The Secret Place of the Most High

Psalm 91:1–2 (NKJV)
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”

Psalm 91 describes a place where every born-again believer longs to reside – the secret place of the Most High. Find it and the reward promised is that we can “abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” Jesus gave us a wonderful visual of what that would be like in Matthew 23:37. He was lamenting the fact that the people had ignored His Father’s promise of protection (that secret place): “Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.” What a picture for us to embrace; …as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. There is the story of a farmer who experienced a catastrophic fire. As he was sifting through the rubble he came upon the carcass of one of his hens. He reached to move it and was startled when underneath the remains of that hen were baby chicks alive and untouched by the fire that had killed their mother.

The secret place of the Most High offers believers such a place of protection. But, where is that secret place found and why are not more believers enjoying it? Is it only for those people who have great faith or only available to those whose love walk is perfect? While great faith and a developed love walk are both important to living a victorious Christian life, they represent the “fruit” of our relationship with the Lord. The secret place of the Most High is available to those whose “root” is established in the right place. Hebrews 4:11 tells us where that place is found. It says, (KJV 1900) “Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. The “rest” of God is the secret place of the Most High.

Exactly how do we enter that rest? Psalm 91:2 tells us: “I will say to the LORD, ‘My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!’” There is only one way to enter the rest of God and that is to have such confidence in His Love for us that we can declare, “God You are my refuge, my fortress – I place my trust in You.” A fortress is defined as a “permanent stronghold.” When we are fully persuaded that God’s Love provides us with a permanent stronghold in times of difficulty and we have no doubts that He will see us through whatever it is that we are facing, we are able to enter that place of “rest”. Our trying (to figure out what to do) turns to trusting (on the Holy Spirit to lead us one step at a time until we have come through the difficulty.) When we cease from our efforts and begin to rely on His efforts we have entered His rest.

Beware however; entering the rest of God is not for the faint-hearted! Hebrews 4:11 begins by stating, “Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest”. It is the only place in the Word that instructs us to work to get something from God. It will take resolve on our part to enter the rest. Distractions, discouragements and disappointments will come to obstruct the path to the secret place. What is required of us to enter God’s rest is to follow the directions found in Hebrews 3:1 and Hebrews 12:3. Those scriptures tell us to “consider” Jesus. When we take our eyes off ourselves and the situations we are facing and focus only on Jesus, the path to the secret place – the place of rest – always becomes crystal clear. When we remind ourselves that it’s all about Him – always has been and always will be – the only thing that remains is for us to do is to rest!

Psalm 91:1–2 (The Message)
Say this: “GOD, you’re my refuge.
I trust in you and I’m safe!”

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