Refuge
2010-08-04

I had a rough emotional day yesterday. It's my fault for letting people get under my skin. I keep saying I'm not going to let other people control my emotions like that, but it's easier said than done.

I need your grace today, Lord. I need your wisdom even more.


The Valley of Vision
THE MEDIATOR

Everlasting Creator-Father,

I have destroyed myself,
my nature is defiled,
the powers of my soul are degraded;
I am vile, miserable, strengthless,
but my hope is in you.

(Side note: I swear I didn't write this!)

If I am saved it will be by goodness undeserved and astonishing,
not by mercy alone but by abundant mercy,
not by grace but by exceeding riches of grace;
And such you have revealed, promised, exemplified in thoughts of peace, not of evil.

You have devised means
to rescue me from sin's perdition,
to restore me to happiness, honor, safety.
I bless you for the everlasting covenant,
for the appointment of a Mediator.
I rejoice that he failed not, nor was discouraged,
but accomplished the work you gave him to do;
and said on the cross, "It is finished."
I exult in the thought that
your justice is satisfied,
your truth established,
your law magnified,
and a foundation is laid for my hope.
I look to a present and personal interest in Christ and say,
Surely he has borne my griefs,
carried my sorrows,
won my peace,
healed my soul.
Justified by his blood I am saved by his life,
Glorying in his cross I bow to his scepter,
Having his Spirit I possess his mind.

Lord, grant that my religion may not be occasional and partial,
but universal, influential, effective,
and may I always continue in your words as well as your works,
so that I may reach my end in peace.


A Musician Looks At the Psalms, by Don Wyrtzen
PSALM 91:1-2;11-16

(Another one of my favorite Psalms)

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."

11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
14 "Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name.
15 When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation."

Wyrtzen calls this Psalm a "Song of Shelter and Security." That's a good name for it.

The world in which we live contains both visible and invisible dangers. Dangers that are physical; dangers that are spiritual.

This Psalm is a testimony "to the security found only in the 'Most High.'" We are told that God will command his angels to protect us.

In verses 14-16, God says, "I will" six times. These are precious promises from our Creator. He declares by his own authority, "I will deliver, protect, answer, be with, rescue, satisfy, and show my salvation." Everything I need is right there, promised.


Matthew Henry Daily Readings
PSALM 142:3

When my spirit faints within me, you know my way! In the path where I walk they have hidden a trap for me.

Henry complements the statements of Wyrtzen in this reading with this statement: "Those who in sincerity take the Lord for their God shall find him all-sufficient, as a Refuge, and as a Portion; everything else is a refuge of lies, and a portion of no value."


Father, you are my Refuge and Portion. I find in you everything I need. I praise you for your deliverance, your protection, your answers, your rescue, your salvation; I praise you that you are always with me, and I praise you that you satisfy. I also praise you because you have sworn to command your angels to protect me. I have seen their work in my life, Lord. I may not have ever seen an actual angel (or if I have, I didn't know it), but I have seen their handiwork.

I will sing the Song of Shelter and Security that is Psalm 91. I will sing it loud and clear.

Nevertheless, I still see myself as vile and miserable. I am powerless and strengthless. Yet I hope in you. For I must hope in you, otherwise, I perish. If I have no power and strength, I must find it somewhere, and that "somewhere" is YOU!

Like the Puritan prayer writer, I pray that my religion would not be sporadic, occasional, partial. Make my "religion" permanent and continual. Let me be totally satisfied in you, Lord!


Prayers from the Presidential Prayer Team site:

THE WAR

Following the leak of the thousands of documents on the Afghan war, analysts in the region are debating whether the
U.S.-Pakistani relationship will suffer a setback, particularly with the Pakistani�s spy services.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met in Baghdad with Iraq�s leaders to press for a
resolution to their political impasse; the Iraqi Parliament having already postponed or cancelled sessions.

Pray about the war and peace efforts in both Iraq and Afghanistan.


Know that the Lord is your refuge and portion. He is sufficient for everything that comes your way. He will rescue and protect, and he can satisfy, if we will be satisfied.

Grace and peace, friends.



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