THE ROCK OF REFUGE Kay Keith Peebles 10/09/2020 20.38
We are certainly living in unprecedented times. Confusion is in the air. Accusation and dysfunction are running rampant. Racial tension and violent protests spark deep concern adding to the fears created by the COVID 19 pandemic. The voices of the prophets are either not in agreement or they are looking at the same event through different facets of revelation. Some say peace while others say war. Is it possible to have both at the same time? Can it truly be the “Best of times and the Worst of times” at the same time? It depends upon where or in whom we put our trust.
In the midst of the chaos we find all around us, God is still on His throne! He has allowed this bedlam to show us something. He could sovereignly stop it at any moment but He’s trying to teach us something we need to know or be reminded of. First and foremost we are coming face to face with the question of faith. Are we truly believers who abide in the presence of God or is our “religion” simply cerebral? Are we like “Chicken Little” running amuck crying the “sky is falling” or are we standing firm in the stronghold of God? In other words, are we in doubt and fear or is our faith unflinching in the chaos? Secondly, are we contributing to the chaos or are we a peacemaker bringing the solution to the trouble? Are we cursing the darkness or are we binding it and loosening the presence and power of God in the situation? These are just a few of the many questions our current crisis begs us to ask.
Where we find ourselves speaks volumes to ourselves and others. It is a clear litmus test of whether we have enduring faith or only head knowledge. Faith is not a matter of reason. True faith in God is “The assurance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1. It is the conviction of God’s reality. “Faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses.” The Amplified Bible Translation. In times of chaos filled with the unknown, people of faith run to their Rock of Refuge to find assurance and safety!
David had great faith in God. As a youth he trusted the Lord to help him protect his father’s sheep. He killed the lion and the bear with no other visible help around him. The army of Israel who had brought fear to the nations when they entered the Promised Land cowered in fear of Goliath’s threats. David fearlessly ran to the battle and defeated the giant by the power of God. He put a Rock in his slingshot and the power of God hurled it at the forehead of the giant bringing him down in defeat. The Lord called the prophet Samuel to anoint David to be the next king of Israel because Saul had rebelled against the word of the Lord. The set up seemed perfect! David was given riches by the king and married his daughter Michal. He was asked by Saul to kill 100 Philistines for Michal’s dowry hoping David himself would be killed. Instead, David killed 200 Philistines which caused the women of the city to celebrate David over king Saul. He and Michal lived within the palace of the king.
The supposed set up turned violent when Saul tried to kill David with a spear. Unsuccessful, he incited his soldiers to hunt down and kill David. Michal helped David escape from the palace and he and 300 men left the city and lived on the run. Saul relentlessly pursued David with his army and seemed to have him trapped on one side of the mountain in the Wilderness of Maon. David kept the mountain (Rock) between himself and his men and Saul’s army until messengers came with news the Philistines were attacking Israel. Saul quickly withdrew his army from the area. For David, the mountain was called the Rock of Escape! God had intervened just in time. See 1 Samuel 23:28.
David often referred to the Lord as his Rock. “’I LOVE you [fervently and devotedly], O LORD, my strength.’ The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and the One who rescues me; My God, my rock andstrength in whom I trust and take refuge; My shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower—my stronghold.” Psalms 18:2
“For who is God, but the LORD? Or who is a rock, except our God, the God who encircles me with strength and makes my way blameless?” Psalm 18:31
“The LORD lives, blessed be my rock; and may the God of my salvation be exalted, the God who avenges me, and subdues peoples (nations) under me. He rescues me from my enemies; yes, You lift me up above those who rise against me; You deliver me from the man of violence. Therefore will I give thanks and praise You, O LORD, among the nations, and sing praises to Your name.” Psalm 18:46-49.
A song was written about the faithfulness of God even when the Israelites sinned in the wilderness. “And they returned [to Him] and searched diligently for God [for a time]. And they remembered that God was their rock, and the Most High God their Redeemer.” Psalm 78: 34b-35.
“O COME let us sing joyfully to the LORD; let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with a song of thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with songs.” Psalm 95:1-2.
“For GOD alone my soul waits in silence; from Him comes my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my defense and my strong tower; I will not be shaken or disheartened…He only is my rock and my salvation; my fortress and my defense, I will not be shaken or discouraged. On God my salvation and my glory rest; He is my rock of [unyielding] strength, my refuge is in God. Trust [confidently] in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us.” Psalm 62:1, 6-8.
“In You, O LORD, I have put my trust and confidently taken refuge, let me never be put to shame. In Your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline Your ear to me and save me. Be to me a rock of refuge and a sheltering stronghold to which I may continually come; You have given the commandment to save me, for You are my rock and my fortress.” Psalm 71:1-3.
“Blessed be the LORD, my Rock and my great strength, Who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle; my [steadfast] lovingkindness and my fortress, my high tower and my rescuer, my shield and He in whom I take refuge, Who subdues my people under me. LORD what is man that You take notice of him? Or the son of man that You think of him?” Psalm 144:1-3.
It has been determined that David warred, ran and hid from king Saul for approximately 11 years. David had two chances to kill king Saul, but he refused to “touch” the man God had anointed to be his king. Although David had been anointed by the prophet Samuel to be his replacement, the Lord allowed David this 11 year struggle which demonstrated his character and enabled him to rule as a mighty warrior/king. It was upon David’s throne the Lord God set up the throne of His Son Jesus to rule and reign forever!
Others knew the LORD God to be their Rock. When Hannah prayed before the priest Eli to have a son the prophet Samuel, she returned to dedicate him to the Lord and proclaimed her thanksgiving to God. “My heart rejoices and triumphs in the LORD; my horn (strength) is lifted up in the LORD. My mouth has opened wide [to speak boldly] against my enemies, because I rejoice in Your salvation. There is no one like the LORD, there is no one besides You, there is no Rock like our God.” 1 Samuel 2:1-2.
Moses knew the Rock of our Salvation. “For I proclaim the name [and presence] of the LORD; ascribe greatness and honor to our God! The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; a God of faithfulness without iniquity (injustice), just and upright is He.” Deuteronomy 32:3-4.
Jesus asked his disciples “Who do men say that I am?” He then asked his disciples, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter’s reply was “You are the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied to Peter, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” Matthew 16:13-18. Peter understood by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that Jesus was the Son of God and that revelation would be the “Cornerstone” or Rock foundation of the church.
The Apostle Paul connected Jesus to the miraculous provision in the wilderness when the Israelites were freed from slavery. “Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.” 1 Corinthians 10:1-4.
I had a dream in the mid 1990’s which I have never forgotten. I was a part of a church of believers and there was great conflict all around. The people of God had been targeted and violence erupted against the church. One night we found out that our church had been blown up by some violent group. Several of us rushed to the location of our church to see if anything could be salvaged after the blast. The building had been completely decimated and there wasn’t anything left. Our hearts momentarily felt a loss but instantly the sky above us parted and a brilliant beam of light from heaven shown around us all. As we looked up into the shaft of glorious light, the glory of God overwhelmed us and we rejoiced that nothing and no one could ever separate us from the love of God! We knew that He was our prize, our great reward and would be ours through all eternity.
When we abide in the secret place of the Most High God and make Him our stronghold and refuge even though we may live in the “Worst of times”, His glory will supersede our problems making it also the “Best of times”. When He is our Rock of Refuge, our Strong Tower and our Rock of Salvation, we can trust in Him to get us through whatever comes. We can have victory, even in death because our Stronghold is not of this world; He is the eternal Son of God! “ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39.
