July 19, 2021 | by: Gregg Hunter | 0 comments
Posted in: Psalm 11
Merry Christmas! I hope you are enjoying a wonderful time with your family as you remember the birth of our Lord and Savior. Today, we will be remembering that blessed event as we study Psalm 11. Please read that now.
It’s hard to picture that baby born in a manger and think “in the Lord I take refuge.” Jesus humbled Himself so deeply that He became that precious little infant who needs to take refuge in His mother’s arms, or in an animal’s feeding trough. How could someone so fragile be our source of refuge?
Well, even as a baby, Jesus was still Almighty God. But, His dual nature is difficult for us to understand, so lets just fast-forward a few years to when He was a full grown man (this is what the Gospel accounts tend to do anyway!).
As a man, Jesus bore the full wrath of God for our sins. His outstretched arms provide a refuge for the sinner to hide under. Because he shed His blood, my soul can ‘flee like a bird to your mountain,’ even when the wicked prepare to strike me down. The enemy has no case against me because Jesus has made me clean.
In the Psalmist's day, Jesus was the Lord in His holy temple. But on Christmas, we celebrate the fact that He left His throne in order to come and save us.
Today, the Lord is back in His holy temple, seated on His heavenly throne. He graciously intercedes on our behalf and reminds the Father of the price He paid for our sins. He sees our sins when we commit them, but He does not hold them against us. He came to this earth so that our sin will never need to be held against us again. Praise God for the blessed reminder of Christmas!
However, this Psalm ends with a word of warning to those who aren’t celebrating Christmas, or any other Christian holiday; to those who don’t have a saving faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior: “The Lord is righteous;” The Lord “hates the wicked;” and the Lord will judge the wicked.
He came the first time so that we might be saved from our sins; He will come a second time to judge all those who do not trust in His salvation.
As we thank God for Emmanuel, God with us, let us also pray to God that He will give us the courage to share with our loved ones who don’t know Him the true meaning of Christmas: the Lord left His holy temple, to be born as a man, so that He could be tempted in every way that we are, yet never sin, and ultimately go to the cross to pay the price for our sinfulness. But He didn’t stay dead! Jesus Christ rose from the grave to prove to the world that He really is God with us, and He really does have the power to save us from our sin.
In the Lord, may you take refuge.
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