CHRIST JESUS
OUR HIDING PLACE
CHRIST OUR HIDING PLACE - The Bible frequently uses images (metaphors, figures of speech) such as “Zeph 2:3), we experience intimacy, fellowship and communion with Him, which in turn serves to encourage and revive our heart (Ps 69:32-1Cor 13:11), and daily seek to hide in the shadow of His wings. (Ps 17:8-note). Indeed, a SHADOW is the safest place in the world to hide if it is the “shadow of Shaddai,” for “He who dwells in the shelter (Hebrew = “HIDING PLACE“) of the Most High (El Elyon) will abide in the SHADOW of the Almighty (Shaddai).” (Ps 91:1-note) “There is a place of quiet rest…There is a place of comfort sweet, Near to the heart of God. A place where we our Savior meet, Near to the heart of God.” (After receiving the tragic news that his two beloved nieces had just died from diphtheria, Cleland McAfee ran to his HIDING PLACE and though still in great grief was enabled to pen his hymn “Near to the Heart of God,” the words of which have brought comfort to many grieving saints over the years.)
I have chosen to capitalize HIDING PLACE, because Scriptures such as Ps 32:7-note and Ps 119:114-note equate the Place with the Person (and presence) of Jehovah. Even as David and other OT saints found their safe HIDING PLACE in God, so too do New Testament believers dwell eternally secure IN CHRIST (in Christ Jesus, in Him, in the Lord, etc), a phrase used over 80 times to describe our “unblameable and unreproveable” position as new creatures in Christ (Col 1:22KJV-note, 2Cor 5:17-note, 1Cor 1:30-note). Indeed, Paul affirms that we “have died (we have been crucified with Christ - Gal 2:20-note, Col 2:20-note,Ro 6:6-note) and our life is HIDDEN (perfect tense = forever, permanently hidden!) WITH CHRIST IN GOD.” (Col 3:3-note) In the day of His judgment, every man will either hide FROM Him (Rev 6:16-note) or be found hiding IN Him (Ro 8:1-note). Indeed, the only way to hide FROM His Presence then is to be IN His Presence now (Jude 24-25)!
None Other Lamb
None other Lamb, none other Name,
None other Hope in heaven or earth or sea,
None other HIDING PLACE from guilt and shame,
None beside Thee.”
-Christina Rosetti
(Vocal Version)
While every believer positionally is in Christ and thus in their HIDING PLACE, our goal should be to daily learn to live more experientially in our HIDING PLACE, so that our position becomes our practice, our orthodoxy, our orthopraxy (Greek “orthopraxis” = correct action)! David learned how to live in his HIDING PLACE by walking through various trials. Pain has a way of promoting pursuit of the Person of Christ! And so we too must endure various trials so “that the proof of our faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1Pe 1:6-7-note) And so as we go through our own set of trials, we learn to RUN by faith not sight (2Cor 5:7-note, Heb 12:2-note) into the great NAME of the LORD, our HIDING PLACE. Solomon reminds us that this Name of the LORD is a Strong Tower and when the righteous RUN into it, they are safe (Hebrew literally = lifted up) (Pr 18:10-note). Indeed, our trial may continue unabated, and yet we are “lifted up” and enabled by the Spirit to supernaturally experience the security and safety of our ever available, all powerful, all sufficient HIDING PLACE, Christ Jesus. So remember that true security and safety is not the absence of danger, but the presence of Christ in us and us in Him, regardless of the danger (cf Paul’s experience - 2Ti 4:16-18-note). May God’s Spirit grant that in and through the inevitable times of testing, we may learn the secret “of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need,” so that we may confidently testify with Paul “I can do all things through Christ, Who continually strengthens me” and preserves me safe “in the SECRET PLACE (Heb = HIDING PLACE) of His presence” “in the day of trouble.” (Php 4:11-13-note, Ps 31:20-note, Ps 27:5-note)
In Psalm 32 when David confessed his sin, he exchanged hiding his sins for a HIDING PLACE in the Sin Coverer (Ps 32:1-note, Ps 85:2-note, Ro 4:7-note), Who always provides a place of protection for the penitent. David declared “You are my HIDING PLACE (Hebrew = cether = secret place; Lxx = refuge, way of escape). You preserve (guard, watch like a watchman over) me from trouble (affliction, distress, crushing external circumstances); You surround (encircle, encompass) me with songs of deliverance (of rescue and redemption). Selah (A call for us to pause and ponder David’s gracious words!)” Note that David did not say “A” Hiding place, but “MY” Hiding place. Spurgeon observes that “Personal claims upon our God are the joy of spiritual life. To lay our hand upon the Lord with the clasp of a personal ‘MY’ is delight at its full.” As discussed above, while God does not always spare us FROM trouble, we are succored (relieved) IN the midst of the trouble when we run INTO our HIDING PLACE. Note also that David says that Jehovah Himself is his HIDING PLACE and that unconfessed sin affords entrance into His “secret place.” Indeed, Spurgeon adds “that the same man who in Ps 32:4 was oppressed by the presence of God, here finds a shelter in Him. See what honest confession and full forgiveness will do! His Gospel of substitution makes Jehovah to be the God of our Refuge (Ps 142:5-note) Who otherwise would have been our Judge (2Ti 4:1-note, Jn 5:22, 27).”
“Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me HIDE myself in Thee.”
And so we are much more likely to experience Jesus as our HIDING PLACE when we are in need than when we think we have no need! God often has to put us on our backs in order to make us look up. Spurgeon says that “God will not let us, who are His songbirds, build our nests here. He will send a rough wind through the forest which will make the limb on which we try to build, rock to and fro in the storm till we are obliged to take to our wings again, for there is no resting place for us upon any of the trees in this world!” This truth helps us understand how we can “consider it all joy when we encounter various trials” (Jas 1:2-note), knowing that the trials drive us to take shelter in our HIDING PLACE, Christ Jesus Who has promised “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you” so that we may confidently say “The Lord is our Helper, we will not be afraid. What shall man do to us?” (Heb 13:5-6-note, cp Ro 8:35-39-note)
- He is our Hiding Place in this life and the life to come! (Col 3:3-4-note)
- He is our Hiding Place when we sin and confess (1Jn 1:7, 9-note, 1Jn 2:1, Pr 28:13-note)
- He is our Hiding Place when temptations threaten to overwhelm us. (Heb 2:18-note)
- He is our Hiding Place in the day of mourning, loss and sorrow. (Isa 53:4, 35:10, 51:11)
- He is our Hiding Place “in the day of the LORD’s anger.” (Zeph 2:3, 1Th 1:10-note)
Hide Thou Me
O Lord, “From the snare of sinful pleasure, HIDE Thou me!
Thou, my soul’s eternal Treasure, HIDE Thou me!
When the world its power is wielding,
And my heart is almost yielding, HIDE me,
O Thou Rock of Ages, safe in Thee!” Amen.
(Fanny Crosby – Vocal Version)
Run to Him. Hide in Him. Take shelter in the Everlasting Arms of the Great I Am, Jehovah Jesus, the eternal God, our never changing Hiding Place (Mal 3:6-note). As Spurgeon says “A man who is beset by foes does not stand still, and say, “Yes, I can see there is a hiding place there,” but he runs to it. Beloved, run to your Hiding Place this morning, each one of you who can have a claim and interest in Christ; run to Him now and say: “Thou shalt preserve me from trouble.” David had come up out of groaning times and into singing times. While his sin was unconfessed all the day long he groaned, but now that sins are confessed all the day long he sings! Now David hears songs everywhere, living in a circle of music.” As someone has said if you’re in tune with heaven, you’ll have a song in your heart. May the words of Frances Havergal’s hymn (Like a River Glorious) be our blessed experience the next time “the fiery trials” (and darts Eph 6:16KJV-note) come upon us unexpectedly for our testing (1Pe 4:12-note)...
Like a River Glorious
HIDDEN in the hollow of His blessed hand,
Never foe can follow, never traitor stand;
Not a surge of worry, not a shade of care,
Not a blast of hurry, touch the spirit there.
Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest,
Finding as He promised perfect peace and rest.
What a blessing that, instead of having to run from God, now we can run to God, our HIDING PLACE, and know that we are safe! The story is told of a wagon train crossing the prairie, which came over a hill and was terrified to see a prairie fire racing their direction. It seemed as if they would surely be engulfed by the flames. But the leader quickly rode to the rear of the caravan and set fire to the dry grass behind them. The same winds blowing the fierce fire toward them now fanned this fire away from them. Within minutes they moved to the burned-off area. As the heat and smoke became more intense, a little girl cried out, “Are you sure we’re safe?” “Oh, yes,” said the wagon master, “we’re safe because we’re standing where the fire has already been!” Christ has taken the fire of God’s judgment, and we too are forever safe if we “take refuge in Him” (Ps 37:40-note). Remember they are always WELL KEPT whom God KEEPS. “Should storms of sevenfold thunder roll, And shake the globe from pole to pole; No flaming bolt could daunt my face, For Jesus is my HIDING PLACE.” (J Brewer)
David had experienced God as his Hiding Place and could testify that ‘in the day of trouble He will conceal (hide by covering) me in His tabernacle. In the secret place (HIDING PLACE) of His tent He will hide me. He will lift me up on a rock.“ (Ps 27:5-note) Chuck Swindoll tells the story of the Malinta Tunnel located on Corregidor Island in Manila Bay. This tunnel served as weapons arsenal before WWII, but when the Japanese invaded the Philippines in 1941, Malinta Tunnel became an army hospital and headquarters of General MacArthur. Later as Japanese warplanes bombed Corregidor, the tunnel provided protection for the Allied soldiers. Malinta Tunnel remains a mute witness of the protection it offered soldiers through deadly bombardment. While we may never experience literal bombing by warplanes, as God’s people we often experience hostilities of an evil and unbelieving world. David reminds us that “in the day of trouble,” in the face of spiritual attack, believers have a sure HIDING PLACE in Christ, Who has overcome the world (Jn 16:33). The only requirement for those seeking entrance into God’s HIDING PLACE is an attitude of repentance and faith. God is a HIDING PLACE where His people can find safety and refuge in times of danger. He is the One we can go to when no one else knows or understands what we are going through. As our HIDING PLACE He can provide protection when people’s assurances fail.”
The psalmist testifies from personal experience “You (Jehovah) are my HIDING PLACE and my Shield. I have put my HOPE in (and confidently rest on) Your WORD.” (Ps 119:114) We see again the psalmist’s possession (“MY”) of God as His personal Protector. Notice also the association of the WORD of God with the presence of God as his HIDING PLACE. As we feast on His trustworthy WORD and eat His sure promises, His WORD permeates our inner being, transforming us by renewing our mind (Ro 12:2-note), and reviving our HOPE (not a “hope so,” but a “hope sure!”) and our confidence in our HIDING PLACE when all seems hopeless from a natural, human perspective. Spurgeon affirms that “It is easy to exercise HOPE where we have experienced HELP. Sometimes when gloomy thoughts afflict us, the only thing we can do is to hope, and happily the WORD of God always sets before us objects of hope and reasons for hope, so that it becomes the very sphere and support of HOPE, and thus tiresome thoughts are overcome. Amid our fretting and worry a hope of heaven is an effectual balm,” a HIDING PLACE to soothe our weary, storm tossed soul. Matthew Henry agrees that “Those who depend on God’s promises (“hope in His Word) shall have the benefit of His power and be taken under His special protection (His HIDING PLACE).”
Now unto Christ haste thou away,
Make Him thy HOPE, thy Rock, thy Stay,
Plead but His mercies and His grace,
Make Him thy Strength, thy HIDING PLACE.
