Why It is Better to Be Hidden in Him

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

My Dwelling Place: My Refuge and My Fortress

What is your dwelling place?

For some their favourite dwelling place is their pub.

For others it is their home.

Which is ok.

We dwell where we love. It might be the air, or the breeze.

But for this psalmist his dwelling place was in God.

It is where he sang, prayed and worshipped.

It is where he hid.

And where everything fell into place.

One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. 

For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. Psa 27:4-5  

Because this world is passing away.  

Because in him is forgiveness of sins, love, mercy, and the one thing which will never end - eternal life.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. Psa 23:6  

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 

In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. Joh 14:1-3  

To Dwell and To Be Indwelt

To dwell then is the poetic way of being in a covenant relationship with God.  “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth” (Deu 7:6). 

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Joh 1:12-13  

And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Gal 4:6  

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 2Pe 1:4  

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 1Jn 3:1  

Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. Joh 14:23  

Therefore, it is through dwelling in God alone that we eventually land on the meaning of life.

Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. Psa 16:11  

So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. 

And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. 

Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun. Ecc 2:9-11 

O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever. Psa 136:26  

In the Secret Place of the Most High

What is a secret place?

Why a secret place?

The graces of God are freely available to all.

One can imbibe them as much as one can take.

They are many: like the love of God, the mercy of God, the patience of God, the wisdom of God, the kindness of God and the faithfulness of God.

It’s like a sea.

One can swim near the shore or one can launch deep.

The deep place then is what I compare to the secret place of God.

Everybody can get there.

But not everybody is willing.

True, I can dwell anywhere.

My thoughts can be a secret place, right?

Feeding on self?

Ah, but that doesn’t end the restlessness!

That’s why I would rather dwell in the secret place of the Most High.

It may be lonely.

It may be windswept.

But I shall never go hungry or thirsty again.

I Shall Abide Under the Shadow of the Almighty

There are many shadows.

There are many trees.

Where a shadow is cast depends on the length of the tree.

The shorter the tree the shorter the shadow.

But the shadow of man can only be as short or as tall according to his height.

Only the shadow of God can cover the whole earth.

Yes, I would rather dwell under his shadow than anywhere else.

O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. 

Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. 

Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. 

For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. 

Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. 

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. Psa 139:1-6  

Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Psa 90:1-2

Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. 

And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 1Jn 4:15-16  

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 

Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 

For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 

When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Col 3:1-4 

Happy dwelling! 

 What is in a Tongue?

Jas 3:3  Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. 

 

Jas 3:4  Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. 

 

Jas 3:5  Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! 

 

Jas 3:6  And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. 

 

Jas 3:7  For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: 

Jas 3:8  But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 

 

Jas 3:9  Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. 

 

Jas 3:10  Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.

 

Jas 3:11  Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?

 

Jas 3:12  Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. 

 

What is the Remedy? : The Wisdom of God.

 

Jas 3:13  Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. 

 

Jas 3:14  But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. 

 

Jas 3:15  This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. 

 

Jas 3:16  For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. 

 

Jas 3:17  But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. 

 

Jas 3:18  And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. 

The Christian Yoke as an Instrument of Joy

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Mat 11:28-30

The Power and the Glory

The above three verses are packed with truth, power, and grace. They specifically consist of three invitations, and end with a promise. Let us go through them one by one.

The First Invitation: Come

The invitation is from Christ. And it is to all, anybody, and everybody, who is heavily burdened. It might be a sickness, a long one, and wasting, or a lost job, a means of income, a broken relationship, or a stagnation, like a traveler standing by a roadside, waiting for a car which never arrives.

And the soul is laden. And the spirit is gone. And it is to such Christ is saying: Come. “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev 22:17).  

The Second Invitation: Take My Yoke Upon You

The yoke is not a pleasant item. We associate it with hardship and oppression.

First Christ says “Come…you will find rest.” And then he says: “Take my yoke.”

