Experiencing God as Refuge

Meditation 1: The God’s whose refuge is a delight to those in trouble

Psalm 34:8 Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

What is wonderful about this attribute:
Taking refuge in God is at the same time hard and easy. When this world seems to offer securities and refuges that we can see it is hard to trust in one we cannot see. And yet the world’s refuges offer no real refuge. They require that we supply all the safety and power. And we have none to supply (if we did, we would not need a refuge!).

But on the other hand taking refuge in God is easy in that it requires only that we trust Him. We do not have to go anywhere or supply anything. We run to Him but we add nothing to the strength of the Refuge. The world’s glass fortresses leave us awake and anxious day and night looking around at possible dangers. But the man who takes refuge in the Lord can sleep and rest in perfect peace. The only danger we have to be concerned with is the danger that we will be enticed by the world or the Devil or our flesh to come out of the refuge.

Remind me, Lord, how blessed I am when I am in the refuge. Remind me of how safe I am. The things that have hurt me so much, that have destroyed that which was most precious to me – they cannot ultimately harm me. I am safe if I take refuge in You. The moment I step out of Your refuge, though, I am in fatal danger. I am naked, crippled and blind in the heat of the battle. By stepping away from the blessedness of Your shelter I open myself up to dangers that can inflict massive damage on me that will last years – even for the rest of my life. What foolishness, Lord, for me to ever step out of Your refuge!

Psalm 34:1 Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he left. I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips

What a terrifying experience that must have been for David to be completely at the mercy of such a merciless enemy with no way out except for this risky plan that was so unlikely to work and could have gone wrong so many ways. He must have feared that his humiliation, torture and doom at the hands of his enemy were almost a certainty. God had delivered him from the Philistines many times, but this time it must have seemed that it was not going to happen. If you have never had a night this dark it is impossible to fully appreciate how joyful this kind of praise really is. Being in utter hopelessness and then being rescued by God generates feelings of closeness to His presence and warmth in being enveloped in His tender love that are hard to put into words.

Psalm 5:11-12 But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

What effect would it have on your heart if you were to consciously experience God as your refuge today?

Experiencing this attribute:
The best time to experience this attribute is, of course, when you are afraid. However it is also possible to experience it other times. Even when you are not afraid of anything and there seem to be no significant threats, that is only the case because of the protective hand of the Lord.

Teach my soul more about what it means to take refuge in You. Forgive Your servant for worrying and fretting and complaining and acting as though I had no Protector. Show me, dear Lord, how to lock the giant iron gates behind me as I enter Your fortress.

Think: Throughout the day today ask yourself, “At this moment am I running into or stepping out of His refuge?”

Promise to trust today:

Psalm 34:8 Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

Meditation 2: Shelter, safety and Rock

Psalm 27:5-6 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. 6 Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD.

What is wonderful about this attribute:

Dwelling in God’s presence (being in close fellowship with Him and enjoying His beauty and seeking after Him) is the only place of safety in the day of trouble.

But what is safety? The complete removal of the difficulty? Is this a promise that we will have completely trouble-free lives? Obviously not. The promise is not that there will be no trouble, but that the trouble will not harm us.
The question, then, is “What constitutes harm?” Pain is not in itself harm, so what is?

The only harm that trouble can inflict is getting you to exchange God’s glory for some other prize in your heart, and to prefer some pleasure or some achievement or some earthly thing more than His glory. That is the grave danger from which you are utterly safe when you are in His presence enthralled by His glory.

But when we become dull to the wonder of God’s glory, and we see it without seeing it – think true things about it without actually experiencing and enjoying it – then we are utterly vulnerable and defenseless and fall like a house of cards before Satan’s slightest enticements.
If you will only seek and enjoy God alone, He will hide you away in the back of the Holy of Holies itself, where not even the boldest enemy would dare come after you. He will receive you into His own house and show you the hospitality of Lot – sacrificing His own Child to keep you safe.

Lord, let me dwell in Your presence! Let me seek You and enjoy Your beauty and splendor. Open my eyes and soften my heart that I might see You today!
What effect would it have on your heart if you were to consciously experience God as your shelter today?

Experiencing this attribute:

David was sure he would be offering sacrifices with shouts of joy, singing and making joyful music to the Lord. But very often for us that kind of joy seems so far off.

Dear Father, I don’t know how far off that is right now, but please, at least set Your servant’s foot on the path toward that kind of joy in You. Show me how to find it, for Your name’s sake.

