Dwelling in the Secret Place
I had a bit of a revelation today as I was reading and thinking about Psalm 91.
This is what it says:
‘He who dwells 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 my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” Ps 91:1,2
I want God to be my refuge and fortress
We were just talking this week about idols in our women’s ministry, and how we need to go to God for comfort, and find our joy and satisfaction in Him rather than in other things. So the word ‘refuge’ really stuck out to me as I read these verses.I want God to be my refuge, so that when I am troubled I don’t go to food (my usual first stop!) or anything else, but go to Him instead. I want to feel like I’m under His shadow and resting safe with Him no matter what goes on during the day.
But it looks like what leads to this point is to ‘dwell in the secret place of the Most High.’ So I set myself to thinking, ‘How can I do that?’
How to dwell in the secret place
Dwelling means to live, so it’s talking about living with God in the secret place. What is the secret place? Well what can be more secret than our thoughts? When we pray to Him? If we live with someone we talk to them a lot naturally, as we see them throughout the day. And if we live with God in the secret place then we will talk to Him secretly, through prayer.
So what I realised is that to dwell in the secret place of the Most High I need to be talking to Him throughout the day.
I have been aware of the command to pray without ceasing for a long time, but I think back then I thought of prayer as more formal. Now I realise that God would just like us to talk to Him, to ask Him for help in everything we do, to bring all our cares to Him. And I think this might be a secret for finding our refuge in God.
So even though I always mean to pray more during the day – now I have more motivation because I want God to be my refuge more than any other thing. So I am determined to try and talk to God as much as I can about everything, and I am hoping that the more I do it the more natural it will get!
This is what Matthew Henry says about it:
‘It is the character of a true believer that he dwells in the secret place of the Most High; he is at home in God, returns to God, and reposes in him as his rest; he acquaints himself with inward religion, and makes heart-work of the service of God, worships within the veil, and loves to be alone with God, to converse with him in solitude.
It is the privilege and comfort of those that do so that they abide under the shadow of the Almighty; he shelters them, and comes between them and every thing that would annoy them, whether storm or sunshine. They shall not only have an admittance, but a residence, under God’s protection; he will be their rest and refuge for ever.’
When I had this revelation years ago it changed my walk with the Lord. Such intimacy with the Father resulted. I found that I was more in tune to His leading, even about minor details of daily life. This process brought about the satisfaction and fulfillment that nothing else has. 🙂
That’s great! I hope I find the same 🙂 I have wanted and tried to pray without ceasing for many years, but I think it must be one of those things that you grow into as a Christian – as I am finding it easier now than I used to. Maybe that’s because of more experience with trials making you lean more on God 🙂