We associate the yoke with oxen, those two beasts of burden, with a wooden enclosure around their necks. Behind them, they pull the weight of a plough, or a cart.  

There is great richness in Christ’s expressions. They force one to pause. Life can be a yoke? And immediately I know life is not easy. Then Christ identifies himself with a yoke. He means “Put on my life.” Is the Christian life easy? Is the way of the cross easy?

But he says his yoke is not hard. It is not oppression. And I don’t carry it alone, but he will walk side by side with me until the end.

Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Php 1:6 

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. 

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. 

For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 1Jn 5:2-4   

And that is the joyful part of it. Of me being counted worthy to be called his son. Of me having been translated from the kingdom of darkness into his kingdom of light.

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Joh 1:12-13  

And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry. 1Ti 1:12  

I can identify several layers of yokes every believer is called to put on.

The Yoke of Love

Love. Sweet love.  

“For so God loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son…”

For so God loved me that he died. And that is the yoke I am to put on. It is the call to die. To forget me, to renounce me, and to see only another… like the man or woman I hate; the man or woman who is impossible to love…

For so God loved me that he died.

And I am to love another like that.

The Yoke of Mercy

Ideally I should be free to direct my mercy where I want. But it’s no longer my life but his. For me to choose whom to forgive or to have mercy on, then that means I am still in my yoke of unforgiveness, yoke of hate, and yoke of selfishness.   

The Yoke of Patience and Perseverance

Patience wears you down. Even teachers and doctors run out of it. Patience is taxing, especially to one who is difficult to teach, or to one who believes he knows everything.

Yet Parents need it. Lovers need it. I need it. But in my own strength I can do nothing. I can only do it by putting on his yoke. He did it. That is why he says: Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart.

Only in this way can I find rest to my soul. It’s his promise. Only in this way can I emerge into the glimmer of light from darkness. That’s why Christ says: Learn of me.

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. Mat 5:44-45 

Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. Luk 23:34  

Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 

But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.

And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Php 2:6-8   

The Yoke of Comfort

We are not creatures of comfort, naturally, unless it is to our own comfort. Yet Christ is calling us to put self down and to put on his yoke.

Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 

Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. 

For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. 

And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. 2Co 1:3-6  

The Yoke of Peace

To be indwelt with the peace from God, is to know the true tranquility, the joy of forgiveness, the peace of reconciliation. It’s the peace the prodigal found in being accepted back home.

To have the peace of God is to be at true liberty. It is to be free from worry. It is to depend only in him entirely.

As Christ did. “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth” (Isa 53:7).  

And now he says: Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me…

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Isa 26:3  

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Joh 14:27  

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Rom 5:1  

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Php 4:6-7  

The Third Invitation: Learn of Me

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

If you have felt the tyranny of the world, the tyranny of self and the tyranny of the devil, then you know Christ is true.

King Solomon started well in God’s yoke. But along the way he put it down and took his own. And his last state was worse than his beginning: “Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun” (Ecc 2:11).  

…and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

Yes, it is true his yoke is easy indeed, and his burden is light indeed.

That’s how I have found my joy.

 Asaph’s Trial: Banking on God’s Faithfulness

When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me. Psa 73:16  

The Rich and Poor Divide: When Believing Joyfully is Severely Tested

Injustices come in different shades. But the end is always the same, bitterness. Asaph was besieged by the one which is probably the oldest, the commonest, and the most painful: economic injustice, or the idolization of corruption by the “wicked rich.”

In such times covetousness becomes an everyday reality. We desire, but we lack, so says Scripture, we ask, but we ask amiss, because we ask to feed our lust. And nothing but the grace of God can save a believer from such bitterness, and nothing but the grace of God saved Asaph’s faith from a complete shipwreck.

Asaph was a choir master in the house of God. This service had been inaugurated by David during his reign as king over Israel. Asaph went ahead to compose some of the psalms which bear his name in the Bible up to this day.

First, he begins with the obvious admission that God is good. It is a good place to begin, even though the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. May his beginning be also our beginning, when we are sorely tried, as he was.

