The secret place

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

I have loved and cherished this verse from a very young age. I can’t even really tell you why, because I was too young to understand. All I know is that this verse held a very special place in my heart. As I grew older, I understood more of what this verse means and every time I read it, it’s like a weight that falls into my heart…

Because although this verse carries an amazing promise – that the Almighty God, the creator of the heavens and the earth, will protect you, it comes with a condition: if you dwell in His secret place.

There’s a lot of promises in the Bible, and someone somewhere just began proclaiming these promises and claiming these promises and there’s a whole movement of claimers out there. But a lot of these promises have conditions, and those conditions are not being proclaimed. You can claim the shadow of the Almighty all you want, if you are not dwelling in the secret place of the most High, you are not under His shadow…

And that’s the weight I feel. Am I dwelling in His secret place?

This verse always conjures up an image of an eagle’s nest high up on mountain ledge, with this massive eagle covering me in the nest with his giant wings and magnificent feathers. Probably because verse 4 describes being covered by His feathers. It doesn’t say eagle, just feathers and wings, but I always see this enormous, glorious, king of birds – the eagle. Apart from being an awesome bird, with some really amazing features and traits, what is also interesting for me, is that the picture in my mind is of being secluded.

You can read up on eagles, or find a sermon somewhere about them – there are a lot on the net comparing God and eagles. But this verse isn’t about the Eagle, it is about WHERE you should be. And eagles, especially these very big ones, live far away from civilization and usually very high up. Secluded, withdrawn, they come out to hunt, not to socialize or to be seen. There’s a lot of verses in the bible that talks about being set apart, about coming out, about separation from the world.

Where are you? Where do you really want to be? Where am I?

Am I separated from the world, set apart for Him? Am I dwelling in His secret place? Secret means no-one else knows. What is His secret place? And if I don’t even know what or where this secret place is, am I dwelling in His shadow, covered by His wings?

Don’t cheapen God’s promises by only proclaiming and claiming the GETTING part of it. Search your heart and your soul and your life – are you living a life that qualifies you for those promises? When people look at you, at your life, how you act, can they see you’re different? Can they see God in you, through you?

To dwell means to stay in a particular place – physical, like where you live, or more abstract: having your thoughts dwell on something… Where are you dwelling? What are you dwelling on?