In you O Lord, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame. Psalm 71
Taking refuge is an admission that he or she is unable to handle it on her/his own. When we feel lost and alone, feel lonely and abandoned then we take refuge. Status of a refugee is a state of helplessness. A refugee is already humiliated and has lost all what he thought was dear to him. This was the state of human race after sin. When man sinned against God as we read in the bible he fell into a no-man’s or God’s land where there was nothing that he could be proud of. He lost his eternity, friendship and freedom and all at once. Man needed a shelter and he needed to find someone who will provide just a little respect. He didn’t need any more humiliation than he already suffered when he walked out of eternal security.
This is where the beauty of God comes in. God does not put us to shame more than we have put ourselves into. Rather God takes the shame on Himself and takes the cross of the sinner onto His own shoulders. Shame of the sinner, shame of the lost, shame of torn, shame of the poor and all kinds of shames were taken away to be laid finally and forever at the foot of the Cross. Here the Psalmist is crying for God’s understanding of his situation, while we are blessed with this grace through the Cross. We are the recipients of God’s kindness and compassion, God’s enriching grace that gives us the wealth of worth in the eyes of God. For our worth comes from the worthiness of Christ and our wealth comes from the grace of the Cross. When we take refuge in our God, we will be never be put to shame as shame is been taken away from the lives of those who entrust themselves to the folly of the Cross. Ironically it is the two negatives here, the folly and the shame that together gives us the positive, namely the worth of the Children of God.
Blessings
Fr. Jos