Living in the Secret Place

Several days ago I was praying early in the morning and felt compelled to read Psalm 91 – one of my favorite psalms – but in the Amplified Bible. I had read this psalm many times, but always in the NIV translation. In the first verse of the psalm in the Amplified I read, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High . . . “. I thought, “What is the secret place?” The NIV translates the first verse as, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High. I told God, “I understand shelter, but what about the secret place?” (The KJV also translates the Hebrew as ‘secret place’).

As I read the psalm I saw that whatever the secret place is, it is critical to understanding most of the psalm because all that God promises in the psalm – protection, power, and blessing – is largely dependent upon us “dwelling in the secret place of the Most High”.

That got me thinking and praying about the secret place. I am not sure I fully understand what God is trying to tell me, but I think the ‘secret place’ is ‘home’ for the praying man and woman. What follows are my thoughts about the ‘secret place’ beginning with Psalm 91.

Psalm 91 is one of the great “If . . . Then” passages in Scripture. God tells us, “If you will do this, then I will do that.” This Psalm contains within it the blueprint for a life of victory and power. Not my power, but God’s power in me and flowing through me into the world.

In Psalm 91 God promises His presence, power, protection, deliverance, and salvation to the one who dwells with Him in His secret place; trusting, and loving Him; finding all of his value in God, and staying connected to Him day in and day out. It is the Old Testament version of Jesus’ command to His disciples — “deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me” (Mark 8: 38). But the psalmist (David) begins with dwelling in His secret place.

Psalm 91 (Amplified Bible Translation)

“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty, whose power no foe can withstand.

I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I confidently trust!

For then He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.

Then He will cover you with His pinions (the outer parts of a bird’s wing, including the flight feathers), and under His wings shall you trust and find refuge; His truth and His faithfulness are a shield and a buckler.

You shall not be afraid of the terror of the night, nor of the arrow – the evil plots and slanders of the wicked – that flies by day.

Nor of the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor of the destruction and sudden death that surprise and lay waste at noonday.

A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you.

Only a spectator shall you be – yourself inaccessible in the secret place of the Most High – as you witness the reward of the wicked.

Because you have made the Lord your refuge, and the Most High your dwelling place.

There (in the secret place) shall no evil befall you, nor any plague or calamity come near your tent.

For He will give His angels especial charge over you to accompany and defend and preserve you in all your ways of obedience and service!

They shall bear you up on their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone.

You shall tread upon the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent shall you trample underfoot.

Because he has set His love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he knows and understands My name – has a personal knowledge of My mercy, love, and kindness; trusts and relies on Me, knowing I will never forsake him, no, never.

He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.

With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation”.

(Text quoted from the Amplified Bible, 1954, The Lockman Foundation, published by Zondervan, 1987, quoted with permission).

Psalm 91 acknowledges that life is full of danger from men and the natural world around us; and danger we cannot see from supernatural demonic powers and principalities that want to steal, kill, destroy, and terrorize. But the Psalmist writes that we are not alone, nor are we vulnerable. The power, presence, and protection of the Lord, the Most High God is available for those who dwell with Him in His secret place, who make Him their dwelling and refuge, who confidently trust Him, and who “set their love upon Him”. Then He will protect them from:

• The terror of the night

• Evil plots and slanders of the wicked – pictured as arrows shot during the day

• Pestilence that stalks during the night

• Sudden death in the day.

The Psalmist goes on to say:

No evil shall come near you! You will be a spectator – safe from the evil that befalls the wicked.

For those who dwell in the secret place with God and who confidently trust Him, He assigns ministering and protecting angels to accompany, defend, and preserve them in all of the ways they obey and serve Him. Angels will lift them up and prevent them from stumbling.

He will give power to those who dwell with Him in the secret place – power over forces of darkness personified by dangerous and deadly beasts like the lion and the serpent. They will trample them under their feet describing victory over these dark and terrifying powers.

These are iron-clad covenant promises God makes to the one who dwells with Him in the secret place. God will do all of these things for us because we love Him, because we understand His name and all that the name of God means and implies. We have a personal, intimate knowledge of God – we experience His love, mercy, and kindness as we dwell with Him in the secret place.

