God's Secret Place,
My Refuge and My Fortress
Dr. Bob W. Smith
Dr. Bob Smith, after many years of pastoring, is traveling the country in full time evangelism from Arlington, Texas.
Psalm 91. “He that dwelleth 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 will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet....”
Up to this point the Psalmist is speaking the words for God and from God, but beginning in verse 14 God pushes the Psalmist aside, and what He’s about to say is so personal that God Himself is speaking. The Bible says, “...Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.” (Psalm 91:1-16)
I want to use verses one and two to speak on the subject, My Refuge and My Fortress. America became a nation at war on September 11, 2001. You’d hear it on all the news channels and read it in all the papers. It was a war unlike any America had ever fought before. The vicious attack on our nation by a bunch of perverted cowards hiding in the desert brought us back to the long forgotten reality of just how precious our freedom really is and what price we must be willing to pay to keep it. America was forever changed on that day and will never be the same. All of our lives will be permanently affected by the cowardly events of September 11, 2001.
As Christians in America, we saw our careless, carnal lifestyle and compromised religion finally catching up with us. We faced the reality that we have continued in religion, but left God out of our lives. It was a time, like today, for getting right with God. We don’t even have power in prayer if we’re not right with God, and oh how we need to be praying for this country. We need revival. We as individuals must come back to God and His Word and confess our sins. Our hope is in Him alone.
I challenge you to turn your heart and your life back to God, back to a life lived for Jesus Christ. There’s a need of revival in our land. The answer is not ecumenical programs, just getting together. They do a lot of talk about unity and love and God, but they leave out the essential, the only way to God, Jesus Christ.
We must come back to God and have revival. Dear friends, again today we need a revival of coming back to Jesus. You can’t approach God except through Jesus Christ. Your prayers can’t be answered except through Jesus Christ. There is no salvation except through God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
I want us to look at Psalm 91. It’s believed that Moses was the human author of this Psalm, and that it was written during the 40 years of their wilderness wandering in the desert. Jews have used this Psalm down through the years for their darkest hours. They would read it when they were going though the most terrible times of their lives, especially in times of war.
In the first two verses Moses used four different names for God. He said, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High...” That’s number one. “...shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” That’s number two. “... I will say of the Lord,...” That’s number three. “...He is my refuge and my fortress: my God;...” That’s number four. “...in him will I trust.” Notice these four names for God.
First of all, He’s called the most High. This pictures God as above all and over all and seeing all. He looks ahead. He sees around the corner and over the hill. He sees into tomorrow and next week and next month and next year. He see all things and knows all things. There is nothing secret or hidden to Him. He’s omniscient. He is the God who is omnipresent -- He’s everywhere all the time. Moses said, “He is my high God.” He is the most High who looks over the things of the world, who sees my wandering and my path. He knows what tomorrow holds for my life. He’s the most high God.
Then he says, “He is the Almighty.” That pictures God as the omnipotent One, the all powerful One, the One who can do all things, the One who has all power and all might resting in Him, Who by the power of His will and His Word spoke the worlds into being. This is my God. He is the most high God who sees the way, and leads me. He’s the Almighty who has all power to protect me and to work for my good and for His glory.
Then he calls Him, the Lord. That is the word for Jehovah, referring to God as the intimate God who personally loves His people. Moses is saying, “This is my God.” There is nothing going to happen that He doesn’t know about. He sees all. He’s over all. He leads me through the mine fields of my life. He knows where every tragedy is. He knows where the terrorists live. He knows where and when Satan is going to attack. He’s above all. He knows all. He leads me and guides me and He is the Almighty God who has power to fight for me and to move for me, to defend me, and to protect me.
He is the Lord. He loves me personally and intimately. He cares, not just about a world full of people, but He cares about me as an individual. My heartaches and fears are important to Him. My family is important to Him. My prayers are important to Him. He is Lord, Jehovah, the God who intimately loves me.
Then He says, “My God.” This pictures the great and mighty God as One who I have personally and gladly and willfully chosen to be my God, the object of all my love and all my worship. He is my God. It’s wonderful to talk about the most High, and the Almighty, and the Lord, but isn’t it wonderful to be able to say, “He’s my God.” Though He’s God over this entire world, He’s my God personally.
Let me tell you how He came to be my God. He chose me when I chose Him. When I chose to accept Christ as my Saviour the Bible says, “God has accepted us in the beloved.” We’re accepted in the beloved. Don’t think you can approach God apart from Jesus Christ. Our standing is in Christ alone. Our position in relationship with God is in Jesus Christ who loved us and gave Himself for us. That’s the reason Jesus said, “...I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” That’s the reason the Bible says, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) That’s the reason the Bible says, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” (I Timothy 2:5)
If you’re coming to God, you have to come through Jesus Christ. If you’re going to get your sins forgiven, miss hell and reach heaven, there is only one salvation and that’s Jesus Christ, the Saviour. If you’re going to have your prayers answered, there is one avenue through which your prayers can be heard by the ear of God and that’s through Jesus Christ who died for us on that old rugged cross.
The Psalmist said, “He that dwelleth 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 will I trust.” Now I want you to look with me at several precious truths.
