“Her Refuge” (Ps 48)

Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in His holy mountain. Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. God is in her palaces; He is known as her refuge. (vs1-3)

God, and not we ourselves, is a refuge for us in trouble and against the war of sin (vs1-8). We read, “God is in her palaces; He is known as her refuge”, and again, “As we have heard, so we have seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish it forever”. We may sink into His arms and know that we're protected and cared for by His love and power. Like a city, set on a hill, hidden by fortresses and protected by the mightiest army, we run to God and hide in Him when trouble happens.

Anxiety is the result of dealing with life without God, taking decisions and matters into your own hands, as if you're on your own or something depends on you. This FALSE hope leads to fear, doubt, and grief, but our REAL hope is Jesus Christ and the God who will always care for us for His sake. We may trust Him with our sin, both to put it away and to subdue its lusts; we may trust Him with our future, knowing that all things work together for our good and heaven is where He'll bring us. We may trust Him amidst any storm, drawing near to Him and getting His care and direction.

God's righteous judgments have benefited His church (vs9-11). He says, “We have thought, O God, on Your lovingkindness, in the midst of Your temple. According to Your name, O God, so is Your praise to the ends of the earth; Your right hand is full of righteousness. Let Mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of Your judgments”. He judged us guilty,but He made the Lord Jesus the bearer of our sins. He judged us impotent, but for Christ's sake and because of His death for us, He gave us the Spirit of obedience, so that we can serve and honor God. I hear people talking of believers being INCAPABLE of good works, but God hasn't judged it so. I hear talk of “get yours now because tomorrow we die”, but God has judged fit to give us eternal life, and the real pleasures AFTER we leave this world. He judged us to be His children in election, but He chose us in Christ and based upon His obedience, so all that He's judged has been for our good, because He has loved us, and it has been done righteously on our behalf! We have no fear of God in slavish dread; all that He does and whatever He decides for us is best. We surrender to His will and ask for Him to intervene against our foes, for He has judged that He'll save us and destroy any who oppose.

Finally, God will be with us for all times sake (vs12-14). He says, “Walk about Zion, and go all around her. Count her towers; mark well her bulwarks; consider her palaces; that you may tell it to the generation following. For this is God, our God forever and ever; He will be our leader even to death”. He will never leave nor forsake us, so we REST assured, declaring His greatness to those who will believe - “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God...For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe (1 Cor 1:18-25).”

We preach Christ and Him crucified in a sinful world, telling sinners the only place of refuge, where they will be secure, and then we bid all, by faith, to enter into the City, know that you're right with God and protected by His love. He isn't wishy-washy - here today and gone tomorrow - but He is faithful to the end of time and into eternity. He will never let you down, but He will save and prove Himself a refuge, continually.

Don't despair, but know where your safety is, and then don't keep quiet; let the others know who will believe. He says, “Walk about Zion... count her towers... consider her palaces; that you may tell it to the generation following”. He says the preaching of the cross is foolishness to the perishing, but unto the believer, it is God's power whereby He saves! God's message of peace secures the soul, changes the life, and gives the blessings of everlasting bliss to a people who proclaim His goodness.