Lord, today let me see and rejoice in the fact that Your presence is utter safety for Your children. That same presence that would instantly consume anyone else, the most dangerous place there is, for Your children is refuge and safety and comfort and glory. The very thing that makes Your presence so safe is the fierce danger of it. It is safe for me because it is so dangerous for them. You hate evil so much that You will not let it near You, which means You will not let it near me when I am near You.

Lord, purge from my life all the sin that keeps me from that glorious presence and that puts distance between me and You. Don’t let me be found defenseless and vulnerable when that sure day of trouble arrives. And keep me from doing that which makes Your presence dangerous for me! Oh, woe to me if my only refuge becomes a place of danger. Keep me from sin, dear Lord.

Think: What is it that is keeping you from rejoicing with literal shouts of joy at this time? If you were enjoying God’s presence like the psalmist was, then there would be that much joy in your heart. What could you do today to move closer to that?

Promise to trust today:

Psalm 27:5-6 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. 6 Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD.

Write your own prayer:

Meditation 3: My only rock, salvation and fortress

Psalm 62:2 He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

What is wonderful about this attribute:

David knew what it was like to try to fight from a lower position. His many years of combat doubtless found him often trying to defend himself from a position of weakness and disadvantage, struggling to survive against an enemy coming from a higher, stronger position. He knew what it was like to try to retreat while bogged down in the mud, to have arrows rain down from above, to have his options blocked by obstacles, to have his vision limited because of being too low. But he also knew what it was like to be on the other end of all that – up high on a rock where he could see all around him, where his footing was solid and secure, where his enemies knew better than to attack from their lower position.

What effect would it have on your heart if you were to consciously experience God as your rock today?

Experiencing this attribute:

It is hard to appreciate God as a rock and fortress if you have never been in a position in which you enemies had the upper hand, so that no matter how hard you tried to escape or defend yourself it never worked. In times like that there is no escape. Everyone believes your opponent and no one believes you, and everything you try fails. You become target practice for those firing down at you, and you cannot lift yourself out. When that happens, and then finally God lifts you out, it can be one of the most delightful kinds of fellowship with God (if you recognize that it is God who is lifting you).

Father, don’t let me forget. When I have troubles, my anxious, self-reliant heart starts scrambling to fix the problem on its own, looking to itself as its own deliverance, with little or no thought about You, confidence in You, hope in You, trust in You – my heart almost forgets about You as it strives and struggles to rescue itself. And the more apparent successes my heart has, the more it thinks itself to be its own savior. Lord, teach me to look only to You as my Deliverer, no matter what the size of the trial. Whenever people believe me or support me in a conflict, teach me to interpret that as Your lifting me up, rather than chalking it up to my own trustworthiness. Thank You dear Father, for the favor that You have granted me in the eyes of so many!

You are my only Rock. When my mind is stuck in distraction like a tractor in four feet of mud, only You can lift me up to think clearly and focus fully on You.
When my heart is in the bottom of a pit of ignorance and dullness to You, so that the handholds and footholds to climb out are utterly out of my reach – and I look into Your Word and understand nothing; only You can lift me out of that.
When my affections are deflated and depressed, so that the platform of hope from which I can view the vistas of Your promises is a 1000 foot cliff before me, and my arms and legs are broken, only You can lift me up.
When circumstances or enemies or Satan has me pinned down and cornered with no escape, only You can lift me up onto the rock.

You are my Rock. Teach me never to seek any other rock. Let me not stand on anything else for my confidence or rescue or deliverance from trouble. Let me prefer trouble rather than climb up on any other rock besides You. Let me not look to men. Oh Lord, so often I want to talk to everyone but You about my troubles, and look to men to deliver me or comfort me. I want their sympathy more than I want Yours. And so I just spread my misery more widely. I know there are times when I’m so weak and helpless that I can’t find Your grace without the help of a brother. But except for those extreme moments, Lord, may my habit be to run only to You, and not to even mention my struggles to others. And when I do talk to others, let it be for one purpose only: for them to assist me in finding help in You.

Whenever I have the sensation of needing to be lifted up, let that remind me that You are my Rock. And my only hope is to stand upon You and find within You my safe haven.

Whenever I feel safe and secure and on top of the world, let that remind me that it is only because of Your rock-likeness that I am that way, and let that make my heart love Your rock-likeness more.

