Sermons
The Lord is My Refuge
The Lord Is My Refuge
Psa. 11:7
Introduction:
1. All of us have experienced situations where we have felt powerless.
2. Maybe it was a health diagnosis, a disease, or a condition that you could do nothing about. Perhaps it was a relationship where you had tried everything you could think of and still the results were not what you wanted. The pain and the difficulty seemed insurmountable.
3. The society in which we live seems constantly in chaos. Secularism, false religion, and sin undermine the very foundations. Psa. 11:3 asks, “If the foundations are destroyed, what are the righteous to do?”
4. Verse 1 offers the alternative of “fleeing to the mountains like a bird.” The image of the fleeing bird evokes a sense of homelessness and isolation (Psa. 102:6-7; Prov. 27:8). People flee in various ways. The survivalist culture flees into remote areas and brace themselves militaristically for the coming dooms day. The cultures of racial superiority group together to protect themselves. The Aryan Brotherhood, the KKK, Black Muslims and Black Panther groups are examples. Then there is the culture of gangs withdrawn from society allied together for identity and preservation. Additionally, there is the culture of religions like the Shakers and the Amish separated from society—"fleeing to the mountains like birds.”
5. Avoidance is a mechanism many people try. They drink themselves into oblivion. They drug themselves. They seek pleasure and materialism. There is even a psychological diagnosis called “dissociation” where people imagine themselves separated from their bodies as they experience horrific events. Others pretend the problem is not really there, or they own it and blame themselves. Suicide may be the ultimate way out.
6. The circumstance appears hopeless. Verse 2 says, “The wicked bend the bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string to shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.” Verse 3 adds, “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
7. As Rolf A Jacobson observed, “The psalm does not just offer an answer to the question, rather the psalm is itself a radical and countercultural expression of trust in the Lord in the face of chaos” (NICOT, The Book of Psalms, p. 144).
8. The Psalm IS the answer. It begins, “In the Lord I take refuge.” What is this refuge? Why can I take refuge in Him?
Discussion:
I. The Lord is righteous (11:7a).
A. The reason we can take refuge in the Lord rests on His nature as righteous.
1. What this means is that He is in the business of making things right.
2. There is certainly injustice and unfairness in the world, and it is overpowering.
a. My dad said, “The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.”
b. John Stott said, “The difference between capitalism and communism is this…. In
communism man takes advantage of man and in capitalism man takes advantage
of man.”
B. We see it throughout history.
1. Joseph, though righteous, was imprisoned for crimes he did not commit.
2. Egypt oppressed the Hebrews in slavery.
3. Job experienced calamity even though he was righteous.
4. Jesus was crucified at the hands of godless men even though innocent.
C. People question God’s nature. “If God is so good why all this evil in the world?” I can’t
believe in a God like that.” They make a pseudo-God, a counterfeit God. “A straw God,”
said Doy Moyer. This is not the God of the Bible.
D. The Psalmist sees God as righteous (Psa. 11:4-6; cf. Psa. 5:4-7).
1. He corrects the injustices. He rights the wrongs. He punishes the guilty and rescues
the righteous.
2. Is this not the message of Psa. 2?
3. David sees God in His holy temple ruling from heaven.
a. While He tests the righteous, His soul hates the wicked and the one who does
violence (11:5).
b. David recognizes and appreciates the severity of his enemies (Psa. 7:1-2; 10:1-18;
13:1-2).
c. He sees God in control rescuing the righteous and punishing the guilty.
II. The Lord loves righteousness (11:7b).
A. Because the Lord IS righteous, He loves righteousness and the one who practices
righteousness.
B. The wicked do not find refuge in Him.
1. They spurn God (Psa. 10:13). They say, “God does not require it.” In other words,
they say, “God does not judge.” “There is no God” (Psa. 14:1).
2. They say, “With our tongues we will prevail; our lips are our own, who is lord over
us?” (Psa. 12:4).
C. Who abides in the Lord’s tent? (Psa. 15:1-5).
D. He is the refuge of the righteous (Psa. 18:16-24).
1. “Refuge” (Psa. 11:1) is a word used literally of seek a tree’s shade (Judges 9:15), of
taking refuge in Zion (Isa. 14:32). Figuratively, it is used of God as a shield (2 Sam.
22:31), of our seeking protection under His wings (Ruth. 2:12; Psa. 36:7).
2. “O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of my
soul, there is no salvation for him in God. But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my
glory, and the lifter of my head” (Psa. 3:3-4).
III. The upright will see His face.
A. God possesses the character to embrace the righteous and to reject the wicked.
B. What are we to do? Keep entrusting ourselves to Him who judges righteously (1 Pet.
2:21-24).
C. Mays says, “When there is no action for the righteous to take that has the promise of
succeeding in the face of the power and danger of wickedness, they can testify to the
righteous judge of all, in whose hands rest the estimate and the outcome of every life”
(Psalms, p. 76).
D. Jesus said, “Into Thy hands I commit My Spirit” (Lk. 23:46; cf. Psa. 22:1ff). Peter said,
“You nailed Him to a cross, BUT God raised Him up (Acts 2:23-24).
E. At Lystra Paul was stoned. He fled to Derbe and then returned to Lystra, Iconium and
Antioch strengthening and encouraging the brethren saying, “Through many tribulations
we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).
F. Faith involves endurance (Heb. 10:32ff).
G. Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might (Eph. 6:10ff).
H. “If God is for us, who is against us?” (Rom. 8:31).
Conclusion:
1. Taking refuge in the Lord is not without suffering. There is no need for refuge if there is nothing to be saved from.
2. Taking refuge in the Lord acknowledges His justice in making things right.
3. Taking refuge in the Lord is an expression of faith in Him as deliverer.
