Day 5
Psalm 7: In You Do I Take Refuge
Ralph Bradshaw
Psalm 7:1-2 says “O Lord my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me, or they would tear me like a lion and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.”
David spent much of his life fleeing from Saul as he tried to kill him or have him killed. 1 Samuel chapters 18 through 26 record where King Saul tried to kill David 21 times. If there was anyone in the Bible that needed to take refuge, it was David, and he found it in the Lord.
The Bible is clear that those who have sincerely committed themselves to God may with all confidence take refuge in the Lord and commit their life situations to him. Sometimes there are unjust and troublesome times that we face, but if we take our confidence in the Lord, if our hearts are clean before the Lord, we can be sure that we can take our refuge in him.
The word refuge in the Bible is mentioned many times – 98 times in the New International Version and 46 times in the King James Version. Here are some of the ways it is mentioned: towns of refuge; cities of refuge; places of refuge; and shade of refuge.
But in Psalm 7, David needed God to be his refuge. He says “my shield is God most high who saves the upright in heart” and “God is a righteous judge.”
Compare this to Psalm 46:1-4, which says “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear though the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging, there is a river whose streams make glad the city of God the holy place where the most high dwells.”
Like David, when we face trials, tribulations, and sickness in this life, there is no higher place that we can go except a holy God who loves us and is there for us. For He said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). Therefore, with all confidence we can take our needs before the Lord, for He cares for us.
Today’s song from Psalm 7: Will Gray & Ruthie
“Psalm 7: My Refuge”