First of all, there is a special place where God wants all His children to dwell. We belong to God by creation, but sin separated us from God. We have a world saying, “All of us are God’s children.” Yes, but our stinkin, rotten, wicked, selfish sin has separated us from God, and the only way sinners can be reconciled to a holy God is through the remission of sin provided for through Jesus Christ alone. Jesus took our sin upon Himself and died in our place that we might have life everlasting.
How dare man think he can approach God other than the way God has provided for sinners to come? To think that you can approach God on your own merit and your own works and your own goodness is to make mockery of Calvary and spit on the precious Lord Jesus dying on the cross. If you’re coming to God, you must come God’s way, which ends at the foot of the cross where Jesus hung, the guiltless dying for the guilty, the sinless One dying for the sinner.
There on that old rugged cross God looked down upon Jesus and took all our sin and put it on Christ, poured out His wrath and judgment on Christ that day, and Jesus paid our sin debt. He didn’t make a down payment -- Jesus paid it all. God in Heaven forsook Jesus that day on the cross, like He’ll forsake a sinner in Hell. He let Jesus pay the penalty and price of our sin and endured the wrath of God against our sin in order that a way might be made for sinners to be saved.
When Jesus died He said, “It is finished.” Then God says, “All who come unto Him, He’ll not cast one out.” He said, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13) How dare this world think that they can approach God apart from Jesus Christ?
God has a special place that He wants His children to dwell.
#1. IT’S A PLACE OF PERSONAL CHOICE. The Bible says, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High...” Somewhere in our life we’ve got to decide whether we’re going to live without God, or come God’s way through Jesus Christ. If you’re going to have that special place of the redeemed provided by God for sinners, then you’ve got to decide you’re coming to God through Jesus Christ.
God doesn’t have plan A, plan B, or plan C. Salvation is not a multiple choice answer. There is one way. It’s Jesus and without Him there is no other way. Have you come through Jesus Christ? “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High...” That secret place is the place for the saved, the redeemed, the blood bought. It’s the place where those who deserve nothing better than Hell have come by faith and accepted Christ as Saviour, and God has that special place for them to dwell in safety, where God is our refuge and our fortress. It’s a place of personal choice.
You can live like you want. You can ignore the preacher, ignore the Bible and live like Hell. You don’t have to trust Jesus, but you can’t claim the promises of the saved, either. If you want to, you can pay for your own sin, but it will take you forever in Hell to do it. If your sins are going to be forgiven, you’ve got to come to God through Jesus Christ. It is a personal choice. God does not walk out in the congregation and grab people by the nap of the neck and drag them down the aisle and say, “Confess Me as Saviour.” No, sir, you make a choice. You can choose to accept Him or reject Him, but you can’t enjoy the secret place of the most High without Jesus. You can’t be one of the saved without Jesus. You don’t have the privilege of prayer without Jesus.
When that little baby gets sick, who are you going to call on? You’d better call 911 because you’re not on praying grounds with God. The only prayer God will hear you pray and answer is the prayer of the sinner crying out for forgiveness through Jesus Christ. It’s a place of personal choice. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High...”
#2. IT’S A SECRET PLACE. You can’t find it on your own. You can’t figure it out by yourself. The natural man understandeth not the things of God. That’s the reason why there’s no place where the Bible tells a sinner to find Jesus Christ. It tells the church to go out and find the sinners and bring them in. That’s what soulwinning is all about. If you’re here today lost and someone’s been praying for you and witnessing to you and weeping over you, you ought to look at that person and realize that’s the best friend you’ll ever have. Somebody loves your soul and doesn’t want you to die and go to Hell. Someone wants you to be saved and know God and enjoy Heaven and have the blessings of God on your life. What a friend is He! You can’t find Jesus by yourself. Someone must lead you and show you how to be saved.
It’s a secret place. That’s why the world is wandering in darkness. We talk about their ignorance, but their ignorance many times is due to our laziness and disobedience. God told us to go out and win them. God said, “You’ve got the Gospel, the Good News. Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.” We sit on our seats of do-nothing and let our friends and neighbors and family and loved ones die and go to Hell.
God has a special place, a secret place. It’s a place of personal choice. It’s a place where someone who knows God must lead others to. If you’re here unsaved, you may not know how to be saved, but I have good news for you. You don’t have to know how. Just come and let us show you how you can be saved and have life everlasting. It’s a secret place.
#3. IT’S GOD’S PLACE. Salvation means you want to go to Heaven where God dwells. I’m amazed how people want to get there on their own terms. I can’t tell you over the last may years of preaching how many people have told me, “Leave me alone, Preacher. Me and God have an agreement. I’ve got my own plan and my own way.” You don’t have an agreement with God! The devil’s lied to you. God doesn’t make special ways for special people. He made one way to Heaven and that’s through Jesus. Whether you’re rich or poor, intellectual or illiterate, whether you have a doctor’s degree or didn’t finish grade school, it makes no difference whether you have charisma or you’re an introvert, all must come the same way. They must come to God through Jesus Christ or they can’t come at all. Yes, it’s a way of personal choice. It’s a secret place. It’s God’s place.
The Bible says in the book of the Revelation, “Nothing shall enter in that defileth.” If God would let you in without getting saved and your sins be forgiven, you’d pollute Heaven. You’d turn Heaven into what this earth is -- a place of sin and wickedness and evil. No, you must be born again. It’s that secret place and that’s God’s place where God dwells.
