I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!” Psalm 91:2.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
I am your refuge and your fortress. You can trust Me to keep you. It is My keeping power, that power that makes a shield of My good will, a shield of My favor around you. If you will put yourself in My hand there is no snatching out of My hand.
Boaz told Ruth she had made a wise decision when she accompanied Ruth back to Bethlehem and took refuge under My wings.
“May the LORD reward your work, and your wages be full from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge.” Ruth 2:12.
What he did not know at that point was that he was part of the plan to make that refuge her wealthy place of joy.
And Ruth always remembered this and taught it to her descendants. David was her great grandson and he sang about the same:
Let me dwell in Your tent forever; let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings. Selah. Psalm 61:4 (A Psalm of David).
How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. Psalm 36:7 (A Psalm of David).
Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge until destruction passes by. Psalm 57:1 (A Mikhtam of David)
A refuge is a place or state of safety that provides shelter or protection from danger, difficulty, or distress. In Psalm 91 I promise you perfect protection within Me even in the midst of chaotic circumstances.
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust!” Psalm 91:1-2.
How do you get into the refuge of My everlasting arms? You must dwell in My secret place and abide in My shadow. How do you do that? Let Jesus tell you for He is My Word:
Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.” John 14:23.
You keep My Word. You treasure My Word in your heart, you speak it and you do it. Those who hear and do My Word are the ones who have built their house (their life) on the solid rock foundation of My Son who is the chief cornerstone. If a building is missing that stone it will not be a refuge to you but will fall in a storm.
And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.” This expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:26-29.
The way you abide in Me is by remaining (continuing) in My Word and letting My Word remain in you. It all has to do with what you are doing (or not doing) to interact with My Word. For faith comes by what you are hearing and putting what you hear in your heart, so the abiding life comes from hearing and hearing My Word. It is then you are in the secret place, it is then you are abiding in Me as the branch in the vine, it is then we are so close that you are in My shadow even at noonday! Remember that if sick people so much as got in Peter’s shadow as he passed by they were healed. It was the resurrection power dwelling in him unhindered for I was his refuge and his fortress. He lived in My secret place because now, and it always was, that secret place is Christ. He is your rock of refuge.
Then the LORD said [to Moses], “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.” Exodus 33:21-22.
“I love You, O LORD, my strength.” The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalm 18:1-2.
In Jesus, I shield you from the wrath that is to come upon those who never received the gift of Jesus and are still in their sins. Those who denied Him before men and had their names struck from the Book of Life. Jesus is the city of refuge for everyone. He died once for all and paid the ransom for all. So all are in that Book of Life, babies that die in the womb or before the age of reason are all saved by the blood of Jesus, but once you reach the age of reason you must make the choice, you must choose life or death, the blessing or the curse, to love or to hate, to forgive or not to forgive, and all that is summed up in whether you choose Jesus or you reject Him. Which really comes down to whether you choose My Word or the devil’s lie. It is the same choice I gave to Adam and Eve from the same place of advantage.
After Jesus came according to the flesh to dwell among you and then died for your sins and ascended back to Me, you never hear the mention of the refuge, instead you hear over and over that your place of perfect protection and predilection is “in Christ.” Cities of refuge are no longer mentioned because Christ is your city of refuge, and He is your place of refuge, and He is My secret place. When you believed in the good news of your salvation, I sealed you in Christ with the Holy Spirit given as a pledge of your inheritance, with a view to the redemption of possession in glory. Ephesians 1:13-14. When you received Jesus as Lord and Savior, that is, when you accepted the gift of Jesus which I give to all who believe in Him, redemption became your possession in that gift. I have called you into My own kingdom and glory. 1 Thessalonians 2:12.
So the way into the secret place and into My refuge is Jesus. And He is the High Priest of your confession (homologia), so it is still abiding in My Word that puts you into My secret place. He is the way, the truth and the life. And you are now safely hidden in Christ where no evil can come near you unless you open your door to it by listening to another word and taking it in that is contrary to Mine.
Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. Colossians 3:1-4.
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 1 John 5:3-5.
But let us continue with the promises of Psalm 91 for those now are all “yes” to you who are in Christ:
For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge; His truth is a shield and bulwark. You will not be afraid of the terror by night, or of the arrow that flies by day; of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or of the destruction that lays waste at noon. A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not approach you. You will only look on with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. For you have made the LORD, my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place. No evil will befall you, nor will any plague come near your tent. For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, that you do not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread upon the lion and cobra, the young lion and the serpent you will trample down. “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With a long life I will satisfy him and let him see My salvation (Yeshuah, Jesus).”
Learn to be comfortable in Christ and you will have joy, joy that no one and nothing can take from you. People can fall all about you, as they did in the days of Noah, but near you it shall not come. Being in Christ is your ark that floats above the flood. As Noah did, you will look upon the recompense of the wicked but it will not come to you.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Romans 5:8-11.
In Christ is the most delightful and the safest place to be, for in Him you have passed from death to life. He is My gift to you. All you have to do is receive Him and then walk with Him in a manner worthy of the calling you have received. And with the Holy Spirit in your as guide, and with My favor upon you and with My working with you as your Helper, you receive grace on top of grace, and you are secure to walk with Me every day in our own secret place in Christ. It is the garden of Eden all over again but this time it is safe in your heart and the devil cannot enter there.
We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God, God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Little children, guard yourselves from idols. 1 John 5:18-21.
Do remember what Jesus told His disciples, and that includes you, about the secret place?
Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. John 14:1-3.
I love you. In Christ, I have you covered perfectly. You have nothing to fear. You are safe in Him. In Him, I have drawn you back into Me and there you have SHALOM.