In Psalm 91, we are introduced to a place referred to as the “secret place.”

What is so secret about this place? Why is it a secret place? What can we learn about this secret place? Let’s find out.

Where should the righteous dwell?

We read right in the first verse of Psalm 91:

¹ He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

So, where should the righteous dwell? He will dwell in the secret place.

Why a secret place?

Have you thought about why the righteous should dwell in a secret place?

Here’s why:

God will not just shelter His people in the open court or in the part of the house where people can easily come and go. But God will shelter His people in the secret place – in a private and reserved place.

It would be a place where God, Himself, withdraws to be alone. God is willing to share with His people even the most private and exclusive part of His dwelling area!

A place you need to search for

Now, a “secret” place can also mean a difficult place to find. It is something that is not known to most people. The place is so hidden that it takes a lot of effort, energy, and sacrifice for a person to find it.

The secret place isn’t reserved for lazy, wicked, and apathetic people. It isn’t for the people who don’t see the value of being with their Creator. 

After all, would God allow someone to be part of His dwelling place if that person doesn’t even respect its Owner?

Thus, the righteous should exert every effort to find the place of refuge. While searching for this secret place can be difficult, you and I can be assured that once we found it, we can look back and tell ourselves, “It was all worth it.”

Sometimes, God wants to see how bad we wanted to be with Him. God does not test us because He wants us to suffer or prevent us from obtaining eternal life, but He does that to help us develop the godly character needed to stay with Him through thick and thin.

In short: the secret place is reserved for those people who love God and follow His commandments as we have also learned in the previous chapter.

The owner of the secret place

Now, who owns the secret place? The Most High!

We read in Psalms 91:1:

¹ He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High.

This secret place is guarded by the most powerful, supreme, and almighty Being. No one can breach its defenses. Absolutely no one!

There’s no doubt; God’s secret place is the safest place in the universe!

Can you now see how God protects His people and how His people can live their lives with incredible confidence in the fact that God shields them from harm?

Indeed, if you want someone to protect you, then let it be God.

The Secret Place in the Bible

It’s quite interesting to note that in the Bible, the term “secret place” has been mentioned several times depending on which translation you use.

In the New King James Version, the term secret place was used about 10 times.

To give you a better understanding of what the secret place is, let’s take a look at some of these verses:

1 Samuel 19:1-2

¹ Now Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David; but Jonathan, Saul’s son, delighted greatly in David. ² So Jonathan told David, saying, “My father Saul seeks to kill you. Therefore please be on your guard until morning, and stay in a secret place and hide. 

In this verse, we see that the secret place is a place to hide from danger.

Psalms 18:11

¹¹ He made darkness His secret place;
His canopy around Him was dark waters
And thick clouds of the skies. 

God is so powerful that He can even make darkness His secret place and make it a secure place for His people. By the way, Psalm 18 is a psalm written by King David when He was delivered from the hands of Saul and his enemies.

Psalms 27:4-5

⁴ One thing I have desired of the LORD,
That will I seek:

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 inquire in His temple.

⁵ For in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;

In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock. 

God’s tabernacle literally means God’s dwelling place. So, the secret place is found in the dwelling place of God.

Psalms 31:19-20

¹⁹ Oh, how great is Your goodness,
Which You have laid up for those who fear You,
Which You have prepared for those who trust in You
In the presence of the sons of men!

²⁰ You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence
From the plots of man;
You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion
From the strife of tongues. 

Again, the secret place denotes God’s protection. He will hide us from danger and those people who want to inflict harm.

Matthew 6:6

⁶ But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 

Our Savior, Yahshua or Jesus also talks about the secret place. He confirms that the Father is in the Secret place and when we dwell in that place, we are dwelling in His presence.

As you can see, there are just so many things that we can learn even from the term “secret place” alone.

It’s an important place in the Bible and we must be thankful that through the blood of the Messiah, we are given access to this secret place.

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