Psalm 9:9, 10

"The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee."

Right from the start of this passage there is a reference to God being a refuge. Refuge is something that we need when we are in trouble. We are not in need of refuge in the pleasant times. But when the skies turn grey and the storms of life blow, then are we in need of refuge. In fact, the next part of the passage tells us exactly that; God is a refuge in the times of trouble.

This may not need to be said, but there will indeed be times of trouble. There are those, though, that seem to think that when the awful comes to pass it is something that is unusual and that it is beyond God’s ability to manage. They feel abandoned and forsaken. They feel that God has let them down. They even conclude that since He has apparently failed them, He never was going to keep His promises in the first place. Or that He is incapable of doing so. This is sad and erroneous thinking. Has there been anyone in the history of this planet that has ever lived an untroubled life? Even the LORD Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, had hardships. He went hungry, thirsty, sleepless, and was put to death after a mock trial. But these verses in Psalm 9 tell us that God is a refuge in the times of trouble, not powerless. That God is a refuge must mean something other than protection against the troubles. He is rather a refuge in them.

The passage goes on to note that those who know His name will trust Him. There is a sense, of course, in which nobody really knows God. He is so beyond us that the only way anyone could even get a glimpse of Him is if He allows it. Jesus told His disciples, though, that to see Him was to see God, the Father. And in Luke 10:22 Jesus says, "All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him." Part of His task on earth was to reveal the Father to mankind. Were it not for His revelation of His Father we would not be able to take God in. Faith and trust are synonymous, and Hebrews 11:6 tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God. And, Psalm 125:1 says, "They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever." No matter that He is beyond really knowing, to seek after Him is a great and profitable endeavor with eternal implications. He wants us to seek Him. And the benefit is eternal life.

Finally, the passage notes that God has not forsaken them that seek Him. In a similar passage we are told, "The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in Him." (Nahum 1:7) In the times of trouble it seems as if we are forsaken. In those times we feel most alone. And the darker things get the more we wonder about where God is in all of it. The fact of the matter is we are as much in God’s hand at those times than ever we were. God has neither changed nor moved. In other words, He has not forsaken us, no matter how it may seem.

The position of the one that knows Him is clearly secure. Which is not to say that there will be no problems. But the certain thing is that the one who knows Him is never going to lose their position before Him. He is always by their side, and one day they will forever be in His presence. The trials of this are nothing compared to what eternity holds, where God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes.

But consider what it cost God to make it so. The voice crying out in the darkness, "My God, my God; why hast thou forsaken me?" While those who know His name (says Psalm 9) are not forsaken, the One in whom the Father delighted hung on a cross, suspended between heaven and earth, forsaken by His Father and rejected by the people of the earth. But He was forsaken so that we should not be. And scriptures tell us that He did this willingly, for the sake of His creation. "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our LORD." This is why the LORD Jesus Christ came to earth. "... Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." And He did it for us.

How didst thou humble thyself to be taken,
Lead by thy creatures, and nailed to the cross!
Hated of men, and of God, too, forsaken,
Shunning not darkness, the curse, and the loss!

HJK