In the LORD I take refuge. How then can you say to me: “Flee like a bird to your mountain”?
PSALM 11:1
Sometimes it seems like the world has gone topsy-turvy, that our foundation is sliding out from under us whether it’s in our family, our church, our nation, our culture, or our professional lives. In those seasons, our desire to head out to the mountains may feel less like a joyful renewal and more like a desperate escape! As Psalm 11:3 says, “When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
David gave a steady response to that panicked question: “In the LORD I take refuge. . . . The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD is on his heavenly throne” (vv. 1, 4). In fact, he asked a question in return: How can you say this to me? He was not flustered by the circumstances around him that just seemed so wrong.
It may be that those who told David to flee had forgotten the true source of their safety. Their security was resting on human order. When that order was threatened, they forgot that God was still on His throne. He is still the safest refuge. He is the ultimate source of justice.
Another psalmist wrote, “Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people both now and forevermore” (Psalm 125:1–2).
When things feel shaky, the best thing to do is to turn to the One who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Father God, thank You for offering me refuge. Sometimes I am distressed by what goes on in this world. Please hold me close and steady when everything seems to be crumbling around me