May God by His Spirit grant us His grace, so that when we encounter various trials, we may be supernaturally enabled to flee “for refuge in laying hold of the hope set before us, a hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner on our behalf.” (Heb 6:18-20-note)
Jesus Lover of My Soul, Let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll,
While the tempest still is high. HIDE ME, O my Savior HIDE,
Till the Storm of Life is Past, Safe into the haven (harbor) guide,
O receive my soul at last. Amen
-- Charles Wesley
Here are some other choruses that relate to Christ Our Hiding Place
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STANDING ON THE PROMISE - Christ Jesus is our Hiding Place, into whom we can always run in the day of trouble. This is a promise we can "stand on." Many of us have read the story of the Dutch Holocaust survivor, Corrie Ten Boom. She and her family had a secret HIDING PLACE in their home that helped Jewish refuges find safety during the terrible days of the Nazis. The family members would quietly ask each other, “What do you have in your shoe Mama?” “What do you have in your shoe, Daddy? “What do you have in your shoe, Betsy?” The answer—precious portions of Scripture that they had torn from their Bible, specifically Romans 8, Ephesians 1, and 2 Corinthians 4. They would copy these passages and put them in their shoes, so that they were literally standing on the promises of God.
Should all the hosts of death,
And powers of hell unknown,
Put their most dreadful forms
Of rage and malice on,
I shall be safe, for Christ displays
Superior power and guardian grace.
Isaac Watts
(Play this hymn)
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NO OTHER HIDING PLACE IN TIME OR ETERNITY - Men try to hide in a "refuge of lies" (Isa. 28:15, 17) rather than hide in God. They try to hide their sins but God asks "Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him?" (Jer. 23:24). And in the day of His wrath men shall hide themselves caves and rocks in a futile attempt to escape His righteous wrath (Rev. 6:15-17). The only Hiding Place is Christ Jesus, Who will either be our Substitutionary Lamb or our Righteous Judge. "If His first coming does not give you eternal life, His second coming will not. If you do not hide in His wounds when He comes as your Saviour, there will be no HIDING PLACE for you when He comes as your Judge." (Spurgeon)
A sovereign Protector I have, Unseen, yet for ever at hand,
Unchangeably faithful to save, Almighty to rule and command.
He smiles, and my comforts abound; His grace as the dew shall descend;
And walls of salvation surround The soul he delights to defend.
Augustus M. Toplady
(Play this hymn)
ARE YOU A "HIDDEN ONE"? - Those who hide in the Hiding Place are what the psalmist Asaph refers to as God's "hidden ones" (NAS - "treasured ones.") (Ps 83:3KJV)
HOW DO WE ENTER THE SECRET PLACE OF CHRIST? - While we cannot find a hiding place were we can sin in secret, when we confess our sin, we find our Hiding Place in Christ.
Experientially, God Himself will be a shelter for the believer, not only on that day of the Lord's wrath (Zeph 2:3), but from the storms of everyday living.
Zeph 2:3 Seek the LORD, All you humble of the earth Who have carried out His ordinances; Seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden In the day of the LORD’s anger.
A prayer to pray - Ps 17:8 Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me in the shadow of Thy wings
In the shadow of His wings
There is rest, sweet rest;
There is rest from care and labor,
There is rest for friend and neighbor;
In the shadow of His wings
There is rest, sweet rest,
In the shadow of His wings
There is rest (sweet rest).
(Play this hymn)
Ps 31:20 Thou dost hide (satar) them in the secret (hiding) place (seter) of Thy presence from the conspiracies of man; Thou dost keep them secretly in a shelter from the strife of tongues.
Psalm 61:4 Let me dwell in Your tent forever; Let me take refuge (flee for protection) in the shelter (KJV = "covert" which denotes a "Hiding Place; Lxx = skepazo in passive voice = be spread out over, providing security, protection, shelter) of Your wings. Selah ("There. What do you think of that?").
NLT - Let me live forever in your sanctuary, safe beneath the shelter of your wings! Interlude
Under His wings I am safely abiding,
Though the night deepens and tempests are wild,
Still I can trust Him; I know He will keep me,
He has redeemed me, and I am His child.
(Play this hymn)
Wiersbe "The shelter of your wings" is not referring to a mother hen gathering her chicks before a storm breaks; it is talking about getting under the wings of the cherubim in the Holy of Holies. Through Jesus you can enter into the presence of God and dwell under His wings."
Many “seek refuge” under the wings of Yahweh in the sanctuary (cf Ru 2:12; Ps 36: 7; 57:1; 61:4; 91:4).
Ps 64:2 Hide me from the secret counsel of evildoers, From the tumult of those who do iniquity
Hail sovereign love, which first began
The scheme to rescue fallen man!
Hail, matchless, free, eternal grace,
Which gave my soul a Hiding Place!
Should storms of seven-fold thunder roll,
And shake the globe from pole to pole,
No flaming bolt could daunt my face,
For Jesus is my Hiding-place.
“He found him in a desert land,
And in the howling waste of a wilderness;
He encircled him, He cared for him,
He guarded him as the pupil of His eye.
Dt 32:10
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Precious hiding place,
Precious hiding place,
In the shelter of His love;
Not a doubt or fear,
Since my Lord is near,
And I’m sheltered in His love.
Precious Hiding Place
And a Man shall be as an hiding place from the wind,
and a covert from the tempest;
as rivers of water in a dry place,
as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
God will not let us, who are His songbirds, build our nests here. He will send a rough wind through the forest which will make the limb on which we try to build rock to and fro in the storm till we are obliged to take to our wings again, for there is no resting place for us upon any of the trees in this world! Many of you only too well know that there are rough winds of outward trial and trouble. I do not doubt that many a stormy blast has swept across your heart, in your families, or in yourselves, or in your estates. Some way or other, you have realized your need of “a hiding place from the wind, and a cover from the tempest.”...
We are subject to great mental storms. No man can be a true thinker without finding his mind occasionally storm-tossed. A rushing mighty wind of doubt seems to come sweeping down from the mountains of speculation, driving everything before it. Anchors begin to drag, and firmly moored beliefs are driven headlong towards the rocks of destruction. We have known what it is, sometimes, to have such a terrible cyclone of doubt and questioning raging around us that we have hardly felt our own existence to be a fact, and have had grave questions concerning our own inner consciousness. When we have these stormy winds and tempests howling within the little world of our souls, we appreciate the promise of the text: “A man shall be as a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest.”
At other times, the stormy winds take another shape, namely, that of outward trial and trouble. “Man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.” Doubtless, there is a skeleton in every house, some cause of sorrow in every family. A man may have a flourishing business, but there may come serious losses; or he may have the flush of health upon his cheek, and may suddenly begin to lose his vigor. The little ones around him who are his joy, may sicken, and he may have to follow his loved ones to the grave. The wife of his youth may be taken away from him, or the friend of his middle age may suddenly be smitten down. The world is full of what we sometimes call accidents, though we know that they are providences, providences of a sad and mournful character to us. God will not let us, who are his song-birds, build our nests here. He will send a rough wind through the forest, which will make the bough, on which we try to build, rock to and fro in the storm till we are obliged to take to our wings again, for there is no resting-place for us upon any of the trees in this world. Many of you only too well know that there are rough winds of outward trial and trouble I do not doubt that many a stormy blast has swept across your heart, in your families, or in your persons, or in your estates; some way or other, you have realized your need of “a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest.”
“A man” — yet one who is more than a man, — a man of whom it is written, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” It is the Man Christ Jesus who is, nevertheless, to be adored as “over all God, blessed for ever,” reigning, as he now does, in the highest heavens, crowned with glory and honor. I invite all of you, who are afraid of the storms of doubt, or trial, or temptation, or of the wrath of God, to put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, because, being God, he is omnipotent; and, therefore, nothing can be too hard for him. Once enclosed within his hand, where is the power that can reach you there, or pluck you thence? If your shield shall be the Almighty One himself, then are you secure from all hurt or harm....
Yet, as the text says, “man shall be as a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest, “I remark that Christ is truly a man. Oh, how often, in the thought of Christ’s real humanity, has my soul found a hiding-place from all manner of storms!...The very fact that God has become incarnate, makes him to be a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest....
This is the Man who is the hiding-place from the storm, and the covert from the tempest, the substitutionary Man, the surety Man, who stood in the room, and place, and stead of guilty man, the just Man bearing, instead of unjust man, the deserved wrath of God. If you, my dear friends, will only put your trust in him, you will find him to be indeed a blessed covert from the storm that is now threatening you. How can God’s wrath touch you if Christ has borne it all in your stead? A hiding-place shelters a man because it bears the full force of the storm, while he is protected from it's fury. Because Christ died for us, therefore we, who take shelter in him, shall not die. Our debt is paid, justice is satisfied, mercy triumphs, and we go free. This is the Man, the substitutionary Man, who is “as a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest,” to all who put their trust in him.
If you hide behind this rampart of stupendous rock, this mighty mound of divine consolation, it matters not what winds may rage, or what storms may roar, you may rest in security and serenity behind the great representative Man who is “as a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest.”
We also have to bless the name of our Lord Jesus that he is the ever-living Man, who is, at all times, a shelter from the wind to those who trust in him. Our earthly friends may die, but we shall never lose our best Friend. All merely human comforters will fail us sooner or later, but he will ever abide true and steadfast to all who rely upon him. “He lives, the great Redeemer lives,” so his cause is always safe, and our safety is always secured in him. Hide thyself, therefore, in the ever-living Man; for, there, thou needest not fear any change that the rolling ages may bring....
To sum up all, beloved, I do not know what your storms, inwardly or outwardly, may be, or what may be your special dread or terror; but if you hide away in the Man Christ Jesus, you will find that he will afford you shelter from every trouble that can possibly befall you....
Lastly, this is an available hiding-place. I think I read, some time ago, of a ship, caught in a storm, which might not have been lost but that the port it was trying to reach could only be entered at high tide. As the tide was low, the poor vessel had to stay outside, to be dashed to pieces within sight of the harbour. My Lord’s love is never like that harbour; it is always at flood-tide. Now, poor weather-beaten vessel, almost ready to go down, steer straight for the harbour mouth between the two red lights. There is water enough for you, though you may be so deeply laden a sinner that you seem to draw a thousand fathoms. The infinite love of Jesus Christ is bottomless, so there is room enough in it for you, and millions more. Steer for it at once by simply saying, “I will believe in Jesus; I will take him to be my Substitute and Representative; the appointed Man who died instead of me.”....
Ay, beloved, whenever any of the troubles of life come upon you, get near to Jesus, and shelter behind him....
if you have hidden behind him on account of sin, go and hide in him on account of sorrow; for this Man shall always be a hiding-place from every stormy wind that blows if you do but know how to go and trust in him. Come to my Lord Jesus Christ, my dear fellow-men, because he is a effectual hiding-place. Many of us have tried him, and proved that he is all that I have said....
That is the way into this hiding-place, — trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Depend upon Christ for the pardon of your sin, and for everything you need for time and for eternity, and you shall find him shield you from every storm henceforth and for ever. The Lord bless you all, for Jesus Christ’s sake! Amen. (Spurgeon's Sermon - Our Hiding Place)
Jesus Lover of my Soul
Fernando Ortega
Jesus, Lover of my soul
Let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll
While the tempest still is high
Hide me, O my Savior Hide,
Till the Storm of Life is Past,
Safe into the haven guide,
O receive my soul at last.
Other Refuge have I none,
Hangs my helpless soul on Thee.
Leave, ah, leave me not alone,
Still support and comfort me.
All my trust on thee is stayed,
All my help from Thee I bring.
Cover my defenseless head,
With the shadow of Thy wing.
Thou O Christ art all I want.
More than all in Thee I find:
Raise the fallen, cheer the faint.
Heal the sick and lead the blind.
Just and holy is Thy Name
I am all unrighteousness
False and full of sin I am,
Thou art full of truth and grace.
Plenteous grace with Thee is found.
Grace to cover all my sin;
Let the healing streams abound;
Make and keep me pure within.
Thou of life the Fountain art
Freely let me take of Thee;
Spring Thou up within my heart,
Rise to all eternity.
HIDE IN CHRIST BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH WHILE TODAY IS STILL CALLED TODAY! - If His first coming did not give you eternal life, His Second Coming will not. If you did not hide in His wounds when He came as your Savior, there will be no hiding place for you when He comes as your Judge. Spurgeon, The Second Coming
The Lord’s our Rock, in Him we hide.
A shelter in the time of storm;
Secure whatever ill betide,
A shelter in the time of storm.
O JESUS, Saviour of the lost,
My rock and hiding-place,
By storms of sin and sorrow toss’d,
I seek Thy sheltering grace.