The Psalmist is describing a relationship with God in which we have completely surrendered our lives to Him. To me, it means coming before God and telling Him, “God, I give you all of me – past, present, and future. Take all of my sins, failures, shame, successes, victories, accomplishments, grief, pain, thoughts, feelings, fear, and emotions. All of me. Take control of everything, including my time.” I roll all of it up into a big ball and I hand it to Jesus. And He takes it. In return, I get from Him a new life – still me, but infused with the power, the love, the joy, and the presence of God Himself. I am calling out to God, “God, have mercy on me. Come and rule and reign in my life.” This is a Kingdom cry.

This giving up and handing over is a journey. It is a process. It is intertwined with repentance. And as I have written before. I don’t repent; I am repentant. It is a cliché, but the journey is almost as important as the destination. But still, my heart’s desire is to live with Jesus in the ‘secret place.’

Now I am in His hands. I can trust Him for every part of my life – especially during times of great fear and overwhelming difficulties. He will never abandon me. He is completely reliable. When I call on God in trouble, I know that He will be present, He will hear me, and He will deliver and honor me. I can be free of fear and anxiety, if . . .

All of these promises and predictions are for “he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High.” Everything begins with a relationship between us and Jesus in the secret place, which is a place opened to us through the cross and we choose to enter through prayer and worship.

So, what is this secret place and how do I get into the “secret place of the Most High.” The answer to the first part of the question can be found in the Hebrew word satar. Satar is a verb, meaning to hide. Sether is the noun form of satar, and it means a secret hiding place. Sether is the word used in Psalm 91 translated as secret place, and can also mean ‘secret things’.

Satar is made up of 3 Hebrew letters: Samek, Taw, and Resh.

Samek means a small, rounded vessel with a flat roof or cover. This rounded vessel refers to the heart of God, or perhaps a place in God’s heart specifically designed for you. When you enter this place, known only to you and God and therefore secret, God puts a cover over you and you are protected, deep in His heart.

Taw refers to the knowledge of God. It also represents restoration and guidance. In the secret place we enter into the knowledge and guidance of God for the specific situation or difficulty we are facing. As we lay down our agendas and receive His instruction, we can let go of anxiety, fear, and worry. We are restored in the secret place.

Resh, means the Holy Spirit. How do we enter the secret place? We are led into the secret place, where we receive the truth and knowledge of God, by the Holy Spirit.

In most of the cases where these words are used in the Old Testament they carry with them a sense of ‘secrecy’ as in a hiding place set apart from the world, known only to you and God; a place of protection, provision, and intimacy. A place of the knowledge of God, at least the shadow of knowledge; and a place of restoration.

What else does Scripture tell us about the secret place? A lot. For example:

“One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in His temple. For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret (sether) of His tabernacle shall He hide me; He shall set me up upon a rock” (Psalm 27: 4, 5 KJV).

In the day of trouble, the Lord will hide me in the “secret of His tabernacle” – the secret place – if my desire is to seek after the Lord, dwell in His house, and behold His beauty.

“Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear you, which you have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence of sons of men! You shall hide them in the secret place of your presence from the plots of man; you shall keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues” (Pslam 31: 19, 20 NKJV).

For those who fear God and are willing to trust Him, God will hide them in a secret place in His presence, protecting them from the plots of men and the strife of tongues. Here again we see the theme of protection preceded by our fear of and trust in Him.

“Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to You while You may be found; surely when the waters rise (when trouble comes), they shall not reach him. You are my hiding place (sether or secret place); You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance” (Psalm 32:6, 7 NIV).

“You are my hiding place (sether or secret place) and my shield; I hope in your word” (Psalm 119: 114 NIV).

“My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place (sether). When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body” (Psalm 139: 14, 15 NIV).

I was made in the secret place! It is the place of my spiritual origin, my spiritual home! It is a place where I am completely known and loved by God; a place where my true self is fully accepted.

In the New Testament Paul writes about being hidden with Christ.

“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3: 3 NIV).

The Greek word in this passage for ‘hidden’ is the verb krupto translated as, “to conceal by covering, to hide, and to keep secret” according to Strong’s. When we die to ourselves, when we surrender all of who we are to Jesus, our life is hidden in a secret place with Christ, in God. Perhaps I am reading this passage too literally, but I interpret it to mean that Christ is hidden with me (or perhaps hidden within me) and we are both ‘in God’ or in His heart. I believe that to be ‘in Christ’ is to be in the ‘secret place’.

Following this passage in Colossians where Paul tells us that we are living in the secret place with Christ in God, he plainly explains what our lives should look like as we live hidden with Christ in God. And Paul’s exhortation makes it clear that we have a part to play (Colossians 3: 5 – 17).

