How is God our refuge?

"True it is — blessedly true — that the Lord's people now can draw instruction, comfort and refreshment from the blessings pronounced upon Israel. Blessed be God, we can know what it is to be 'satisfied with favour, and full of the blessing of the Lord.' We may take comfort from the assurance that 'as our days shall be our strength.' We too can say, 'The eternal God is our refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.'"

"How dependent man is seen from the beginning! Their only real refuge (or dwelling place) that has ever been theirs is the Lord Himself (v. 1). Wonderful as is the truth of this, man does not appreciate it, preferring to wander in his own way, deviating from one bypath to another. But the fact of his dependence does not change. For who is his Lord? One who existed before the mountains were brought forth, before He saw fit to form the earth and the world."

"If in the face of the greatest horror the world has ever seen, the godly can have such confidence, how much more should we, in view of the very minor afflictions we may have to face!"

"'The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.' How happy to be assured that we have Jehovah, the LORD of hosts, with us, nothing short of omnipotent power on our side; and that the God of Jacob is with us, that is, if God could have patience with a crooked stick like Jacob, will He not be patient with us, who come so far short of what we might be?"

"Well may the psalmist encourage himself, 'My soul, wait silently for God alone' (v. 5). It is the presence of God in the sanctuary that answers every need. While we can expect nothing but opposition from the world, we may expect every necessary help from Him."

"'In God is my salvation and my glory' (v. 7). Not only is salvation from enemies found in God, but also He inspires the vital rejoicing of His people. They glory (or boast) in Him, along with their Messiah. For He is the Rock of their strength and their refuge. In that perfect sanctuary refuge they are safe from all the attacks of the enemy. Is it not therefore the voice of the Lord addressing His people in verse 8, 'Trust in Him at all times,' 'pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us,' that is, for Christ and His people."

"He is wise in not fighting back, but as a deaf man does not apparently hear, or like one mute who has no answer. Why is this? He answers it simply, 'For In You, Lord, I hope. You will hear me, O Lord my God' (v. 15). Thus his only hope and confidence is in God."

"The soul is lifted up to Jehovah in its difficulties — the true secret of overcoming them, and of having peace in the midst of them. The true heart has no other refuge. Another distracts it from this."

"In this Psalm we are invited to consider Christ as the Hidden Manna — the One who passed through this world as a stranger, amidst trials and dangers, in unbroken communion with God, and thus found in God His 'refuge' and 'fortress' — a refuge from every storm, and His defence from every enemy."

"It is not the outer life lived before men of which the Psalm speaks, but the inner life lived in secret before God. Further, it is not occasional communion of which the Psalm speaks, but rather the constant experience of the soul, for it speaks of one that 'dwells in the secret place.'"

"We thus learn by the perfect example of Christ that, if walking through this world with all its dangers and terrors, in constant communion with God, earthly evils will not overcome us, Heavenly hosts will wait upon us, and Hell's forces be subdued beneath us."

"Though in the midst of a hostile environment, the Lord Jesus made God His refuge, in fact His permanent dwelling place (v. 9), so that it was impossible that evil should befall Him, nor that any plague would even come near, for to come near Him it would have to come near to God, His dwelling place (v. 10)."

"God in His mercy would not leave the slayer without a refuge from the avenger of blood. On the contrary, like Himself, He ordained that those cities which were designed as a merciful provision for the slayer should be so situated that wherever there was need of a shelter that shelter might be near at hand. There was always a city within reach of any who might be exposed to the sword of the avenger. This was worthy of our God."

"One grand point there is common to both, and that is, the point of exposure to imminent danger and the urgent need of fleeing for refuge. If it would have been wild folly on the part of the slayer to linger or hesitate for a moment, until he found himself safely lodged in the city of refuge, it is surely still wilder folly, yea, the very height of madness, on the part of the sinner, to linger or hesitate in coming to Christ. The avenger might perhaps fail to lay hold on the slayer even though he were not in the city; but judgement must overtake the sinner out of Christ."

"Well might this section begin with the word 'But,' for now no matter how great the suffering, God is infinitely greater, and to Him in perfect confidence the soul of the Sufferer is lifted up. At the time of acceptance, atonement having been made on the cross, then his resurrection is the answer of God. In the abundance of His loving-kindness God answered Him, saving him out of death and exalting Him to His own right hand."

"God is really the only resource and refuge when we have sinned. It is only God who, by imputing nothing to the believer, takes away all guile from the spirit; Psalm 32. But if you hide away from God, how do you then stand for your souls?"