A Psalm of Asaph. Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. 

But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. Psa 73:1-2 

What follows is bold. A shy man would have leapt in stoicism. But not a godly man like Asaph. His isn’t an outburst but a prayer. It is the cry of a son to his father.

For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. 

They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. 

Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment. 

Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish. 

They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily. 

            They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. Psa 73:3-9 

 In Search of a Perspective

Some rich people are not just content to be rich, but they must flaunt it, and they must not only flaunt it, but they must also lecture everybody who isn’t like them as being lazy and jealous. Their words sting, as always, they are calculated to sting.

Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. 

And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High? 

Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches. Psa 73:10-12

The prophet has called them rightly by their (and ours too before we got saved) depravity.

Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: 

Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: 

Their feet are swift to shed blood: 

Destruction and misery are in their ways: 

And the way of peace have they not known: 

There is no fear of God before their eyes. Rom 3:13-18

The godly everywhere and in every generation have felt the pangs which Asaph felt, and Jesus himself was many times the object of ridicule because of his teachings which railed against man in all his shades of wickedness. The ungodly have always loved darkness, because their deeds are evil, and therefore they have always repined against any penetration of light.

Asaph was where all of us sometimes find ourselves in, especially at a time like this, where evil is called good, and good evil; and where being corrupt is valorized as being smart.

The Pain of Unbelief

It is a place many believers have been to. That place where everything feels strong but faith. Had we believed right? Is God true? Had our believing been in vain? Had God lied?

Probably I am speaking to someone who feels like what Asaph felt. Perhaps your faith is in danger of slipping. Maybe the hardship has reached a breaking point. You believe God. You serve God. You love God. But you are walking. You are struggling. Your shoes are torn. The sun is beating hard on your scalp. While they glide joyfully by in beastly cars, and fly overhead in a maze of aquiline choppers.

And so you are discontented. You are angry. You doubt God. You doubt your faith. You are like Asaph. “When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me” (Psa 73:16). If that is your place right now, may I advise that you do what Asaph did. His option was the best. He didn’t go to the street. He didn’t take arms. He didn’t insult anyone. He simply trusted God.

When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; 

Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. 

Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. 

How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors. 

As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image. Psa 73:16-20 

The Ministry of Remembrance

Going back to the word of God always brings clarity. It brings perspective. It brings remembrances of those things we were in danger of forgetting: the promises of God, and the faithfulness of God. Go back to the testimony of history. God has always acted on behalf of his saints. In their extremity they found it to be God’s appointed time.

Asaph recognized his sin, and he rightly felt sorry for it. His bitterness had nearly blinded him to the sovereignty and power of God. It is right he felt sorry for his sin. For in his bitterness he had nearly plunged himself into covetousness.

Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins. 

So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee. Psa 73:21-22 

But quickly Asaph, like the prodigal, came to himself. The light of God showered on him like a comet.

Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand. 

Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. 

Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. 

My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. Psa 73:23-26 

There is a glory which the unredeemed know nothing about. But you do. You are redeemed. You are sanctified. You are justified. What can separate you from the love of God? And the apostle has said “nor things present, nor things to come” shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Asaph dived in the word of God, and in there he found his comfort, as we always do.

For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. 

Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus. Rom 15:4-5  

“Great is thy faithfulness”. Let us fix our eyes on the prize. Let us fix our eyes on the perspective. The word of God will give us that, as it did to Asaph. Jesus has promised us that he will be with us even up to the end, and that he will never leave us nor forsake us. May God grant you joy in believing that.

For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee. 

But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works. Psa 73:27-28  

The word of God is a tower, says Solomon, the righteous run to it and they are safe. Again, God is our refuge and strength, and he is a a very present help in times of trouble. So, we count it all joy, knowing that our labour in the Lord is not vain. And as the psalmist has pointed out: He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. 

Wait upon Lord, I say, and again I say, wait.