Everlasting. Eternal. Unchanging. Secure. Safe. Refuge. Those are the words immediately brought to my mind when I read Psalms 90:1-2 this morning.

Psalm 90:1-2 KJV – A Prayer of Moses the man of God.
Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.

I have a physical home that my family and I are blessed to call ours. It has a yard, bedrooms, bathrooms, windows, a heater, air conditioning and the like. I enjoy my house. We live in a nice neighborhood, it’s pleasant. Sometimes it’s chaotic with kids running in and out. We live here, sleep, eat and play. My family has lived here less than 10 years, the house has been standing for nearly 25.
Moses spent 40 years of his life wandering in the desert without an established home. The constant in his life was God, is it any wonder that he would say “Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place throughout all generations”?

The word “dwelling place” in the original Hebrew language means “refuge, shelter from danger or hardship, habitation.”

Psalms 71:3 declares “Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress”.

The concept of God as a dwelling place, our dwelling place, expresses the security, dependability, and the eternalness of God. Because he wandered in the desert for 40 years with God as the only constant, Moses could understand and communicate better than almost anyone about the abiding steadfastness of God. Psalms 90:2 continues his thought on God’s permanence:“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” Moses wanted the Israelites to understand that God had been and always will be their permanent, immutable and unshakable home. The earth had an inception, my house had a beginning. Both will have an end one day. God was their place of shelter. He is and always has been a place of refuge.

Psalm 46:1-3 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah “ Psalm 46:7 “The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah “

God being our dwelling place is a picture of the unbroken, intimate fellowship God longs to have with us. For over 2000 years we have been able to experience this fellowship through a relationship with Jesus. True believers experience God as our dwelling place, a refuge. We are experiencing the totality of joy in his presence and will continue to experience it long after my house crumbles. Deuteronomy 33:27 “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms”