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CHUT CKVBCB, LONDON.
TEXT: “He that dewelleth in the secret place- o:
the Most High shall abide under the shadow o
the Almighty.”
OH
1
i i
iIERE is no part of the 91st Psalm that can
be properly considered without considering
the whole, and though we take the first
verse for our text, really the whole psalm
forces itself upon us. If I were preaching entirely
to children I could not select any section of Scrip
ture that would be more adaptable to their child
thinking and understanding than this one. From
beginning to end the psalmist is giving us his ex
perience in “the shadow of the Almighty.” It was
not enough for the psalmist to have thrones and
armies about him, he had tried all the experiences
in the ways of the world and he had found that
none of these sufficed in times of trouble. He had
also had experience in the ways of God, “abiding
in the shadow of the Almighty,” and he had found
that this was the one thing that he could rely
upon when all the rest of the experiences of his
life failed him. And so he gives us here a testi
mony of how he had found life “dwelling in the
secret place of the Most High.”
He gives us in this first verse the setting for his
experience. “He that dwelleth in the secret place
of the Most High shall abide under the shadow
of the Almighty.” You will observe in the first
part the condition he gives—“He that dwelleth in
the secret place of the Most High.”
Only the Obedient Can Claim God’s Guidance in Life.
The sheep that strays away from the shepherd
can expect only his own strength when danger
comes. The Father loves the prodigal at the swine
trough, but He feeds him at home. The children
are ever wanted in the Father’s presence. The
Christian that eats husks with the swine surrenders
the fatted calf with the Father. Esau lost his birth
right because he sought something else. David lost
his peace because he sought first his pleasure. To
say, “I will have my way and walk with God” is
equivalent to saying, “God will have His way and
we will walk alone.” It is not enough for us” to
stand on the promises” as we sometimes sing, we
must also comply with the promises. So the psal
mist, speaking of these rich promises conditions
every one of them upon “dwelling in the secret
place of the Most High.”
The Result That Comes From This “Dwelling.”
First of all there is here the promise of “abiding
under the shadow of the Almighty.*' Properly con
sidered this is one of the most far-reaching of all
the promises we find in Scripture. In order to see
its “far-reachingness” must consider the whole
psalm. Here we find first of all the promise of
refuge and fortification. “I will say of the Lord,
He is my refuge and my fortress.” “He is my
refuge.” I have seen a picture of a shepherd with
THE GOLDEN AGE FOR WEEK OF JUNE 11, 1914
THE SECRET PLACE
By REV. LEN G. BROUGHTON, D.D., of Christ Church, London.
Reported for The Golden Age by M. I. H. —Copyright Applied for.
a drawn sword in his hand, while a lamb crouches
at his feet and looks up into his face; and just
out in front of the shepherd is a wolf. The story
evidently, is that of a lamb being persued by a
wolf until he sees his shepherd guard and keeper,
the lamb falls restfully, confidently, and trustfully
at his feet, while the shepherd with his sword
drives back the wolf. And so, my friends, David
had come to that experience where to him God his
Father was his Guardian Shepherd, the one to whom
he could go when his soul was tried, when tempta
tion was hard after him; he-had found that God
was the Shepherd with the drawn sword where he
could find perfect rest and refuge.
“He Is My Fortress.”
You will see that there is also the promise here
of fortification. Ido not know if you know the
difference between a fort and a fortress. It is
very significant that it is not said here, “He is my
‘fort,’” but my ‘fortress.’ Some years ago in con
sidering this psalm I became puzzled to know what
the psalmist had in mind by the use of the word
‘fortress.’ I went to my dictionary to find the dif
ference between ‘fort’ and ‘fortress,’ and the differ
ence there defined was so slight as to be scarcely
worth noticing. And yet in talking with soldiers
and army people I noticed that they made a differ
ence and never spoke of a fort as a fortress, or of
a fortress as a fort. And so one day I went to an
cld Army General and said, “I am puzzled to know
the difference between a fort and a fortress. I
have gone to the dictionary and it seems no wiser
than .” I said, “First of all is there any difference?
He said, “Os course, a fort is a fort—” “Yes,” I said,
“a very good definition, like I expected!” “Hold
on a bit,” he said, “a fort is one fort, but a fortress
is two or more forts.” So I came back to the 91st
Psalm with an entirely new light upon its meaning,
and I read into it what I had not seen before. “He
is my fortres.s” God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit, a Trinity of forts so
placed at every angle as to protect me against the
approach of the enemy, and to defend me when the
enemy does make an approach.
To JPhom Is God a True Fortress?
