_OUR REFUGE AND STRENGTH_
PSALM xlvi.
"God is our refuge and strength." And in the varied conflicts and perils
of life we need both these resources. We need the "refuge." There are
times when our mightiest warfare is to lie passive, to shelter quietly in
the strong defences of our God. Our finest strategy is sometimes to "rest
in the Lord and wait." We can slay some of our enemies by leaving them
alone. We can "starve them out." They can be weakened and beaten by sheer
neglect. We feed their strength, and give them favoured chances, if we go
out and face them actively, "marching as to war." The best way is to hide,
and keep quiet; and "God is our refuge."
But we also need the "strength." This is positive equipment for active
service. The defensive is changed to the offensive, and in the "strength"
of the Lord we advance against the foe. We "ride abroad, redressing human
wrongs." We "tread upon the lion and the adder, the young lion and the
dragon we trample under foot." We meet our enemy on the open field, and we
slay him in his pride!
And so our God is our resource in the double warfare of active and passive
crusade. In Him we can take refuge, and the enemy withers. In Him we can
find fighting strength, and the enemy is overthrown.