In my last post, I wrote about the harm of deep, dark secrets. Secrets hold us captive, eat away at our mental well-being, and have the potential to destroy our relationships. But God has provided a way for us to confess, confide, and commune with Him so that, quite frankly, we don’t completely lose our minds. He describes it as the secret place where we find peace, rest, and reconciliation. In Psalm 91: 1-2 NKJV, King David wrote, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.’”
King David, boy oh boy, did he have secrets. The same man who is said to have penned these words about dwelling in the secret place and trusting in God was the same man whose secrets severed relationships and shed blood. You remember the story in 2 Samuel 11, don’t you? It started with his lust for Bathsheba, the wife of the honorable soldier in King David’s army, Uriah. King David was so overtaken by his desire for another man’s wife that God the Most High was far from his mind. Instead of going to the secret place to commune, confide, and confess how he was feeling to God, he decided to sleep with Bathsheba and keep his secret between himself and this woman. But then, Bathsheba got pregnant.
So David devised a plan to have Uriah return home during the war “to rest” and tried to encourage Uriah to sleep with Bathsheba so that everyone would think Uriah was the baby daddy. But that plan backfired because Uriah was such a stand-up guy. He couldn’t even imagine spending time with his wife while his fellow soldiers were fighting in the war! Now, you would think that Uriah’s nobility would shame David into confessing, but no. His actions and secrets grew even darker. David put Uriah, his trusted soldier, on the front line of battle so that he was killed in the war! Not only that, he had Joab, his military leader, conspire in this plan with him, and in order for Uriah to die, they had to lose the battle, so many of their men died. David still did not go to the secret place and confess; instead, he married Bathsheba, and she bore him a son. God was not pleased.
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It wasn’t until Nathan, a prophet of God, revealed that God knew what David had done and was displeased that David confessed his sin. Then Nathan said to David, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes, I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’” In addition to all of this, David would end up losing his child.
David finally went to the secret place of the Most High as he pleaded with God for the child to be saved. This is the tragedy that brought David to his knees and humbled him. And in the secret place, he sought reconciliation with the Most High. We get a glimpse of David’s intimacy with God in Psalm 51, where he confesses, confides, and communes with God. David says:
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
David’s secrets were no surprise to God. He knows and sees all, but what transpired during David’s confession was his recognition of who he was in comparison to God and his admission that God knew him even in the secret place of the womb. We see David’s overwhelming desire to be as close to God as possible on this side of heaven, sweet communion through the power of the Holy Spirit.
David’s communion with God inspired him to write Psalm 91 during a time when he needed protection, safety, and deliverance. He says, “He who dwells…” A dwelling is a place where you settle and reside. It is home. “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High…” This home is our covering, our shelter from the harm of the enemy. But also protection from the harm we do to ourselves. “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High abides…” We see the word “abide” in John 15 when Jesus tells the disciples to abide in Him. It means to stick together, to be in communion. “Under the shadow of the Almighty.” Can you imagine the shadow of El Shaddai, the Almighty God? This is where we can go to dwell, commune, and find rest.
He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge (Psalm 91:4).
Whatever secrets you hold, God’s grace will cover. Whatever trouble you have run to the secret place to confess, confide, and commune. The place where God is your covering. It is not a physical place but rather a reliance and dependency on God to be the Lord of your life, the Keeper of your soul, and the God of grace who covers your transgressions. You will never be disappointed when you run to the secret place because it is a place of love, acceptance, healing, forgiveness, and restoration. It is the shadow of the Almighty.
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