Ps.46:1 – God is our refuge and strength,
This short verse reminds me of the last night Jesus spent with His disciples. They were afraid; really, they were more than afraid, they were terrified. The enemies of Jesus had become more and more aggressive of late and the death of Jesus was approaching. They were afraid of the intensifying climate they were in, they were devastated that Jesus would no longer be with them. He spent those last moments with His disciples teaching them about the place they could find peace, He called it His Father’s house, David called it his refuge. What David was talking about and what Jesus was talking about was the same thing, they both were referring to the presence of God. The disciples would now experience an intimacy and a place of peace like they had never known, He would be in them and they would be enveloped in His love. This is how Matthew Henry describes this passage.
“To triumph in God and in his relationship with us and presence with us, especially when we have had some fresh experiences of his appearing on our behalf (v. 1): God is our refuge and strength. We have found him to be this, he has committed himself to be this, and he will always be this. Are we being pursued? God is our refuge, and we can flee to him. We will be safe in him, and we will know that we are; we will feel secure on good grounds (Pr 18:10). Are we oppressed by troubles? Have we work to do and enemies to grapple with? God is our strength. He will support us in our burdens and enable to cope with every task and every kind of suffering. By his grace, he will strengthen us, and we may depend on him.”
David also said that the Lord was his strength. David knew about strength, the kind that wins fights. David had received a supernatural mantle of strength similar to Samson. He was strengthened to kill a bear, a lion, a giant, and hundreds of Philistines (you can’t forget the story of 100 Philistine foreskins). David was saying that the Lord was the supernatural strength upon him. Jesus also spoke about supernatural strength that the disciples would receive, He called it dunamis. So the Lord is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in times of trouble. Look to Him today as your hiding place and the strength of your life.
