Be to me a rock of refuge.

This is the prayer of the Psalmist. This short phrase sums up the crux of what the psalmist is saying in these verses. But what does it mean for God to be to us a rock of refuge? When I think of this, a couple of images spring to mind for me. The first being a memory from a trip I took when I was in college. I was invited by a friend to travel with his family to Colorado. His grandparents lived there in a beautiful home in Manitou Springs. While we were there, one of our goals was to hike the trail that took you to the top of Pikes Peak. The trail was 13 miles to the summit of this over 13,000 foot high mountain. We spent the first five or six days that we were there preparing for the journey. We took several smaller hikes on foothills and smaller mountains. We calculated what supplies we would need and how we might fit those into small, lightweight packs that we would be able to carry on this hike. We determined how long we thought it would take us to make it all the way up and arranged for transportation back down, so we wouldn’t have to make the return trip on foot. We did a lot to prepare and on one of the last days of our stay, we got up early and began the trek.

It was a beautiful path with wonderful sites to see and we were all excited to be starting this challenge. Everything went great as we journeyed up the path. We had plenty of food and water. Our packs were not too heavy. Our bodies seemed to be enduring the strain rather well, so we knew the preparation had helped. We made it to the halfway point and were excited that we were doing so well. We continued on, taking stops when we needed to. And eventually we reached a spot that told us we had three miles remaining to the summit. These last three miles appeared to be rougher terrain than what we had previously walked. We had passed the timberline, so no trees could grow. The rocky ground was barren and rocky. The incline was steeper and we had no protection from the elements. We didn’t realize this lack of protection until part of the way into this section of the journey it began to hail. Large marble-sized pieces of hail fell from the sky and pelted us as we looked around for some cover. My friend, myself, and my friend’s sister found shelter under a large rock that had a bit of an indent in the lower half of it. We were able to burrow down under the overhanging ledge of the rock and were protected from the hailstorm that was taking place around us. We huddled there for a few minutes until the storm ended and we were able to return to our journey. When I think of God as a rock of refuge, I think of that rock alongside the path to the top of Pikes Peak and the shelter it provided from the hailstorm.

Be to me a rock of refuge.

The other image that comes to mind for me is slightly different. For many years when I was growing up, my dad’s family would gather together on a day during the summer at Governor Dodge State Park in Wisconsin. Each family would bring a few dishes of food and we would have a picnic together at the same pavilion every year. After the meal, we would go hiking or play Frisbee or take a swim at one of the beaches. But my greatest memory from those gatherings was a large rock sitting atop a cliff that was directly across the way from the pavilion where we picnicked. It was beautiful to look at, but the thing I liked most was making my way up the extremely steep path and climbing out onto the rock to look out over the park and wave to our family members still down below. The climb up that rock was a tradition that we did every year, even after the park put up a sign saying that the path was too steep and it was dangerous to climb up there. That rock was special to us and we were determined to climb up there and sit and look out at the view. I still remember the feeling of sitting there. It was a mixture of the fear of falling, the amazement of all that we could see, and the peace of being so far removed from the noise, the clutter, and the busyness of the world below. Sitting there on that rock, I felt alive in a way I did not feel normally. It was rejuvenating and wonderful! That rock was one of refuge for me from whatever may have been going on in my life as the time. So, when I hear this prayer by the Psalmist:

Be to me a rock of refuge.

I think of that rock and the peace I felt when I say high atop it and looked out at the world below.

There is another image of God as a rock of refuge, that comes from Scripture. It comes from a story of the Hebrew people in their exodus from Egypt and their long journey through the desert to the Promised Land. The people are in the midst of their journey. They have just recently begun receiving the manna from heaven and have reached the border of the land of Canaan. The story goes like this:

From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

The people were thirsty and in the middle of a desert. And God was for them a rock of refuge as he brought forth water from the rock for the people to drink. God provided for the needs of his people even when they were complaining and quarreling. God provided a rock of refuge in the desert, so the people would be refreshed and renewed. In the midst of the quarreling, God heard a prayer:

Be to me a rock of refuge.

There may be different images that a rock of refuge conjures to mind for each of us, but all of those images have a couple of things in common. First, a rock of refuge brings us salvation from the storm. As a praise song that I love says, “You have been a shelter, Lord, for every generation.” Then it adds, “Though the mountains fall, though the earth should shake, though the seas should roar with all the heartache, you have been a shelter, Lord.” God is still our shelter. Looking back on our current sermon series, we’ve been exploring life and faith through the eyes of the Psalms. In Psalm 2, we were encouraged to find our refuge in the power of God. In Psalm 16, we were encouraged to find our refuge in God’s protection and provision. In Psalm 23, we were encouraged to find our refuge in the God who surrounds us with his presence and his goodness. And last week in Psalm 110, we were encouraged to find refuge in God’s transformative love. And today in Psalm 71, we are encouraged to find our refuge in God’s salvation.

Be to me a rock of refuge, the Psalmist wrote.

Beyond bringing us salvation from the storm, a rock of refuge is a place of comfort and peace. There have been many times in my life when I was worried about something or feeling sad or hurt and I turned to God in prayer. And as I lifted up the cries of my heart to God that fear and frustration was replaced by peace as the Holy Spirit ministered to me. The struggles may not have been gone, but peace filled my heart. In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus said, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” God is like that rock that I would climb at Governor Dodge State Park. When we make the journey and sit with God, looking out over the world below, we find peace and comfort. We are able to see life in a new way and to separate from our problems a little and put them in perspective. We find peace when we go to the rock of our salvation and we pray along with the Psalmist:

Be to me a rock of refuge.

Finally, a rock of refuge brings new life. Just as the rock in the desert brought forth water for the Hebrew people, God offers us new life. That new life may come in a tangible way when God saves us from disease or death. But it also may come in a more spiritual fashion. God may bring new life to our spirit. He may draw us up out of sadness or change our hearts to live in a way that is healthier for our lives. When life flows from God into our lives, our hearts overflow with blessings. We find a great miracle of rejuvenation when we pray along with the Psalmist:

Be to me a rock of refuge.

Psalm 71 appears to be written by someone advanced in age who is reflecting back on their life. The psalmist acknowledges God to be their rock and their fortress, yet also asks God to be to them a rock of refuge and a strong fortress. As we read this Psalm, we are encouraged to ask our God to be who God is. I know that sounds strange, but we see it throughout Scripture. We pray for God to be gracious to us while at the same time acknowledging that God already is. We call upon God to be the God we know him to be. In the same way, God asks us, the church, to be who we have been called to be. When Simon acknowledged who Jesus was, Jesus named him Peter, meaning “rock.” And Jesus says, “On this rock,” the rock of salvation, the rock of protection, the rock of refuge, “I will build my church.” We don’t always live the way we are called to live, but we strive to be who we are just as we ask God to be who God is. God is our rock and our fortress, yet we still pray as the Psalmist did:

Be to me a rock of refuge.

Our salvation, our peace, and the source of our life. Praise be to God!