The Secret Place : Week 1 notes

Week 1: What is the Secret Place and where do I find it?
In this series we will discover What and where is the secret place? How do I get there? What happens when I actually abide there?

Matthew 6- Jesus outlines 3 things every believer should practice in their walk with Him and He lays them all out in Matthew 6 in The Sermon on the Mount: 1) Give 2)Pray (in the secret place) 3) Fast

In verse 6 He says to pray in "secret". NOT because He wants us to be Under Cover Christians, but because He wants us to be Courageous! We underestimate what spending time with God (The Word, Jesus, The HG) can do!
The secret place is an intimate place. Intimacy with God fixes everything! The Secret Place isn't a New Testament idea, it was and is a God idea from the very beginning. Think Adam and Eve, Isaiah...He WANTS to spend time with you. He created us for fellowship.
Psalm 91:1 promises that everyone who dwells in "the secret place of the Most High" abides under the shadow of the Almighty — but most believers may read that verse as a nice thought without ever locating the place, learning the road there, or understanding what waits for them once they arrive.

The secret place is never described in Scripture as a place you visit under pressure and then leave. The verb in 91:1 is dwells — ongoing residence, not a panic room.
What's a place you can think of that you felt truly safe — not just comfortable, but SAFE. A grandparent's house, a locked room, a specific chair, your home, with your spouse, etc.

God's secret place David is describing here is like that, but mucgh more.
I. The words themselves — Secret Hb sether / cether and Dwells Hb yashab

1. Secret- to hide, conceal, cover — even has the connotation to "disguise". God will hide you so the enemy can't recognize you.
2. Same root word as "hiding place" in Psalm 32:7, Psalm 119:114, and as "covert"/"shelter" in Isaiah 32:2
3. Dwells (Hebrew yashab) — to sit down, settle, remain. Not "visits," not "passes through." This is a residence, not a rest stop. -Not just running to God in an emergency only, although He is a very present help in the time of need.

*Side Note: I know when most people think of the book of Pslams, they think of David, but did you know some scholars believe Psalm 90 & 91 pre-date David and they believe it was written by Moses?- I know, wow! PK and the Cov. Women are meeting on Monday nights to discuss this very thing!

Psalm 90 begins with:
“Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.” —Psalm 90:1
And Psalm 91 says:
“Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place…” —Psalm 91:9

The Hebrew word translated “dwelling place” is closely related in both passages. Psalm 90 establishes God as the dwelling place; Psalm 91 develops what happens when a person actually dwells there.

And Psalm 90 ends with a prayer:
“Let Your work appear to Your servants…” —Psalm 90:16
Psalm 91 ends with God’s answer:
“I will show him My salvation.” —Psalm 91:16

That’s one reason scholars have noticed that Psalms 90–92 function together as a literary unit, even though we don’t know whether the same person wrote all three.
But if God is wanting us to be protected by Him, why do people get hurt? God is good, the devil is bad. The Secret Place doesn't keep bad things from happening to me. We live in a fallen world with an enemy that hates from conception!
The safest place isn't the absence of danger, it's the PRESENCE of God.

Look at what the psalm actually mentions:

• terror by night
• arrows by day
• pestilence
• destruction
• enemies
• lions
• serpents
• death

In other words, Psalm 91 doesn’t pretend danger doesn’t exist. It says that God is greater than the danger. Psalm 90 is heavily concerned with human mortality, God’s judgment, the brevity of life, and the frailty of man.

Then Psalm 91 essentially says:
Yes, life is fragile—but God is your refuge.
The person who dwells in God has a security that circumstances cannot ultimately destroy.
II. Where the Secret Place is now

1. The veil that sealed off the Holy of Holies tore top to bottom at the cross (Matthew 27:51) — the innermost chamber is no longer restricted to one priest, once a year. We have access to Jesus, to the presence of God.
2. Hebrews 4:16 — "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace." The secret place became an open invitation, not a guarded room anymore.
3. Colossians 3:3 — "Your life is hidden with Christ in God." For a believer, the secret place isn't a location you travel to; it's a location you're already positioned in through Christ. If you're IN CHRIST, youre there and may not realize it.

You're not trying to earn your way into a restricted room. You already have access! The secret is knowing how to enter the Secret Place.
ie: A house key vs. a hotel key card. A hotel card gets you in once, temporarily, and expires. A house key means you live there. Are you treating your relationship with God like a hotel stay (visiting when things get hard) or a residence (dwelling)? Do you "feel" close to God when things are going good?

Meditation Points:
- Where do you currently "run" when life gets hard — and is it a person, a distraction, or God?
- What would it look like this week to treat time with God as dwelling rather than a visit?
- Decide now, in this moment, to spend time in His presence with Him.