of future grace often hangs on whether we will take refuge in God, or whether we doubt his care and run for cover to other shelters.

For those who take refuge in God, the promises of future grace are many and rich.

None of those who take refuge in him will be condemned. (Psalm 34:22)

He is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. (2 Samuel 22:31)

Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (Psalm 2:12)

The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. (Nahum 1:7)

We do not earn or merit anything by taking refuge in God. Hiding, because we are weak and need protection, is not a work to commend our self-sufficiency. All it does is show that we regard ourselves as helpless and the hiding place as a place of rescue.

In all those promises I just quoted, the condition of great blessing from God is that we take refuge in him. That condition is not a meritorious one; it is the condition of desperation and acknowledged weakness and need and trust.

Desperation does not demand or deserve; it pleads for mercy and looks for grace.

John Piper

Jesus, Our Refuge of Wisdom

PRAY OVER THIS

And the king sang a lament over Abner and said: “Should Abner die as a fool dies?” 2 Samuel 3:33

 

PONDER THIS

Do you know why God set up cities of refuge in the Old Testament? They pointed forward to the truth of the Lord Jesus. The Bible says that the name of the Lord is as a strong tower; the righteous run into it and they are safe (See Proverbs 18:10.). Jesus is our city of refuge, and yet many are going to die like fools because they’re outside the gate of the city of refuge. Jesus said, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul” (Matthew 16:26)? Your soul is worth more than all the stocks, bonds, gold, rubies, emeralds, schools, real estate, and the institutions of this world put together. Yet many treat their souls foolishly by rejecting Jesus the refuge and instead stay outside the gate where only death will be found.

What is considered wise in the eyes of the world? How does this compare to the wisdom of Christ?

Have you been living foolishly? Is Jesus calling you back to Himself?

PRACTICE THIS

Go for a walk today and ask the Lord to reveal the ways you have lived foolishly before Him. Ask Him to draw you back to the refuge of Jesus.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Afraid to Stray

Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind! (Psalm 31:19)

Consider two important truths in Psalm 31:19.

1. The goodness of the Lord

There is a peculiar goodness of God. That is, there is not only God’s general goodness that he shows to all people, making his sun rise on the evil and the good (Matthew 5:45), but also a peculiar goodness, as the psalm says, for “those who fear” him.

This goodness is abundant beyond measure. It is boundless. It lasts forever. It is all-encompassing. There is only goodness for those who fear him. Everything works together for their good (Romans 8:28). Even their pains are filled with profit according to Romans 5:3–5.

But those who do not fear him receive a temporary goodness. Romans 2:4–5 describes it like this: “Do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.” Kindness. Forbearance. Patience. Goodness. But it does not meet with the fear of the Lord, but hardness.

That’s the first truth: the goodness of the Lord.

2. The fear of the Lord

The fear of the Lord is the fear of straying from him. Therefore, it expresses itself in taking refuge in God. That’s why two conditions are mentioned in Psalm 31:19 — fearing the Lord and taking refuge in him. “Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have 1) stored up for those who fear you and 2) worked for those who take refuge in you!”

They seem to be opposites. Fear seems to drive away and taking refuge seems to draw in. But when we see that this fear is a fear of running away — a fear of straying from him — then they work together.

There is a real trembling in the heart of the saints. “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). But it is the trembling one feels in the arms of a Father who has just plucked his child from the undertow of the ocean. It is the trembling at the terrible prospect of thinking we don’t need a Father.

So, cherish the goodness of the Lord. Fear straying from him. Flee from every sin and take refuge in him. “Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you!”

John Piper