Sermon
Dwelling In The Secret Place
March 30, 2003
Pastor Donald Sheley

Last Lord's Day as we gathered here in the sanctuary we started our exposition of Psalm 91. I have the Scripture verses printed for us in our notes today. Last Sunday we read these verses: He that 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.

Now what grabbed our attention last Sunday was we learned that in the original Hebrew text that there were four great names used for God, and each of those names described characteristics of our God; His strength, His power, His knowledge, and so forth. We didn't get to that phrase that really has drawn our attention "the secret place", so we left the sanctuary last Lord's Day with that thought on our minds and hearts.

There is another passage of Scripture where a similar phrase is found and it's in Psalm 27 verses 1 through 6. "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. 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 place of His tabernacle shall He hide me: He shall set me up upon a rock. And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me; therefore will I offer in His tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea I will sing praises unto the Lord."

That phrase "he that dwelleth in the secret place" and the other phrase "the secret place of His tabernacle shall He hide me", I suggest that if to be in the secret place assures me that I am living in the presence of the Almighty, and in the secret place I may hide in times of trouble, then our spiritual quest should be to know that secret place and there take up our spiritual residence.

Now although the omnipresence, or God's presence being everywhere, was a part of the Hebrew religion, the specific presence of God was associated from early times with the mobile sanctuary that was placed in the center of the camp as the children of Israel made their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, and later with the permanently established temple in Jerusalem.

I'm suggesting that the children of Israel as they traveled from Egypt, the land of bondage, to the land of promise, they knew God's presence. Because over the sanctuary, that little tent placed -- three tribes pitched their tents to the north, three to the south, three to the east, and three to the west -- and right in the center was this little place of worship 75 feet by 150, and inside this little sanctuary they knew God dwelt there because over that sanctuary hung the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.

On with our notes. But the presence and the glory of God could not be confined to the temple, but it could be experienced there in a very particular way. 1 Kings says, "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heavens cannot contain Thee; how much less this house that I have builded." "Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord."

But for the children of Israel, the particular experience of God in the temple could be accentuated even more dramatically in the great festivals that punctuated Israel's religious calendar; in those festivals, in which the fundamentals of the faith were recalled and reaffirmed, the presence and the glory of God were perceived more intimately than on other occasions.

It was in the temple or the tabernacle that the ancient Israelite felt his nearness to God. Now he identified that temple, that sanctuary, with God, and when he went to that place he knew that he would experience God's presence.

I want you to turn in your Bible to another Old Testament passage; it's 2 Chronicles chapter 5 verses 6 and 7. What I'm suggesting here is the ancient Israelite understood God as he identified himself with the sanctuary. Solomon in 2 Chronicles 5 has completed building that beautiful temple, Solomon's temple. And now it's time to bring into that temple some of the sacred aspects, some of the sacred furniture. The ark of the covenant was one of the most sacred. It was wherein was placed Aaron's rod that budded, some manna, and the tablets of stone bearing the Ten Commandments. That's the box in which this was kept. It's called the ark.

And what Solomon has done now, he's going to bring that ark and put it in the most holy place where it belonged, in this place of worship. Look at verse 2: Now Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel, in Jerusalem, that they might bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD up from the City of David, which is Zion.

Verse 7: Then the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim.

Look at verse 11: And it came to pass when the priests came out of the Most Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without keeping to their divisions), and the Levites who were the singers, all those of Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, stood at the east end of the altar, clothed in white linen, having cymbals, stringed instruments and harps, and with them one hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets--indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying: "For He is good, For His mercy endures forever," that the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God. Then Solomon spoke: "The LORD said He would dwell in the dark cloud. I have surely built You an exalted house, And a place for You to dwell in forever." Then the king turned around and blessed the whole assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing. And he said: "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who has fulfilled with His hands what He spoke with His mouth to my father David, saying... And in the next number of verses we have that beautiful prayer, the dedicatorial prayer of the temple.

Now we come to the end of that prayer and we're at verse 40, 2 Chronicles 6:40: "Now, my God, I pray, let Your eyes be open and let Your ears be attentive to the prayer made in this place. Now therefore, Arise, O LORD God, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength. Let Your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, And let Your saints rejoice in goodness. O LORD God, do not turn away the face of Your Anointed; Remember the mercies of Your servant David."

