“My Secret Place”

Psalm 91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I was meditating in the early morning hours today on this scripture. I was telling myself that this would be a great place to be. As I continued to think on it, the thought came to mind that the place the writer is talking about is an easy place to find. It is INSIDE us! Yes I said INSIDE us! If you think about it, it is really simple. If you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit as are all true believers, then God is in you and you in Him and the two cannot be separated.

When you become a child of God, you immediately become the dwelling place of God or as the scriptures put it, the “Tabernacle (Temple) of God”. If you will meditate on this verse, three things will begin to emerge as the essence of it. First to me, the words “Secret Place” jumped out. What is a secret place? It is a place that only a select few people know about. Sometimes it can be a number as few as one. The dictionary defines the word “Secret” as “something that is kept or meant to be kept unknown or unseen by others.”. There are a few other words mentioned in the online definition I used here. Some of these are, a confidential affair, or a private matter. When I was a kid, I would love to find something that was secret. It was exciting. It would make me feel special. I knew something that no one else knew!

To me this says that there is a place I can go that is known only to God and to me. It is my special place where I can go to be alone with God….Just the two of us. I can talk to God and he can talk to me, and no one knows anything about the conversation because, you guessed it…it is a secret. Not only is the conversation a secret, but the location is secret. It is a “Secret Place”. Something else about that place is that not only is it secret, but the great part is that “I can live there!” It is a “Dwelling”. “He that dwells in the secret place“. That is me (or you)! I love my secret place. I can go there when I am alone. I can go there when I am on a crowd. I can go there at any time. Actually I don’t have to just “Go there” I can live there. I can stay there. The place is also mobile. It goes where I go. Just like a “Spiritual RV”, it is a mobile dwelling that moves from one place to the next as I move. Does this sound silly to you? It could until you realize that it is a wonderful place to exist….Constantly in the presence of God, sitting at His feet, as a child before his father, always basking in the glow of his love. You may be in a meeting, walking in the park, stuck in traffic on the freeway, confined to a sick bed, chatting with a friend, shopping in the grocery store, etc. No matter where you go, you can “live” in your secret place.

Many years ago, I had a friend who contracted a serious illness. He had to be off work for a very long time. During that time, his wife also became ill and had to quit her job. They had three young children to support. They were left with no income at all, kids to feed, bills to pay, and all the normal responsibilities of life, but no way to discharge them. Through the mighty blessings and provision of God, the loving care and help of their church, and also the support of friends and family, they survived until they finally recovered. One weekend they finally were well enough to be able to go the church for the first time in a very long time. It was a Sunday night, and their Church was having a monthly singing. There were were a lot of visitors present. Near the end of the service, the Pastor asked if anyone had a testimony they wanted to share with the congregation. This gentleman stood up to testify, noticeably weak, but in good spirits. He shared about their adventure with illness, and how the Lord had sustained them. At the end of his testimony a young lady stood up in the back of the church literally in tears. She asked if she might be permitted to speak. The Pastor welcomed her comments. She stated that she had been watching the formerly sick man for some time, and had fully expected him to curse God and give up when he was hit with one thing after another and seemingly no end to his trial. She in tears said, “After seeing him go through what he did and still love God like he does, I want what he has”. What did he have? You see, he had found his “Secret Place”. It is a place of refuge and sanctuary in the midst of his storm.

The next word that stood out to me was the word “Abide”. Now at first glance it may almost seem to be similar to dwelling. However dwelling in this case, is a noun, and abide is a verb. We have a dwelling to live in, but what we do in it is to abide. As long as I stay in my dwelling, I am abiding there. When I enter my secret place, I begin to live in it. I “abide” in it. Abide means to continue in or to stay there. Jesus spoke about abiding in Him. In John 15: 7 He said, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you”. If we not only are “IN” Jesus but are “Living” in Him we can ask what we desire and it shall be given us. What do I mean? Well I am glad you asked. If we not only are a child of God, but are in an active relationship with Jesus where we are consumed with His presence and the desire for it, living righteously before Him, then we are abiding. We never want to be away from Him. We want to stay there in His presence. We want to abide there.

When we are in our secret place, and abiding with Jesus, then it brings us to the third word that stood out to me in Psalm 91:1. It is the word “Shadow”. When we are out in the heat of the sun on a very hot day, we seek to find shade. It is a place of refuge from the uncomfortable heat of the day. It is a place we seek. It can be the “Shade” from the heat of life. The word that is used in scriptures for Shadow is from a word that has the connotation of the word “Umbrella”. It is a covering of protection. His shadow is a covering of protection from the world and its struggles. What we are shadowed with are his mighty wings. We are living so closely to Him that in abiding, we are placing ourselves right next to Him and the shadow of his wings covers us and protects us. We are sheltered. Beloved do you need shelter today? Are you abiding in Him? Are you dwelling in your “Secret Place”? When I was meditating on this verse, the words to an old hymn came to me. I want to share a few of them with you today. They go like this:

There is peace in the time of trouble, There is peace in the midst of the storm. There is peace though the world be raging, In the shelter of His arms*.

Blessings!
Bro. Tommy

*In the Shelter of His Arms Ray E. Heady (February 17, 1916 – May 7, 2002)