The refuge by Newman Hall

photo

            (by Newman Hall)

"The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my 
deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I 
take refuge. He is my shield and the horn 
of my salvation, my stronghold." Psalm 18:2

The desert is dreary.

The way is long.

Heavily burdened, a weary traveler 
slowly drags onward his wounded feet.

Faint by reason of the fiery blaze which 
smites him from the unclouded sky and 
the scorching sand, he eagerly looks 
around for shelter. He pants for even 
the muddiest pool where he may quench 
his raging thirst.

In such "a weary land," how welcome "the 
shadow of a great rock," and the clear, cool 
fountain gushing up within its rugged clefts! 
But where can such a refuge be found for the 
soul; weary with wandering, crushed by care, 
groaning under guilt? Where can . . . 
its burden be taken off, 
its sorrows soothed, 
its mighty thirst assuaged?

"And a Man will be as a shelter from the wind 
and a refuge from the storm, like streams of 
water in the desert and the shadow of a great 
rock in a thirsty land." Isaiah 32:2 

Grace Gems