When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. And the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD's house. When all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD on the temple, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped and praised the LORD, saying: "For He is good, For His mercy endures forever."

Those ancient Israelites knew that God demonstrated His power in the sanctuary. That must have been an awesome experience. The people went to the house of God and they couldn't even worship because the presence of God was so real all they could do was just sit there in silence.

You know, there's an Old Testament phrase where it says that God chose to place His name there, which indicates that at times in history God chooses to identify His glory in a set place; and that tabernacle, that temple, was one of them.

As your pastor I pray every week, O God in heaven, I ask You to choose to place Your name amongst us in our sanctuary; that Your presence would be so awesome and that Your glory would be so wonderful that we as worshipers would know that we're right in Your presence. O God, choose to place Your presence amongst us in dimensions we've never ever experienced before so we would know Your presence in a marvelous way.

You say, but pastor that happened centuries ago. Has it happened in history again? Yes it has. James Orr in his great book, as he describes some of the great spiritual revivals, said that in the early 1900s the people in the Hebrides Islands, which is west of England, were praying. A group would get together and they prayed in a barn. And they would pray, O God, somehow manifest Yourself to us in this island. Help us to turn from our sin and turn to You.

For 18 long months they met in that barn somewhere on that island, and it said God answered their prayer. There seemed to settle over that entire island an awesome sense of God's presence. They said that farmers would be out in the field plowing their fields, and God's presence would be so mighty they would get off of the tractor, whatever it was, get on their knees and they would cry out to God. They felt His nearness, and they felt His conviction.

They say that in that great revival as sailors were making their way in from the sea and coming in to harbor, they sensed something awesome. They sensed God. And right on the ships, on the deck of the ships, they were on their knees crying out to God. And the story, the history, tells us that God save so many that the entire island was almost completely Christian and they had to close the courts because they didn't have any more criminals to try. God's presence was so very real. It was known as the great awakening of the Hebrides Islands.

God is still God. Those ancient Hebrews they knew their God had manifested His presence in His house. And I pray, may that be the prayer of all of us. Those ancient Israelites understood God as He revealed Himself in the sanctuary.

Back to our notes in the middle of page 2. In our modern thought, we think of an awareness of God or God's qualities entirely apart from the tangible elements of worship. But for the ancients, including the Jews, religion was not like that. The tangible and the intangible were not separated for them but rather were joined.

What are you saying pastor? They identified the intangible, God's presence, with the tangible, the sanctuary.

They actually seemed to experience God in a very personal way in the temple. Thus their appetite for God was something to be satisfied almost physically. Their longing to go up to Jerusalem and appear before the presence of God was like a physical thirst.

Listen to David, "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, 0 God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday." David is talking about the joy of holyday, going to the house of God.

Some years ago I was ministering down in Nairobi in East Africa. Dr. Weston was my traveling companion. One Sunday morning, early in the morning, I heard this commotion in the street. So I awaken Dr. Weston and said, Dr. Weston, what's happening out in the street? He said, go take a look.

I pulled back the drapes and the streets were filled with thousands of people dressed in their finery. They were singing and shouting and dancing. I said, what are they doing? O pastor, this is holyday and they are on their way to the house is God. And I stood there by that window and thought, isn't this a beautiful sight. It must have been like it was is ancient times.

There was that tremendous throbbing desire to be in God's house, because there is where they would meet God. As you know today, a major percentage of the folks in Africa are Christians today. They had a tremendous spiritual awakening.

But lacking that encounter with Him, their souls are parched like a waterless countryside. "0 God, thou art my God; early will I seek Thee: my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is: To see Thy power and Thy glory, so as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary."

C. S. Lewis writes: "I am aware that we live in a different time, and are ourselves very different. We remember how Jesus said, "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth." But still, I believe we have probably swung too far to the other extreme and would do well to recover something of this robust Old Testament worship wherein our hearts thrilled with the thought of worshiping in the House of God." Amen?

