Taking Refuge

Today's Word of Encouragement from Wayne:

"How precious is Your loving-kindness O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; and You give them to drink of the river of Your delights. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light"

Psalm 36:7-9

Taking "refuge in the shadow of Your wings" is yet another picture of our drawing near to God as priests in His presence, "ministering to the Lord" (Acts 13:2). Stepping into the inner court of the temple of God within us, as we have been seeing, is like coming to our Lord and gathering under His wings, as close to His protective presence as possible, under His wing and next to His heart. It is in this place that we are safe, alone with our Lord, and therefore we can feed and be nourished, just as we saw in Ezekiel that "the priests who are near to the Lord shall eat the most holy things" (42:13).

In this case we drink our fill "of the abundance of Your house," again a reference to the temple. Some may run for the shelter of God’s wings only when times are tough. But the priest of the Lord, who is near the Lord, gathers under His wings regularly and with a purpose. We know that entering His house, to minister to Him in His presence, fills us with abundance, "the abundance of Your house." In His presence, as priests unto Him, we truly do "drink of the river of Your delights," for our delight is Him, Himself. We know that Christ is our High Priest and our fountain of life so we draw near to Him to drink. We also know that in His light we see light.

In the inner court of the temple there is only the light of Christ our Lamp Stand feeding us from the table of His bread even as our prayers and praise ascend to God from our altar of incense. Oh praise His Holy Name. Drink freely and fully of the river of delights in His presence. Hallelujah!