What Does It Mean to Take Refuge in God?
What is “taking refuge in God?” It is a phrase used throughout the Bible, particularly in the Psalms. Psalm 34 gives us several answers. These answers are crucial for knowing how to have happiness in an uncertain world.
Psalm 32 showed us the fundamental path to happiness is through God’s forgiveness.
Psalm 33 revealed that true, lasting happiness comes from being a part of God’s people.
Incredibly, Psalm 34 also discusses happiness. If you have time, read the whole Psalm. Otherwise, the key verse to zoom in on is verse 8:
Taste and see that the Lord is good! How happy is the man who takes refuge in Him!
Psalm 34:8 HCSB
Psalm 34 is a favorite for many people, and for good reasons: the whole Psalm brims with both worshipful adoration and practical instruction.
The New Testament authors also seemed to love Psalm 34. 1 Peter references Psalm 34 twice, and some verses from the Psalm are alluded to in the gospels as well. But in this famous and amazing Psalm, verse 8 stands out.
The Psalmist lays it out pretty simply: if you take refuge in the Lord, you will find happiness. So, if you and I are to find happiness, we must first understand what “refuge in God” means.
The question we must answer in this Psalm is what does it mean to take refuge in God?
The Psalm itself gives many answers.
Answer 1: Don’t merely know about the goodness of God. Experience it deeply in your life.
The analogy the Psalmist uses in verse 8 is “taste and see”. Obviously one cannot do either of these literally with God. What is the point then?
If I told you I was a good cook, you could agree or disagree. But if I prepared you a five star meal and you tasted my cooking, then you would “see” that I was a good cook.
That is the analogy here. Reading about the goodness of God, hearing about his goodness from others is great. But the Psalmist is calling us to something more.
Something personal. Experiential.
The Psalmist is praising the Lord for His deliverance and then turns and invites his readers to join both the praise and the joyful dependence on the Lord.
Then the Psalmist goes further. In Verse 10, he declares that those who seek the Lord will not lack any good thing. Does that mean those who seek the Lord won’t suffer? Of course not. The Psalms are full of prayers to God to deliver from suffering.
The point the Psalmist makes here is those who seek the Lord will experience God’s goodness. Not just know about it. Not just have a head-knowledge that the Lord is good. But truly experience that “every good and perfect gift is from above.”
The greatest good you get from seeking God is simply God Himself.
Psalm 16 makes that point beautifully. It opens up with the request “preserve me O God for in you I take refuge.” What is that refuge like? “I have no good apart from you…The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup…”
Those who seek and fear the Lord will lack nothing because they have the goodness of God to satisfy them.
When you experience the Lord’s goodness, it increases your trust and reliance on Him. God isn’t calling us to a blind faith. An empty faith. A faith of well-wishes. The bible declares that there is a God who is sovereignly working all things together for those who are called according to His purpose.
Do you see that in your life? Have you tasted God’s goodness? Can you truly say you have no good apart from God?
Those who take refuge in God are happy because God demonstrates His goodness to them. Even in difficulties, even in suffering, you can rest on God’s goodness.
Application 1: Reflect back on your life. Do you see God’s faithfulness? What specific ways has He shown His goodness to you? Let your heart be stirred to joy and thank Him for those ways He has provided for you.
Answer 2: Fear the Lord
Go through Psalm 34 and circle every time it mentions the fear of the Lord. It shows up several times throughout the Psalm. The first time fear shows up is in verse 4 where the Psalmist says the Lord delivered him from all his fears. I have elsewhere discussed there is a type of fear that is sinful, a faithless fear of man. God saves the Psalmist from that fear, but then verse 7 says the Angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear the Lord.
Then again in verse 9: those who fear the Lord lack nothing. In verse 11 the Psalmist calls upon children to come and learn the fear of the Lord so they can enjoy life and what is good.
The principle is this: taking refuge in the Lord means you fear the Lord more than your circumstances or other people. The question you must ask yourself is “what does my heart fear the most? Other people? Finding myself in a less-than-ideal circumstance? Or does my heart fear displeasing the Lord more than all that?”