Should storms of seven-fold thunder roll,
And shake the globe from pole to pole,
No flaming bolt could daunt my face,
For Jesus is my Hiding-place.
On him almighty vengeance fell,
That must have sunk a world to hell
He bore it for a chosen race,
And thus became their Hiding-place.
A few more rolling suns, at most,
Will land me on fair Canaan’s coast,
Where I shall sing the song of grace,
And see my glorious Hiding-place.
Be Thou my shield and hiding-place!
That, shelter’d near Thy side,
I may my fierce accuser face,
And tell him Thou hast died.
O Jesus, Saviour of the lost,
Our ark and hiding place,
By storms of sin and sorrow toss’d,
We seek thy sheltering grace.
Forgive our wandering and our sin,
We wish no more to roam;
Open the ark and take us in,
Our soul’s eternal home.
IN THE LORD - What does it mean to be “in the Lord”? Well, beloved, we are in the Lord vitally and certainly when we come to the Lord Jesus by repentance and faith and make Him our refuge and hiding place. Is it so with you? Have you fled from self? Are you trusting in the Lord alone? Have you come to Calvary and beheld your Savior? As the doves build their nests in the rock, have you likewise made your home in Jesus? There is no shelter for a guilty soul but in His wounded side. Have you come there? Are you in Him? Then stay there. You will never have a better refuge. In fact, there is no other.
THERE IS A SAFE PLACE FROM THE STORM - When the storm comes, we find Christ to be “a hiding place from the wind, and a cover from the tempest” (Is. 32:2). When the heat is hot, we find Christ to be “the shadow of a great rock in a weary land” (Is. 32:2). We put our anchor deep in the sea and we sleep. Hurricanes may blow, the masts may creak, the timbers may strain, and every nail may pull from its place, but still we sleep because Christ is at the helm. We have an anchor of the soul that is both sure and steadfast (Heb. 6:19). The earth shakes, but we say, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea” (Ps. 46:1–2). (Spurgeon)
Spurgeon - Surely, if God has given us the pardon of our sin, he will give us everything else that we need. If he has delivered us from hell, he will certainly deliver us from trouble. Spurgeon, Charles H.
REST IN YOUR HIDING PLACE - Beneath the hollow of that hand which was once so heavy upon me, I can now repose. Thou art my hiding place, I dread thee no more; nay, I dwell in thee as my habitation, and my high tower, my covert, my safety, my house. Safe in thy love, whatever trouble may be my portion, and by the mouth of Nathan thy servant thou hast declared that trouble shall be my portion, I shall yet be preserved; yea, more, so fully wilt thou deliver me that I believe thou wilt encompass me so with the arms of thy mercy, as to call forth songs of grateful praise for thy gracious interposition.
A SONG OF DELIVERANCE IN CHRIST - What a blessed experience that is,—to be surrounded with songs,—to hear music on the right and music on the left,—singing behind me for mercy received,—singing before me for hopes yet to be fulfilled,—singing above me, the angels welcoming me when my time comes to go home to my Father’s house! “Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.” (Spurgeon)
Isa 25:4 For Thou hast been a defense for the helpless, A defense for the needy in his distress, A refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat; For the breath of the ruthless Is like a rain storm against a wall.
Thou Art My Hiding Place, O Lord
Thou art my hiding place, O Lord,
In Thee I put my trust;
Encouraged by Thy holy Word,
A feeble child of dust;
I have no argument beside,
I urge no other plea;
And ’tis enough my Savior died,
My Savior died for me.
When storms of fierce temptation beat,
And furious foes assail,
My refuge is the mercy seat,
My hope within the veil.
From strife of tongues and bitter words
My spirit flies to Thee:
Joy to my heart the thought affords,
My Savior died for me.
’Mid trials heavy to the be borne,
When mortal strength is vain,
A heart with grief and anguish torn,
A body racked with pain,
Ah! what could the sufferer rest,
Bid every murmur flee,
But this, the witness in my breast
That Jesus died for me?
And when Thine awful voice commands
This body to decay,
And life, in its last lingering sands,
Is ebbing fast away,
Then, though it be in accents weak,
And faint and tremblingly,
O give me strength in death to speak,
My Savior died for me.
Hiding place (05643) (cether/seter for the verb cathar/satar = to hide) is a masculine noun which has the root idea of "hide" with the subordinate thought of protection involved when one is hidden (eg, Jonathan's instruction to David so King Saul might not kill him - 1Sa 19:2). Cether means secret, secret place, covering, hiding place, refuge.
In the NAS and KJV cether is most often translated as "secret" (place, secretly). Some versions (NIV) translate cether as refuge, which conveys the picture of a place which provides shelter or protection from danger, difficulty or distress.
It is notable that sexual sin is frequently described as secret (cether) as in 2Sa 12:12 where David did committed his sin with Bathsheba "secretly", in Pr 9:17 where "bread eaten in secret is pleasant" (metaphorical description of adultery - see context Pr 9:14-16) and in Job 24:15 where the adulterer "disguises his face" so no one can identify him.
Cether/seter is used adverbially with the sense of “secretly” or “in secret” as in Dt 13: 6; 2Sa. 12:12; Ps 139:15; Pr 9:17; Jer. 38:16. Isa. 45:19; 48:16 declare that God’s word is not spoken in secret.
Secret implies concealment on any grounds for any motive (good and bad). And so hiding in God (in His secret place) is good (Ps 31:20), but hiding idols (setting them up in secret - Dt 27:15) or enticing others secretly to worship idols is bad (Dt 13:6), while striking someone in secret deserves a curse (Dt 27:24). God declares His Word was not spoken in secret (Isaiah 45:19, 48:16). Ehud used the enticement of a secret message to gain a private audience with Eglon king of Moab, that he might assassinate him (Jdg 3:19). The Shulammite (Solomon's wife) was likened to a dove in the secret places of a cliff (Song 2:14).
Cether/seter refers to the “secret place” or “hiding place” of human beings (1Sa. 19: 2) and metaphorically to God (Ps 31:20; 61:4; 91:1). God Himself is declared to be a “hiding place,” in Ps 32: 7; 119:114.
Strong's Definition - 1) covering, shelter, hiding place, secrecy 1a) covering, cover 1b) hiding place, shelter, secret place 1c) secrecy 1c1) secrecy (of tongue being slanderous) n f 2) shelter, protection Usage: KJV - secret 12, secretly 9, covert 5, secret place 3, hiding place 2, backbiting 1, covering 1, disguiseth 1, privily 1, protection 1; 36
Cether - 34v in NAS - backbiting(1), covert(1), disguises*(1 - Job 24:15 "puts his face in secret"), hidden part(1), hiding place(6), secret(9), secret place(5), secretly(8), shelter(3).
Deuteronomy 13:6 "If your brother, your mother's son, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods ' (whom neither you nor your fathers have known,
Deuteronomy 27:15 'Cursed is the man who makes an idol or a molten image, an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.' And all the people shall answer and say, 'Amen.'...
Deuteronomy 27:24 'Cursed is he who strikes his neighbor in secret.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'
Deuteronomy 28:57 and toward her afterbirth which issues from between her legs and toward her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of anything else, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you in your towns.
Judges 3:19 But he himself turned back from the idols which were at Gilgal, and said, "I have a secret message for you, O king." And he said, "Keep silence." And all who attended him left him.
1 Samuel 19:2 So Jonathan told David saying, "Saul my father is seeking to put you to death. Now therefore, please be on guard in the morning, and stay in a secret place and hide yourself.
1 Samuel 25:20 It came about as she was riding on her donkey and coming down by the hidden part of the mountain, that behold, David and his men were coming down toward her; so she met them.
2 Samuel 12:12 'Indeed you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and under the sun.'"
Comment: Note the striking reaping - David's sin was sown in secret, but reaped in view of all! Beware of sin, for it is deceptive and never discloses this tragic consequence. And so we see the prophet Nathan declare to David that although his adultery was done in secret, God would punish him publicly! Indeed, "be sure your sin will find you out!" (Nu 32:23-note [sermon by Spurgeon])
Job 13:10 "He will surely reprove you If you secretly show partiality.
Job 22:14 'Clouds are a hiding place for Him, so that He cannot see; and He walks on the vault of heaven.'
Job 24:15 "The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight, Saying, 'No eye will see me.' And he disguises his face
Comment: Disguises his face is literally "puts his face in secret" or as the NLT nicely paraphrases it, "masks his face so no one will know him." Notice how the adulterer's conscience and the fear of exposure and embarrassment should serve to impede sexual sins. Let's face it, we live in a sexually perverted, promiscuous culture and it is extremely dangerous for men seeking to likely sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age (Titus 2:12-note). We need to read and heed verses like this, putting to death this sin by the Spirit if we have succumbed and fighting the good fight of faith (keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, keep meditating on His Cross, His Victory over sin and what it cost the Father) against even the temptation to give in to this seductive sin!
Job 31:27 And my heart became secretly enticed, And my hand threw a kiss from my mouth,
Job 40:21 "Under the lotus plants he lies down, In the covert of the reeds and the marsh.
Psalm 18:11-note He made darkness His hiding place, His canopy around Him, Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
Psalm 27:5-note For in the day of trouble He will conceal (tsaphan - hide by covering over) me in His tabernacle; In the secret place (cether/seter; Lxx = apokruphos = hidden, concealed) of His tent He will hide (verb form = satar) me; He will lift me up on a rock.
See comments below by James Smith on Ps 32:7 that relate to Ps 27:5.
Spurgeon exposition: “In that most holy place, where none can come and live but those whom God brings there, in the sacred spot where the security must be absolute, in the tabernacle of sacrifice besprinkled with the blood of atonement, shall he hide me.” Oh, what a hiding-place is this for one who is in trouble!
Comment: The day of trouble is a certainty in the life of every believer. While it won't last forever (2Cor 4:18), it will come to pass. If we have been meditating in His Temple, we are prepared for the day of trouble (evil). His tabernacle is God's dwelling place. He hides us where He Himself is present!
"Though God does not always deliver his people out of trouble, yet he delivers them from the evil of trouble, the despair of trouble, by supporting the spirit; nay, he delivers by trouble, for he sanctifies the trouble to cure the souls, and by less troubles delivers them from greater." On a rock - The LORD places the psalmist in an inaccessible place where his enemies cannot reach him (cf Ps 18:2)
He shall give me the best of shelter
in the worst of danger
Spurgeon: This verse gives an excellent reason for the psalmist's desire after communion with God, namely, that he was thus secured in the hour of peril. For in the day of trouble, that needy time, that time when others forsake me, He shall hide me in His pavilion: He shall give me the best of shelter in the worst of danger. The royal pavilion was erected in the centre of the army, and around it all the mighty men kept guard at all hours; thus in that divine sovereignty which almighty power is sworn to maintain, the believer peacefully is hidden, hidden not by himself furtively, but by the king, who hospitably entertains him. In the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me. Sacrifice aids sovereignty in screening the elect from harm. No one of old dared to enter the most holy place on pain of death; and if the Lord has hidden his people there, what foe shall venture to molest them? He shall set me up upon a rock. Immutability, eternity, and infinite power (depicted by the figure of a rock) here come to the aid of sovereignty and sacrifice. How blessed is the standing of the man whom God himself sets on high above his foes, upon an impregnable rock which never can be stormed! Well may we desire to dwell with the Lord who so effectually protects his people.
Matthew Poole: In the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me. He alludes to the ancient custom of offenders, who used to flee to the tabernacle or altar, where they esteemed themselves safe. 1Ki 2:28.
Adam Clarke: In the secret of his tabernacle. Were there no other place, he would put me in the holy of holies, so that an enemy would not dare to approach me.
Comment: In Psalm 27:5 God says "in the day of trouble He will conceal me (hide me by covering me) in His tabernacle. In the Hiding Place (the secret place) of His tabernacle (where He dwells in glory!) He will hide me." What is our responsibility? To believe this truth. When the day of trouble comes, we can pray to Him to hide us in the Hiding Place in the Holy of holies, in His very presence!
In the secret of His presence how my soul delights to hide!
Oh, how precious are the lessons which I learn at Jesus’ side!
Earthly cares can never vex me, neither trials lay me low;
For when Satan comes to tempt me, to the secret place I go.