#4. IT’S A PROTECTED PLACE. “He that dwelleth 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:...” That special place God has for His people is a place of perfect peace and security. You shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Let me give you the picture that’s presented here. They’re in the wilderness wandering. The tabernacle is set up and the outer enclosure is put around it with the one opening facing east where the sun comes up in the morning. Dear friend, if you’re going to come to God, you’ve got to turn your back on the natural light of the world, and turn your face toward Jesus Christ.
There is only one opening to that outer enclosure. The hangings are white and scarlet and blue and purple. The Gospels of Jesus Christ are represented by the same four colors and present Jesus Christ. The Gospels are the good news of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection for our complete salvation. That white pictures Him as the sinless Son of God, like the Gospel of Luke. Purple represents Him as the King, like the Gospel of Matthew. Scarlet or red presents Him as the suffering Servant, and so does the Gospel of Mark. Blue presents Him as the eternal One, the Heavenly One, God incarnate in human flesh. That’s the Gospel of John.
If you’re going to approach God, you’ve got to come through Jesus Christ. When you step through the opening into the inside of that outer enclosure, the first thing you come to is a brass altar, a picture of Calvary. It’s there where the lambs are sacrificed and are consumed. Brass is symbolic of judgment. On that old rugged cross Jesus became our sin sacrifice, the Lamb that taketh away the sin of the world. He died in our place that we might live. If you’re going to come to God, you’ve got to come to God through Jesus Christ.
Next is the laver of cleansing, a picture of the Word of God. If you’re going to come to God, you have to come to Him through His Word. You’re not going to make a new way. You can’t change it and correct it as man does today. You just pollute it. You’ve got to believe it and accept it. You can’t approach God other than through the presented Word of God. Jesus is the living Word, who has given us the written Word.
Inside that enclosure is a little skin covered building called the tabernacle that has two compartments. Inside the first compartment is called the holy place. It has the candlesticks and the table of shewbread. Here before the veil is the golden altar of incense where prayers are made.
Then on the other side of that veil is the holy of holies. There in the holy of holies is the ark of the covenant. On the ark of the covenant is the mercy seat. On each side of the mercy seat is the cherubim overshadowing that mercy seat. The blood of the sacrifice was put on that mercy seat. Only the high priest could go in one time a year in behalf of the people. He was representing the people. He would take the blood of the sacrifice and put it on that mercy seat and God said, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” That blood covered the failure and the sin of the people. Above the mercy seat was the Shekinah glory cloud. It appeared inside the tabernacle and above the tabernacle on the outside. It the daytime it was a pillar of cloud. At night it was a pillar of fire. It represented where God dwelt. It represented His Person and His Presence.
Now Israel was camped all the way around the tabernacle. Dwelling right next to the tabernacle in his tent adjacent to the holy of holies where the ark of the covenant was and where the glory cloud was, was the tent where Moses dwelt. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” He’s saying, “If you want to have that protection, move your house close to God. Live under the glory cloud. Live under His protection. Live where He is.” Multitudes lived out there on the fringes. The greatest danger, the first to fall, the first to be attacked by the enemy were those living on the fringes. The closer you lived to where God dwelt, the greater the safety, the greater the shelter, the greater the peace, the greater the protection. Moses is saying, “That secret place of the most High is not out there on the fringes of the Christian life. It’s not out there where you’re half in and half out. It’s not out there where you’re playing with the world. It’s where you get so close that you’re under the cloud.” In the daytime when that old desert sun would shine, you’re dwelling under the shadow of the Almighty. At nighttime when it grew cold out in that desert, you were under the shadow of the pillar of fire and warmed by His presence. If ever there’s a time in human history that people need to dwell under the shadow of the Almighty, it’s today.
I want to move into that secret place. I choose to move to the inside of the camp. There is too much danger outside. The enemy is out there. There is terror and fear out there. I want to move into that protected place and live in that place of perfect peace and assurance and security.
What’s the greatest problem in the church today? I’ll tell you. Too many of the members sitting in the pews are living on the fringes, out there on the boundaries. You’re trying to keep one foot in the world and one foot in God’s camp. When the enemy comes, when the devil attacks, you’re going to be the first one to fall.
Do you know what revival is? Revival is saying, “I’m moving my living spot. I’m going to get close to God. I want to get under the shadow, under the shade of that glory cloud. I want to be warmed in the cold, dark, uncertain nights by the warmth of the pillar of fire, His presence. Come back to Him. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”
#5. IT’S A SPECIAL PLACE FOR A SPECIAL PEOPLE. Moses said, “I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.” You say, “What’s this special people?” It’s that person who’s taken a general invitation. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” That’s the general invitation. That’s the ‘Whosoever will may come.’ You’ve taken that general invitation and made it personal and said, “I’ll come. I will say of the Lord, He is my God.” I’m making a choice, a decision to come to where He’s at. He’s already come down here to where we were in order that we might come to where He’s at. He came to this earth to die as the last Adam that we might have opportunity to be saved and live forever with Him in Heaven. That secret place both here in this life and after this life is a special place for a special people. It’s a person that’s taken the general invitation and made it personally your choice.
