IN SEARCH OF A SECRET PLACE 

PSALM 91:1-2

          The world that we live in today is moving at an incredibly fast pace.  Before we finish today it seems that we are already into tomorrow.  Our jobs are high pressured and many times even when we leave the job we find that we take it with us to where ever we are going. Our relationships are hard to maintain because of distance from family and friends, lack of time to invest in quality relationships, lack of concern for one another and the perceived pressure to conform to other when we just want to be only what God is asking us to be.  Oftentimes, daily living seems to be sapping us of all of our physical energy.  With the pace of our world and the stresses we face, it is no wonder that we often desire a place in which we can just hide away.  We look for a secret place; a place where we can hide away, rest, be at peace and re-energize.  Many would hope that their homes would be such a place.  But,   because the war we fight is a spiritual battle with warfare often being raged in our minds, closing the doors of our homes to the outside world does not end the battle.  So within the confines of our own homes we yet search for a secret place. 

          The Bible has much to say about the secret place for which we search.  The verse that we just read says that “the one who dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the almighty”.  The word dwells used here means to sit down or to settle in the sense of taking up a homestead or staking out a claim and resisting all claim jumpers; to possess a place and live therein.  So this is not just a casual passing by or dropping in for a brief visit.  This implies a commitment to continuous stay evidenced by rejecting and repelling any and all actions that would attempt to remove you from that place. 

          Many Christians do not dwell in the secret place of God because they have not staked out their claim and they don’t resist and fight against claim jumpers.  If you ever watched old westerns you would know that when they went to set up a homestead often they would measure out the claim and put a fence around it.  At the first sight of a stranger or their property they would come with their shotgun already raised and drive any unwanted persons off of their land.  Sometimes we Christians are more like gold prospectors than like homesteaders. The gold prospector came looking for what material riches he could get from land not recognizing that the value was in having the land itself.  He did not fence in anything and lay claim to it.  He only claimed the hole he was digging.  Many seek God for only his material blessings not recognizing that the true blessing is in staking out a claim in God.

          Many Christians who do however stake out their claim to things like the peace and joy that Christ has provided for us do not know how to resist and drive off claim jumpers.  When the stranger, who is the enemy of God comes onto their property they don’t come immediately with weapon in hand to drive them off.  Some let him camp out for a while.  We must learn to resist all claim jumpers right away.  If the claim jumper comes after your peace you must resist worrying by casting all your cares on God knowing that he care for you.  If the claim jumper comes to steal our joy through oppression and depression, we must set our minds on rejoicing even the more; being so committed to God that like Paul anything that we lose or don’t have has no value to us when compared to the joy we find in knowing Christ. How do we resist claim jumpers? 

2 CORINTHIANS 10:5

          We resist claim jumpers by trusting in God “Casting down every imaginations meaning every reasoning, scheme, purpose, thought and understanding, and every high thing, be it spiritual or human authority that attempts to exalt itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity, or capturing, every thought and imposing on it the requirement of obedience to Christ.  To take up residence in the secret place of God we must stake out our claim and drive off any claim jumpers.  If we do this we will abide under the shadow of the almighty.

          Abide means to take up continued residence and that residence will be under the shadow of the almighty. 

Psalm 57:1

          Under the shadow of God’s wings we find protection.  Here the psalmist says that God is his refuge; his place of hiding; his place of safety.  David prayed in Ps. 17:8 saying to God “Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings”.

Psalm 36:7

          Under the shadow of God’s wings we find security.  There is a difference in protection and security.  Protection centers around God’s actions and abilities.  Security is a state of mind resulting from faith or trust in God.  A policeman can be there to protect me and he can be well able to do the job.  But if I have little trust in his ability or desire to do the job, I will not feel secure. Under the shadow of God’s wings I am both protected and secure. 

          Some people can not find the protection and security that they need in God because they are too focused on providing emotional protection and security for themselves.  Because we have been hurt by others we try to hide away a piece of ourselves and secure it from others and even from God.  We have our own little secret place in which we are hiding.

JEREMIAH 23:24

          In our greatest attempts to hide from God; in whatever secret place we have established, God can and will still seek us out.  For God knows that even the walls that we build around ourselves can not provide us with the protection and security afforded us when we make our dwelling place under his wings.  The psalmist said in Psalm 127:1 “except the Lord keep the city, the watchman wakes up but in vain.  No matter how much we attempt to protect ourselves, we can not stop hurt from coming our way.  All we can do is trust God and abide in his care, knowing that in him and him alone can we find the safety that we need.

