Psalm 91

“How’s everyone doing?” I ask a small group of some of my closest friends. A collective sigh and a few groans erupt around the table.

“Tired,” one says, “as usual.”
“I can’t seem to get anything profitable done. My mind strays and I end up doing a whole lot of nothing.” The next shares.
“Stressed about that deadline for homework,” another tells me with a slight grin.
“I’m alright, I guess,” the last one states, “except I’m worried about my mom. She’s been sick all week.”

I smile sympathetically; I can relate to each of them on some level or another. Long hours on my feet at work and volunteering at the theater ensure that I’m never feeling quite one hundred percent, my writing projects sit untouched as I get sidetracked by Facebook and YouTube, payment deadlines loom above my head larger than life, and my own mother is needing more rest than usual as she carries her ninth child. Oh that I could find some safe place to set myself, my friends, and my family, far away from the cares of this life! I think to myself. Oh that there was somewhere we could find the rest and strength we so desperately need to face such days as these!

And then a strain of a song I learned a few months ago makes its way into my thoughts.

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and Fortress,
My God: in Him will I trust.

The words are taken directly from Psalm 91:1-2, my father’s favorite psalm. As he has read it so often in family devotions, I know most of the psalm by heart. Even so, once I’m home, I open my Bible to the chapter and read the words again.

And right in the first verse, something catches my proofreader’s eye. Aren’t “dwell” and “abide” basically the same word? I grab my phone and check my concordance app. Not quite the same, but similar: the Hebrew word used for the word “dwelleth”, יָשַׁב (Strong’s 3427), means “a tent dwelling” and the word used for “abide”, לוּן (Strong’s 3885), means “a habitual dwelling.”

One Little Difference

Did you catch that, too? The difference is that the first word is temporary, present tense, and the second word is eternal, present and future tense!

If my mind and heart are trained to be at home in ‘the secret place of the Most High’ then my mind and heart are welcome in the Holiest shade that can be found to take refuge from the heat of the day: the Shadow of the Almighty God.

Diving Deeper

But what is this secret place? Well, the Hebrew word, סֵתֶר (Strong’s 5643), means a hiding place or a place of safety. And time and again we see that in scripture: God kept Joseph safe throughout his life. He hid baby Moses from Egyptian soldiers intent on murdering him and from the anger of Pharaoh, the Israelites, and even his own siblings. He led Rahab to hide the two spies in Jericho. He provided Naomi with both a loving daughter-in-law and grandson and with a safe place to live the rest of her days in Bethlehem. He hid David from Saul many times and from his enemies. Elisha’s servant was terrified when he saw the soldiers surround the city they had hid in, until Elisha prayed that God open his eyes to see the shining hosts that had the enemy surrounded. He walked in the fire with Azariah, Hananiah, and Mishael, and closed the mouths of ravenous lions for Daniel. He freed Peter from prison. He shattered a jail for Paul and Silas…

There are so many more instances I thought of just in the Bible, and even in recent times, but there’s simply not enough time to recount them all myself. But even in these few accounts, you can see as well as I have that God not only takes care of His own, but He cares for His own! He never leaves us to deal with any situation, large or small, and he never forsakes His own.

God: our Refuge

And verse 2 goes even further. The psalmist states: “…[The Almighty] is my refuge and my fortress, my God…”

The secret place is not just a state of mind that is God’s special place to give you help when you need it. He Himself is the refuge! He is the stone-walled fortress that holds Christians safe in times of need, He is the Strength for each day, the Hope for tomorrow, the Joy in your sorrows, the Fountain of blessing when your own well’s run dry.

Better than a beloved older brother, He’ll never go off to college where He can’t tame the bully anymore. More than the closest earthly friend, He actually knows what’s going on, and loves you through it.

This secret place is a quiet place where you can find an endless supply of comfort, peace, joy, strength, love, wisdom, mercy, grace, and relief. This God of ours is the well that will never run dry, the wall that will never crumble, the will that won’t ever bow to the world. He is the quiet confidence to keep on going no matter the road ahead.

As Paul says in Romans 8, ‘If God is for us, who can be against us?’ With such a God at our side, above us, behind us, before us, inside us, how could anyone or anything stop us in the pursuit of His will for our lives? Faith in Him is not unfounded.

So now, as you navigate life’s challenges, are you determined to intentionally remember that your faith is grounded deeply in One who cannot be moved? Are you ready to choose to dwell in the Secret Place of the Most High? Are you willing to “let go and let God” and walk in His steps and hide your soul in Him? Will you join me and pitch your tent in the Shadow of the Almighty?

In my next few posts, I’ll be going through the rest of Psalm 91. Stay tuned, and I’ll see you along the Way!!