Have you made it your choice? Can you look back to a time when you said, “I’m tired of this stuff about ‘God loves everybody.’ I’ve come to the place where I realize He loves me. I’m tired of this place where we talk about Jesus dying for the world. Today I realize He died for me. I’m tired of hearing others talk about how He saved them. Today I’m asking Him to save me. I’m tired of hearing others talk about the joy of His fellowship. Today I’m making a choice to move from the fringes to that secret place near to God, as close as I can get.” When you do, you too can say, “He is my refuge and my fortress. In Him will I trust.”
By the way, if you’re putting your trust and hope for eternal life in anything in full or in part other than Jesus Christ, He is not yours and you are not His. It’s Jesus plus nothing and minus nothing. It’s a special place. In verse one our Lord gives a general invitation. In verse two the Psalmist takes a general invitation and makes it personal. I say to you, take a general truth and make it personally yours by faith. It shows the highest degree of wisdom.
In times of danger where do you flee? A little bird on the ground, in times of danger flees to his hiding place in the trees. A fox in the field in times of danger will flee to safety in his den, his hole in the rocks. Where do you flee in times of danger? Do you run to man, or do you run to God? “He that dwelleth 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 will I trust.”
Yes, it’s a place of personal choice, a secret place. It’s God’s place. It’s a protected place. It’s a special place for special people. That secret place to us is in Jesus Christ and Him alone. We must come to Him by faith, believing that He is the Saviour. We must come to Him confessing that we are sinners. We must come to Him alone for forgiveness and cleansing. We must determine to live as close to God as possible if we’re going to enjoy the blessings of our Christian life down here. You can’t live on the fringes and enjoy the blessings and the warmth of His presence.
You’ve got to determine that you’re going to live by His Word and not by your ideas. We’ve got to learn to live according to His will. Our plans must yield to His will for us. We’ve got to decide that we’re going to live for His glory and His purpose and not our own. All may come, but only those who choose to come through Jesus Christ can live in the closeness of His presence and claim these precious promises.
The promises are deliverance. Look at verse number three. “Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.” Look at verses seven and eight. “A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.” He’s talking about our deliverance and protection. “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.”
He promises precious peace. Look at verse number five. “Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;” Peace, peace, when you come to Him through Jesus Christ, then you can claim this promise, so precious, so wonderful, that God said, “Moses, excuse Me. I don’t want you to have to speak this. I want to speak it Myself.” Thus saith the Lord. God here speaks in the first person. “...Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.”
Do you have that promise today? You can, but you must come to God through Jesus Christ. When you make that choice, God said, “Draw near to Me and I’ll draw near to you.” In times like these we need a Saviour, an anchor, a refuge, a fortress. We need a secret place that’s under the most High, dwelling in His shadow, in His presence, in His love, in His protection, with His peace.
I’m glad as a 15 year-old boy, I made that personal choice, and came to Jesus Christ. I trusted Him as my Saviour. Up until I got saved, there would be times I’d wake up in the night knowing that I was lost and if I died I’d go straight to Hell. I woke up crying. You say, “A 15 year-old boy?” If you believe Hell is real and you’re going there, you’d better believe it. I’d wake up and to keep Momma and Daddy from hearing I’d take the covers or the pillow and stick it in my mouth to hide the sobs.
On August 23rd, 1954, in a little, old Baptist church out in the country, outside of Myrtle Springs, Texas, at an old fashioned Baptist revival meeting the preacher told me how I could be saved. I heard him preach. I heard him make the appeal. That night I said, “I’m going to settle this matter.” When he gave the invitation I walked down that aisle and said, “I want to receive Jesus as my Saviour.” I made that personal choice and I moved that night into that secret place, that place of deliverance, that place of protection, that place of peace.
You know I’ve never had another dream about dying and going to Hell. I’ve never woke up another time weeping and afraid. I’ve had that sweet peace and assurance that God is my God, and Jesus is my Saviour. He is my protector, my refuge, my shield, my buckler, my fortress. When this life is over, He has a special place waiting for me in Heaven, out of this world.
Have you trusted Him? It’s one thing to be saved. It makes you His child, but that doesn’t answer the question. Are you living under the shadow of the Almighty? Have you decided you’re not going to just claim mere salvation, you’re going to live for Him and get as close to Him as you can. You’re going to claim all of the benefits that God has provided for you as His child. You don’t get those on the fringes. You get them when you move in as close to Him as you can. I want to walk and talk with Him. I want to have that sweet fellowship with Him. I want to be close.
We live in uncertain days. There are needs bigger than I can handle, problems bigger than I have the ability to solve. My family faces difficulties greater that I can cope with. I need One today, my God, that’s able to be above all and see the way, and lead me through the mine fields, and away from the snares and the pits that the devil has dug for me. I need a God who is Almighty and powerful. He’s not only able to see the way. He’s able to lead me in the way and protect me from the attacks of the devil. I need One that’s not just a God, but One who loves me and cares about me. That’s the kind of God I have because one day I said, “I’m making You my God” and I put my trust in Jesus Christ, and what a wonderful journey it’s been. I still want to get closer.
Are you dwelling in the secret place of the most high? Are you saved? Are you as close to God as you can get, enjoying His warmth and light and protection in the cold and darkness, and sheltered from the burning heat of the day? It’s a general promise that you can claim and make personally yours. You can claim it today and move into God’s secret place.
