“The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you” (Psalm 9:9-10).

God has a perfect track record.

He has never forsaken his people. He is always a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. We can always trust in him. We know his name—the Lord.

It’s so easy to forget those incredible truths. It’s so easy to forget the refuge and stronghold we have in our God.

Why?

Satan delights in sowing seeds of doubt and planting distrust in our hearts—especially in times of trouble, when we’re oppressed and overwhelmed by our sin, guilt, and shame, or when we experience things in this sin-darkened world that make us feel like God is nowhere to be seen; like God has forsaken us.

Dear Christian, that is why we need these powerful reminders from Psalm 9, and the rest of God’s Word, to know who our God is.

Again and again, we need the daily reminder of who our God is and what he continually does for us.

He is our refuge. He is our stronghold. He is our strength. We can always trust in him. He will never, ever forsake us.

Why not?

Because God forsook his Son in our place. On the cross, Jesus was forsaken by his heavenly Father as he bore the sins of the world—including yours and mine—upon his whipped and bloodied back.

Jesus did that for us because he loves us more than we can possibly know. He did that to become our refuge and stronghold. Always trustworthy. Always present in our suffering and times of trouble, no matter what we’re facing, no matter what we’re going through in life.

Even if it doesn’t look like it, we can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that our God is always with us. He promises that he is in his Word. He has shown us in his Word that he never leaves nor forsakes his people. And his Word is trustworthy and true because he is trustworthy and true.

Because of God, because of what he has done, is doing, and promises to do for us, we can respond with how the psalmist began this psalm:

“I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High”  (Psalm 9:1–2).

Is that always easy? No—especially not if we’re looking at and focusing on the troubles and afflictions we face in this imperfect world.

But as we intentionally focus more and more on our Savior Jesus and what he has done for us—the forgiveness he won for us at the cross, the adoption as sons and daughters of the King through Spirit-worked faith in our hearts, the home in heaven that is waiting for us… Everything is brought into perspective, even the troubles and afflictions we face as God’s children.

We see that God is our refuge and stronghold through life on this earth. Our rescuer and deliverer from sin, death, and the devil. We see that God loves us with an everlasting love. He is with us and for us, always—all because of Jesus.

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