The Tabernacle represented the present of God among His people.
The day of trouble is a certainty in the life of every believer. While it won't last forever (2Cor 4:18), it will come to pass. If we have been meditating in His Tabernacle, we are prepared for the day of trouble (evil).
"Though God does not always deliver his people out of trouble, yet he delivers them from the evil of trouble, the despair of trouble, by supporting the spirit; nay, he delivers by trouble, for he sanctifies the trouble to cure the souls, and by less troubles delivers them from greater." (CHS)
Blessed words "in the Hiding Place (in Christ Jesus) of His Tabernacle" hiding us where He Himself is present! Spurgeon says He hides us in “that most holy place, where none can come and live but those whom God brings there, in the sacred spot where the security must be absolute, in the tabernacle of sacrifice besprinkled with the blood of atonement, shall He hide me.” Oh, what a hiding-place is this for He gives us the best of shelter in the worst of danger! Run into "the Name of the Lord" (Hiding Place) and
Psalm 31:20-note You hide (verb satar; Lxx = katakrupto) them in the secret place (sether/seter; Lxx = apokruphos) of Your presence from the conspiracies of man; You keep them secretly (tsaphan - hide by covering over) in a shelter from the strife of tongues.
Spurgeon: Pride is a barbed weapon: the proud man's contumely is iron which entereth into the soul; but those who trust in God, are safely housed in the Holy of holies, the innermost court, into which no man may dare intrude; here in the secret dwelling place of God the mind of the saint rests in peace, which the foot of pride cannot disturb. Dwellers at the foot of the cross of Christ grow callous to the sneers of the haughty. The wounds of Jesus distil a balsam which heals all the scars which the jagged weapons of contempt can inflict upon us; in fact, when armed with the same mind which was in Christ Jesus, the heart is invulnerable to all the darts of pride. Thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. Tongues are more to be dreaded than beasts of prey—and when they strive, it is as though a whole pack of wolves were let loose; but the believer is secure even in this peril, for the royal pavilion of the King of kings shall afford him quiet shelter and serene security. The secret tabernacle of sacrifice, and the royal pavilion of sovereignty afford a double security to the Lord's people in their worst distresses. Observe the immediate action of God, "Thou shalt hide, ""Thou shalt keep, "the Lord himself is personally present for the rescue of his afflicted.
Arndt, quoted by W. Wilson, D.D.: This our beloved God does secretly, so that no human eyes may or can see, and the ungodly do not know that a believer is, in God, and in the presence of God, so well protected, that no reproach or contempt, and no quarrelsome tongue can do him harm.
Psalm 32:7-note You are my hiding place (Lxx = kataphuge = refuge, way of escape); You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.
Spurgeon: Thou art my hiding place. Terse, short sentences make up this verse, but they contain a world of meaning. Personal claims upon our God are the joy of spiritual life. To lay our hand upon the Lord with the clasp of a personal "my" is delight at its full. Observe that the same man who in the fourth verse was oppressed by the presence of God (Ps 32:4), here finds a shelter in Him. See what honest confession and full forgiveness will do! The Gospel of substitution makes Him to be our Refuge Who otherwise would have been our Judge. Thou shalt preserve me from trouble. Trouble shall do me no real harm when the Lord is with me, rather it shall bring me much benefit, like the file which clears away the rust, but does not destroy the metal. Observe the three tenses, we have noticed the sorrowful past, the last sentence was a joyful present, this is a cheerful future. Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.
What a golden sentence! The man is encircled in song, surrounded by dancing mercies, all of them proclaiming the triumphs of grace. There is no breach in the circle, it completely rings him round; on all sides he hears music. Before him hope sounds the cymbals, and behind him gratitude beats the timbrel. Right and left, above and beneath, the air resounds with joy, and all this for the very man who, a few weeks ago, was roaring all the day long. How great a change! What wonders grace has done and still can do! Selah. There was a need of a pause, for love so amazing needs to be pondered, and joy so great demands quiet contemplation, since language fails to express it.
Spurgeon adds (in his exposition of Psalm 32) - David had talked, in the Ps 32:1, of his sin being covered. Now he not only hides his sin beneath the divine covering, but he hides himself beneath the Divine Shelter: “Thou art my hiding place.” Thus does the believer sing Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in thee.”
Danger felt, refuge known, possession claimed, joy experienced.
Precious words! “Thou art my hiding place,” not “ thou art a hiding place,” but “ Thou art my hiding place.” A man who is beset by foes does not stand still and say, “Yes, I can see there is a hiding place there,” but he runs to it. Beloved, run to your hiding place this evening, each one of you who can have a claim and interest in Christ, run to him now, and say,- 7. Thou shalt preserve me from trouble, thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah. He has come up to us out of the roaring to the singing; all the day long he roars, and now all the day long he sings; he sees songs everywhere; he lives in a circle of music: his heart is so glad. Well may he put another “ Selah,” for he has smitten the strings very joyfully, and they need tuning again.
Ps 32:7. Thou shalt preserve me from trouble; - Lord, if thou hast taken away the greatest of all troubles, that is, guilt on the conscience, if thou hast really forgiven me, what trouble have I to be afraid of? “Thou shalt preserve me from trouble.”
Ps 32:7. Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah - The world is full of music to the man to whom God has said, “I forgive thee.” Do not rest, dear friend, till you really know that you are forgiven; for if you do, you will rest short of all true happiness. But if you have sought God’s mercy, and had your sin forgiven, you are already at the gates of heaven....If thou hast pardoned me, there is the making of all manner of music in the fact of my pardon. He that is washed by the precious blood of Jesus is the man to sing. Has not God made a chorister of him? John tells us, in the Revelation, that one of the elders said to him, concerning the white- robed throng, “These are they, which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple.” “Selah.” David must tune the strings of his harp again, for now he wishes to exult in God, and to magnify his holy name, as he listens to his Lord’s gracious words.
Steven Cole - The same man who in Ps 32:4 complained that he was oppressed by God’s hand here declares God to be his hiding place. Whereas before he feared God as his judge, now he takes refuge in Him as his protector who surrounds him with songs of deliverance. The flood of great waters (Ps 32:6) refers to God’s judgment. The man who has experienced God’s forgiveness need not fear the flood of God’s judgment. What a blessing that, instead of having to run from God, now we can run to God and know we are safe! The story is told of a wagon train crossing the prairie, which came over a hill and was terrified to see a prairie fire racing in their direction. It seemed as if they would be engulfed by the flames. But the leader quickly rode to the rear of the caravan and lit the dry grass behind them on fire. The same winds blowing the flames toward them fanned this fire away from them. Within minutes they all moved to the burned-off area. As the heat and smoke became more intense, a little girl cried out, “Are you sure we’re safe?” “Oh, yes,” said the wagon master, “we’re safe because we’re standing where the fire has already been.” If Christ has taken the fire of God’s judgment, then we’re safe if we take refuge in Him.
James Smith: It was a gracious and merciful act when Obadiah hid an hundred men of the Lord's prophets by fifty in a cave, and "fed them with bread and water" (1Ki 18:13). But how much better is it to be the Lord's hidden ones? Who shall discover those whom He hath concealed?..."Your life is hid with Christ in God" (Col 3:3), and hid by God Himself. What a place of safety! He takes us under the feathers of His own wings. "I flee to Thee to hide me" (Ps 143:9). Where He Hides. In the safest place in the universe.
1. IN THE PAVILION OF HIS GRACE. "He shall hide me in His pavilion" (Ps 27 5). We are not under the cloud of the law, but under the covering of His redeeming grace. The word atonement means covering.
2. IN THE SECRET OF HIS TABERNACLE (Ps 27:5). The secret place of the Tabernacle was where God Himself dwelt, in the Holy of Holies. Into the secret of His own presence hath He brought us. "Your life is hid with Christ in God" (Col 3:3). "Abide in Me." What a blessed hiding-place is ours! "God is our Refuge, we shall not be moved" (Ps 46:1).
Thou blest Rock of Ages,
I'm hiding in Thee.
Alan Carr on "You surround me with songs of deliverance." - The songs of God are songs of deliverance. Do you know where the first song in the Bible is found? It is found in the fifteenth chapter of Exodus. It is called the Song of Moses. The occasion was the crossing of the Red Sea. These people had been in bondage in Egypt for over 400 years. Egypt is a picture of sin. But when these people had been freed from Egypt, when they had been redeemed from their sin, they sang. (Ed note: Every Christian ought to sing a song of deliverance for we have been set free from bondage to sin and fear of death!)
Vance Havner - A little girl, distressed over world conditions, wrote to a magazine editor for advice. He replied, "Let the reader grit her wisdom teeth. There is no hiding place." It is a sad commentary on our vaunted civilization that, for all our education, science, invention, and boasted progress, we are looking for a hole in the ground in which to hide from our own devices. The theme of books and articles by, of all people, scientists is, "No Place To Hide." But there is a hiding place. Not in a "refuge of lies" (Isa. 28:15, 17) such as we devise rather than face God. "Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him?" (Jer. 23:24). Not in rocks and mountains (Rev. 6:15-17). God is our refuge. The only way to hide from His Presence is in His Presence.
In the secret of His Presence
How my soul delights to hide.
He is the Haven of Rest,
the Shelter in Time of Storm.
We need a refuge from the pride of man and the strife of tongues, and we may find both in the secret of His Presence (Ps 31:20). There is a Hiding Place!
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Even as the Ark provided righteous Noah a "hiding place from the storm," so too Christ Jesus is our eternal "Ark" into Whom we run for salvation (the first time) and then must run daily, because daily the storms of life come against us, some big, some little. Nevertheless, in all of the storms Christ is our safe Hiding Place, our Protector from danger. Paul echoed this truth when he asked us "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, etc" (Ro 8:35) Paul answered his own question declaring "I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Ro 8:38-39) "In Christ Jesus our Lord," the God-Man Who is our everlasting Hiding Place! Are you in trials of various "shapes and sizes" (I am even as I write)? Then run into your Hiding Place, Christ Jesus.
Beloved, our short life is a life of "storms" - we are either in a storm, coming out of one, or going into one. (spiritual distress on account of sin, attacks from human enemies, who taunt, slander, threaten, etc, gales of temporal losses, bereavements, and other afflictions)
Remember that our Hiding Place from the storms is also the sovereign Lord of the universe Who controls the wind and commands the storms to be still. (Mt 8:26, Mt 14:32)
Just as a pursued kitten runs to a tree, just as a frightened child runs to his father, so we can come to the Lord in our stresses and distresses and find in him a hiding place, a place of security.
Our Hiding Place "is equally complete and competent in all circumstances of conflict or comfort, quest or quiet, rigor or rest. He holds us in His strong hand tenaciously but tenderly in the night and height of the ranging tempest, assuring us that all is well. The foundations of the stronghold are fixed in the bastions of everlasting righteousness and the girders are tempered with the intensest love of the infinitely Holy One." (Charles Roll)
Charles Roll "What wonderful reassurance is derived from knowing that in all circumstances and under all conditions, we have a Protector, a Provider, and a Preserver, an ever-present Shield and Defender, the Ancient of days, pavilioned in splendor, environed in grandeur, exalted in honor, and enthroned in glory. All power resides in the hand of this Potentate."
Jesus is found to be the best hiding place and covert from the winds and tempests of affliction. Jesus is the best Hiding Place from the tempest of fear when it agitates the soul.
Jesus is the best hiding place and covert from the tempest of an agitated conscience. When the lightning of conviction flashes upon the soul, and guilt with its thundering voice spreads its dark folds over the mind, no where but in Jesus can be found a covert from the bursting storm. To what other refuge can a sinner fly when the horrid nature of his rebellion is laid open before him? (Edward Griffin)
John Phillips has this alliteration on Psalm 32:6-7...
- The Power of Prayer (Ps 32:6a)
- The Power of Position (Ps 32:6b-7a)
- The Power of Peace (Ps 32:7b)
- The Power of Praise (Ps 32:7c)
The power of prayer: "For this shall every one that is godly pray."