PSALM 63:7

          Under the shadow of God’s wins is joy.  Feeling protected and secure, safe in Jesus allows us to experience the joy that God has always intended for man, and that joy leads to rejoicing.  We have a hiding place in God; a place that provides us with protection and security; a place where we find peace in the midst of a troubled world; a place of rejoicing.

Where is this hiding place?

PSALM 27:5-6

          David said that God would hide him in his pavilion; in the secret place of his tabernacle.  In the day when this Psalm was written if one were to approach the tabernacle of God one would see a large fenced in area with a gate in the fence.  Entering the gate one would look across a large courtyard to a large tent.  Within, the tent was divide by a veil into two sections; first the holy place and then the holy of holies.  Only the tribe of Levi was allowed to go within the tabernacle gate and only those in the line of Aaron were allowed to go inside the tent, and then only Aaron or the high priest was allowed in the holy of holies.  For the holy of holies was the place where God resided.  This means that the common people could not come into the presence of God.  That was in the Old Testament days.  But thanks be to God, for us he has established a more perfect way.

HEBREWS 4:14-16

          We are now told to come boldly before the throne of grace for ourselves that we might receive mercy and find grace.  The gate has been opened and the veil split.  We may now as Ps 100 says enter into the gate with thanksgiving, cross the courtyard with praise and come before His presence with songs of worship.

PSALM 31:19-20

          David said that those who fear God and trust in him would be hidden in the secret of God’s presence.  Where then is the secret place that we seek.  It is in the very presence of God.  So then, we should read in Psalm 91:1 “he who stakes out a claim, refusing to give it up, in the presence of God, shall have continued residence in the protection and security of God.  Not only that, but in Ps. 16:11 we are told that there is fullness of Joy in His presence.

          But the presence of God is no secret.  The word secret here mean privily or private.  The secret place of God is not a secret in the sense of being not known about.  For the existence of the presence of God is well known.  However, the presence of God is a private place with access by invitation or permission only.  But God in his love for man invites all to come.

MATTHEW 11:28-30

          Jesus invites all who are battered and beaten by this world, the systems of this world and ruler of this world, to come to him and find the rest, peace and joy that we need in order to have an abundant life even in the midst of this chaotic world.  The invitation to enter into the presence of God is open to all, but each man must for himself choose to accept the invitation.  The secret place that we search for can only be found in the presence of God and only Jesus can lead one into God’s presence.

          There are so many who want the peace, protection, security and joy that are found in the presence of God yet they will not follow Jesus as he leads us back to God.  Mankind attempts everything else that God’s enemy presents to us in an attempt to fill the void that only the presence of God can fill.  We who know Jesus as savoir and Lord are saddened by the masses of people who through the enemy’s deceptions are leaving this world never having established a relationship with God and thus never finding the secret place here on this Earth and forfeiting any opportunity to live in God’s presence once they leave this life behind.  If you have not accepted Jesus as Lord and savior today, he stands with arms open inviting you to bring the heaven burdens of this life to him so that you can find peace, protection, security and joy as he leads you into the presence of God to stake out your claim in the secret place of God.

          For those who are saved there are many who make that initial commitment to God and yet fail to stake out their claim in the private place of his presence.  Psalm 140:13, says “the upright shall dwell in thy presence.”  The upright shall stake out a claim in the presence of God and resist all claim jumpers.  There are many who stake out a claim by making that initial commitment but fail to resist all claim jumpers.  God has a standard for those who will dwell in his presence and that standard requires that we live holy and upright lives.  God provides all that we need to live holy in this present world.  He helps us to meet his requirements by giving us his Spirit to dwell in us, his word to guide us, his Son to intercede for us, his grace and mercy to cover us, his church to encourage us and his promises to bless us.  If you already know Jesus to be your lord and savior then make a commitment today to stake out your claim in the presence of God and dedicate yourself to casting down every reasoning, scheme, purpose, thought and understanding, and every high thing, be it spiritual or human authority that attempts to exalt itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity, or capturing, every thought and imposing on it the requirement of obedience to Christ. 

          As we meet the requirement of relationship with Christ and holy and upright living we can then enter into the secret, private place of his presence through prayer, praise and worship.  For we know that the prayers of the upright are his delight (Prov. 15:8) and that God inhabits the praises of his people (Ps. 22:3). Our praises bring us into His presence and thus into the secret place for which we search.