Up to this point the Psalmist is speaking the words for God and from God, but beginning in verse 14 God pushes the Psalmist aside, and what He’s about to say is so personal that God Himself is speaking. The Bible says, “...Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.” (Psalm 91:1-16)
I want to use verses one and two to speak on the subject, My Refuge and My Fortress. America became a nation at war on September 11, 2001. You’d hear it on all the news channels and read it in all the papers. It was a war unlike any America had ever fought before. The vicious attack on our nation by a bunch of perverted cowards hiding in the desert brought us back to the long forgotten reality of just how precious our freedom really is and what price we must be willing to pay to keep it. America was forever changed on that day and will never be the same. All of our lives will be permanently affected by the cowardly events of September 11, 2001.
As Christians in America, we saw our careless, carnal lifestyle and compromised religion finally catching up with us. We faced the reality that we have continued in religion, but left God out of our lives. It was a time, like today, for getting right with God. We don’t even have power in prayer if we’re not right with God, and oh how we need to be praying for this country. We need revival. We as individuals must come back to God and His Word and confess our sins. Our hope is in Him alone.
I challenge you to turn your heart and your life back to God, back to a life lived for Jesus Christ. There’s a need of revival in our land. The answer is not ecumenical programs, just getting together. They do a lot of talk about unity and love and God, but they leave out the essential, the only way to God, Jesus Christ.
We must come back to God and have revival. Dear friends, again today we need a revival of coming back to Jesus. You can’t approach God except through Jesus Christ. Your prayers can’t be answered except through Jesus Christ. There is no salvation except through God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
I want us to look at Psalm 91. It’s believed that Moses was the human author of this Psalm, and that it was written during the 40 years of their wilderness wandering in the desert. Jews have used this Psalm down through the years for their darkest hours. They would read it when they were going though the most terrible times of their lives, especially in times of war.
In the first two verses Moses used four different names for God. He said, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High...” That’s number one. “...shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” That’s number two. “... I will say of the Lord,...” That’s number three. “...He is my refuge and my fortress: my God;...” That’s number four. “...in him will I trust.” Notice these four names for God.
First of all, He’s called the most High. This pictures God as above all and over all and seeing all. He looks ahead. He sees around the corner and over the hill. He sees into tomorrow and next week and next month and next year. He see all things and knows all things. There is nothing secret or hidden to Him. He’s omniscient. He is the God who is omnipresent -- He’s everywhere all the time. Moses said, “He is my high God.” He is the most High who looks over the things of the world, who sees my wandering and my path. He knows what tomorrow holds for my life. He’s the most high God.
Then he says, “He is the Almighty.” That pictures God as the omnipotent One, the all powerful One, the One who can do all things, the One who has all power and all might resting in Him, Who by the power of His will and His Word spoke the worlds into being. This is my God. He is the most high God who sees the way, and leads me. He’s the Almighty who has all power to protect me and to work for my good and for His glory.
Then he calls Him, the Lord. That is the word for Jehovah, referring to God as the intimate God who personally loves His people. Moses is saying, “This is my God.” There is nothing going to happen that He doesn’t know about. He sees all. He’s over all. He leads me through the mine fields of my life. He knows where every tragedy is. He knows where the terrorists live. He knows where and when Satan is going to attack. He’s above all. He knows all. He leads me and guides me and He is the Almighty God who has power to fight for me and to move for me, to defend me, and to protect me.
He is the Lord. He loves me personally and intimately. He cares, not just about a world full of people, but He cares about me as an individual. My heartaches and fears are important to Him. My family is important to Him. My prayers are important to Him. He is Lord, Jehovah, the God who intimately loves me.
Then He says, “My God.” This pictures the great and mighty God as One who I have personally and gladly and willfully chosen to be my God, the object of all my love and all my worship. He is my God. It’s wonderful to talk about the most High, and the Almighty, and the Lord, but isn’t it wonderful to be able to say, “He’s my God.” Though He’s God over this entire world, He’s my God personally.
Let me tell you how He came to be my God. He chose me when I chose Him. When I chose to accept Christ as my Saviour the Bible says, “God has accepted us in the beloved.” We’re accepted in the beloved. Don’t think you can approach God apart from Jesus Christ. Our standing is in Christ alone. Our position in relationship with God is in Jesus Christ who loved us and gave Himself for us. That’s the reason Jesus said, “...I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” That’s the reason the Bible says, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) That’s the reason the Bible says, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” (I Timothy 2:5)
If you’re coming to God, you have to come through Jesus Christ. If you’re going to get your sins forgiven, miss hell and reach heaven, there is only one salvation and that’s Jesus Christ, the Saviour. If you’re going to have your prayers answered, there is one avenue through which your prayers can be heard by the ear of God and that’s through Jesus Christ who died for us on that old rugged cross.
The Psalmist said, “He that dwelleth 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 will I trust.” Now I want you to look with me at several precious truths.
First of all, there is a special place where God wants all His children to dwell. We belong to God by creation, but sin separated us from God. We have a world saying, “All of us are God’s children.” Yes, but our stinkin, rotten, wicked, selfish sin has separated us from God, and the only way sinners can be reconciled to a holy God is through the remission of sin provided for through Jesus Christ alone. Jesus took our sin upon Himself and died in our place that we might have life everlasting.