If you stand upon the Lord as your rock, and hide within Him as your safe refuge, you will never be shaken. Nothing can upend you. Even though you are weak and helpless in yourself – a little lamb surrounded by wolves and facing a roaring lion, not a hair on your head can be touched while you are in the safety of His presence. It would take more than all the demons in hell and on earth to shake the heart who knows the Rock as his God.

Oh, thank You dear Lord, for giving me safety and rest and security. Help me to take the dangers more seriously, that I might enjoy Your protection more fully.

Think: Are you on high ground right now or down in the pit? If you are on high ground, spend a few moments interpreting your circumstances for what they are – an experience of the rock-likeness of God. If you are in the pit interpret those circumstances for what they are – hunger and thirst for an experience of the rock-likeness of God.

Promise to trust today:

Psalm 62:2 He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

Write your own prayer:

Meditation 4 – The ONLY Savior from the enemy’s traps

Psalm 25:15 My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare.

Psalms 33:18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, 19 to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.

What is wonderful about this attribute:

Blessed is the man stuck in a snare who looks to a Savior in heaven. His eyes are in the very heavenlies, while his feet are stuck on earth. His heart seeks and finds the Lord God in real communion, while his flesh and bone is embroiled in some earthly trouble. He looks to God alone for deliverance.

Holy Father, only You can deliver from calamity. Remind me when I am enticed by the world that sinning against You invites a disaster that no one can save me from except the very Husband against which I am committing adultery.
What effect would it have on your heart if you were to consciously experience God as your only rescue today?

Experiencing this attribute:

Father, open my eyes to the many snares all around me. You alone can rescue me from the traps of the enemy. Father, I want to learn to see that attribute when I look to You. When I think of You, I want that to be part of what comes to my mind – that You are the only Rescuer from the snares of the enemy. It seems like to do that I will have to become more cognizant of the snares. The enemy has camouflaged them. I’m afraid I’m oblivious to the great majority of them. Father, open my eyes. Let me see them and let each one remind me of this wonderful attribute – that You are the one Savior. And incline my heart to rejoice in that!

I sit before You now at the threshold of this new day and lay it at Your feet on Your altar. You said, “My name will be great among the nations. From the rising to the setting of the sun in every place incense and pure sacrifices will be made to my name, for my name will be great among the nations” (Mal.1:12). Lord, let my prayer this morning be fulfillment of that glorious promise You made thousands of years ago. I live in one of the far off nations – toward “the setting of the sun” from Israel. Here I sit, in this remote corner of the world – obscure and unknown in Malachi’s time, a Gentile who has never even been to Israel – bowing myself low before Your great name, and joyfully acknowledging it to be greater than any other name and all other names combined. And by the gracious work of Your Spirit this prayer is incense that rises all the way to heaven, and my sacrifice of praise is a pure and acceptable sacrifice to You. And in addition to that I now take this day You have made and have placed into my hands, and lay it on Your altar. It is a day when I will have to make decisions all day long. Lord, my resolve is that I will make those decisions all for Your glory and Your honor. I will take delight in living this day for You, because it is Yours and I am Yours. I will encounter many obstacles, temptations, trials, joys, pleasures, distractions, tasks, opportunities, gifts of Your grace, forks in the road – Lord, let my interaction with each of those be an act of sweet communion with You and holy worship. If each moment is a step in my walk, I will take thousands of steps between now and when I sit here with You tomorrow morning. Dear Father, let each of those steps be in stride with Your Spirit – close by Your side. Let my soul cling to You and when I drop behind to follow hard after You to get back in step. Keep me close to You, dear Father. This is a scary, dangerous world, and only You can protect me. Care for me today, Lord. The enemy’s goal is for me to arrive at the end of this day a little farther from You. Even if it is only a few inches, if he can set a pattern of that eventually I will be far from You. Oh Lord, his methods are so subtle and imperceptible. If he succeeds in his goal today I will probably not even be aware of it. Please, dear Father, protect me! Hold me close by Your side.
I resolve to keep my eyes continually upon You. I look to You with my whole being – all my affections turn themselves toward You, dear Lord, precious Savior who died for me. I will not look to the creation to rescue me. The enemy’s traps are all around me, and false saviors are all around them. No sooner do I step into the trap of boredom than ten false saviors arrive with effusive offers and promises to release me. The false saviors of daydreaming, TV, the Internet, worthless conversation – they shout their oaths that if I look to them instead of You I will be more satisfied. Lord, please, save me from those saviors. Don’t let me fall for their lies.