That is the first thing to do when tempted-pray! Sin is too big a thing to be handled alone. When the Titanic struck that massive iceberg things were suddenly different in the wireless shack. When the Californian broke in at 11:00 p.m. with the sixth ice warning, the Titanic's wireless operator had simply told her to shut up and hadn't bothered sending the warning to the bridge. When the frantic SOS signals were sounding over the radio waves, it was too late! Don't wait until you strike! Send up your SOS now! Realize the power of prayer.
The power of position: "For this shall every one that is godly pray unto Thee in a time when Thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. Thou art my hiding place."
David found a hiding place from the dreadful storm near to the heart of God. That was the best that could be said in the Old Testament: a man could draw near to God. In the New Testament our life is hid with Christ in God. Here, for instance, is a valuable deed. You put that deed in your safety deposit box and then you put that safety deposit box in the vault at the bank. Here is a redeemed human life, something very valuable to God, purchased at infinite cost. He puts that life in Christ; then he enfolds Christ in Himself. That is the power of position. As Toplady the hymn writer put it:
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood
From Thy riven side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure,
Save me from its guilt and power.
The power of peace. "Thou shalt preserve me from trouble."
The believer is not exempt from troubles. Satan will often use them to worry and weaken us. God wants to use them to strengthen us. David had his fair share of trouble, and he had more to come. His whole family was yet to dissolve in ruins as adultery and murder would break out again and again among his own sons. Yet David would be preserved. What a wonderful peace! Come what may, God will not change.
Peace, perfect peace,
In this dark world of sin?
The blood of Jesus whispers
Peace within.
The power of praise: "Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance."
David saw himself completely circled with song! This was the man who, moments before, had been talking about his "roaring"-his irrepressible anguish. Praise is a wonderful thing; it disarms the enemy! What can he do to a person who turns every experience of life into an opportunity for praise? Look at Paul and Silas in prison with their backs torn to shreds by a Roman scourge and their hands and feet bound fast with chains of iron. The whole prison rings with harmony as two mutilated missionaries sing praises to God. Their songs lead to the conversion of the jailer and all his house. How could they sing under such circumstances? They believed in the truth of Romans 8:28. "Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah!" (John Phillips)
Psalm 61:4-note Let me dwell in Your tent forever; Let me take refuge (flee for protection) in the shelter ("Hiding Place; Lxx = skepazo in passive voice = be spread out over, providing security, protection, shelter) of Your wings. Selah.
NLT - Let me live forever in your sanctuary, safe beneath the shelter of your wings! Interlude
Comment: Some versions do not render it as a prayer but as a declaration - "NET Psalm 61:4 I will be a permanent guest in your home; I will find shelter in the protection of your wings. (Selah)"
UNDER HIS
WINGS
1. We find Security under His Wings
Psalm 17:8— Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.
2. We find Sympathy and Sweet Love under His Wings
Psalm 36:7— How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.
3. We find Shelter and His Care Under His Wings
Psalm 57:1— Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.
Psalm 61:4— I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings.
4. We find Satisfaction, Shouting for Joy, and Singing Under His Wings
Psalm 63:7— Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. The word "rejoice" also means "to sing."
5. We find a Shield Under His Wings
Psalm 91:4— He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
Ron Mattoon - When I read about the life of George Washington in David Barton's book, The Bulletproof George Washington, I know doubt, saw the protection of God in His life. This man loved God for sure. We especially see God's protection in a battle he fought on July 9th, 1755 at a place called Monongahela. This region is near Pittsburg, Pa. Under the command of the arrogant British General Braddock, over 700 of the 1300 British soldiers were killed because Braddock was unwilling to take wise counsel on how to fight the French and Indians. George Washington was one who advised the general to change his battle tactics, but Braddock would not listen.54
While the French army and the Indians fought behind rocks and trees, the British marched out in the open and were slaughtered. All the officers on horseback under Braddock's command were shot except one, George Washington. For two hours, Washington was riding all over the battlefield, carrying orders for General Braddock.
In spite of the fierce danger he faced, Washington was unharmed. Four bullet holes were found in his coat and two horses were shot out from beneath him, but nothing hit his body. He was shielded from bullets, bayonets, arrows, and tomahawks. One of the leading Indian warriors stated, "Washington was never born to be killed by a bullet. I had seventeen fair fires at him with my rifle, but could not bring him down."
Fifteen years later, in 1770, Washington met the Indian chief involved in this battle. When Chief Red Hawk learned that Washington was in the area, the chief sought out Washington to talk with him about the battle. Through an interpreter, he told Washington that the command was given to shoot him down. These Indian warriors were excellent marksmen, but they could not hit Washington. Red Hawk himself, shot at Washington eleven times, but could not hit him, even though he was a sharp-shooter.
The chief said, "A power far mightier than we shielded you. Seeing you were under the special guardianship of the Great Spirit, we immediately ceased to fire at you." The chief continued and said, "Something bids me to speak a voice of prophecy. Listen! The Great Spirit protects this man, (referring to Washington) and guides his destinies. He will become the chief of nations, and a people, yet unborn, will hail him as the founder of a mighty empire." The chief was right as Washington became the father of the United States of America.
It is interesting to note that Washington was not wounded in any of the battles that he fought to secure the freedom of our nation. Thank God for His protection of our lives. He protected Washington, and He can protect and care for you, too, as you face battles each day in your life. Have you placed yourself under the shadow of His wings? (Luke Commentary)
Psalm 81:7-note "You called in trouble and I rescued you; I answered you in the hiding place of thunder; I proved you at the waters of Meribah. Selah.
Psalm 91:1-note He who dwells in the shelter ("secret place" = KJV, NJB) of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
Comment: "in the shelter" rendered "under the protection" (HCSB), "in the secret place of Elyon," (NJB), "In the secret place." (YLT) NET has "As for you, the one who lives in the shelter of the sovereign One, and resides in the protective shadow of the mighty king."
For forty years Moses had had no fixed material dwelling-place.
Wiersbe: The saints who abide in Christ (Ps 91:1, 9) cannot avoid confronting unknown perils, but they can escape the evil consequences. Moses, David, and Paul, and a host of other servants of God, faced great danger in accomplish...Faith in God—the Hidden Life (Ps 91:1–4) The most important part of a believer’s life is the part that only God sees, the “hidden life” of communion and worship that is symbolized by the Holy of Holies in the Jewish sanctuary (Ex. 25:18–22; Heb. 10:19–25). God is our refuge and strength (Ps 46:1). He hides us that He might help us and then send us back to serve Him in the struggles of life. (See Ps 27:5; Ps 31:19–20; 32:7; Ps 73:27–28; 94:22; 142:5; Deut. 32:37.) The author of the psalm had two “addresses”: his tent (Ps 91:10) and his Lord (Ps 91:1, 9). The safest place in the world is a shadow, if it is the shadow of the Almighty. Through Jesus Christ we find safety and satisfaction under the wings of the cherubim in the Holy of Holies (Ps 36:7–8; 57:1; 61:4; 63:2, 6–7). Jesus pictured salvation by describing chicks hiding under the wings of the mother hen (Matt. 23:37; Luke 13:38), and the psalmist pictured communion as believers resting under the wings of the cherubim in the tabernacle. (Be exultant).
Psalm 101:5 Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy; No one who has a haughty look and an arrogant heart will I endure.
Psalm 119:114 You are my hiding place and my shield; I wait for Your word.
Spurgeon Exposition - To his God he ran for shelter from vain thoughts, there he hid himself away from their tormenting intrusions, and in solemn silence of the soul he found God to be his hiding-place. When called into the world, if he could not be alone with God as his hiding-place, he could have the Lord with him as his shield, and by this means he could ward off the attacks of wicked suggestions.
Ps 119:114.—Our protection from danger—“hiding-place”; in danger—“shield”; before danger—“I hope.”
Ps 119:114.—“Hiding-place.” Secrecy to conceal us. Capacity to hold us. Safety. Comfort.—T. Manton.
Ps 119:114.—Hiding and hoping. I. A hiding-place needed. II. A hiding-place provided (Isa. 25:1–4; 32:2). III. A hiding-place used.—C. A. D.
Ps 119:114.—I. The refuge provided: “Thou art,” etc. II. The refuge revealed: “In thy word.” III. The refuge found: “I hope,” etc.—G. R.
Verse 114.—“Thou art my hiding place.” I. In thy grace, from condemnation. II. In thy compassion, from sorrow. III. In thy succor, from temptation. IV. In thy power, from opposition. V. In thy fulness, from want.—W. J.
Charles Bridges - Thou art my hiding-place, and my shield; I hope in thy word
Here is our main principle of safety—not our strivings, or our watchfulness, but our faith (waiting or putting one's hope in His Word implies faith, belief in His Word). Flee instantly to Jesus. He is the sinner’s Hiding Place, “the man,” that wondrous man, “in whom dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” Yes, Jesus exposed Himself to the fury of “the tempest,” that He might provide a Hiding Place for us. The broken law pursued with its relentless curse—‘The sinner ought to die’—But “thou art my Hiding Place,” Who hast “redeemed me from the curse of the law, being made a curse for me.” “The fiery darts” pour in on every side; but the recollection of past security awakens my song of acknowledgment, “Thou hast been a strength to the poor, to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.” (Isa 25:4) Our Hiding Place covers us from the power of the world. “IN ME,” saith our Saviour, “ye shall have peace. Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (Jn 16:33) Helpless to resist the great enemy, our Lord brings us to his wounded side, and hides us there. We “overcome him (our Adversary, Satan, Rev 12:9) by the blood of the Lamb.” (Rev 12:11) To all accusations from every quarter, our challenge is ready, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?” (Ro 8:33) From the fear of death, our Hiding Place still covers us. “Jesus through death hath destroyed him that had the power of death.” (Heb 2:14) Against the sting of this last enemy, a song of thanksgiving is put into our mouth, “O death! where is thy sting? O grave! where is thy victory?...Thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1Cor 15:55, 57-58) Thus is “the smoking flax,” which the malice of Satan strives to extinguish, not “quenched;” nor is “the bruised reed,” which seems beyond the hope of restoration “broken.” (Mt 12:20)
But the completeness of our security is graphically portrayed—Thou art my hiding-place, to cover from danger—my shield, also to protect me in it. Either I shall be kept from trouble, that it shall not come; or in trouble, that it shall not hurt me. The hiding-place alone would be imperfect security, as being limited to one place. But my shield is movable, wherever be the point of danger or assault. I can “quench the dart” that is aimed at my soul.
But a hiding-place implies also secrecy. And truly the believer’s is a “hidden life,” 4 beyond the comprehension of the world. He mixes with them in the common intercourse of life. But while seen of man, he is dwelling “in the secret of the Lord’s tabernacle,” safe in the midst of surrounding danger, guarded by invincible strength.6 Often, indeed, must the world be surprised at his constancy, amidst all their varied efforts to shake his steadfastness. They know not “the secret of the Lord, which is with them that fear him.” And never could he have had a just conception of the all-sufficiency of his God, until he finds it above him, around him, underneath him, in all the fulness of everlasting love—his hiding-place, and his shield . Thus in the heart of the enemy’s country “the dwelleth on high, and his place of defence is the munitions of rocks.”
But are we acquainted with this hiding-place? How have we discovered it? Are we found in it, and careful to abide in it? Within its walls “that wicked one toucheth us not.” Yet never shall we venture outside the walls unprotected, but his assault will give us some painful remembrance of our unwatchfulness. And then do we prize our shield, and run behind it for constant security. Remember, every other hiding-place “the waters will overflow.” Every other shield is a powerless defence. Surely then the word, which has discovered this security to us, is a firm warrant for our “hope.” And therefore every sinner, enclosed in the covert of love, will be ready to declare, “I hope in thy word.”
Psalm 139:15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
Proverbs 9:17 "Stolen water is sweet; And bread eaten in secret is pleasant."
Proverbs 21:14 A gift in secret subdues anger, And a bribe in the bosom, strong wrath.
Proverbs 25:23 The north wind brings forth rain, And a backbiting tongue (literally "a tongue of secret" picturing one who whispers about others behind their back, thus "back biting" them!), an angry countenance.
Song of Solomon 2:14 "O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the secret place of the steep pathway, Let me see your form, Let me hear your voice; For your voice is sweet, And your form is lovely."
