Planted by Water

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. (Ps.91:1, AV)

I’ve been really blessed as I was reading Psalm 91, and particularly by the King James version (not a version that I often use). The Psalm is filled with great promises about ‘no harm will befall you’ - e.g no fowler’s snare, deadly pestilence, a 1,000 will fall at your side etc. (you know the one - if you don’t, read it; it’s great!). But it is important to note that these are not  promises to any Christian irrespective of how they are living! These are promises to those who dwell (or live) in the shelter (or secret place) of the Most High.

The call is to live in the secret place - not just to have a time of prayer occasionally, or even daily, there - and then hope that in some magical way it will affect us for the rest of the day while we’re out of the secret place in the busy world. No! We are called and enabled to dwell, live, reside, stay continually in the secret place with God. The Presence of God is to be our home address! It is not about a physical place or a devotional activity, of course, but an attitude and decision of the heart, a directing of our spirit towards God, a continually cultivated fellowship with Jesus and a inner position of faith. Doesn’t it make your heart long for an ever-increasing experience of this?

And the first promise for such is that we will abide in the shadow of the Almighty - this carries the idea of rest as conveyed in the NIV translation. Just as the secret place is not a place, rest is not the absence of activity but the rest of the soul, the same as Jesus promised to those who take his yoke (another picture of continual fellowship with him) and learn from him. When God is your dwelling-place, there’s no place like home!

All this has just reminded me of the vital importance of the secret place; in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus continually spoke of the Father rewarding us as he sees what is done ‘in secret’ (Matt.6:4, 6, 18). The promises/rewards of this Psalm, and many other promises, come to those who are learning to live in the secret place, who recognise that the most important thing is not the outward activity that we do for God, but the inward fellowship that we have with God.

I’ve more thoughts on this psalm and particularly on how it teaches us we can ‘make the Most High our dwelling.’ If you’re interested I’ll post my thoughts tomorrow.