0374. A LIVING REFUGE.

A LIVING REFUGE.

"A man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land" (Isa_32:2).

"Behold the Man." Human, yet divine; sinless, yet accursed; the Beloved of God, yet exposed to the wind and tempest of the wrath of men and of devils.

I. This Man Saves. He is "as an hiding place." He is well able to save, for He is God’s fellow (Zec_13:7). "He thought it not robbery to be equal with God." The refuge of our souls is a Man, a living Man, with a loving, glowing heart throbbing with the grace of God. Not a doctrine or a creed, nor a duty. Salvation means fellowship with the Son of God. He hides from the wind of temptation and the tempest of wrath due through the guilt of sin. Your life is hid with Christ in God.

II. This Man Satisfies. He is "as rivers of water in a dry place." The world will always be a dry place to those whose hearts are set on heavenly things. Those who know not this hiding place with rivers of water take to digging wells in the earth. Wells whose waters are polluted. The "water of life" cannot be found in those man-made wells of earth. These "rivers of water" speak of the abounding fulness that is in Christ for all who hide in Him. Unsearchable riches. "All my springs are in Thee" (Psa_87:7).

"When all created streams are dried,

His fulness is the same;

I will with this be satisfied,

And glory in His Name."

III. This Man Shelters. "He is the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." This shadow is not like that of Jonah’s gourd. It is a shadow that follows the pilgrim right through the weary land. "That rock which followed them" (1Co_10:4). The way at times may be weary.

1. Because it is rough. Trials may come thick and fast: the heat of oppression may be great, but He is a shadow.

2. Because it is long. Old age or great suffering may make the way seem long, but abide in the Shadow. 3. Because it is lonely. Loved ones have gone, tender and holy ties have been broken, and the heart longs for somebody. Behold the Man, who is the shadow of protection in this weary land, and rest in fellowship beneath His wings (Rth_2:12).

Autor: James Smith