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A Safe Shelter

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A Safe Shelter

5 minuten leestijd Arcering uitzetten

“And a Man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest…” (Isaiah 32:2a).

In this text, enlightened by the Spirit, the prophet Isaiah directs us to the King of the Church who in His kingdom reigns in righteousness. He was anointed as King by His Father upon the mountain of His holiness. To Him is given all power in heaven and upon earth. It is He who protects and keeps those that are His with His almighty power. We find that spoken about in our text.

In this imagery a place is spoken of where a person can hide from the wind. Just think of the sandstorms in some of the Eastern countries—a covert from the tempest. The marginal writers point here to the Messiah who is the true Refuge for all of His elect. Outside of the King of His congregation there is neither hiding place nor shelter against the winds of persecution or spiritual challenges.

How unexpectedly can the wind be against them and their ship of life be battered by the waves. Christ shall be a strong Comfort through the operation and power of the Holy Spirit for frightened ones who must cry out “We perish.” All shelters and hiding places outside of Christ shall be as the house which was built upon the sand. When the rains came and the wind blew, that house fell, and great was the fall of it. The disciples on the Sea of Galilee learned that both literally and spiritually. What a storm of spiritual temptations can rise in the heart of God’s children; how great are the storms of the might of sin, Satan, and the world which batter those who are powerless in themselves.

When he was subject to misunderstood ways, Jacob, who had been bestowed with grace and all received blessings, called out, “All these things are against me.” When David, who had been called and anointed by God as king over Israel, experienced grievous and anxious times, he cried out, “I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul.” It is the wind of the Spirit which brings down God’s people from everything in which they try to save themselves in their own power. The Lord, therefore, uses such ways so that they may be made poor and powerless in themselves.

Does not the Lord have an afflicted and poor people? The Lord intends that more and more the eye of faith will be opened for the Man who shall be as a hiding place from the wind and who remains a covert, and will look away from all of ones’ own power and help.

“To Jehovah then they cried In their trouble, and He saved; He Himself became their Guide, Led them to the rest they craved.” He was and is the only covert for all those that are His. He has promised it to His Church, and He will fulfill the promise. “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” All those outside of that covert will perish.

Do we also know something of the spiritual dangers into which we have brought ourselves through our own fault? They are our unrighteousnesses and our sins. By nature, we are not acquainted with our spiritual dangers, and we live on unconcerned, not seeking or asking for a covert to protect and save us. It is only through the instruction in God’s Word and by His Spirit that we learn to understand that we are in danger of dying at any moment. Then, as when the avenger of the blood followed hard after, it becomes a fleeing and hastening to the city of refuge. (We read of the cities of refuge in the Old Testament.) When eternity is bound upon our heart, much anxiety and fear can beset us. No human compassion can comfort us, but God’s Word tells us, “Thou hast seen it; for Thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with Thy hand.” He has said, “And call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.”

The Man, the only Hiding Place, has placed Himself under the storms and the flood of God’s wrath. He has carried godly wrath against the sins of all His people on the cursed cross, for all those who were worthy to be destroyed eternally by the wind and flood of God’s justice. How many places of shelter are sought out in this world, but not one of them is truly safe, lasting, or permanent. Christ alone is the only safe hiding place and shelter for all those who are His. No matter how many ways of oppression they must walk in this life whether inwardly or outwardly, no matter how heavy the temptations they may have to undergo or what trials may be their portion, He is the Rock of safety. By the power of the Spirit, which in God’s Word is frequently compared with the wind, God’s Church will be driven out to Christ. In Him those who are discouraged, the powerless, the oppressed, those who are filled with anxiety, and those who are beset with temptations shall find a Shelter and a Covert for time and eternity.

Lord, though I walk ’mid troubles sore,

Thou wilt restore

My faltering spirit;

Though angry foes my soul alarm,

Thy mighty arm

Will save and cheer it.

Yea, Thou wilt finish perfectly

What Thou for me

Hast undertaken;

May not Thy works in mercy wrought

E’er come to naught,

Or be forsaken. p

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Bekijk de hele uitgave van maandag 1 juli 2019

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