And what about Jesus? Luke writes:

“Yet the news about Him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed” (Luke 5: 15, 16 NIV).

“Lonely places” means wilderness – “a solitary, lonely, desolate, and uninhabited place where no one could find Him”. I would say, a secret place. In this case, it is a physical place. But, in this place Jesus could enter the secret place in His Father’s heart. That is why, I believe, Jesus did only what His father commanded Him to do. He heard from his Father in the supernatural secret place, which He accessed from the solitary, lonely place in the natural, and then He released what He heard from His Father into the world around Him.

“For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that His command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say” (John 12; 49, 50 NIV).

From Scripture we learn that there is such a thing as a ‘secret place’. It is the place in which each of us was formed, a spiritual nursery, where we are not hidden from God. In fact, in the secret place He knows us intimately – we are known, accepted, loved, even cherished. God rejoices when we enter the secret place. It is a place of rest and solitude, of restoration. In the secret placed we are protected from the slander of men, the arrows of adversity, trouble, and demonic powers. It is a place where we hear God’s voice. It is a place of encouragement, wisdom, and provision. It is a place of anointing. We come into the secret place with questions for God. We often leave with answers.

The secret place is not a physical place. It is a special place in God’s heart. Every human being has a secret place, because every human being was formed by God. Although it is not a physical place, we enter into the secret place from a physical place that is quiet, solitary, and without any distractions.

Often when I pray, study Scripture, or teach I am not doing these things from the ‘secret place’. The ‘secret place’ is a place to commune with God, to listen, and to receive restoration. I do these things because I have spent time with God in the ‘secret place’.

From reading passages like Psalm 91 I learn that God wants us to dwell, to abide, to live permanently in the secret place. But I also sense that most of us do not dwell in the secret place. We enter the secret place and then leave again. I am not sure that is a bad thing. We are called to be the ‘light of the world’. We are called to live in the world, releasing living water into the lives of the people around us, living in relationship with others, releasing the Kingdom of God into the kingdom of the world. We cannot hide out in the ‘secret place’. For me, the model is Jesus. I think He entered the secret place where He had intimate, uninterrupted communication with the Father. There Jesus was restored, filled, and received knowledge. After time in the secret place, Jesus stepped back into the world to release all that the Father had told Him.

But at the same time, God calls us to dwell with Him all the days of our lives (Psalm 23:6). As we live spiritually with God in the secret place, our special and unique home in His heart, we manifest the life of Christ into the world around us every day. It is not one or the other. It is both. A secret life, hidden with Christ in God, poured out into and over all we encounter.

The secret place is a place where each person was spiritually born. It is home in the truest sense! As I was thinking, praying, and asking God, “God, what is this secret place?”, I wrote this:

“The secret place is our original, ultimate, and true home. It is the place where I was created, where I am known, valued, and loved unconditionally. It is a place without shame and fear. It is safe; I am protected in the secret place. It is the place that every human being longs to find – we all yearn to return home. But most have lost their way or do not even know that such a place exists. Their lives are spent searching for that home in all the wrong places. They might have an inner sense of that place, but have no idea where that impression comes from, if it is real, or how to find it. The truth is that we find that place in Christ – hidden with Christ in God”.

There is a lot about the secret place that I don’t understand. But I understand this – I will never find, let alone enter the secret place, if I am living the lie, “You can find your value (your home?) in your self life, in your own power, and through the ways (idols) of the world”.

My previous post was ‘Two Cosmic Lies and the Price We Pay – Part 4, the Shorter Version’. The self-life I describe in that post, focused on our needs, wants, and desires, will never lead us into the secret place. We will always be wanderers, looking for something elusive, just beyond our reach. Perhaps that is the primary objective of the lies — to keep us out of the secret place.

This is also true of the ‘Christians’ for whom Jesus is just another part of their lives. Sure, an important part. But a part, not the whole. The secret place is only open to those who ‘fear God’, who say of Him, “He is my refuge and my fortress, My God in whom I trust”. We, who think of ourselves as Christians, must not trust in money, possessions, accomplishments, our family, power, self-esteem, medications, experience, personality, or anything else to be our refuge and fortress in this life. Our trust, our complete trust, must be in God alone for us to enter into and live with Him in the secret place.

Jesus requires total surrender of all of who we are to Him. He demands total submission. Do you want to enter the secret place? Then Jesus alone must rule and reign in your heart.