Think with me. There is something to be experienced of God in church that is not quite so easy to experience any other place. Otherwise, why have churches? If it is only instruction we need, we can get that from a book or an audio tape. If it is only fellowship, we can get that from a home gathering. But there is something to be said for the sheer physical singing of the hymns, the sitting in the pews, the actual looking to the pulpit and being taught the eternal truths of God's Word, the taking of communion on our knees in the presence of our Maker and God, and the very atmosphere of the place set apart for the worship of Almighty God that is spiritually beneficial.

O that our hearts would thirst for, would long after, the House of God. I do not mean to deny that God can and should be worshiped elsewhere, but I am suggesting that the actual physical worship of God in the company of other believers can be almost sacramental. John Wesley writes, God knows nothing of solitary religion. We were meant to worship God together.

In the opening lines of this lesson, we quoted from Psalm 27. David was the author and this is what he said: "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."

But David wanted the impossible. He was a man after God's own heart, a warrior, and leader of men and a worshiper with a passion for God. But David was not a priest. Privileges such as being allowed access into the inner sanctuaries of the Tabernacle were reserved for men born of the tribe of Levi of the family of Aaron, and not to men born of the tribe of Judah of the family of Jesse. What David wanted was impossible, yet that is what he desired.

He wanted to be in the closest place nearest God, and to him, it was in the sanctuary. That was his secret place. Listen to him, "Hear my cry, 0 God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto Thee, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For Thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in Thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings."

Can you imagine David writing those words? He's king; he goes to the sanctuary, to the temple, he's like all the rest of them. He takes his sacrifice with him. He takes that sacrifice over to the priest, the priest places it on the altar, slays the animal, and David the king stands there. He's king, but he's not a priest. He can't leave that altar area and go to the laver and then into the sanctuary. He can't do that

I think what David did it is he must have lingered long by that altar as his sacrifice was there. God, God, I would really like to be in the sanctuary; that's so that I can behold Your beauty. I would really like to go behind that veil and be in Your presence. But he couldn't.

Old Testament worship: that sanctuary had a curtain, a veil, that allowed no man to enter where God dwelt. And David, even the king, walked away from the altar unable to go behind the veil. That's why he writes these words. This is one thing he said: I've desired all my life, I long to be in Your presence O God.

We now have somewhat of an understanding of what is meant when the term "the secret place" is used in the Old Testament. But how does this truth apply in the New Testament and how is it experienced in our life as Christians? What is that secret place for us as followers of Christ?

The verse in Psalm 91 that has inspired our spiritual search is: "He that DWELLETH in the secret place. I'm at the top of page 4. Another translation reads: "He that abideth in the secret place." It's an interesting word. It's a verb and means to dwell or to abide, to remain, or to stay, or to tarry, or endure, have one's abode, to take up residence. It also means to sit, to repose, to rest: dwell, abide. He that takes up his permanent abode; he that is at rest; he that reposes beneath the shadow of the Almighty. That's the man who's found the secret place.

Now I didn't put it in the notes, but there's something very interesting. When you go to the original Greek and you read John 1:14, it says, and the word became flesh; and the word 'dwelt' is there, but in the Greek--He tabernacled with us. It's interesting. And now you have the transference of that thought. The tabernacle of the Old Testament was symbolic of Jesus Christ in the New. And he uses the same word.

In the New Testament, Jesus identifies His disciples as those who "abide" or "dwell" in Him. Jesus said: "I am the true vine, My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit. He taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit. He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, no more can ye, except ye abide in me."

You'll notice I've underlined all the times that word 'abide' in Christ appears. John 6:56 says, these are the words of Jesus, "He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me."

Abiding in Christ then, or dwelling in Christ, this is the New Testament way of saying, He that dwelleth in the secret place. But, what does it mean to the abide? "To be in Christ" and "to abide in Christ" are two different things which must not be confounded. "To be in Christ" means that we have received Christ as our personal Savior and acknowledged that He is the Son of God, the sacrifice that paid the penalty for our sins, our Substitute. "Therefore, if any man be in Christ (in Christ), he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

As that tabernacle in the Old Testament demonstrated the glory of God, so Jesus demonstrates God's glory amongst us. And the Scripture says if we abide in Him, then He abides in us. That's the marvelous thing about conversion; that moment when we come to know Jesus Christ as our Lord and our Savior; that moment when He comes to take up His residence within us. Do you remember that moment? It just seemed like heaven poured in on our soul; the burden was lifted; we had found out of all the restlessness of wrestling with our guilt and our sin this peace now flooded our being. We had found that secret place.

