God Is Our Refuge

Title: Psalms Series "The Lord is Our Refuge"

Text: Psalms 9 Specifically Psalm 9:9-10

1. The Lord is a refuge and a stronghold in times of trouble v. 9

The Hebrew word translated as "refuge" means...

a high cliff...

a lofty place...

a place that is inaccessible

a high fort or fortress

David is comparing the Lord to places of safety that David has used throughout it life.

Over the course of his battles and adventures...

David has had need of finding places of refuge...

Places where he could be safe...

Places where he could be protected...

and if it wasn’t for these places of safety...

David would have lost his life!

In 1 Samuel 23:14, it says, "David stayed in the desert strongholds and in the hills of the Desert of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands."

For David, God was His refuge.

ILLUS

The early American Indians had a particular way of training young boys to become Indian braves.

On the night of a boy’s thirteenth birthday, after learning hunting, scouting, and fishing skills,

he was put to one final test.

He was placed in a thick forest to spend the entire night alone.

Up until then, he had never been away from his family and the tribe.

But on this night, he was blindfolded and taken several miles away.

When he took off the blindfold, he was in the middle of a thick woods and he was scared to death!

Every time a twig snapped, he would think that a wild animal was getting ready to pounce.

After what seemed like an eternity, and the sun began to rise the next morning;

The boy looked around and saw flowers, trees, and a path.

And then, to his complete amazement, he saw the figure of a man standing just a few feet away, armed with a bow and arrow.

It was his father.

And he had been there all night long.

God is the same way!

There may be times that you are scared to death...

and perhaps you think that you are all alone...

and that there is no one around who knows what you are going through...

But God is always there!

Maybe you are thinking that your life isn’t in jeopardy like David’s was...

Well, don’t worry, David faced many other troubles in his life...

He grieved from the death of family members...

He felt like everyone was against him...

He experienced times when people were saying cruel things about him...

He dealt with more than his share of family troubles...

We ALL deal with times of trouble...

we have times in our lives when a loved one passes away...

we have times in our lives when we feel like people are saying mean things about us.

We have times in our lives when it seems like our family is falling apart...

and when those times come,

hopefully we will be like David...

and we will find that God is our refuge and our strength.

God is our High Fortress...

We will find that God will protect us and help us when times of trouble come our way.

We will find that God will go to battle for us and help us when we need His help.

2. David goes on to say, "Those who know your name will trust in you" Psalms 9:10 (NIV)

I’ve got a friend named Joe...

Joe is a truck driver...

He’s a pretty big fellow

He keeps his hair cut all the way to his scalp (bald)

He is up on all the latest electrical gadgets...

If you were to ask him a question about computers, digital cameras, palm pilots, tv’s, stereos, etc...Joe would know the answer!

Even though Joe never went to college (beyond 1 semester at Olivet), he is a very intelligent man.

When we get together (which happens very infrequently) we like to play backgammon, go bowling or putt putt.

We are pretty competive when it comes to playing games.

Now, if I were to go on and tell you more about Joe 2-3 times per week...

If I were to tell you about his fun loving personality...

His sense of humor...

His strong sense of honesty and integrity...

and if I were to go on telling these stories about Joe and his character every week...

you would begin to feel like you KNOW Joe; even though you have never met him.

And if some day, Joe were to come visit our Church...

You would probably go up to him and say, "Pastor Larry has told me so much about you...and even though we haven’t met, I feel like I KNOW you"

God’s Name is an extention of His character.

When we share personal testimonies of what God is doing in our lives,