Ps 91:2 I will say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!"
As we take a closer look at Psalm 91:2, the first thing noticed is David, the Psalmist, is speaking to God. The Hebrew word includes commune in its definition. To commune with someone, according to our English definition, means to communicate intimately with and to be receptive to. There are several things apparent that need to be in place in order to have an intimate conversation with someone.
Proximity. Closeness. Nearness.
To speak with someone carries the necessity to at least be within a close parameter with them. (In those days, there were no phones or computer technology!) Do you know God? The one and only God? The True God of the Bible?
Jump to the end of Psalm 91:2. It gives us a bit more information about David’s relationship with God. It’s more than just knowledge of Him. He addresses God as “my God”. Consider those two words. To what degree do these words affect the understanding we have of David’s relationship with God? They personalize it!
We use the word ‘my’ to impress something about ourselves. Using ‘my’ attached to a relationship stresses possession. Along with the words my God in Ps 91:2, there is a component of trust attached.
Trust. To be confident or sure. To be bold. To have hope in. In Judges 18:10, this same word is used to describe a secure people.
Hezekiah trusted in the Lord and it says in 2 Kings 18:5 that “after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah”. Why? Because of his trust in God.
Read the beautiful picture of trust painted for us in Psalm 4:1. As David cries out to God, he expects an answer because he knows God to be gracious to him. He is distressed at the pursuits of those around him, yet he knows that his focus will remain set on God as he waits and trusts in Him.
Ps 4:1-5 (For the choir director; on stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.) Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! Thou hast relieved me in my distress; be gracious to me and hear my prayer. 2 O sons of men, how long will my honor become a reproach? [How long] will you love what is worthless and aim at deception? 3 But know that the LORD has set apart the godly man for Himself; the LORD hears when I call to Him. 4 Tremble, and do not sin; meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah. 5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and trust in the LORD.
When we possess an intimate relationship with God, we understand the gift we have in being able to trust in Him in all circumstances. We will be able to call upon Him and know with certainty that He is our refuge and fortress from attacks on the outside and onslaughts from within.
Protection in God is complete, it is lasting and it is immediate. It took eighteen months and billions of dollars to build one of the most secure buildings in the United States, the Pentagon, and it was not impervious to attack. Who or where is your shelter and defense? Can you say “my fortress” and “my refuge” when addressing God, as David did?
If your answer is yes, please share the hope and certainty you have with those you come in contact with. If you sincerely care, you will share what is sincerely important to you!
If you are unable to proclaim God as your shelter, a personal relationship with Him is where you begin. Acknowledging your imperfection, your sin. Place your trust God’s absolute perfection, His sinless character. Having a personal relationship with God requires a mediator because of the gulf between His sinless Majesty and our sinful nature. Because God so desires a closeness to us, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to pay for our sin. The gulf between you and God has been closed when you accept your need of Jesus as your Savior. God then becomes the Lord and Master of your life. God is your Father in Heaven. Your Abba Father. As His child, you receive an inheritance. One of these gifts is the certainty of His protection.
Ro 8:1-15 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God [did:] sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and [as an offering] for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able [to do so]; 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. 10 And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you. 12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh-- 13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!"
La 3:24 "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I have hope in Him."
Ps 73:26 My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Ps 142:5 I cried out to Thee, O LORD; I said, "Thou art my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.
