Better Know Your Cave
Now Think On This
Steve Martin
“You're my cave to hide in, my cliff to climb. Be my safe leader, be my true mountain guide. Free me from hidden traps; I want to hide in you. I've put my life in your hands. You won't drop me, you'll never let me down.” (Psalm 31:3-5, THE MESSAGE)
By the title of this message, you may have thought this was one to provoke you to get your hiding place ready for when the tribulation comes. Not a bad thought. I have some extra long-term food stored away on hand, for when the troubling times that will come, do come, just as the Word says.
Noah was prepared. Joseph was prepared. Often the Lord told His people in advance to prepare. It isn’t an “unbelief” action as some would make you think. It is wisdom, and knowing that what the Lord says will come to pass, will indeed come to pass. So I have prepared too.
No, this specific message is more about the spiritual aspect of knowing where you go when you need a place to hide, a place to be under the shadow of His wing, the covering that can only be found in the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
David, the Jewish shepherd boy who was anointed king years before it actually came about, had to learn the secret to “living in the cave.” When his soul was troubled, when he was being pursued by his frequent enemies, primarily King Saul (who, like some modern day “religious” leaders try to destroy the newcomers who have been chosen to take their place) he knew where to abide. He had learned Who to abide in. David knew his cave. And he went there often.
St. George Monastery - Wadi Qelt Judean desert in Israel
(Photo: Steve Martin, 2008)
Both you and I need to know where our spiritual cave is. We need to have established a place where we often meet with the Lord. Not just in the bad times, but in the good as well. It must be a consistent, daily if possible, location. Both physically and spiritually.
When the troubling times come, not if but when, be they today, tomorrow or beyond, we have to be in such a place spiritually so that when the enemy strikes at us (and we know he doesn’t fight fair), we are confident that our covering and protection are solid in the Lord Jesus.
Not in drugs. Not from alcohol. Nor in the TV set or on the Internet, or some other “escape” route. Our refuge must be in the Lord Himself.
The Lord God Almighty promises us this in His Word.
“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust."
Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked.
Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; for He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
"Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation." (Psalm 91:1-16, NKJV)
During the day, when the stress and pressure on the job, in the family, on the highway, or wherever you may experience it, gets to be too much, we must have learned to call upon the Name of the Lord and abide in Him. We must firmly believe that He is with us, knowing it in our “knower”, as an old wise man used to say. Confidence will be assured, primarily because we had spent time with Him in our “cave time”.
We can learn to be at peace, in His peace, even in the presence of our enemies.
As David wrote, for himself then and as a sure word for us today, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies…” (Psalm 23:5, NKJV)
Learning to abide in the shadow of the Lord, in His place of refuge, in that “cave” we can go to, will make us ready for the times when we must know how, when and where to know His presence is with us. We can have that assurance by practicing His presence with us today.
Now think on this,
Steve Martin
Founder/President
Love For His People, Inc.
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Now Think On This - in the Year of our Lord 7.25.17 - #302– “Better Know Your Cave” – Tuesday 6:10 pm
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Secure, conveniently contributions can be done online now through our website: Donate
Contribution checks can be sent to:
Love For His People, Inc. P.O. Box 414 Pineville, NC 28134
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