The concept of being a refugee would be hard for most of us to understand. Many of us have grown up in relative safety and security. The very idea that we would have to flee our homes, cities or country to protect our lives and those of our loved ones is hard for us to even imagine. Yet, all over the world that is a fact of life for millions. To leave their countries and to go to others that do not accept them or are hostile toward them is seen as trading one hardship for another.
David, the chosen of Israel, spent time as a refugee while fleeing from Saul. He spent a year and four months with the Philistines when he was running from Saul, “Then David said to himself, ‘Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape into the land of the Philistines. Saul then will despair of searching for me anymore in all the territory of Israel, and I will escape from his hand.’ So David arose and crossed over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath” (1 Sam. 27:1-2). It is for this reason that the Psalms are riddled with the concept of God as a place of safety and refuge. It is in 2 Samuel we have these words, “And David spoke the words of this song to the LORD in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said, ‘The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; my savior, you save me from violence’” (22:1-3). This is also recorded in Psalm 18. While David was a man of war, his heart longed for peace and to be in a place of security.
A favorite song of mine tells of the refuge we have in Christ. “How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word! What more can He say than to you He hath said, You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?” The last stanza ends with strong confidence in our Savior. “The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose, I will not, I will not desert to its foes; That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.” This song ends with the sentiment of a passage from Hebrews, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (13:5).
So for you who seek a refuge, you can find no better place than in the love of God and our Savior. “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38-39). Seek a relationship with God so that you may confidently say, “He is my refuge and my strength.”