PSALM 57:1 – Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.”

Storms. They happen in all seasons; spring, summer, fall and winter. Obviously they take on different forms and intensity in the cycle of nature. But there exists another place storms occur. They are found in the emotional and spiritual realms and directly targeted to our hearts. Who has not felt knocked over emotionally by a “sudden windstorm” of unforeseen circumstances and changing situations? And what about a “torrential downpour” of trying times and difficulties seeking to drown us in discouragement, even despair? Yes, there are many storms in life and for the Christian, we have a place of safety, protection, and refuge. In today’s scripture, David takes us to the place of security in the storms of life–our God. He also reveals to us what is required of us to enter His safe haven till the storms in life have passed.

When reading our Bibles, be on the lookout for repeated words and phrases in the portion being read. There are important lessons to learn when God uses the tool of repetition. For instance when Jesus says, “Verily, verily” or “Truly, truly” we are to interpret this as “Pay really close attention to what I am about to say. It is extremely important.” Another example is a repeated command in a short portion of scripture. The classic illustration of this occurs when our Lord gives us the New Commandment- A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (John13:34-35). Based on those two verses, how serious do we think the Lord is about our loving one another? And if He is that serious, we should be as well. But back to the lesson of repetition. What is repeated in today’s scripture by David is necessary if we are to find God our safe haven in life’s storms. There are two things.

First, David expresses his need of God’s mercy to be his place of refuge in his storms. He repeats the prayer plea, “Be merciful to me.” He wasn’t pleading to a God who is reluctant to show him mercy. This plea is about David acknowledging dependency. And should we hope to find God our safe haven in life’s storms, then we are to be convinced we need Him; really need Him to display His mercy in what we need–protection.

Next, we find David going from a prayer of dependence to a resolve of faith. Twice we read of him exercising his will–“my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge.” God will be our safety in life’s storms but He will not believe for us to be our safety. He will not exercise faith on our behalf. We are responsible to run to Him as our refuge and that running is the display of faith. We live the Christian life, all the Christian life, by faith. We act upon God’s promises with confidence and reliance. And here is where we often struggle. We live too easily by feelings not faith. Remember, we don’t wait to “feel God’s strength” to believe God’s strength. Faith says, “You promised to be my refuge in life’s storms. I believe You and will prove my belief by trust in what You promised.”

Storms. Life is full of them in the physical, emotional, and spiritual realms. For the believer? Let’s be like David and find God a safe place to weather those storms by praying to Him with confident dependence and exercising faith in His promised protection.

PRAYER: “Father, thank You for being my shelter in life’s storms, my sure place of refuge and protection.”

QUOTE: “Storms in life are common to all in this life but God has not left us to weather storms alone. He is our sure refuge.”

Because of Him,

Pastor Jim