The worst of all the snares is the trap of distraction. I go such long periods without any thought of You at all, simply because my mind is so occupied with what I’m doing. Oh Lord, please teach me how to commune with You even while concentrating on other things. Surely it is possible for my eyes to be ever upon You. Teach me to look to You. Teach me to look to You in faith as my only Savior from every trouble. Draw out from my heart the expectant look of hope, and the obedient look of service, and the adoring look of affection, and the exuberant look of joy. Blessed is the man whose gaze is never lifted from the divine glory! Attract my attention to You, dear Lord, or my dull heart won’t be inclined even to gaze upon the beauty You have revealed.

Think: How long is the interval likely to be between now and the next time you take a moment to enjoy the experience of fixing your eyes upon the glory of this attribute of God? Why not set an alarm or some other reminder half way through that interval, to make the intervals shorter today?

Promise to trust today:

Psalm 25:15 My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare.

Meditation 5 – The guard, rescuer and refuge of those who hope in him

Good morning Father, I am so distracted today. I waited too long to come to You in prayer, and now I’m embroiled in ten different concerns for today. Please, move by Your Spirit in my heart to still and quiet my soul before You. I desire not to dishonor You by dragging the hubbub of my day into our morning fellowship. I want to honor You by being distracted from all that by Your glory, rather than being distracted from Your glory by all that.

Psalm 25:19-22 See how my enemies have increased and how fiercely they hate me! 20 Guard my life and rescue me; let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. 21 May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you. 22 Redeem Israel, O God, from all their troubles!

What is wonderful about this attribute:

How fiercely Satan hates you! The psalmists did not know all that we know about the spiritual realm. Their attention was mainly on flesh and blood foes. But we know our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against Satan and his minions. Satan often uses people in his attacks against us, but those people are mere tools in the hand of our true opponent. The psalmist was distressed because his enemies had increased in strength. We face an enemy stronger than all David’s foes combined, and with ten times the hatred.

Apart from the protecting hand of God our situation would be hopeless. Our enemy would be far too strong for us, and we would have no chance. However, we tend to become so used to being protected that we take it for granted and imagine there is no real danger. It is impossible to appreciate being protected without realizing the severity of the peril that surrounds us.

If it were not for God’s protecting hand you would be quickly and utterly put to shame and destroyed over the course of the next hour. Even in the next several minutes, if God lifted His hand of protection from you, complete disaster would strike and you would be able to do nothing about it.

And that means you are experiencing the guarding hand of God right now. God is right here, now, in this very room with you, actively protecting you from deadly assaults.

What effect would it have on your heart if you were to consciously experience God as the rescuer of those who hope in Him today?

Experiencing this attribute:

David asked God to look upon his enemies to see how numerous and fierce they were. But many times we need to just the reverse – ask God to make us look upon our enemies, because we are oblivious to the spiritual dangers that surround us, and we fail to run to Him and pray earnestly for refuge.

Dear Lord, make me alert to the seriousness of the damage that could be done today if my enemy succeeds in his plans to entrap me today. Awaken me to the danger, dear Lord, that I might glorify You by taking refuge in the shadow of Your wings. Guard me, dear Lord. Protect me. Help me dress myself in Your armor. Draw out from my heart joyful hope in You, that I might be the recipient today of the grace of this attribute.

I have placed my hope in You, dear Lord. So protect me. Do not let me fall, lest Your name be compromised through the failure of one who hoped in You. Magnify Your name in me by protecting me from harm. Keep me from any kind of dishonesty, error or foolishness. Remind me as I work that I am being sheltered from deadly satanic volleys the entire time. There is so much busy work that awaits me today – I fear my mind and heart will be far from You most of the time, if not all of it. Please protect me from that, Lord. Keep me from drifting. I need Your grace to do simple chores just as much as any other time. Keep my heart close to You today.

May integrity and uprightness guard me today.

