Psalms 143:9

I flee unto Thee to hide me.

Soul flight

I. How? On the pinions of thought our souls often fly more swiftly than lightnings to the remotest periods and places. This power of flight is the glory of our nature; it defies granite walls and massive chains and bolts.

II. Whither? To Him, the eternal Source of all life, and of all good, we should ever direct our flight. We should fly to Him in all our difficulties.

III. Why? There is danger. (David Thomas, D. D.)

Flight to God

I. A perception of danger. No man will flee if he is not afraid; there must be a knowledge and apprehension of danger, or there will be no flight.

1. Men perish in many instances because they have no cause of danger. The noxious air is not observed, the sunken reef is not seen, the train rushes to collision unwarned. Ignorance of danger makes the danger inevitable.

(1) Men will dare to die without fear of hell.

(2) Men will sin and have no dread of any ill consequences.

(3) Men will play with an evil habit and will not believe in its power to enslave them.

(4) Men will toy with a temptation and refuse to see how certain it is to lead them into actual wrong-doing.

2. Every man is really in danger. The sinner is asleep on the top of a mast. Young and old are both in jeopardy. Even the saints are in peril of temptation from many sources.

3. Some dangers are slowly perceived. Those connected with sweet sin, those which grow out of a boastful mind, those which are countenanced by the examples of others, etc. The more dangerous the serpent, the less likely to be seen.

4. The spiritual man is led to perceive dangers by inward monitions, by a spiritual sensitiveness which is the result of devotion, by experience, by perceptible declensions, or by observing the effect of certain things upon others.

II. A sense of weakness. No man will flee for hiding if he feel able to fight the matter through in his own strength.

1. We are all weak and unable to cope with sin.

2. Some think themselves mighty men of valour, but these are among the vary weakest of the weak.

3. Past failure should teach us not to trust our own strength.

4. In a deep sense of weakness we are made strong: in fancied strength lies the worst form of weakness.

III. A prudent foresight. “I flee unto Thee to hide me.”

1. He would not venture into the danger or wait till it overtook him; but he took time by the forelock and fled. Often this is the highest form of courage.

2. Escape through fear is admirable prudence. It is not a mean motive; for Noah, “moved by fear, prepared an ark.”

3. While we can flee we should; for time may come when we shall be unable. David says, “I flee”: he means--“I am fleeing, I always do flee unto Thee, my God.” A man should not live like a beast, who sees no further than the meadow in which he feeds. He should foresee evil and hide himself; for this is common prudence (Proverbs 22:3).

IV. A solid confidence. “To Thee to hide me.” He was sure--

1. That there was safety in God.

2. That he might flee to God.

3. That he might flee there and then.

V. An active faith. He did not lie passive, but aroused himself. This may be clearly seen--

1. In his fleeing to God. Directness, speed, eagerness.

2. In his after-prayers. “Teach me to do Thy will; lead me; quicken me.”

(1) Expect your share of enemies, and prepare for them.

(2) Secure your best friend. Be reconciled to Him in Christ Jesus.

(3) Make constant use of Him. Flee to Him at all times. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The flight of the soul

Never was there an eagle with reach of wing long enough, or with pinions of sufficient strength to mount so high or fly so far afield as the soul of man. God has made us so like Himself that it is impossible for the mere accidents of poverty or wealth, of physical bondage or freedom, of pleasant or unpleasant surroundings, to dictate the spiritual history of the soul. The soul dictates its own destiny. It has the power to fly from its environment and take up its abode in an entirely different atmosphere. A wicked king could shut John Bunyan up in prison at Bedford, but he could not chain his soul there. God gave him wonderful soul-flight from that little jail. Now, if we inquire into the secret of John Bunyan’s joy and peace, we shall find that it was but a realization of our text. Bunyan fled from his sins to God, and found refuge in the forgiveness of God through Jesus Christ. He started low enough, for he was a poor, drunken Bedford tinker, of no account to anybody till his Christian wife prayed for him and pleaded with him, until he fled for refuge to the Cross, and lost there the burden of his sin. And that is my message; that God is a refuge for every poor sinner who will flee to Him. But the fleeing is our part. We are free men and women, and God will not drive us into the kingdom. He will give us visions of the beauty of it, He will show us His own sympathy and love, and fling wide open the doors to the city of refuge; but unless we rise up and seek the refuge, we shall perish outside. (L. A. Banks, D. D.)

Flight from danger unto the Lord

We must fly to the Lord for shelter, not to an arm of flesh. The bird flies away to the thicket, and the fox hastens to its hole; every creature uses its refuge in the hour of danger, and even so in all peril or fear of peril let us flee unto Jehovah, the Eternal Protector of His own. No moat, portcullis, drawbridge, wall, battlement or dungeon could make us so secure as we are when the Lord of Hosts environs around. Our ramparts defy the beleaguered hosts of hell. The Lord of Hosts stands between us and their fury, and all other evil forces are turned aside. (C. H. Spurgeon.)