He is a fortress to the man who “dwelleth in the
secret place of the Most High.” 1 remembered
this the other day when I was at Gibraltar. Stand
ing there looking upon that great rock I observed
that there were fortresses at each end, the Atlantic
and the Mediterranean end, arranged in triangular
form at the base and at each side, at the places of
danger on the right and on the left. Fronting
the Mediterranean there is a fortress which pro
tects the rock from the sea, from the Straits on
the right, and at the other angle from the bay.
And then there is a similar arrangement at the
Atlantic end of the fortress of Gibraltar. There
it is, that great solid rock with those many forts
making its great fortress impregnable. So is God
to the man who “dwells in the secret place.” On
the Mediterranean side of that great rock and for
tress there is a little, fishing village inhabited only
by fishermen. They carry on their vocation under
the shadow of that great rock, scarcely ever having
the sun to shine upon their little habitation. But
oh, how secure they are in the shadow of that
rock, nestling in the cliffs! No enemy could ap
proach them. All the guns of that fortress would
protect them! And, my friends, they are not more
secure nestling under the shadow of Gibraltar than
are we if we nestle under the shadow of God Al
mighty.
“In whom I trust.” Again, as we read further
we see that there is trust in “the shadow of the
Almighty” It is only the man who “abides under
the shadow of the Almighty” who knows God well
enough to trust Him. A story is- told of a man
who was being tried for treason after the war be
tween the States. They were about to convict him,
and there was brought in an old slave who had
lived with him for many a year, and been his clos
est companion in many respects. The old slave
was put in the witness box, and the attorney began
to ply him with questions, when finally the old
slave raised himself up and said, “If you had lived
with my master like I have you wouldn’t talk like
that.” And, my friends, it is the man who lives
closest to God, who is His daily companion, who
knows God. When I hear men speaking lightly
of God and profanely of His ruls and reign, I feet
like replying in the words of that old slave, and
saying, “If you had lived with God as I have—poor
specimen that I am—you wouldn’t talk like that, you
would know Him.” It is only the man who lives
with Him, and talks with Him and hears Him talk
and sees Him work, that is able to trust Him. So
David out of all these experiences had said, “In
the shadow of the Almighty there is trust, I will
put my trust in Him."
There is also deliverance. Surely,” he says, “He
shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and
from the noisome pestilence.” I had a man in
my church in Atlanta who was before he professed
conversion a great drunkard and gambler. And
after he was converted the taste for strong drink
dogged him day and night so that he was not able
to get rest for it. He had resolved not to touch
it, but oft times it looked as if his resolution would
fail him and he would have to go back to it. He
tried this and that, but nothing took away that
thirst for drink, that awful craving that at times
almost made him mad. Finally, one night he went,
into his room and got down on his face and, as I
have often heard him say, “handed his appetite
over to God.” He said something like this, “If
j cu are not able to take this appetite away you are
not able to save my soul; and if I can trust yon
with my soul I can trust you with my appetite;
take it.” And he came out of that experience with
i ever another thirst until this day. This is what
David is talking about; He who abides under the
shadow of the Almighty can rely upon Him to be his
Deliverer from all that would destroy him.
In His deliverance is comfort. “He shall cover
thee with his pinions, and under His wings shalt
thou take refuge; His truth shall be thy shield and
buckler.” This is something every child can un
derstand. The figure is that of a mother hen gath
ering her chicks under her wing. All of us doubt
less have seen that. The very thought of it takes
me back to the days of childhood. Out in the
country district where we lived how often have I
seen a group of mother hens with their chicks in
the field. And when some shadow appeared that
looked like the figure o: a hawk I have seen those
different chicks run to their respective mothers,,
never one of them made a mistake, every one final
ly lying under the wing of his own mother. No
one needed to be there to point out to them the
mother to whom they belonged, but every one per
fectly adjusted himself to his respective place. And
then [ have seen her as she nestles the chicks to
herself, getting as low as she can on the ground,,
even getting her head down so as to make it im
possible for the hawk to locate her. Oh, how sim
ple and beautiful is this picture! “He shall cover
thee with His pinions, and under His wings shalt
thou trust.” The old mother hen covers her chicks :
under her wings in time of danger, to protect them
from exposure, to impart to them the warmth of
hre body, to rest them from their labours, and give
them required sleep. In all these respects God our
Father proposes to protect us tinder His wings.
In “the shadow of the Almighty” there is cour
age. As we read further we see that, “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.” Courage 1 And if there
is anything that the Church seems to need more
than another it is this courage. We have come to
be so discouraged and beset with clouds that we
need courage. We are almost today in the pos
ition of the Apostle Peter when e sat there while
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