Refuge: the place to which real heroes run.
What comes to mind when you hear the word refuge? Maybe you think of a castle or a mountain. I think of a refugee, someone fleeing for safety. David was an experienced man of war. By the time he penned these words, he had crushed Philistine armies, vanquished a giant and was a renowned hero.
Despite his military prowess, David's ultimate place of safety was an unseen God. This God had made him a promise that he would one day be the king of all Israel and it was to Him that David fled when things became too difficult. David trusted that this unseen God would produce tangible results; that he was working behind-the scenes to fulfill the promise that He had made.
David knew well the value of a refuge. The strongholds of En-gedi protected his men from enemies. So when he called God his refuge, he was saying that he had arrived at the place of safety. He didn't put his trust in the stone fortress but he did trust in its Creator.
When we run to God, we stop running from our enemy because He is our place of safety. Let us be the heroes who are strong enough to admit our dependency upon God and not ourselves. Let us, like David, rely on an intangible God to produce tangible results.
Like the refugee who finally can rest in a place of safety, a place of new beginnings, let us embrace God's promise of security and find rest in Him.
