“Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge.” ~Psalm 62:8

“Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge.” ~Psalm 62:8

The word 'refuge" connotes safety and protection.  But did you know that in the Old Testament, it meant that plus a whole lot more?  In the law of Moses, a murderer was put to death.  However, God instilled a provision for involuntary manslaughter.  He assigned 6 cities, scattered across Israel as "Cities of Refuge".   A murderer could flee to any City of Refuge and be protected from retaliation until the high priest of that city died.  If the murderer left the city of refuge before the death of the high priest, even if found innocent, the family was allowed to seek vengeance.

It is easy to see that this all points to Jesus Christ - He is our refuge. Our salvation is in Him and no one else.  Acts 4:12  He is our High Priest and is alive forevermore Revelation 1:18 and since we are in Him, we are assured that eternal protection.  He will never die, so we are always safe in Him! Isn’t that marvelous??

2 Corinthians 5:17  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

But there are some additional points that reinforce God's grand narrative. For example, these 6 cities were named with purposeful intention - they are all attributes of Messiah - Stronghold, Holy, Shoulder, Fellowship, Elevation, Circle.  They were each built high on a hill with "well-paved" straight roads - signs at every crossroads - in other words, you couldn't miss it.  If you sought the city of refuge, you found it.  Just like our Lord. "Seek Me and you will find Me".

Amen!

Written by Bonnie Chovanec, 2026