Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18.

We do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16 ESV.

This morning in our Friday Retreat we did a Lectio Divina, a spiritual discipline. We looked at a Scripture verse (Lectio), and looked at it again, and then again. And then we gave space and room for Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, to show us what He wanted us to see (Divina). Psalm 91:1-2 – Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” As I first read those words, I noted “shelter”. And then I noted “dwells”. And because I have been worrying about those I love and everyone I don’t know lost in a broken world, I noted “Whoever dwells”. Whoever dwells. And so for me, this verse…Whoever dwells will rest in the shelter of the Most High. Lord, You are my refuge and shelter, my God in whom I trust. It becomes personal when we let God speak to us. Anyone can dwell in the shelter of God’s love and it is in His love that we find hope and renewal – refuge from the storms of this world.

And our chapter, Ezekiel 38, shows us who doesn’t dwell with God, whether in the ancient past, today, or a future yet to be, (Revelation 20:8). Nations that fight against God. Do we fight against God? Do we rely on the might of our own nation and its leaders, or do we rely on Almighty Creator God? The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshek and Tubal; prophesy against him and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshek and Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army – your horses, your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing swords. Persia, Cush and Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets, also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops – the many nations with you…In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety. You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up, advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil scheme. You will say, “I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people – all of them living without walls and without gates and bars. I will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock and goods, living at the center of the land’”…v. 1-6, 8-12. There will come a time when God will intervene to bring an end to the wars and destructions that the nations bring. “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You are the one I spoke of in former days by My servants the prophets of Israel. At that time they prophesied for years that I would bring you against them. This is what will happen in that day: When Gog attacks the land of Israel, My hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign Lord. In My zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. The fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at My presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground. I will execute judgment on him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. And so I will show My greatness and My holiness, and I will make Myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’” v. 17-23.

We can put our trust in human beings and armies of human beings of the nations we live in. We can. But they will be our downfall. Because they take the place that only Creator God can hold. Only Creator God can say: Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust. Surely He will save you from the fowler’s snare and from deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. “Because he loves Me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for He acknowledges My name. He will call one Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him My compassion.” Psalm 91. Again…Whoever dwells…