How dare man think he can approach God other than the way God has provided for sinners to come? To think that you can approach God on your own merit and your own works and your own goodness is to make mockery of Calvary and spit on the precious Lord Jesus dying on the cross. If you’re coming to God, you must come God’s way, which ends at the foot of the cross where Jesus hung, the guiltless dying for the guilty, the sinless One dying for the sinner.
There on that old rugged cross God looked down upon Jesus and took all our sin and put it on Christ, poured out His wrath and judgment on Christ that day, and Jesus paid our sin debt. He didn’t make a down payment -- Jesus paid it all. God in Heaven forsook Jesus that day on the cross, like He’ll forsake a sinner in Hell. He let Jesus pay the penalty and price of our sin and endured the wrath of God against our sin in order that a way might be made for sinners to be saved.
When Jesus died He said, “It is finished.” Then God says, “All who come unto Him, He’ll not cast one out.” He said, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13) How dare this world think that they can approach God apart from Jesus Christ?
God has a special place that He wants His children to dwell.
#1. IT’S A PLACE OF PERSONAL CHOICE. The Bible says, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High...” Somewhere in our life we’ve got to decide whether we’re going to live without God, or come God’s way through Jesus Christ. If you’re going to have that special place of the redeemed provided by God for sinners, then you’ve got to decide you’re coming to God through Jesus Christ.
God doesn’t have plan A, plan B, or plan C. Salvation is not a multiple choice answer. There is one way. It’s Jesus and without Him there is no other way. Have you come through Jesus Christ? “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High...” That secret place is the place for the saved, the redeemed, the blood bought. It’s the place where those who deserve nothing better than Hell have come by faith and accepted Christ as Saviour, and God has that special place for them to dwell in safety, where God is our refuge and our fortress. It’s a place of personal choice.
You can live like you want. You can ignore the preacher, ignore the Bible and live like Hell. You don’t have to trust Jesus, but you can’t claim the promises of the saved, either. If you want to, you can pay for your own sin, but it will take you forever in Hell to do it. If your sins are going to be forgiven, you’ve got to come to God through Jesus Christ. It is a personal choice. God does not walk out in the congregation and grab people by the nap of the neck and drag them down the aisle and say, “Confess Me as Saviour.” No, sir, you make a choice. You can choose to accept Him or reject Him, but you can’t enjoy the secret place of the most High without Jesus. You can’t be one of the saved without Jesus. You don’t have the privilege of prayer without Jesus.
When that little baby gets sick, who are you going to call on? You’d better call 911 because you’re not on praying grounds with God. The only prayer God will hear you pray and answer is the prayer of the sinner crying out for forgiveness through Jesus Christ. It’s a place of personal choice. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High...”
#2. IT’S A SECRET PLACE. You can’t find it on your own. You can’t figure it out by yourself. The natural man understandeth not the things of God. That’s the reason why there’s no place where the Bible tells a sinner to find Jesus Christ. It tells the church to go out and find the sinners and bring them in. That’s what soulwinning is all about. If you’re here today lost and someone’s been praying for you and witnessing to you and weeping over you, you ought to look at that person and realize that’s the best friend you’ll ever have. Somebody loves your soul and doesn’t want you to die and go to Hell. Someone wants you to be saved and know God and enjoy Heaven and have the blessings of God on your life. What a friend is He! You can’t find Jesus by yourself. Someone must lead you and show you how to be saved.
It’s a secret place. That’s why the world is wandering in darkness. We talk about their ignorance, but their ignorance many times is due to our laziness and disobedience. God told us to go out and win them. God said, “You’ve got the Gospel, the Good News. Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.” We sit on our seats of do-nothing and let our friends and neighbors and family and loved ones die and go to Hell.
God has a special place, a secret place. It’s a place of personal choice. It’s a place where someone who knows God must lead others to. If you’re here unsaved, you may not know how to be saved, but I have good news for you. You don’t have to know how. Just come and let us show you how you can be saved and have life everlasting. It’s a secret place.
#3. IT’S GOD’S PLACE. Salvation means you want to go to Heaven where God dwells. I’m amazed how people want to get there on their own terms. I can’t tell you over the last may years of preaching how many people have told me, “Leave me alone, Preacher. Me and God have an agreement. I’ve got my own plan and my own way.” You don’t have an agreement with God! The devil’s lied to you. God doesn’t make special ways for special people. He made one way to Heaven and that’s through Jesus. Whether you’re rich or poor, intellectual or illiterate, whether you have a doctor’s degree or didn’t finish grade school, it makes no difference whether you have charisma or you’re an introvert, all must come the same way. They must come to God through Jesus Christ or they can’t come at all. Yes, it’s a way of personal choice. It’s a secret place. It’s God’s place.
The Bible says in the book of the Revelation, “Nothing shall enter in that defileth.” If God would let you in without getting saved and your sins be forgiven, you’d pollute Heaven. You’d turn Heaven into what this earth is -- a place of sin and wickedness and evil. No, you must be born again. It’s that secret place and that’s God’s place where God dwells.
