Encouragements for our troubled times No. 17
COVID-19 Series | Date: 16 July 2020
The Elders and Deacons want to encourage the members and those who regularly meet with us through this weekly letter. If you have news which you would be happy to share with the fellowship or request for prayer, then please let us know.
A message from your Pastor
Psalm 91:2
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.”
Last week we were reflecting on verse one of this glorious Psalm which is so pertinent to our present situation. How comforting to know that, as the Lord’s redeemed, we dwell with Him in His secret place and abide under His shadow. The secret place and shadow are none other than the Most High God who rules sovereignly over all with almighty power.
Now, it is precisely because of this that we can say, with absolute confidence, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.” What blessed assurance this affords us.
Firstly, because He is our God. The One who is Lord of all loves us and has chosen us to be His children for all eternity. He ‘did not spare His Son,’ for us, ‘but delivered Him up for us all.’ Therefore, as Paul says, ‘how shall He not with Him freely give us all things?’ He has, for us, given the dearest thing to Him to have us as His children for all eternity and will not now give us up for anything, nor deny us anything that is for our good. The Mighty One, who is our Father in Heaven, will keep us.
Secondly, because He is our refuge. In medieval times, when danger approached, you could flee to a fortress or church for refuge in the hope that the danger could not reach you there. The Almighty is our refuge, our hiding place, and will preserve us from trouble (Psalm 32). He is our refuge, therefore, we will be singing, with all the saints, ‘songs of deliverance.’ What a blessing it is, to be His children and know we can always flee to His loving arms and find our refuge there.
Thirdly, because He is our fortress. Again, in medieval times, most people lived outside the fortress. Only the local Lord, his family and, maybe, his closest courtiers had the privilege of living within the castle walls. We are the children of the Most High, and He, Himself, is our fortress. We have this incredible privilege to dwell with Him in His secret place. We dwell within the security of the Most High and none can touch us there. No wonder the psalmist says, “in Him I will trust.” We, with the same confidence as the psalmist, can say the same, can’t we? Henry Francis Lyte, in his hymn on Psalm 91 put it like this:
‘There is a safe and secret place Beneath the wings Divine Reserved for all the heirs of Grace, O! Be that refuge mine!
The least, the feeblest there may hide Uninjured and unawed; While thousands fall on every side, They rest secure in God.