What's the secret place? In Christ, in Christ. And, ladies and gentlemen, if Jesus Christ is not your personal Savior, then you'll never understand the secret place of peace and joy. You never will.

This week I had a businessman come into the church, and he said, Pastor, I don't talk to you much, but I want to ask you one thing. He is not a Christian. I want to ask you about the war. I said, well Sir, I don't know anything about it. I said, I know they're fighting one, but I don't know all the ramifications that bring us to this point of history. But Sir, I'll tell you one thing: I know the God of heaven is in charge. Oh, he said, you're such an extreme optimist. No, I said, I believe with all my heart the God of heaven is in charge.

When Jesus Christ comes to take up His abode, we become the temple of the Holy Spirit. He comes to live in us and abide in us. We don't have to go to a tabernacle. He is there dwelling within us. That's the secret place, in Christ.

Go with me to the bottom of page 6, and I just want to make a distinction here. "Abide in me, and I in you." Now the two things are quite distinct, though closely connected. Just as it is one thing to be 'in Christ', and another to 'abide in Christ'. I want you to get us. So there is a real difference between His being in us, and His abiding in us. The one is a matter of grace; He comes to us in grace and takes up residence within us. The other is a matter of our responsibility.

One is perpetual, the other may be interrupted by rebellion, disobedience and open sin. And here's what I'm suggesting. We can have His presence dwelling in us, but we can ignore that still small voice. We can allow sin and distraction to take us far from Him. He may be there, but He's far from our thoughts. We're not really abiding in Him.

And I'm suggesting that abiding, to enjoy that constant peace, that tranquility and that sense of His presence, is something we make choices about. We choose our devotional life. We choose how much time we're going to spend in God's word. We choose how closely want to draw to Him as our friend. He is there, but you can cut Him off. You can ignore Him, and He'll be there, but you're not abiding in Him because you're ignoring Him.

You say, Pastor, how do you work that out? Well, you make specific choices as to growing close to God--abiding in Him. You make determinations; this will not be any longer; I'm going to do away with this, or I'm going to change this because I want, as David, I want that thirst. I want that passion that reaches out and knowing that God is with me and that I'm with Him, and that I'm enjoying His presence. We make decisions to abide. He made the choice to come, but we make the choice to abide.

Let me illustrate. This week I went to visit my mother again. I tell you about this frequently. I could have driven along in the car listening to all the news getting frustrated like everybody else, but I can't do thing about that news. All I can do us pray. That's what I'm doing almost every hour of the day. God, bring this matter to close. I could have allowed the distractions and all the talk radio shows, it strings you out -- it takes you away from your focus. I said, I'm not going to do that. So I put my Bible audio on that had my hymns, and for hour after hour I just enjoy the His presence drawing near. I made a choice to draw close, to abide in Him.

And I believe that much of our peace is lost because we follow him afar off and we only run to Him with our tears and our troubles, but if we'll learn in our Christian experience to always seek to abide in Him; always making that the passion of our being. Jesus, I want You in the very center of my life.

I'll tell you what folks, if you live with that desire, you will live a life in peace and tranquility. You'll abide under the shadow of the Almighty. It's not saying that we're not going to become concerned with the things that are happening; we are, but they are not going to drive us to fear and fretting. We're going to have a peace amidst the storm because He's within us. That's the secret.

And my suggestion today, folks, is if you don't have Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you don't have a source, a real source, of peace. He is the only source. Let's pray.

Lord Jesus amidst all the turbulence that surrounds us we've learned today that our secret place is found in You. And that the peace that we will enjoy is a peace that comes by abiding in You, reaching out, longing after, striving for Your presence, desiring to be near You. I pray that You will make us a people that peace radiates from our being, because we do live in a world where there is much restlessness.

May that peace that passeth all understanding guard our hearts and lives through Jesus Christ. And I pray for those today who find great tension and great frustration trying to figure out life as it now is in our world with all of its problems. Lord Jesus, help us to turn our focus to You, and there to find Your presence and Your peace. Thank you for that promise. In Jesus' name, amen. God bless you folks.