The reality is what you fear most will drive your behavior. You might think fearing the Lord sounds incompatible with knowing God’s love. But it isn’t. The Psalmist here is praising God’s goodness, calling others to experience God’s favor while at the same time calling us readers to also fear God.
Fearing the Lord isn’t contrary to experiencing God’s goodness. Fear of the Lord is foundational to it.
The question of verse 12 hits everyone who reads this Psalm: Do you delight in life? Do you want to live long? Enjoy the good things of life? Then you must behave in a way consistent with God’s word.
We saw this truth in Psalm 1. Happiness doesn’t come from living in rebellion to God and His word. It comes from submitting your whole life to His standard. That is when you experience true happiness.
And submitting to God’s standards and Word starts with a fear of the Lord. An awe of who He is. A recognition that He is God, and you are not. When you see yourself as a dependent creature rather than your own god, all of a sudden your life changes. You stop worrying about what you think about yourself or what others think about you. Instead, your mind is preoccupied with what God thinks of you and your life.
How can you know if you are fearing the Lord? Verse 13-14 give some ways to reflect on your normal behavior.
Application 2: Examine your normal day to day behavior. What kind of words come out of your mouth? Do you pursue conflict or peace? Do you do what God says is evil? Or do you delight in what God calls good?
Your normal behavior is a barometer for whether you truly fear the Lord.
You will never be happy in your life without fearing the Lord. That truth is taught consistently from cover to cover of the Bible.
Answer 3: Depend on the Lord
Your prayer life will reveal whether you are taking refuge in the Lord or not. Verse 17 says “The righteous cry out and the Lord hears and delivers them from all their troubles.” When circumstances get difficult, that is when your heart’s true refuge is revealed.
And Psalm 34 calls on its readers to cry out to God. In verse 15, its says God’s eyes and ears are set on the righteous. God is ready to hear their calls for help. What is more practical and comforting?
The difficulties of life often suck away your happiness. But this Psalm says there is a God who is there willing to hear your cries. Taking refuge in God means you aren’t self dependent. You aren’t indifferent to your circumstances. You simply take everything to the Lord in prayer.
How can you be sure God will care about your pain? Verse 18 says God is near the brokenhearted. The crushed in spirit. If you asked Christians in your local Church about their experiences of suffering, many of the older saints will tell how those sufferings brought them closer to God. Those sufferings gave them a deeper experience of God’s goodness and love.
Often times, it is in suffering that you taste and see that the Lord is good.
There is an excellent application of all this.
Application 3: Where do you go when life gets difficult? Your refuge isn’t the place you just go when times are good; your refuges in the one you depend on when your life falls apart.
The dependent person will be a praying person.
Finally, Psalm 34 describes the type of person who takes refuge in God
Taking refuge in the Lord means experiencing God’s goodness, fearing Him, and depending on Him. But there is one more point the Psalmist makes in the last verse. In a profound conclusion to an incredible Psalm, verse 22 says all those who take refuge in God will not be punished.
This connects back to Psalm 2. There it said all who take refuge in God’s anointed King are happy. This happiness in Psalm 2 is linked to not facing God’s judgment on the nations.
It is the same point here in Psalm 34. Verse 21 says evil brings death to the wicked and punishment comes to those who hate the righteous. But in verse 22, God will not punish those who take refuge in Him. God will redeem the life of His servants.
The point here is simple: refuge from God doesn’t just affect your happiness. It is the only way to avoid just punishment for your sin. The reality is “there is none righteous, no not one.” You and I have all fallen short.
You don’t keep God’s law perfectly. Your self-love is often greater than your love for God and others. The only one who can deliver you and I from punishment for these things is God Himself. Refuge in God means relying on God for grace and mercy. Both of these are ultimately found in Jesus Christ.
Application 4: Have your sins been covered? Are you a part of God’s people? If not, you don’t just need God to be a refuge from external problems. You need God to redeem you from your own rebellion.
God is a refuge to the righteous. But the only refuge that makes you righteous is the Lord Jesus Christ.
So, in conclusion, Psalm 34 has a number of truths about taking refuge in God. It brings happiness, it is linked to fear of God and dependence on God, and God is the only refuge which keeps you from punishment. I pray you will taste God’s goodness today and every day as you seek to take refuge in Him, not any lesser thing.
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