Promise to trust today:

Psalm 121:7 The LORD will keep you from all harm– he will watch over your life; 8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

Meditation 6 – The only safety in calamity

Psalm 5:9-12 Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with destruction. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongue they speak deceit. 10 Declare them guilty, O God! Let their intrigues be their downfall. Banish them for their many sins, for they have rebelled against you. 11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. 12 For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

What is wonderful about this attribute:

God divides all of humanity into two categories. But the categories are not those who sin and those who do not. If those were the categories God would be just, but there would be no hope for us. We would be justly condemned to hell – right now. Those who are agonizing in hell and screaming in torment right now are suffering that way because of the fact that they committed the exact same sins that we have committed and are committing right now. If God judged by justice alone, all would be lost.

But He is the God who divides not according to innocent or guilty, but according to rebels and refuge-takers. The two categories God divides mankind into are: 1) evil, rebellious liars, and 2) those who take refuge in God and love His name. All God requires for our entire ten thousand talent debt to be cancelled and for the precious blood of His own Son to be applied to us is that we take refuge in Him.

Father, may I run to You for refuge from all danger and calamity – especially the danger and threat of Your own punishment (which is the only real threat anyway).

What effect would it have on your heart if you were to consciously experience God as your refuge today?

Experiencing this attribute:

Who can stand before God when He is angry? Even in Christ we face the possibility of angering Him and being chastised in His anger.

Lord teach me to fear that. And let that fear drive me hard to flee from Your displeasure.

If it were a man’s displeasure we were fleeing we might run away from his presence. A child escaping an angry, abusive father might run out of the house. But we cannot escape the Lord’s anger by fleeing His presence. There is no place where He is not present. If we run out of the house or away from Him we are running right into the woodshed where He awaits us. There is only one place you can flee to escape His chastising anger – and that is into His favorable presence. You cannot flee from His wrath by running from His presence. You can only flee from His wrath by running into His presence. The only safe haven in the Universe from God’s anger is God’s love. So our fear of Him drives us to Him. We escape anger only through intimacy with Him – no other way.

Oh Lord, what a blessed truth this is! First of all that the chastising anger of an infinite God can be escaped at all, and then the fact that it is escaped by running into Your loving, sheltering, fatherly arms! You are the God who spreads protection over those who take refuge in You. The shield that surrounds and protects me – the only hope of my protection – is Your favor and blessing.

And You do that so that those who love Your name may rejoice in You. Teach me to love Your name, that I might rejoice in You. Let me not rejoice in anything or anyone else. Protect me from taking my own way and trying to rejoice in that. Show me the folly of that Lord.

Think: When you fall into sin, how do you usually respond? Do you tend to flee from God’s presence as though there were some other refuge besides God, or avoid seeking Him until His displeasure blows over? Or do you fall into the opposite error of not even realizing that there is divine displeasure that you need refuge from?

Promise to trust today:

Psalm 5:11-12 But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. 12 For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

Write your own prayer:

Meditation 7 – The God whose favor is our protection

Psalm 5:11-12 But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. 12 For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield

What is wonderful about this attribute:

Dear Father, what an evil it is for me to take refuge in You and not be glad or sing for joy over it. If the experience of You as my refuge does not move my heart to gladness and rejoicing, my heart is declaring Your refuge to be insufficient to bring joy to the heart. Lord, do not let Your name be so dishonored! Especially not in my heart! Glorify Yourself by bringing Your servant to the point of being enthralled with Your protective shelter.

Teach Your servant to understand that and to love it. Open my eyes, Lord. Like Hagar, who was right there by water, but it was useless to her until You opened her eyes to see it – or Abraham, who could make no use of the ram until You opened his eyes to see it – open my eyes that I might see and make full use of Your favor-shield. Open my eyes, that I might see this wonderful thing from Your law. I know it to be marvelous, yet I don’t marvel at it. I know it to be wonderful, yet I fail to wonder. I know it to be staggering, yet I’m not staggered at all. Awaken my heart, dear Lord, and show me Your glory.

When we run to God for refuge, the material He uses to build the fortress is His own favor. If you reach out and touch the walls of your secure haven, you touch nothing but His pure, unmixed favor. What a blessed condition to be protected at all – but so much more to be protected by His favor!

Since God’s protective care is something the psalmists sought to experience more of, clearly it is possible to experience less of it some times than you do other times – which means there is a real possibility of losing the fullness of God’s shielding favor and spreading protection. It is important to take seriously the real calamity that the Lord could very well allow to overtake us if we prefer evil to Him.

Lord, let me love Your protecting grace so deeply that the thought of it being removed – even partially – would strike serious fear in my heart and make me tremble.

