DAY 12.
Today we look at another glorious promise that should fill our thoughts with awe and wonder Psalm 91 'he that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty' v 1.
The promise in this Psalm is a lovely follow on to our last study where we ended with the thought of our commitment to Christ as being the condition for applying it to our life.
Well today we look not at anxiety but at the closely related subject of one being pursued relentlessly.
The picture is of a game bird being pursued by the fowler or hunter of game birds using traps, nets or arrows to get their prey.
The birds know when the trappers are around and they take flight to hide in covert places that they are safe in.
A lovely picture of the saints in Christ they know where to go to when the troubles loom daily, to the 'secret place' to the Throne where sin cannot molest.
Quietly waiting on the Lord we find that the arrows and bullets that fly cannot harm us at the Throne of Grace.
In fact those arrows that can hurt like barbed comments or harm us like the vicious personal attacks about our life style have no power in them when we converse with the Lord.
There is a second picture seen in v 2 and that is the sheltering wings of a mother hen who when danger arises will gather her chicks under her wing.
I remember a true story of a mother hen sheltering her young under her wings during a barn fire on a farm.
To the amazement of the farmer though the mother hen died in the blaze when he put a spade underneath her dead body, four chicks ran out from under the chard remains.
Now either of these pictures can be seen as the graphic introduction of a terrific promise that the Christian can safely hide or shelter in their beloved Saviour.
When problems and pressures arise they need to run to their Lord Jesus who knows the reality of the attack and will counter it.
Often times not directly by taking the enemy out but rather by empowering the Christian with strength that only comes from Him.
Now this is why it is vital for us to know the 'secret place', that lovers tryst where we meet with our Lord alone, under the shadow of His wing.
The quiet hour at the beginning of our day where we meet to commune with the Lord before we go out to face the day.
It is the place where we recognise that our heavenly Father cares for us with His undying love, we leave the conscious presence of God longing for more time to be alone with Him.
The precious hour when He draws us closer to His side so that we can be ready for the task of the day and knowing that He is going to be with us, the silent listener to every conversation.
There is an intimacy of relationship here that reveals the total care and concern that He has for each of us personally.
He 'cares' that is He is mindful or thoughtful continually about our situation, He sees and knows the struggles and longs for us to draw from the divine supply of strength, courage and boldness.
He shelters us under His wing as the mother hen her brood, seeking to protect us from the power of the enemy that attacks us incessantly.
He 'cares' for His own so that when situations arise that would overwhelm them He leads us to a secret place that brings survival.
Many a bible character can say 'Amen' to that, David in the Cave of Adullam, Elijah on Carmel, Paul in the ship going to Rome.
Every child of God has such overwhelming experiences and look back to the sheltering Rock Christ Jesus.
There is a second thought here that shines through the promise and that is the counsel that we receive from the Living God during such events.
These experiences are not just allowed to happen but they have lessons in them for us to learn from them.
The thought of our faith being exercised so as to prove its reality is a positive way of looking at our situation, our Father is looking to see how we respond to them.
In the place of looking around for help we can look up to our Saviour who is only waiting to protect us but also able to show us reasons why we are in the state we are in due to lack of communion with Him.
There are occasions when we fight to the death usually our own, over issues that we should not be fighting over at all.
He brings the stubborn will into the open and we fall at His feet in repentance before we know the covering of His wings in the covert place.
There are times when we talk loosely with gossip or rumours and our tongue betrays us and the enemy revels in the consequences as scripture shows us.
Then we fall and in the mercy of God our Father we fall into His hands and not out of them as John 10 v 29 reminds us.
He looks down on us and in our repentance of sin we find His forgiveness and His counsel on how to become an overcomer instead of being overcome.
Now we can turn to a third aspect of 'sheltering under His wings' and this is the comfort that we gain from resting there.
There is a comfort for the weary who are tired after the latest onslaught and the come to rest under His wing, there He promises to give His beloved sleep.
There is comfort for the heavy laden, those bowed down under the weight they are carrying, then come and rest in His presence, share your burden with Him.
It is not that He does not understand your situation but it is that He is waiting for us to invite Him to share it with us..
There is comfort for the bereaved here unknown beforehand, the lifting of the loneliness by us drawing nearer to Him in the secret place.
So many souls have found immense comfort by spending more time alone with the Lord after the loss of a loved one than they did before.
There is comfort in the reading and study of Gods word, the terrific truths that we knew so little about until we found time to spend under the shadow of His wings.
The promises that we are looking at were there all the time but it takes regular visits to sit under the Shadow of the Almighty to bring them into reality in our heart and minds.
The promise of His car, counsel and comfort were there before we were born but they are as real now as when they were first given to us.
It is for us to unveil them and then to apply them by practically obeying the conditions given so as to enjoy there reality.
There is great joy in doing so because it brings us under the shadow of His wings continually, there are fresh surprises to be unveiled in the daily diligent study of Gods word.
So let us look at the conditions that are needed for us to apply this promise of God in Psalm 91 first we need dedication to the Lord.
We need to regularly look at our commitment to Christ to keep our witness bright and clear, the dedication is not a one of experience but a daily one.
We need to make sure the Armour of Ephesians 6 fits right and is worn all the time in our daily conflicts what ever they are.
Then secondly there is our determination to become the person that our heavenly Father would have us be and that involves holiness, righteousness and godliness.
We are to become people that are Christ like, it is good to look at other saints who have conquered but it is best to keep our eye on the Lord and seek to grow like Him.
Then there is our devotion to the Lord keeping those regular times alone with Him, we cannot over state the importance of such times, even our precious Saviour had need of such times.
He spent hours communing in the secret place with His Father and He sought to reveal the great need of this to His disciples who were slow to learn.
In the greatest hour of crisis they fall asleep and that is not confined to the early disciples it still is manifest today in the Church amongst the sleeping Christians who should be alert for the Lords Coming..