#4. IT’S A PROTECTED PLACE. “He that dwelleth 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:...” That special place God has for His people is a place of perfect peace and security. You shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Let me give you the picture that’s presented here. They’re in the wilderness wandering. The tabernacle is set up and the outer enclosure is put around it with the one opening facing east where the sun comes up in the morning. Dear friend, if you’re going to come to God, you’ve got to turn your back on the natural light of the world, and turn your face toward Jesus Christ.
There is only one opening to that outer enclosure. The hangings are white and scarlet and blue and purple. The Gospels of Jesus Christ are represented by the same four colors and present Jesus Christ. The Gospels are the good news of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection for our complete salvation. That white pictures Him as the sinless Son of God, like the Gospel of Luke. Purple represents Him as the King, like the Gospel of Matthew. Scarlet or red presents Him as the suffering Servant, and so does the Gospel of Mark. Blue presents Him as the eternal One, the Heavenly One, God incarnate in human flesh. That’s the Gospel of John.
If you’re going to approach God, you’ve got to come through Jesus Christ. When you step through the opening into the inside of that outer enclosure, the first thing you come to is a brass altar, a picture of Calvary. It’s there where the lambs are sacrificed and are consumed. Brass is symbolic of judgment. On that old rugged cross Jesus became our sin sacrifice, the Lamb that taketh away the sin of the world. He died in our place that we might live. If you’re going to come to God, you’ve got to come to God through Jesus Christ.
Next is the laver of cleansing, a picture of the Word of God. If you’re going to come to God, you have to come to Him through His Word. You’re not going to make a new way. You can’t change it and correct it as man does today. You just pollute it. You’ve got to believe it and accept it. You can’t approach God other than through the presented Word of God. Jesus is the living Word, who has given us the written Word.
Inside that enclosure is a little skin covered building called the tabernacle that has two compartments. Inside the first compartment is called the holy place. It has the candlesticks and the table of shewbread. Here before the veil is the golden altar of incense where prayers are made.
Then on the other side of that veil is the holy of holies. There in the holy of holies is the ark of the covenant. On the ark of the covenant is the mercy seat. On each side of the mercy seat is the cherubim overshadowing that mercy seat. The blood of the sacrifice was put on that mercy seat. Only the high priest could go in one time a year in behalf of the people. He was representing the people. He would take the blood of the sacrifice and put it on that mercy seat and God said, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” That blood covered the failure and the sin of the people. Above the mercy seat was the Shekinah glory cloud. It appeared inside the tabernacle and above the tabernacle on the outside. It the daytime it was a pillar of cloud. At night it was a pillar of fire. It represented where God dwelt. It represented His Person and His Presence.
Now Israel was camped all the way around the tabernacle. Dwelling right next to the tabernacle in his tent adjacent to the holy of holies where the ark of the covenant was and where the glory cloud was, was the tent where Moses dwelt. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” He’s saying, “If you want to have that protection, move your house close to God. Live under the glory cloud. Live under His protection. Live where He is.” Multitudes lived out there on the fringes. The greatest danger, the first to fall, the first to be attacked by the enemy were those living on the fringes. The closer you lived to where God dwelt, the greater the safety, the greater the shelter, the greater the peace, the greater the protection. Moses is saying, “That secret place of the most High is not out there on the fringes of the Christian life. It’s not out there where you’re half in and half out. It’s not out there where you’re playing with the world. It’s where you get so close that you’re under the cloud.” In the daytime when that old desert sun would shine, you’re dwelling under the shadow of the Almighty. At nighttime when it grew cold out in that desert, you were under the shadow of the pillar of fire and warmed by His presence. If ever there’s a time in human history that people need to dwell under the shadow of the Almighty, it’s today.
I want to move into that secret place. I choose to move to the inside of the camp. There is too much danger outside. The enemy is out there. There is terror and fear out there. I want to move into that protected place and live in that place of perfect peace and assurance and security.
What’s the greatest problem in the church today? I’ll tell you. Too many of the members sitting in the pews are living on the fringes, out there on the boundaries. You’re trying to keep one foot in the world and one foot in God’s camp. When the enemy comes, when the devil attacks, you’re going to be the first one to fall.
Do you know what revival is? Revival is saying, “I’m moving my living spot. I’m going to get close to God. I want to get under the shadow, under the shade of that glory cloud. I want to be warmed in the cold, dark, uncertain nights by the warmth of the pillar of fire, His presence. Come back to Him. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”
#5. IT’S A SPECIAL PLACE FOR A SPECIAL PEOPLE. Moses said, “I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.” You say, “What’s this special people?” It’s that person who’s taken a general invitation. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” That’s the general invitation. That’s the ‘Whosoever will may come.’ You’ve taken that general invitation and made it personal and said, “I’ll come. I will say of the Lord, He is my God.” I’m making a choice, a decision to come to where He’s at. He’s already come down here to where we were in order that we might come to where He’s at. He came to this earth to die as the last Adam that we might have opportunity to be saved and live forever with Him in Heaven. That secret place both here in this life and after this life is a special place for a special people. It’s a person that’s taken the general invitation and made it personally your choice.