What effect would it have on your heart if you were to consciously experience favor-protection today?

Experiencing this attribute:

When you pray for protection from some threat or problem, realize what you are praying for – divine favor; the smile of God on your life. Even the most wicked of men desire relief from their problems. What sets the believer apart is the fact that the favor of God, whatever form it takes, is his greatest desire and is all that is required to satisfy his heart. We greatly dishonor God when we pray for deliverance or protection and give no thought to His favor.

And when you receive protection (which is any moment that you are not in disastrous peril), do not assume it is because there is no threat, or that there is no enemy trying to destroy you. Realize that every moment that you are safe is a moment you are experiencing the protective favor of God.

Think: Take a moment to consider some of the horrific things that would be happening to you if God withdrew His protective hand.

Promise to trust today:

Psalm 5:12 For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield

Meditation 8: The God who delivers from both dangers and fears

Psalm 34:4-7 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. 6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.

What is wonderful about this attribute:

4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.

The Lord delivers us not only from our troubles but also from our fears. And the latter is often a greater deliverance than the former. Compared to our troubles, sometimes our fears concerning the future are much worse. It’s amazing how the Lord can dispel even the worst fears simply by opening your heart to believe a promise like Matthew 6:24ff, where Jesus reminds us that we are much more important than the birds and the grass, both of which God cares for every day.

I trust You dear Lord. I have lots of unanswered questions at this time, and every one of them is far beyond me to figure out. I can do nothing but trust You, and I want to do nothing but trust You. Thank You, Oh Lord, that I can rely on Your promises so completely!

What effect would it have on your heart if you were to consciously experience God as deliverer from all your fears today?
Experiencing this attribute:

6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles 7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.

The evil one is powerful – more so than most realize. Without God’s protection we would be suffer unimaginable calamities. But He has promised that if we seek Him He will protect us, and He will not make seeking Him so hard that it is out of our each. As a father has compassion on His children, so the Lord has compassion on you!

Very often it is suffering that enables us to seek Him earnestly. When we are not suffering our prayers tend to become flat and lifeless and passionless. Our eyes remain dry, and our faith and love cool. In times like that suffering can be the greatest gift God could give us. The arrow has little power unless the bow is pulled all the way back, and it is the agony of deep suffering that pulls the bow to capacity. Even the prayers of the Lord Jesus Himself came with loud shouts and tears as His humanness was racked with suffering and death.

Teach me to embrace suffering all the more, Lord, as I am reminded by it that it is the very thing that brings me what I most long for – passion in my prayers and humble dependence in my spirit before You.

5 Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.

Anyone who has sinned should be covered with shame. Nothing is more fitting for our faces than shame, and we are utterly powerless to remove even 1/100th part of our shame. We have no power to change the past. And yet God has provided a way for our shame – ALL of our shame – to be completely eradicated! And all it takes is a glimpse of Him. One look at His glory and we will be forever changed. We will be like Him when we see Him as He is (1 Jn.3:2)! One look at His majesty and glorious radiance and we will be instantly, totally, thoroughly and eternally changed into His likeness – Oh the blessedness of this hope!

Lord, let me have some of it now. Teach Your servant to gaze upon Your glory by faith every day. Open my eyes to Your glory as I read Your Word each morning, and impress on my heart the attributes revealed that day so I will be vigilant throughout the day to see it reflected in the mirrors of Your goodness that You have placed all around me.
Lord, today, open my eyes to the glory of Your salvation and deliverance. Let me see in what You have made and in all that You do today in the unfolding of Your providential plan before my eyes – let me see in that the glory of Your love for rescuing the afflicted and hearing the one who cries out to You in desperation.

And Father, as I contemplate Your mercy today, let it drive Your servant to be merciful. Arouse in me deep compassion and pity for those who are suffering around me. Make me aware of and interested in people’s suffering, that I might suffer with them in compassion like You do with me.

Think: Sometimes it is hardest to seek wholeheartedly after God when life is going smoothly. What change could you make now that would prevent the need for God to send agonizing suffering to draw you into earnestness in seeking Him?

Promise to trust today:

Psalm 34:7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.

