“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty.” (Psalms 91:1)
Did you know there is a place in God, a secret place, for those who want to seek refuge? It is a literal place of physical safety and security that God tells us about in this psalm. Dwelling in the secret place of the Most High is the Old Testament’s way of teaching faith. This gives us the most intense illustration of the very essence of personal relationship. Man has no built-in shelter. Alone, he stands without shelter against the elements and must run to the ultimate shelter Himself. In verse 1, God is offering us more than protection; it is as if HE ROLLS OUT THE HOSPITALITY MAT AND PERSONALLY INVITES US IN.
That secret place is literal, but it is also conditional. In verse 1, God lists our part of the condition before He even mentions the promises included in His part. That’s because our part has to come first. In order to abide in the shadow of the Almighty, WE MUST CHOOSE TO DWELL IN THE SECRET PLACE OF THE MOST HIGH.
The question is, “How do we dwell in the security and shelter of the ‘Most High’?” It is more than an intellectual experience. It is a dwelling place where we can be physically protected if we run to Him. You may completely believe that God is your refuge. You may give acknowledge it in your prayer time. You may even get a warm feeling every time you think of it. But UNLESS YOU DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT—unless you get up and run to the secret place—you will never experience it.
There are times when your secret place may have to exist in crisis circumstances with people all around you. A good example of that is a situation in which a U.S. Navy boy from Texas found himself.
He and his mother had decided to repeat Psalm 91 each day at a given time. He told of a time when his ship was under attack from the air and from an enemy submarine at the same time. All battle stations were in operation when the sub came within firing range and loosed a torpedo directly toward them. At that moment, the young man realized it was the exact time that his mother would be saying Psalm 91, so he began quoting the psalm just as the torpedo’s wake appeared, heading directly toward their battleship. However, when it was just a short distance away, it suddenly swerved, passing the stern and disappearing. But before the men had time to rejoice, a second torpedo was already coming straight toward them. “Again,” he said, “as the second torpedo got almost to its target, it suddenly seemed to go crazy, causing it to turn sharply and pass by the bow of the ship. And with that, the submarine disappeared without firing another shot.”
The whole ship must have been “under the shadow of the Almighty” because it didn’t receive as much as a scratch from either the submarine or the planes flying overhead.
Where is our secret place?
We too need the security and shelter of a secret place with the Most High.
Lets run to it, Bill Stockham