Isaiah 16:4 "Let the outcasts of Moab stay with you; Be a hiding place to them from the destroyer." For the extortioner has come to an end, destruction has ceased, Oppressors have completely disappeared from the land.
Isaiah 28:17 "I will make justice the measuring line And righteousness the level; Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies And the waters will overflow the secret place.
Comment: Here is the context of this passage which presents sinful men's "secret place" (hiding place). While God's "Hiding Place" (in Christ the "Costly Cornerstone") provides protection for our souls in this life and that to come, those who take refuge in lies deceive themselves and their "secret place" will prove to be vain protection in the day of God's righteous judgment.
15 Because you have said, "We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we have made a pact. The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by, For we have made falsehood (A LIE) our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception."
16 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it (IT = "HE" in the NT - 1Pe 2:6) will not be disturbed (disappointed).
17 "And I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the level. Then hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the secret place.
Isaiah 32:2 Each will be like a refuge from the wind and a shelter ("a hiding place" from = cether/seter in KJV; NAS uses sethar - 05642b) from the storm, Like streams of water in a dry country, Like the shade of a huge rock in a parched land.
Isaiah 32:2KJV And a Man shall be as an hiding place ("hiding place" in YLT, Hebrew = machabe = hiding place) from the wind, and a covert ("a hiding place" = cether/seter) from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
Isaiah 32:3NLT He will shelter Israel from the storm and the wind. He will refresh her as a river in the desert and as the cool shadow of a large rock in a hot and weary land."
Spurgeon (Faith's Checkbook): WHO this man is we all know. Who could He be but the Second Man, the Lord from heaven, the Man of sorrows, the Son of man? What a hiding-place He has been to His people! He bears the full force of the wind Himself, and so He shelters those who hide themselves in Him. We have thus escaped the wrath of God, and we shall thus escape the anger of men, the cares of this life, and the dread of death. Why do we stand in the wind when we may so readily and so surely get out of it by hiding behind our Lord? Let us this day run to him, and be at peace. Often the common wind of trouble rises in its force and becomes a tempest, sweeping everything before it. Things which looked firm and stable rock in the blast, and many and great are the falls among our carnal confidences. Our Lord Jesus, the glorious Man, is a covert which is never blown down. In him we mark the tempest sweeping by, but we ourselves rest in delightful serenity. This day let us just stow ourselves away in our hiding-place, and sit and sing under the protection of our covert. Blessed Jesus! Blessed Jesus! How we love thee! Well we may, for thou art to us a shelter in the time of storm.
R A Torrey - A good many years ago I was traveling on the continent visiting some of the art galleries of Germany, and I saw a picture in the new art gallery in Munich that made a very deep impression on my mind. It represented the approach of a storm; the thunder clouds were rolling up thick and ominous; the trees were bending before the first approach of the oncoming tempest. Horses and cattle were scurrying across the fields in fright, and a little company of men, women and children, with bowed forms, blanched faces, and terror depicted in every look and action, were running before the storm in search of a hiding-place. I do not suppose it was the artist’s intention, but it has always seemed to me that this picture was an accurate representation of every human life. Every man and woman needs a hiding-place. You say a hiding-place from what? A hiding-place from four things...1. A Hiding-Place, needed from an accusing Conscience...2. A Hiding-Place needed from the Power of Sin within Ourselves...3. A Hiding-Place needed from the Power of the Devil....4. A Hiding-Place needed from the Wrath to Come (Read full sermon Every Man's Need of a Refuge)
James Smith: There are many false refuges to which men resort when in danger (chap. 31:1). Refuges of lies. The arm of flesh will fail you. Notice—
1. Who this Man is. "A man shall be as an hiding place." This is the Man who is God's fellow (Zech. 13:7). The one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus (1Ti 2:5).
2. What this Man does. "Thou shalt call His Name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins." He—
1. SAVES. "He is an hiding place from the wind and the tempest." This rock was strong to bear the tempest of suffering and judgment that came upon Him for as. "There is therefore now no condemnation" (Ro 8:1).
2. SHELTERS. "He is a covert." He is the Ark of refuge from the coming storm. He is the Mercy-seat (propitiation) that covers a broken law, and through which we may stand accepted before God. He Himself is the tabernacle of covering for the soul (Isa. 4:6; Ps 32:7).
3. SATISFIES. "He is as rivers of water in a dry place." He not only shelters but supplies the need of all who hide in Him. "If any man thirst let him come unto Me and drink."
4. SUCCORS. "He is the shadow of a great Rock in a weary land." In the weary land of our earthly pilgrimage His succoring shadow will be cast over us while bearing the burden and heat of the day. The day of active service for Him. "They drank of that Rock which followed them, and that Rock was Christ" (1Cor 10:4). (Handfuls on Purpose)
John MacArthur (I agree with his comment but others such as Warren Wiersbe see this as leaders in the kingdom, although Wiersbe does agree "our Lord fits this description" [Isa 25:4] - compare with another Wiersbe comment below) - During the Millennial Reign of Christ, leaders will provide protection like “the shade of a huge rock in a parched land,” instead of posing threats to the people’s well-being.
Warren Wiersbe (see preceding comment - here is a comment from his "Be series" commentary on Isaiah in which he now favors this as a reference to Messiah) - Messiah will reign in righteousness and justice (Is 32:1, 16; 33:5; see Isa 9:7; 11:1–5). In addition, the King (Ed: Wiersbe capitalizes "King" here) will be like a rock of refuge for the people (Isa 8:14; 17:10; 26:4; 28:16) and like a refreshing river in the desert (Isa 8:5–8; 33:21; 41:18; 48:18; 66:12). (Be Comforted)
Jamieson says the KJV's "man" is better rendered "the man Christ [Lowth]; it is as “the Son of man” He is to reign, as it was as Son of man He suffered (Mt 26:64; Jn 5:27; 19:5)."
Calvin on "man" (KJV begins with the phrase "And a man...") - If this was said with truth concerning Hezekiah, much more may it be said concerning Christ, in Whom we have our best, or rather, our only Refuge in those storms by which we must be tossed about as long as we dwell in this world. Whenever, therefore, we are scorched by oppressive heat, let us learn to retire under His shadow; whenever we are tossed about by tempests, and think that we are overwhelmed by the violence of the waves, let us learn to betake ourselves to Him as our safest harbor; He will speedily bring every storm to a calm, and will completely restore what was ruined and decayed.
Wiersbe - God cares for His own in times of trial and judgment. He kept Noah and his family alive through the Flood and guarded Israel when His judgments fell on Egypt. He protected believing Rahab and her family when Jericho fell and preserved a faithful remnant when Judah was taken into Babylonian Captivity. Throughout the centuries, He has kept His church in spite of the attacks of Satan and will deliver His church from the wrath to come. When "the Day of the Lord" comes to this godless world, God will see to it that the Jewish remnant will be preserved. (Pause for Power: A Year in the Word)
See Spurgeon's sermon "Our Hiding Place" -
Immense boons have come to nations by kings like David, prophets like Samuel, deliverers like Gideon, lawgivers like Moses.
But what are all good men put together compared with The Man Christ Jesus?
Let us consider that—
I. This Life Is liable to Storms.
1. Mysterious hurricanes within, which cause the most dreadful confusion of mind.
2. Overwhelming tempests of spiritual distress on account of sin.
3. Wild attacks from human enemies, who taunt, slander, threaten, etc.
4. Trying gales of temporal losses, bereavements, and other afflictions.
II. From These Storms the Man Christ Jesus Is Our Hiding-Place.
1. As truly Man. Sympathizing with us.
2. As more than Man, ruling every tempest.
3. As Substitutionary Man.
In Him we are delivered from divine wrath.
In Him we are covered from Satan’s blasts.
In Him we dwell above trial by happy fellowship with Him.
In Him we are victors over death.
4. As the Coming Man. We dread no political catastrophes, or social disruptions, for “He must reign.” The end is secured. “Behold, He cometh with clouds” (Rev. 1:7).
III. Let Us See to It That We Take Shelter in the Man.
1. Let Him stand before us, interposing Himself between us and the punishment of sin. Hide behind Him by faith.
2. Let Him daily cover us from all evil, as our Shield and Protector (Ps. 119:114).
O you that are out of Christ, the tempest is lowering!
Come to this covert; hasten to this hiding-place!
He is a capacious hiding-place: “Yet there is room.”
As in Adullam all David’s army could hide,
so is Jesus able to receive hosts of sinners.
I creep under my Lord’s wings in the great downpour, and the waters cannot reach me. Let fools laugh the fools’ laughter, and scorn Christ, and bid the weeping captives in Babylon to sing them one of the songs of Zion. We may sing, even in our winter’s storm, in the expectation of a summer’s sun at the turn of the year. No created powers in hell, or out of hell, can mar our Lord’s work, or spoil our song of joy. Let us then be glad and rejoice in the salvation of our Lord, for faith had never yet cause to have tearful eyes, or a saddened brow, or to droop or die.—Samuel Rutherford
A shelter is nothing if we stand in front of it. The main thought with many a would-be Christian is his own works, feelings, and attainments: this is to stand on the windy side of the wall by putting self before Jesus. Our safety lies in getting behind Christ, and letting Him stand in the wind’s eye. We must be altogether hidden, or Christ cannot be our hiding-place. Foolish religionists hear about the hiding-place, but never get into it. How great is the folly of such conduct. It makes Jesus to be of no value or effect. What is a roof to a man who lies in the open, or a boat to one who sinks in the sea? Even the Man Christ Jesus, though ordained of God to be a covert from the tempest, can cover none but those who are in Him. Come then, poor sinner, enter where you may; hide in Him Who was evidently meant to hide you, for He was ordained to be a hiding-place, and must be used as such, or the very aim of His life and death would be missed. C.H. SPURGEON
“Then You Ask Him” - Said Dr. Carl F. H. Henry, “In one of my last street meetings, during my college years, a heckler kept shouting, ‘Where did Cain get his wife?’
“When I could ignore the disturber no longer. I replied, ‘When I get to heaven, I’ll ask him!’
“ ‘Suppose he isn’t in heaven?’ parried the disrupter.
“I retorted. “Then you can ask him!” ’ (Al Bryant - Sermon outlines for evangelistic services)
Isaiah 45:19 "I have not spoken in secret, In some dark land; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, 'Seek Me in a waste place'; I, the LORD, speak righteousness, Declaring things that are upright.
Isaiah 48:16 "Come near to Me, listen to this: From the first I have not spoken in secret, From the time it took place, I was there. And now the Lord GOD has sent Me, and His Spirit."
Jeremiah 37:17 Now King Zedekiah sent and took him out; and in his palace the king secretly asked him and said, "Is there a word from the LORD?" And Jeremiah said, "There is!" Then he said, "You will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon!"
Jeremiah 38:16 But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in secret saying, "As the LORD lives, who made this life for us, surely I will not put you to death nor will I give you over to the hand of these men who are seeking your life."
Jeremiah 40:15 Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah in Mizpah, saying, "Let me go and kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and not a man will know! Why should he take your life, so that all the Jews who are gathered to you would be scattered and the remnant of Judah would perish?"
BENEDICTION
(Vasholz)
Now may God grant you such that you may say like the psalmist,
You are my hiding place; You protect me from all trouble
And surround me with songs of deliverance.
So that Your work is produced by faith,
Your labor is prompted by love,
And your endurance is inspired by hope
in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Larry Richards - HIDING PLACE
This is a reference to the Messiah. But here we find a very different Hebrew word. When Christ reigns, our place of safety will no longer be a secret. Isaiah 32:1-2 tells us,
Behold, a king will reign in righteousness,
And princes will rule with justice.
A man will be as a hiding place from the wind,
And a cover from the tempest,
As rivers of water in a dry place,
As the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
Spurgeon on "Hiding Place"...
A shelter is nothing if we stand in front of it. The main thought with many a would-be Christian is his own works, feelings, and attainments: this is to stand on the windy side of the wall by putting self before Jesus. Our safety lies in getting behind Christ, and letting him stand in the wind’s eye. We must be altogether hidden, or Christ cannot be our hiding-place. Foolish religionists hear about the hiding-place, but never get into it. How great is the folly of such conduct! It makes Jesus to be of no value or effect. What is a roof to a man who lies in the open, or a boat to one who sinks in the sea? Even the Man Christ Jesus, though ordained of God to be a covert from the tempest, can cover none but those who are in him. Come then, poor sinner, enter where you may; hide in him who was evidently meant to hide you, for he was ordained to be a hiding-place, and must be used as such, or the very aim of his life and death would be missed.