It is only in the secret place that we will be truly restored. It is only in the secret place, hidden from the attacks of men and the devil, that we will be truly protected. It is only in the secret place that our hearts can truly be healed and made whole. “With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation” (Psalm 91: 16). The Hebrew word for ‘salvation’, ‘yeshuah’, also means health. It is in the secret place, trusting God totally, that we will see the promises of Psalm 91 manifested in our lives.

How do believers enter the secret place? It is a journey, a process. But we begin by desiring to live with Jesus in the secret place. It must be our first desire, superseding all other wants and desires. We must enter a season of repentance in which we relinquish every other idol and source of value. We call upon God, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to accept the offering of ourselves – we give all of ourselves to God: all of our sin, shame, failures, mistakes, loves, hates, losses, victories; all of our frustrations, disappointments, trauma, grief, and pain; all of our plans, wants, needs, and expectations. We let go of everything we are – past, present, and future; and all that we have including our possessions, wealth, friends, and family. It all goes on the line for Him.

We ask for His humility and for the infilling of His Holy Spirit. If we haven’t been already, we ask Jesus to be born again and to fill us with the Holy Spirit.

And then, we ask for Jesus to carry us into the secret place where we can commune in intimacy with God. Here, in the secret place, we will find our true lives. Here we will hear from God, and here, in the secret place, we will find true peace, hope, and joy. We will be home. For some of us, it will be the culmination of a long journey. But worth it, because even in the hard times God is moving us closer to Him and to home.

Life in the secret place is not heaven. It is life now, in this world. The secret place empowers us to live life now; to do what Jesus did – to say only what the Father tells us to say, go only where He sends us, pray only for the ones He directs us to pray for, and to do only what He calls us to do. It is from our life in the secret place that our prayers of intercession have power. And it is not just for us – the entire Church is called to the secret place to release Kingdom power into the world. But like each person, the Church must repent of the lukewarm life that thrives in places of pleasure, leisure, wealth, safety, and material abundance. It is the persecuted Church who understands life in the secret place, because they have no other place to turn. For them, it is “hidden with Christ in God” or nothing.

When we dwell in the secret place of the Most High we are living in a connected and intimate relationship with our Father, the Ancient of Days; with the Son of God, Jesus, our Lord and Savior; and with the Comforter and Friend, the Holy Spirit. When we totally trust in the Triune God, and set our love upon Him – loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength – we have the right and privilege to claim the amazing promises made to us in Psalm 91. In Him we boldly and expectantly claim life, deliverance, and salvation – for every minute, every day, in any situation and every circumstance, now and for eternity. But these promises depend on our dwelling in the secret place of the Most High. They are promises for every person — but not every person will desire their secret place.

And as we live this way – loving, trusting, and depending upon our Heavenly Father – we become, as Isaiah writes, “Oaks of righteousness, a planting for the display of His glory.”

“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 (sether – a secret place) from the tempest, as rivers of waters in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. The eyes of those who see will not be dim, and the ears of those who hear will listen” (Isaiah 32: 2, 3 NKJV).

Jesus is that King – and in Him we will find a secret shelter from the storm. In Him we will find rivers of living water in a dry place, and we will be hidden as in the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. In the secret place our eyes will not dim and our ears will hear and we will listen to the song of grace as God sings over us.

At the final judgment, every man will either hide from God or be hidden in Him.

You are blessed in the secret place to be a blessing,

John

If you want, here is a prayer to unlock the door to your secret place:

Father, Ancient of Days, I repent of having my own way for too long. I no longer want to walk in the ways of the world. I want to come home. Father, show me how to give my whole life to you including my pain, trauma, and shame. Help me to unlock those parts of me that have been held prisoner for so many years. I want to live with you in the secret place. Lord, take my life and restore me with the life of your Son Jesus. I receive the Father’s love.

Jesus, I pray for your living water to flow into and through me. I am unable to release anything of value into the world apart from you. Today I give you all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Take me lower than I have ever been before. Give me a spirit of humility so that I can serve you with power and authority. Help me to die to self so that your life can flourish in me.

Holy Spirit, possess me! Draw me into the heart of the Father through the Son, Jesus. I want to know you. I want to go home. I am tired of wandering. Through your Spirit, I want to surrender all of who I am to You. Come, rule and reign in my heart. Draw me into the secret place where I can know the intimate love and acceptance of my Heavenly Father

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – take my life and use it for your glory. I surrender all to You. I am asking, I am seeking, and today I am knocking at the door to the secret place.

Let it be so