Our Rock and Our Refuge

Our Rock and Our Refuge Psalm 71:1-6 Did you know that there are 959 names and titles for God in the Bible and 24 times God is referred to as one’s Rock. We are familiar with such names as Abba Father, that Jesus used, or Alpha and Omega - the Beginning and End - that God refers to Himself in Revelation. Other names and titles include the Ancient of Days, the Everlasting God, the Creator, The Lord Our Shepherd and the Lord Our Righteousness, to name a few. In today’s Scriptures God is referred to as our Rock and our Refuge. By the way, Jesus has some 600 names and titles just for Himself. What we can be sure of is whenever we need to be delivered, rescued or saved, God is our Solid Rock and Fortress. I was reading in this month’s National Geographic about Stonehenge, the famous prehistoric monument in England which was built some 5000 years ago; amazing site with unknown origins. Well, it is for some a rock and refuge for those who believe their god is in nature and getting close to these rocks or having some ritual around them connects them to a time and place of peace and oneness with creation, if not God the Creator. On the other hand, there is the story of a Methodist pastor named Harley Camden who took an evening walk along the bank of the Occoquan (Oc’-qua- quen) River in Virginia. The sun had set, but there was still enough light to illuminate the charcoal gray outcroppings of rock that rose up from the edge of the river. Harley knew that these Virginia rocks were old, formed about 300 million years ago. Harley’s life was in chaos, and he needed to find stability. Putting his hands on a rock by the roadside, he began to make a connection with something much bigger than himself. Sitting down on the rock, he had the strange sensation that his center of gravity was moving down, down, down … deep into the stone beneath him. What, he wondered, had this massive rock witnessed as it looked over the town of Occoquan? It had seen Native Americans and settlers, Revolutionary soldiers and Redcoats, slave owners and abolitionists, blacks and whites, Jews and Christians and Muslims. The rocks had seen it all, standing silently above the fading light on the Occoquan River. Pulling out his smartphone, Harley called up Psalm 71, “In You, O Lord, I take refuge … Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress, to save me.” Harley read it, and then repeated it… Then he thought, Get 2 outside your head, let yourself rest in the Lord of the rock. This is what is real, he realized, a Fortress that can stand strong against any assault. Lean on this, rely on this, the Rock in which you can take refuge. “Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress, to save me,” Harley repeated to himself, over and over again. His need for stability is something very real. The past few years have been chaotic for all of us, with the pandemic wreaking havoc on our schools, workplaces, churches and homes. Jobs have been lost, educations have been disrupted, marriages have come apart and financial institutions, our own or the governments have been messy. We need to hold fast to such foundations that whenever we need to be delivered, rescued or saved, God is a Rock and Fortress. When the writer of Psalm 71 needs to be rescued “from the grasp of the unjust and cruel,” God comes into his life as his hope and his trust. More than anything else, this individual needs God to be “a Rock of Refuge.” When life feels out of control, God is as solid as the 300-million-year-old rocks on the banks of the Occoquan River, unchanging in the face of upheaval in society and in individual lives. A popular praise song we sing says that our God is an “Awesome God,” and that is certainly true. But the psalms make an even stronger case that our God is something more. Even older than the rocks of Occoquan, God travels across time and space to enter our 21 st century lives and be a firm foundation for us. God is our Rock and our Fortress, our eternal and unbreakable hope. “In You, O Lord, I take refuge,” says the psalmist. He or she may have been ill, or getting old, or suffering from mistreatment from “unjust and cruel” people. Whatever the circumstances, the speaker has a very personal relationship with God, addressing the Lord directly. “In Your righteousness deliver me and rescue me, incline Your ear to me and save me.” Have you ever needed to say such a prayer? The author of Psalm 71 is not afraid to ask for help. They know that they cannot overcome their troubles alone. They are painfully aware that their life depends on the God of the Ages, just as all of our lives depend on the firm foundation of the solid rocks of the Earth beneath us. The beginning of healing is to ask for help. That’s true whether we are facing relationship troubles, physical or mental illness, or an addiction of 3 some kind. We cannot get better unless we ask for help, which the psalm writer knows and expresses with the words, “deliver me and rescue me.” However, you are going to find real healing only if you seek help in the right place. Looking for health information on the internet is not going to be as helpful as a trip to the doctor, and a bartender is not going to offer the quality relationship guidance you’ll get from a trained counselor. You need real wisdom, truth and guidance which can best come from the Word of God. The psalm writer goes straight to the source, asking God to be “to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress, to save me.” In the ancient world, taking refuge in God might have been connected to the practice of seeking asylum from persecutors by going to the temple. In the time of Jesus, we know that the “blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He cured them” (Matthew 21:14). In any case, seeking safety and healing in God has been practiced since the creation of humankind. Today, we can ask God to be “a Rock of Refuge” in our personal prayer time. Like Harley Camden on the rocks of Occoquan, we can pray over and over again, “Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress, to save me.” Take some time to rest, to read Scripture and to pray. Make a connection with something much bigger than yourself. Get outside your head, and let yourself rest in the Lord, as your Rock and Refuge. We can also seek God in the community of faith. It is no surprise that ancient people sought asylum in the temple, and that the blind and the lame sought healing from Jesus in the temple. The gathering places of God’s people have always been sources of healing in body, mind and spirit. We are created for community, and we tend to be stronger and healthier when we are in right relationship with one another. This God is a help to us in private prayer, in the community of faith, and in the glory of creation. Whenever life stresses us, we can rest securely on the knowledge that God is our Rock. God can handle any pressure, will travel any distance and will span any course of time to be there for you and me, to help us. The first hymn we sang, “Rock of Ages,” is a Christian hymn written by Augustus M. Toplady, with music by Thomas Hastings. This very personal hymn uses pronouns such as I and me rather than we and our, focusing on individual salvation. Legend says that Toplady wrote the hymn during a stormy incident in England. While traveling along the gorge in Burrington Combe (valley), he was caught in a fierce storm and 4 took shelter in a gap in the gorge, where he wrote the original lyrics. The rock is now marked with a plaque that reads: “Rock of Ages: This rock derives its name from the well-known hymn written about 1762 by the Rev. A. M. Toplady who was inspired whilst sheltering in this cleft during a storm.” The Amish have a saying, which I have posted by my desk as a reminder. It reads, “Sometimes God calms the storm; sometimes God lets the storm rage and calms the people.” I can connect with that sentiment. In my quest for peace within, I pray that God helps me through the storms of life rather than taking the storms down. The second hymn we sang is the most well-known hymn of the Lutheran tradition, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” It was written by Martin Luther. Luther was not a popular man during his lifetime, because he challenged the status quo of the Roman Catholic Church. Those who fight error and corruption within a system are seldom popular. Luther knew death threats, the outside influence of a plague, and the personal agony of losing his own children, yet by the grace of God he was able to keep the faith and keep pointing others to Jesus and the truth of the written Word that has been given to us. A Mighty Fortress is indeed Our God. God is our Rock and our Refuge. In Jesus we see God in human form who came to be our stronghold, our security, our cover and protection, our fortress and our safe place. Trust in the Lord, seek Him out in prayer, see Him at work in the lives of others and in the community of faith. And may others see Him in you.