Our hiding place
A man who is pursued as if he were a wild beast can appreciate the value of a safe hiding place.
I. We need a hiding place for the soul.
1. For there is an enemy to our souls ever seeking their destruction. Is it true that there is a wicked devil? Some think not, but Jesus tells us that there is. He tells us also that there is a hiding place from Satan’s power, and it is the Lord Himself.
2. From our own inclinations. Some years ago I was walking with one of my children over a canal on a very narrow bridge. The child was frightened, and begged me to hold her tight, as she felt as if something were pulling her down into the canal. And so, like that child, we all of us have an inclination to fall from purity, and we shall fall unless the Lord hold us fast. And He will, if we ask Him. He will no more let you fall into sin, if you call on Him with all your heart, than I would have let that child fall into the canal. Though we have an inclination to sin, there is at all times a hiding place in which our souls may shelter until the danger be past.
II. There are special times when we need a hiding place.
1. One of those times is, when the fear of death comes upon us. Who can help us when we die?
2. Allow me to say a word about the hiding place we need when the sorrows of poverty afflict us. Ah, don’t you think that such people need a hiding place? How blessed is the Gospel to them! They suffer, but they know, they feel, that our Heavenly Father cares for them. (W. Birch.)
The believer’s refuge
I. THE REFUGE WHICH HE NEEDS. Refer to David in the stronghold; man-slayer in city of refuge; Noah in the ark. The sinner needs a refuge under the guilt of sin, under the demands of the law, under the dangers of life.
II. THE CONFIDENCE HE INDULGES. “Thou shalt preserve me from trouble”--not that actual exemption from trial is promised, but so preserved as that we shall not sink under it. The argument is that past deliverances are a ground of future hope. If He delivered me as a rebellious sinner, shall He not deliver me as a praying believer? It rests on the promise and faithfulness of God--“For the mountains shall depart,” etc. The Christian, after one trial, should prepare for another. It is supported by the experience of the Church.
III. THE JOY HE ANTICIPATES. “Songs of deliverance.” (Study.)
God our hiding place
There is no statement more true, and no truth more important, than that maxim of Martin Luther--“Nolo Deum absolutum.” Who, indeed, can meet an absolute God? God absolute is a consuming fire. His holiness is irreconcilably hostile to sin; His justice sternly demands the sinner’s punishment; and His truth obliges Him to execute the penalty of His violated law. In an absolute God there is no hope for a sinful creature. But now, through the incarnate Word, my atoning Sacrifice and interceding High-Priest, the devouring Fire becomes my protection, the almighty Adversary assumes the character of a friend, and with full assurance of faith I take up the song of the royal saint--“Thou art my hiding place, thou wilt preserve me from trouble; thou wilt compass me about with songs of deliverance.” (J. Cross, D. D.)
God a hiding place - Adam hid from God; David hides in God.
1. From the penalties of a broken law.
2. From the enmity of man.
3. From the trials and sorrows of life.
4. From the fear of death. (C. D. Bell, D. D.)
James Smith - HIDDEN THINGS FOR HIDDEN ONES.
It was a gracious and merciful act when Obadiah hid an hundred men of the Lord's prophets by fifty in a cave, and "fed them with bread and water" (1 Kings 18:13). But how much better is it to be the Lord's hidden ones? Who shall discover those whom He hath concealed? We ask—
I. Who are They? "They have taken counsel against Thy people, and consulted against Thy hidden ones" (Ps. 83:3). Then those hidden ones are—
1. HIS OWN. Sought out by His love, convicted by His Spirit, redeemed by His blood. "Your body and your spirit which are God's" (1 Cor. 6:20).
2. HE HIDES THEM. "Thy hidden ones." "Your life is hid with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3), and hid by God Himself. What a place of safety! He takes us under the feathers of His own wings. "I flee to Thee to hide me" (Ps 143:9).
II. Where He Hides. In the safest place in the universe.
1. IN THE PAVILION OF HIS GRACE. "He shall hide me in His pavilion" (Ps. 27 5). We are not under the cloud of the law, but under the covering of His redeeming grace. The word atonement means covering.
2. IN THE SECRET OF HIS TABERNACLE (Ps. 27:5). The secret place of the Tabernacle was where God Himself dwelt, in the Holy of Holies. Into the secret of His own presence hath He brought us. "Your life is hid with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3). "Abide in Me." What a blessed hiding-place is ours! "God is our Refuge, we shall not be moved" (Ps. 46:1).
III. What They are Hidden From. The—
1. PRIDE OF MAN (Ps 31:20). To be saved from the pride of one's own heart is a great deliverance. The pride of man is the source of many evils. Our security is in the bosom of Him who is the meek and lowly in heart.
2. STRIFE OF TONGUES (Ps 31:20). The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. God's hidden ones are lovers of peace, and know the peace of God. The confusion of tongues belong to the world, but Thou art my hiding-place (Ps 32:7). Thy Word is pure, Thy voice is clear and unmistakable.
IV. The Privilege Enjoyed by the Hidden Ones. They dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in a sure dwelling, and in a quiet resting-place (Isa. 32:18). They—
1. ARE TAUGHT HIDDEN WISDOM (1Cor. 2:7). We have received the Spirit of God that we might know the things that are freely given us of God. Wise in Christ. Secret things belong to God (Ps. 31:19; Matt. 13:11).
2. RECEIVE HIDDEN RICHES. "I will give thee the hidden riches of secret places" (Isa. 45:3). Being in Christ, we are in the secret places where the unsearchable riches are (Eph 3:8). "In Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col 2:3).
3. EAT HIDDEN MANNA. "To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the hidden manna" (Rev 2:17). Those hidden by God have a meat to eat that others know not of (John 4:32), they are fed by the finest of the wheat. "Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. for I am called by Thy Name, O Lord God of Hosts" (Jer. 15:16)
"You are my hiding place! You protect me from trouble." Psalm 32:7
Jesus will preserve us from all that is really hurtful — and sanctify to us all that is painful. He is our protector. The strength that supports us is omnipotent — the refuge that preserves us is eternal! Why then should we fear? (James Smith)
James Smith - THE TRUE AND THE FALSE REFUGE - "A MAN SHALL BE AN HIDING PLACE" (Isa 32:2) and "THE REFUGE OF LIES" (Isa 28:17)
Two hiding places are brought before us here.
The one is the refuge of truth, the other is a refuge of lies.
The one is a Man, the other is an imagination.
The first is a revelation from God, the second is an invention of man.
All men feel their need of a refuge of some kind or other, but all men are not equally safe in their place of refuge. It is of vital importance that we should know now the true from the false. It will be too late for the self-deceived to find out this distinction when their "refuge of lies" is being swept away. Here then are some of the features of the true, God-appointed refuge. The true refuge is the place of—
I. Conscious Safety. "A man shall be an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest." Those who have fled to the Man Christ Jesus, as a refuge for the soul, ate now being sheltered from the wind and tempest of sin and judgment The wind round about them may be as bitter and terrible as ever, but they are being saved from its power, and they know it. Their refuge saves them. Is your refuge saving you from being turned aside by the sudden blasts of sin and the pressing storms of iniquity. If your hiding place—that in which you trust—is not sheltering you day by day, then your refuge is a refuge of lies.
II. Friendship and Communion. "A man shall be an hiding place." This is the man who is God's fellow (Zech. 13:7). All those who have fled for refuge to the true hiding-place are in the fellowship and friendship of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are reconciled to God, and rejoicing in Him. They know assuredly that God is their refuge and strength. Does your hiding-place bring you into contact and communion with God? Does that in which you trust for salvation make Christ unspeakably precious to your soul? If your refuge is not in Him, it is a refuge of lies that the judgment of hail shall sweep away, and the waters of desolation overflow. God's only refuge for the sin-smitten souls of men is the Man who was smitten for sin. "Other refuge have I none." "I flee to Thee to hide me" (Ps 143:9).
III. Rest and Refreshing. "A man shall be.. as rivers of water in a dry place." Those who have found the true refuge of the soul know of it and enjoy it, for they now drink the living waters of satisfaction. In their place of hiding they find the source of abiding blessing. Their Rock of refuge has become a fountain of delight. Here everlasting springs abide, and never-withering flowers. They heard the Divine call, "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink; "they obeyed, and found in Him salvation from the wind and the tempest of sin and wrath, and waters of cleansing and refreshing. Does your hiding place bring cleansing for your soul, and yield refreshing streams for your thirsty heart. If you are not happier and holier through that in which you trust for salvation, your hiding place is, in the sight of God, only a "refuge of lies." If that so-called faith of yours is not saving you from your sins, and bringing refreshing and gladness into your life, then it is a delusion; it is not faith in Jesus Christ, for all that believe in Him are justified from all things. A dying infidel was exhorted by his companion to "Hold on." "I am quite willing to hold on," said the dying man, "if I knew what to hold on by." He had no Christ, and so had no hope, for all refuges of lies will be swept away.
Jesus, Lover of my soul,
I will to Thy bosom fly
Fernando Ortega - Jesus Lover of my Soul
Hiding-place. L. M.
1 AWAKE, sweet harp of Judah, wake!
Retune thy strings for Jesus’ sake;
We sing the Saviour of our race,
The Lamb, our shield and hiding-place.
2 When God’s right arm is bared for war,
And thunders clothe His cloudy car,
Where—where—oh where shall man retire
To escape the horror of His ire?
3 ’Tis He—the Lamb—to Him we fly,
While the dread tempest passes by:
God sees His well-beloved’s face,
And spares us in our hiding-place.
4 While yet we sojourn here below,
Pollutions still our hearts o’erflow:
Fallen, abject, mean—a sentenced race,
We deeply need a hiding-place.
5 Yet, courage—days and years will glide,
And we shall lay these clods aside;
Shall be baptized in Jordan’s flood,
And wash’d in Jesus’ cleansing blood.
Henry Kirke White, 18
DEFINITION OF
HEBREW VERB TO HIDE
Hide (05641) (סָתַר) (cathar/satar) is a verb which conveys the root meaning of to hide with the added thought of protection, shelter, concealing. To hide by covering, by keep close, by concealing, by keeping secret. The first use is in Ge 4:14 where Cain discovers that because of his sin, he will be "hidden" from the presence of God, which implies a separation. In Ge 31:49. Satar again has the sense of "separation where Laban prayed "The Lord watch between me and thee (Jacob), when we are absent one from another" (Ge 31:49). Cathar/satar may also describe the attempt to hide the sin of adultery from a spouse (Nu 5:13), or unintentional hidden faults (Ps 19:12 [13], or even the concealment of information (1Sa 20:2). To "hide oneself" is to take refuge (e.g., "Doth not David hide himself with us?" 1 Sa. 23:19, In Job 3:23 = Job laments his way is hidden from God. In Isa 40:27 Israel says "My way is hidden from the LORD.) To "hide" someone is to "shelter" him from his enemy (e.g., "The Lord hid them" Jer 36:26). To hide oneself or others for the sake of protection from life-threatening situations. For example, Moses hid his face in the presence of God (Ex 3:6); David hid himself from the wrath of King Saul (1Sa 20:5, 19, 24); the prophet Elijah hid himself from King Ahab (1Kgs 17:3); Joash was hidden from Athaliah (2Kgs 11:2 2Chr 22:11 [12]); and Baruch and Jeremiah are commanded by God to hide from King Jehoiakim (Jer 36:19, 26). To hide one's sin of adultery (Nu 5:13).
Cathar/satar is used in the sense of a noun to describe to secret things known only to God (Deut. 29:29).
Hide is used in reference to Messiah in Ps 22:24, Isa 50:6, Isa 53:3 (hide face from ~ looked the other way! Instead of looking to The Way!)
GOD HIDES
HIS FACE!
The idiom in which God hides His face symbolizes broken fellowship between God and man, a principle clearly brought out in the prophecies of Isaiah and Ezekiel -
Isa 59:2 "But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear."