Meditation 9: Our constant Protector

Psalm 121:3 May he not let your foot slip– he who watches over you will not slumber; 4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The LORD watches over you– the LORD is your shade at your right hand; 6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD will keep you from all harm– he will watch over your life; 8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

Good morning, dear Father. Thank You for being here available for me to spend this time with You. Please, dear Lord, open Your servant’s eyes to some rays of Your glory that will grip my soul and fill me with joy. Let me see You and know You more. Enlighten the eyes of my heart, glorious Father, and give me the Spirit of wisdom and revelation that I may know You better. Out of Your glorious riches, strengthen me with power by Your Spirit in my inner being that Christ may dwell in my heart by faith. Meet with me in this room this hour, dear Lord. Teach my heart to seek hard after You today – earnestly, with all my heart and all my soul.

Warm my heart with the truth of Your promised protection. Teach me, dear Lord, and help me to understand this psalm.

What is wonderful about this attribute:

This psalm speaks of constant, continual protection. How does that fit with the fact that we suffer trials and severe hardship – and death? Verse seven sounds almost like it promises there will be no trouble at all, but clearly there is in verse one or he wouldn’t be looking for help.

Evidently this protection is like the protection Jesus promised in Luke 21:16-18, where He said we would be betrayed by family and friends, hated, persecuted and even put to death, but not a hair of our heads will perish. As a Christian you will go through all the perils of day and night just like everyone else – maybe even more so, but in walking through them you will find the Lord walking with you sheltering you from any real harm. You might experience painful trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and sword; you may face death all day long; you will face death, demons, and every other hostile power in creation; but none of it will be able to separate you from the love of Christ.

God delivered David in various different ways; sometimes quietly through providence, sometimes indirectly through people, and sometimes obviously through sheer supernatural power. God’s tools for protecting and saving us are just as wide and varied as are our trials. For every new struggle we face God has ten new creative ways of saving us. And most of those ways are not obvious. When He works through people it seems to us like it is those people who are the authors, rather than the mere tools of our deliverance. When He uses quiet providence it seems like luck or chance are the authors of our deliverance – or that there was no deliverance because there was no actual threat.

Dear Father in heaven, You move heaven and earth in Your mighty providence to fulfill Your great and precious promises to Your servant. Forgive me, dear God, when I have attributed that to luck and not to You. Forgive me for acting as though You don’t even exist when You do Your most marvelous (but quiet) providential acts. Teach me to love Your deliverance. The advantage of the worrier is he can at least see the hundred perils a day that You deliver him from. You have been so gracious in protecting me that instead of appreciating Your protection I have tended to just assume there is no real danger out there. Open my eyes to see what it is You are protecting me from. Thank You, dear God, for those times when You do let me see – times of fear and terror. They are painful to endure, but if it weren’t for them I would never have any idea what Your protection and deliverance is like. Teach me not to ever waste any of my fears. Let me use them all to train my heart to delight in Your protection and deliverance.

What effect would it have on your heart if you were to consciously experience God’s watchcare today?

Experiencing this attribute:

For this promise to really have an effect on your heart it is necessary to have an awareness and consciousness of the dangers from which you are being being protected. When we think of dangers, we think mostly of all the painful trials from which we are not exempt. But those are not the real threats. They are only the context of the real threats. The real threats are those forces that would snatch you from His hand, that would push you into sin, that would draw you away from God’s presence and that would turn your heart cold against the Lord. Those threats that would override His salvation and drag you into hell. Those threats that would turn your heart against Him so that you would hate Him instead of loving Him and despise His Word instead of finding it sweet to your taste, and experience His laws as burdensome instead of delightful, and prefer some false treasure to the true treasure, and became blind to the truth about God – unable to perceive His glory; enslaved completely to unbreakable shackles of sin buried in a dungeon so deep that there is no escape. That is the real danger, and from all that you have access to protection and shelter.

Open my eyes to those, the real dangers. Let me think nothing of the trials that are not real dangers. They are only tools in Your hand that You use as protective armor for me. They can only benefit me; they can never cause my foot to slip.

What comfort would be in our hearts if we could think continually about this! To be aware of the threats and then to be comforted by the Lord’s 24/7 vigilant watch care over us. You can sleep only because He never sleeps. If He rested or was distracted for even one second, one of the eternally deadly missiles of the enemy would certainly destroy you utterly.

Think: Whenever you feel fear let that remind you to ask “Is this something that can do any real harm?” If so, you are protected from it, and if not, what’s to fear?

Promise to trust today:

Psalm 121:7 The LORD will keep you from all harm– he will watch over your life; 8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.