You are my refuge

• You take me out of the net they have hidden for me, for you are my refuge. – Psalm 31:4

Our spiritual foes belong to the serpent’s brood and seek to ensnare us by subtlety. This prayer presupposes the possibility of the believer being caught like a bird. The catcher does his work so skillfully that simple souls are soon surrounded by the net. The request is that even out of Satan’s snares the captive may be delivered; this is a proper petition, and one that can be granted: eternal love can rescue the saint from between the jaws of the lion and out of the depths of hell. It may need a sharp pull to save a soul from the net of temptations and a mighty pull to extricate a man from the snares of malicious cunning, but the Lord is equal to every emergency, and the most skillfully placed nets of the hunter will never be able to hold His chosen ones. There will be grief for those who are so clever at net laying; those who tempt others shall be destroyed themselves.

“For you are my refuge.” What a wonderful encouragement is found in these few words! How joyfully may we encounter toils, and how cheerfully may we endure sufferings when we can lay hold upon the strength of the Lord. Divine power will thwart all the endeavors of our enemies, confound their politics, and frustrate their foolish tricks. Happy is the man who has such matchless might engaged upon his side. Our own strength would serve us poorly when trapped in the nets of our cunning enemy, but the Lord’s refuge is always available; we have only to ask, and we will find it near at hand. If by faith we are depending solely on the strength of the mighty God of Israel, then our dependence may become the occasion of our prayer.

Lord, evermore Thy face we seek:
Tempted we are, and poor, and weak;
Keep us with lowly hearts, and meek.
Let us not fall. Let us not fall.