Ezek 39:24 "According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I dealt with them, and I hid My face from them."'"
This picture of God hiding His face is found 24 times, usually because of Israel's breaking of her covenant with God. - Ge 4:14, Dt 31:17, 18, 20; Job 13:24, 34:29, Ps 10:11, 13:1, 27:9, Ps 30:7, Ps 44:24, 69:17, Ps 88:14, 102:2, 104:29, 143:7, Isa 8:17 Isa 54:8 Isa 59:2; 64:7; Jer 33:5, Ezek 39:23, 24, 29, Mic 3:4) It is notable that God hides His face from sinful men, His face is not hidden from their sin (Jer 16:17).
Cathar/satar has the sense of preventing someone to know or see something, to keep something from public notice or from certain persons. It has the sense of to guard and protect oneself from perceived danger (Pr 22:3); and of trying to escape God’s eyes, His presence (Jer. 16:17).
Meaning: 1) to hide, conceal 1a) (Niphal) 1a1) to hide oneself 1a2) to be hidden, be concealed 1b) (Piel) to hide carefully 1c) (Pual) to be hidden carefully, be concealed 1d) (Hiphil) to conceal, hide 1e) (Hithpael) to hide oneself carefully
TWOT - In the more frequently attested Hiphil, the basic idea of "hiding" comes forth. Perhaps its most significant use is in the idiom to "hide the face," symbolizing broken communion, such as between God and sinful Israel (Isa 59:2). The most tragic example of broken fellowship is man's rejection of Messiah (Isa 53:3, where the derivative master occurs). Conversely, not to hide the face beautifully pictures open and full communion (Job 13:20)....Experientially, God Himself will be a shelter for the believer, not only on that day of the Lord's wrath (Zeph 2:3), but from the storms of everyday living (Ps 17:8; Ps 27:5; Ps 31:20; Ps 64:2). To pray, "Hide thy face from my sins" (Ps. 51:9), is to ask God to ignore them. But when the prophet says, "And I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob..." (Isa. 8:17), he means that God's favor has been withdrawn. Similarly, Judah's sins have "hidden" God's face from her (Isa. 59:2).
Cathar/satar - 79x in the NAS - absent(1), conceal(3), concealed(4), cover(1), hid(11), hidden(16), hide(33), hides(4), hiding(3), placed(1), secret things(1), surely hide(1), undetected(1). Usage in KJV: - hide 72, secret 4, close 2, absent 1, conceal 1, surely 1, variant 1; 82
Ge 4:14; 31:49; Ex 3:6; Nu 5:13; Deut 7:20; 29:29; 31:17f; 32:20; 1 Sam 20:2, 5, 19, 24; 23:19; 26:1; 1Kgs 17:3; 2Kgs 11:2; 2Chr 22:11; Job 3:10, 23; 13:20, 24; 14:13; 28:21; 34:22, 29; Ps 10:11; 13:1; 17:8; 19:6, 12; 22:24; 27:5, 9; 30:7; 31:20; 38:9; Ps 44:24; 51:9; Ps 55:12; 64:2; 69:17; Ps 88:14; 89:46; 102:2; Ps 104:29; 119:19; 143:7; Pr 22:3; 25:2; 27:5, 12; 28:28; Isa 8:17; 16:3; 28:15; 29:14f; 40:27; 45:15; 49:2; 50:6; 54:8; 57:17; 59:2; 64:7; 65:16; Jer 16:17; 23:24; 33:5; 36:19, 26; Ezek 39:23f, 29; Hos 13:14; Amos 9:3; Mic 3:4; Zeph 2:3
Genesis 4:14 "Behold, You have driven me this day from the face of the ground; and from Your face I will be hidden, and I will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."
Comment: God's face hidden from man because of his sin is a repeated motif in the uses of cathar/satar.
Genesis 31:49 and Mizpah, for he said, "May the LORD watch between you and me when we are absent one from the other.
Comment: Here cathar/satar is used of Jacob and Laban (in context of covenant) being hidden from each other as when they are absent from each other’s presence (the covenant would still be in effect)..
Exodus 3:6 He said also, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Comment: Here cathar/satar is used in the sense of shielding and protecting Moses from danger.
Numbers 5:13 and a man has intercourse with her and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband and she is undetected, although she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act,
Comment: Cathar/satar means to do something secretly, so that it hidden from eyes of other men, in this context referring to adultery.
Deuteronomy 7:20 "Moreover, the LORD your God will send the hornet against them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you perish.
Deuteronomy 29:29 "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.
Deuteronomy 31:17 "Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide My face from them, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will come upon them; so that they will say in that day, 'Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have come upon us?' 18 "But I will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil which they will do, for they will turn to other gods.
Deuteronomy 32:20 "Then He said, 'I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end shall be; For they are a perverse generation, Sons in whom is no faithfulness.
1 Samuel 20:2 He said to him, "Far from it, you shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. So why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so!"
1 Samuel 20:5 So David said to Jonathan, "Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I ought to sit down to eat with the king. But let me go, that I may hide myself in the field until the third evening.
1 Samuel 20:19 "When you have stayed for three days, you shall go down quickly and come to the place where you hid yourself on that eventful day, and you shall remain by the stone Ezel.
1 Samuel 20:24 So David hid in the field; and when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food.
Comment: To hide oneself physically from danger and other persons (cf Elijah in 1Kgs. 17:3).
1 Samuel 23:19 Then Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, "Is David not hiding with us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon?
1 Samuel 26:1 Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, "Is not David hiding on the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?"
1 Kings 17:3 "Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.
2 Kings 11:2 But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him from among the king's sons who were being put to death, and placed him and his nurse in the bedroom. So they hid him from Athaliah, and he was not put to death.
2 Chronicles 22:11 But Jehoshabeath the king's daughter took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons who were being put to death, and placed him and his nurse in the bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah so that she would not put him to death.
Job 3:10 Because it did not shut the opening of my mother's womb, Or hide trouble from my eyes.
23 "Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, And whom God has hedged in?
Job 13:20 "Only two things do not do to me, Then I will not hide from Your face:
24 "Why do You hide Your face And consider me Your enemy?
Job 14:13 "Oh that You would hide me in Sheol, That You would conceal me until Your wrath returns to You, That You would set a limit for me and remember me!
Job 28:21 "Thus it is hidden from the eyes of all living And concealed from the birds of the sky.
Job 34:22 "There is no darkness or deep shadow Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
29 When He keeps quiet, who then can condemn? And when He hides His face, who then can behold Him, That is, in regard to both nation and man?--
Psalm 10:11 He says to himself, "God has forgotten; He has hidden His face; He will never see it."
Psalm 13:1 For the choir director. A Psalm of David. How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?
Psalm 17:8 Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me in the shadow of Your wings
In Thy cleft, O Rock of Ages, hide Thou me!
When the fitful tempest rages, hide Thou me!
Where no mortal arm can sever
From my heart Thy love forever,
Hide me, O Thou Rock of Ages, safe in Thee!
From the snare of sinful pleasure, hide Thou me!
Thou, my soul’s eternal Treasure, hide Thou me!
When the world its power is wielding,
And my heart is almost yielding,
Hide me, O Thou Rock of Ages, safe in Thee!
In the lonely night of sorrow, hide Thou me!
Till in glory dawns the morrow, hide Thou me!
When we’re nearing Jordan’s billow,
Let Thy bosom be my pillow;
Hide me, O Thou Rock of Ages, safe in Thee!
-Fanny Crosby
Psalm 19:6 Its rising is from one end of the heavens, And its circuit to the other end of them; And there is nothing hidden from its heat.
12 Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.
Psalm 22:24 For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from him; But when he cried to Him for help, He heard.
Psalm 27:5 For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock.
9 Do not hide Your face from me, Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not abandon me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation!
Psalm 30:7 O LORD, by Your favor You have made my mountain to stand strong; You hid Your face, I was dismayed.
Psalm 31:20 You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the conspiracies of man; You keep them secretly in a shelter from the strife of tongues.
Psalm 38:9 Lord, all my desire is before You; And my sighing is not hidden from You.
Psalm 44:24 Why do You hide Your face And forget our affliction and our oppression?
Psalm 51:9 Hide Your face from my sins And blot out all my iniquities.
Psalm 55:12 For it is not an enemy who reproaches me, Then I could bear it; Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me, Then I could hide myself from him.
Psalm 64:2 Hide me from the secret counsel of evildoers, From the tumult of those who do iniquity,
Psalm 69:17 And do not hide Your face from Your servant, For I am in distress; answer me quickly.
Psalm 88:14 O LORD, why do You reject my soul? Why do You hide Your face from me?
Psalm 89:46 How long, O LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath burn like fire?
Psalm 102:2 Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress; Incline Your ear to me; In the day when I call answer me quickly.
Psalm 104:29 You hide Your face, they are dismayed; You take away their spirit, they expire And return to their dust.
Psalm 119:19 I am a stranger in the earth; Do not hide Your commandments from me.
Psalm 143:7 Answer me quickly, O LORD, my spirit fails; Do not hide Your face from me, Or I will become like those who go down to the pit.
Proverbs 22:3 The prudent sees the evil and hides himself, But the naive go on, and are punished for it.
Proverbs 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.
Proverbs 27:5 Better is open rebuke Than love that is concealed.
Proverbs 27:12 A prudent man sees evil and hides himself, The naive proceed and pay the penalty.
Proverbs 28:28 When the wicked rise, men hide themselves; But when they perish, the righteous increase.
Isaiah 8:17 And I will wait for the LORD who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; I will even look eagerly for Him.
Isaiah 16:3 "Give us advice, make a decision; Cast your shadow like night at high noon; Hide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive.
Isaiah 28:15 Because you have said, "We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we have made a pact. The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by, For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception."
Isaiah 29:14 Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; And the wisdom of their wise men will perish, And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed."
15 Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the LORD, And whose deeds are done in a dark place, And they say, "Who sees us?" or "Who knows us?"
Isaiah 40:27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD, And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God "?
Isaiah 45:15 Truly, You are a God who hides Himself, O God of Israel, Savior!
Isaiah 49:2 He has made My mouth like a sharp sword, In the shadow of His hand He has concealed Me; And He has also made Me a select arrow, He has hidden Me in His quiver.
Isaiah 50:6 I gave My back to those who strike Me, And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting.
Isaiah 54:8 "In an outburst of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, But with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you," Says the LORD your Redeemer.
Isaiah 57:17 "Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry and struck him; I hid My face and was angry, And he went on turning away, in the way of his heart.
Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
Isaiah 64:7 There is no one who calls on Your name, Who arouses himself to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us And have delivered us into the power of our iniquities.
Isaiah 65:16 "Because he who is blessed in the earth Will be blessed by the God of truth; And he who swears in the earth Will swear by the God of truth; Because the former troubles are forgotten, And because they are hidden from My sight!
Jeremiah 16:17 "For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity concealed from My eyes.
Jeremiah 23:24 "Can a man hide himself in hiding places So I do not see him?" declares the LORD. "Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?" declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 33:5 'While they are coming to fight with the Chaldeans and to fill them with the corpses of men whom I have slain in My anger and in My wrath, and I have hidden My face from this city because of all their wickedness:
Jeremiah 36:19 Then the officials said to Baruch, "Go, hide yourself, you and Jeremiah, and do not let anyone know where you are."
26 And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king's son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the LORD hid them.
Ezekiel 39:23 "The nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile for their iniquity because they acted treacherously against Me, and I hid My face from them; so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and all of them fell by the sword.
24 "According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I dealt with them, and I hid My face from them."'"
29 "I will not hide My face from them any longer, for I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel," declares the Lord GOD.
Hosea 13:14 Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from death? O Death, where are your thorns? O Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion will be hidden from My sight.
Amos 9:3 "Though they hide on the summit of Carmel, I will search them out and take them from there; And though they conceal themselves from My sight on the floor of the sea, From there I will command the serpent and it will bite them.
Micah 3:4 Then they will cry out to the LORD, But He will not answer them. Instead, He will hide His face from them at that time Because they have practiced evil deeds.
Zephaniah 2:3 Seek the LORD, All you humble of the earth Who have carried out His ordinances; Seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden In the day of the LORD'S anger.