Twenty-Five PromisesPsalm 9:9-10 The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. 10Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.
The word refuge or stronghold is one of several words in the Psalms that reflect the idea that God is the place of protection for us. Others include ‘hiding place’ ‘tower,’ ‘sanctuary,’ and ‘fortress.’ If you look up all these ‘refuge’ words in the Psalms you will find that there are more than 75 uses of them. Evidently all God’s people need to take hold of this truth: that we can seek God at all times as our place of protection. Remember that the Psalmist, David, spent many years living in the wilderness, many years on the run, and often needed places to find protection. After a while he concluded that he ultimately found that protection not physical safety but in God Himself. So can we!
But like many others in Scripture, there is something we must do to take hold of this promise: seek God, run to him, trust him. In this case the Psalmist says ‘all those who know you trust you,’ so there is a sense in which we learn to trust God as we get to know him in His word, and probably in the lives of others as well.
Lots of good songs on this subject, of course:
