The Secret Place

 

Psalm 91 (You can listen to a song based on this Psalm here).

Over the last week where I live in Australia we have been awaiting a coming cyclone. Cyclones can be brutal in Australia. They can flatten homes, they can cause mass wide flooding, and take lives. They are also something over which we do not have much control (weather manipulation technology not withstanding). I have spent some considerable time mediating on Psalm 91, and I think it is worth making some observations in writing.

1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”

What is the secret place? Christianity is not a mystery religion. The mystery religions of ancient Rome developed as the dark pagan practices of the near east interacted with the pagan religions of Rome. They were essentially the old paganism being dressed up in secret cults. These mystery religions were variations of the worship of Baal and Asherah seeping back into the Roman world, the old dark paganism of the Canaanites and Babylon. These kinds of mystery religions were full of all sorts of secret rites that only priests and high level religious teachers knew about.

Christianity is not like that, nor is the religion of the Hebrews given through Moses that looked forward to Christ. The secret place is only a secret because many people do not seek it. It is the place of comfort where believers can rest knowing that God is for them and with them. Seek that place. Rest in that place.

3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler
And from the perilous pestilence.
4 He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

Those who dwell in this secret place do not live in fear, but in faith. Because they know the desire of God to save his people. And they know that he has the power to do so.

This does not mean that believers will not suffer tragedy and sickness and death. But it means that in all these things we know God is working for our salvation and our sanctification. He is with us. Why would you fear the night terrors when God is watching over you? Rest, sleep, be calm knowing that he is at work on your side. Why fear death in battle, when there is no death for the believer, only promotion to glory?

7 A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.
8 Only with your eyes shall you look,
And see the reward of the wicked.

God fights for the righteous. Remember how David defeated Goliath. How Samson defeated all the Philistines in their own city. Recall how Elijah was able to call fire from the skies. Our God is willing and able to fight our battles for us.

This is especially true in the Spiritual realm, where our enemies are stronger than us, and are truly evil, malicious and seeking to destroy us. Trust in the Lord to protect you from such evil. You might see the wicked prosper for a time, but discern their end. They end in a fate you would not wish on even your enemies. But the righteous will flourish, because God is for them, and because they follow the principles God ordained for his creation to work by, and because we will be rewarded beyond our comprehension.

9 Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
10 No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
11 For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
12 In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

We have this comfort, this assurance, because we live in the secret place, we live in the Lord by faith. Trust IN him the Bible says. This is synonymous with saying rest in him knowing that he is fighting evil on your behalf.

Don’t abuse this protection though. The devil sought to tempt Jesus with these words. But Jesus responded that we should not put the Lord to the test. I would be foolish of us to put ourselves in a position in which God would need to chasten us and remind us that we are not the Lord, and the power is not ours, the power is his. It is our job simply to trust him and live in faithfulness. We are surrounded by angel armies, and the armies of the Lord fight for us against the evil of the wicked ones.

14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation.”

There is no doubt that there is an aspect of this Psalm which is prophesying the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus loved his father perfectly, with a perfect love beyond anything that we have shown. And God delivered him from evil totally.

The devil would have been looking in triumph when he saw the Lord Jesus dying on the cross. But God did not let his servant live in death and defeat. He rose him again to long, eternal, life, and because of that Jesus is the source of eternal life for all of us.

The fact that God vindicated his Son, shows that God will also do so for all of us who have trusted in the Son. Our salvation is not a product of our own efforts. It is a product of the power of God being brought to bear to glorify his Son. Therefore, just as Jesus wrought our salvation in Jesus, so will he show his salvation to all who trust in him.

So trust in Jesus. It is the secret place. Live in that trust. Stay in that trust. Abide in him as Jesus said. It is not a secret because it is hidden, it is simply a reality many people do not seek after. But I encourage you, seek the secret place of abiding in the Lord.