To a Height above the Storm!

Distinctly I remember a time on my long-distance travel, the aircraft was buffeted by strong turbulence, when passing through the storm. The pilot took the plane around 300 feet high, and peace and calmness were restored since we were flying above the storm. The storm and lightning were raging below us, but the aircraft was in a different height and so does all the people in it. That height was the safest place we could be. Storm could not touch us, when we rose to such an altitude!

The metaphor above, not only does bring a picture of God surrounding us and protecting us, but also of Him lifting us up and carrying us away from all the problems and stresses that have been bound. (Chaim Bentorah, Revealing the Heart of God, Hebrew Word Study, 2016). This is what the Hebrew word Sagav ( שָׂגָה) or “refuge,” refer to. 

The term “ oppressed is from the Hebrew word adah ( אדה), which means “to be crushed under affliction” or “to have a heavy weight on top of something.” The word for “trouble” is tsarar ( צָרַר), which means “to be bound up”; it could also come from the root word batsar (בָּצַר), meaning “a pruning” (Chaim Bentorah). 

God is a refuge for us from those who seek to crush us or to hold us down, or from those who have us bound up in fear. The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble, Ps. 9:9 (KJV). Time and time again, when the storm of life threatens us, we may think our shelter will be found in the arm of flesh, by our ingenuity, brilliance, inventiveness, creativity, imagination, resourcefulness, cleverness or by our insight. Our raging creative thoughts in our fallenness were often humbled by God’s protection and He is able to make us inaccessible to the storms. 

When we are lifted to the height above the storms, we can look down in peace and know we are in God’s protection, to a place of ultimate safety. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty, Ps. 91:1(KJV).

The word is “sagav” which means to be high. The picture is a refuge in the heavens or outer space, a place that is inaccessible. More Hebrew words for refuge. noun מִקְלָט. shelter, asylum, haven, sanctuary. noun מִפלָט. escape, retreat, haven, shelter, asylum.[1]

---

[1] How to say refuge in Hebrew - Thesaurus and Word Toolshttps://www.wordhippo.com/what-is/the/hebrew-word-for-cdc93d65384e9644...