You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm. Isaiah 25:4
My wife and I once stayed in a lovely old seaside hotel with large sash windows and thick stone walls. One afternoon, a storm ripped through the region, churning up the sea and pounding our windows like angry fists on a door. Yet we were at peace. Those walls were so strong, and the hotel’s foundations so solid! While storms raged outside, our room was a refuge.
Refuge is an important theme in Scripture, starting with God Himself. “You have been a refuge for the poor,” Isaiah says of God, “a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm” (Isaiah 25:4). In addition, refuge is something God’s people were and are to provide, whether through Israel’s ancient cities of refuge (Numbers 35:6) or by offering hospitality to “foreigners” in need (Deuteronomy 10:19). These same principles can guide us today when humanitarian crises hit our world. In such times, we pray that the God of refuge would use us, His people, to help the vulnerable find safety.
The storm that hit our hotel was gone the following morning, leaving us with a calm sea and a warm sun that made the seagulls glow. It’s an image I hold on to as I think of those facing natural disasters or fleeing “ruthless” regimes (Isaiah 25:4): that the God of refuge would empower us to help them find safety now and a brighter tomorrow.
Praise to the Lord
25 1 Lord, you are my God;m
I will exalt you and praise your name,n
for in perfect faithfulnesso
you have done wonderful things,p
things plannedq long ago.
2 You have made the city a heap of rubble,r
the foreigners’ strongholdu a city no more;
it will never be rebuilt.v
3 Therefore strong peoples will honor you;w
cities of ruthlessx nations will revere you.
4 You have been a refugey for the poor,z
a refuge for the needya in their distress,
a shelter from the stormb
and a shade from the heat.
For the breath of the ruthlessc
is like a storm driving against a wall
5 and like the heat of the desert.
You silenced the uproar of foreigners;e
as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud,
so the song of the ruthlessf is stilled.
6 On this mountaing the Lord Almighty will prepare
a feasth of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine—
the best of meats and the finest of wines.i
7 On this mountain he will destroy
the shroudj that enfolds all peoples,k
the sheet that covers all nations;
8 he will swallow up deathl forever.
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tearsm
from all faces;
he will remove his people’s disgracen
from all the earth.
The Lord has spoken.o
9 In that dayp they will say,
“Surely this is our God;q
we trustedr in him, and he saveds us.
This is the Lord, we trusted in him;
INSIGHT
- When have you taken “refuge” in God or found it through His people?
- How can you play a part in helping those facing a crisis today?
The “strong peoples” and “ruthless nations” in Isaiah 25:3 likely refer to the Assyrians led by Sennacherib—the ever-present villain during the time of Isaiah’s ministry (see chs. 36–37). For people of Jerusalem cowering behind the fortifications set up by the mighty King David long ago, Isaiah’s testimony in today’s passage rang with hope. The violence of Assyria might crash against Jerusalem like a “storm driving against a wall” (25:4), but God Himself would be their shelter. He would silence their oppressors. And, like their ancestor David in Psalm 23, they’d enjoy a feast in the presence of their enemies.
PRAYER
God of refuge, please empower me, Your child, to help the needy find refuge and hope. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen!!
Read: Isaiah 25:1-9 (NIV) | Bible in a Year: Proverbs 1-2; 1 Corinthians 16
