“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” (v. 1)
This chapter is a chapter of great promises. Only those who have found His secret place, whether it may be a place of prayer, or a place of praise, or simply a closeness to Him (as the next few verses imply), only these may know the very sweet and special promises that we read about here. Yes, there is a secret place with God. Is it a secret from you, my friends? It should not be. Only they that find this secret place will dwell under the shadow of the Almighty. These can truly say that the Lord is their refuge and they are content to seek haven in Him. The promise is first for deliverance, but what type of deliverance? Protection from the “noisome” or “destructive” pestilence, or diseases; from those plagues that seem to go around and cripple the mainstream of society; not only that, but from the “snare” of the one who lies in wait to ambush or entrap us. A snare is a trap; a wily ruse set to catch us in its clutches to either ruin our testimony or destroy us altogether. We are promised to have the foresight and discretion to avoid these pitfalls of life. We will not fear the darkness nor the evil that lurks there waiting to pounce on us at the first chance it gets; Neither should we worry about the bullets and arrows that take lives so randomly as we go about our business. We shall see the plight of the wicked (v. 8) and see his downfall, as he seeks to trip us up. Because we make the lord our refuge, we shall see no evil (vs. 9, 10), and we will have the angels to watch over us. What a blessed promise. As you read through these passages, believe them! Much is lost because of unbelief.
The last few verses seem to be the Lord talking, and sum up His promises to us. He promises to hear us when we call upon Him, and not only that, but He promises to answer us, that alone is a very worthy and precious promise. He promises to be with us in trouble, not necessarily to keep us from it, but to go through it with us, as a father might go through deep waters with his child, and hold unto his hand, but He also promises to deliver us from some of it. I need not go on and explain these things, for you are able to read them for yourselves, but I wish to excite you more to believe them than to merely read the words. God is there for us, always, and forever.