Have you made it your choice? Can you look back to a time when you said, “I’m tired of this stuff about ‘God loves everybody.’ I’ve come to the place where I realize He loves me. I’m tired of this place where we talk about Jesus dying for the world. Today I realize He died for me. I’m tired of hearing others talk about how He saved them. Today I’m asking Him to save me. I’m tired of hearing others talk about the joy of His fellowship. Today I’m making a choice to move from the fringes to that secret place near to God, as close as I can get.” When you do, you too can say, “He is my refuge and my fortress. In Him will I trust.”
By the way, if you’re putting your trust and hope for eternal life in anything in full or in part other than Jesus Christ, He is not yours and you are not His. It’s Jesus plus nothing and minus nothing. It’s a special place. In verse one our Lord gives a general invitation. In verse two the Psalmist takes a general invitation and makes it personal. I say to you, take a general truth and make it personally yours by faith. It shows the highest degree of wisdom.
In times of danger where do you flee? A little bird on the ground, in times of danger flees to his hiding place in the trees. A fox in the field in times of danger will flee to safety in his den, his hole in the rocks. Where do you flee in times of danger? Do you run to man, or do you run to God? “He that dwelleth 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 will I trust.”
Yes, it’s a place of personal choice, a secret place. It’s God’s place. It’s a protected place. It’s a special place for special people. That secret place to us is in Jesus Christ and Him alone. We must come to Him by faith, believing that He is the Saviour. We must come to Him confessing that we are sinners. We must come to Him alone for forgiveness and cleansing. We must determine to live as close to God as possible if we’re going to enjoy the blessings of our Christian life down here. You can’t live on the fringes and enjoy the blessings and the warmth of His presence.
You’ve got to determine that you’re going to live by His Word and not by your ideas. We’ve got to learn to live according to His will. Our plans must yield to His will for us. We’ve got to decide that we’re going to live for His glory and His purpose and not our own. All may come, but only those who choose to come through Jesus Christ can live in the closeness of His presence and claim these precious promises.
The promises are deliverance. Look at verse number three. “Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.” Look at verses seven and eight. “A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.” He’s talking about our deliverance and protection. “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.”
He promises precious peace. Look at verse number five. “Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;” Peace, peace, when you come to Him through Jesus Christ, then you can claim this promise, so precious, so wonderful, that God said, “Moses, excuse Me. I don’t want you to have to speak this. I want to speak it Myself.” Thus saith the Lord. God here speaks in the first person. “...Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.”
Do you have that promise today? You can, but you must come to God through Jesus Christ. When you make that choice, God said, “Draw near to Me and I’ll draw near to you.” In times like these we need a Saviour, an anchor, a refuge, a fortress. We need a secret place that’s under the most High, dwelling in His shadow, in His presence, in His love, in His protection, with His peace.
I’m glad as a 15 year-old boy, I made that personal choice, and came to Jesus Christ. I trusted Him as my Saviour. Up until I got saved, there would be times I’d wake up in the night knowing that I was lost and if I died I’d go straight to Hell. I woke up crying. You say, “A 15 year-old boy?” If you believe Hell is real and you’re going there, you’d better believe it. I’d wake up and to keep Momma and Daddy from hearing I’d take the covers or the pillow and stick it in my mouth to hide the sobs.
On August 23rd, 1954, in a little, old Baptist church out in the country, outside of Myrtle Springs, Texas, at an old fashioned Baptist revival meeting the preacher told me how I could be saved. I heard him preach. I heard him make the appeal. That night I said, “I’m going to settle this matter.” When he gave the invitation I walked down that aisle and said, “I want to receive Jesus as my Saviour.” I made that personal choice and I moved that night into that secret place, that place of deliverance, that place of protection, that place of peace.
You know I’ve never had another dream about dying and going to Hell. I’ve never woke up another time weeping and afraid. I’ve had that sweet peace and assurance that God is my God, and Jesus is my Saviour. He is my protector, my refuge, my shield, my buckler, my fortress. When this life is over, He has a special place waiting for me in Heaven, out of this world.
Have you trusted Him? It’s one thing to be saved. It makes you His child, but that doesn’t answer the question. Are you living under the shadow of the Almighty? Have you decided you’re not going to just claim mere salvation, you’re going to live for Him and get as close to Him as you can. You’re going to claim all of the benefits that God has provided for you as His child. You don’t get those on the fringes. You get them when you move in as close to Him as you can. I want to walk and talk with Him. I want to have that sweet fellowship with Him. I want to be close.
We live in uncertain days. There are needs bigger than I can handle, problems bigger than I have the ability to solve. My family faces difficulties greater that I can cope with. I need One today, my God, that’s able to be above all and see the way, and lead me through the mine fields, and away from the snares and the pits that the devil has dug for me. I need a God who is Almighty and powerful. He’s not only able to see the way. He’s able to lead me in the way and protect me from the attacks of the devil. I need One that’s not just a God, but One who loves me and cares about me. That’s the kind of God I have because one day I said, “I’m making You my God” and I put my trust in Jesus Christ, and what a wonderful journey it’s been. I still want to get closer.
Are you dwelling in the secret place of the most high? Are you saved? Are you as close to God as you can get, enjoying His warmth and light and protection in the cold and darkness, and sheltered from the burning heat of the day? It’s a general promise that you can claim and make personally yours. You can claim it today and move into God’s secret place.
