Discuss.LCF

As I have been following along with Billy's study on faith, I have also been reading the Psalms extensively. Again and again I hear the language of a refugee coming from the Psalmists. Either God is described as a "refuge" or the psalmists is "taking refuge" in him. Considering these scriptures and thinking about what it means to "take refuge" I wonder if there is a connection here with the New Testament understanding of faith.

Particularly instructive is Psalm 71 and the final verses of Psalm 73:


23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;

you hold my right hand.

24 You guide me with your counsel,

and afterward you will receive me to glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but you?

And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

26 My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;

you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.

28 But for me it is good to be near God;

I have made the Lord God my refuge,

that I may tell of all your works.

Here in this passage (selected from many) there are many poetic word pictures that describe the person that relies upon God and God's response to that person. The psalmist has made God his "refuge", "strength", "portion", and "desire". All of these seem to describe different aspects of faith. Perhaps a profitable expansion of a word study on faith would be to look up these and similar words just in the book of psalms and understand the pictures and metaphors that describe the person that takes refuge in God.