Abiding under God's shadow.
In order to understand this most precious promise, inquire—
I. WHAT IS THE SECRET PLACE OF THE MOST HIGH? The idea of this "secret place" is frequently met with.
1. Sometimes it tells of some secret hiding place, such as David often resorted to when a fugitive;. and the sure protection of God is likened to such safe shelter.
2. At other times, the central tent of the commander of an army seems to be meant, as in Psalms 27:5, "He shall hide me in his pavilion," etc. The enemy would have to break through rank after rank of the encamped army ere he could reach the well guarded central tent of the leader. So inaccessible to the foe, so strongly placed was it, that it is taken as an emblem of our security in God.
3. But it is to the most holy place of the tabernacle and temple that we think allusion is here made. That sacred chamber was emphatically the secret place of the Most High. It was entered but once a year, and then only by one person, the high priest, bearing the blood of atonement. For all the rest of the year no footfall was heard in that secret place, no eye looked upon the glory of God that shone forth there. That loneliness told of the sad alienation that had sprung up between God and man through man's sin. But that secret place was the earthly dwelling place of God. There, between the cherubim, his glory shone forth, and there he was said to dwell.
II. BUT WHAT IS IT TO DWELL THERE? Literally, no man ever dwelt there. We are driven, therefore, to seek the spiritual meaning of this word. And we note that:
1. Israel entered there in the person of the high priest, when he bore in his hand the atoning blood, which he was about to sprinkle upon the mercy seat. All Israel found entrance there in their high priest, their representative. And whilst they continued in the faith of God, obeying and trusting him, they spiritually dwelt in that secret place, and, as a fact, were under the shadow—the high priest was so literally—of the Most High. No evil befell them, no plague came nigh their dwelling. It was well with them indeed.
2. And we enter and dwell there when, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we come to God, pleading his all-sufficient sacrifice and atonement, of which the blood berne by the high priest told. And we dwell there as we continue in that precious faith. Then we, too, are under the shadow of the Almighty. The Law's condemnation, sin's power, earthly care, death, and the grave, can do us no harm; we are under the sure and blessed shelter of our God. Next let us note—
III. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS INDWELLING.
1. The Lord is to us our Refuge. The Law's condemnation would fasten upon us but for this. And he is our Fortress—the place of vantage whence we fight successfully the spiritual warfare. And he is our God, in whom we trust; he is the confidence, the delight, the joy of our souls; so that we say of him, "He is my God."
2. And all this we take personally, each of us individually appropriating it. The Lord is not merely "a Refuge," but "my Refuge," "my Fortress," etc.
3. And we confess it. "I will say of the Lord," etc.; "With the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
IV. THE SURE FRUIT OF SUCH DWELLING IN THE SECRET PLACE OF THE MOST HIGH. We shall commend God to others. The rest of the psalm is one prolonged testimony to the blessedness of thus dwelling in God. "Surely he shall deliver thee," etc. Are we, then, thus individually and avowedly dwelling in God?—S.C.