Our Hiding Place is God
Song of Solomon 2:14 “O My dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let Me see thy countenance, let Me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.”
Here the Lord Jesus is calling…..to a place in the cleft of the Rock. The cleft Rock speaks of Christ’s Sacrifice…..He was “cleft” for us.
So the Lord is speaking….calling us, as believers, to stand in the protection of the cleft Rock….
…..but let the world hear our voice.
What the Lord desires is that the believer should live for Him alone.
“For HIs sake”….should be the reason for every part of our lives….the suffering as well as the hallelujah times.
So He calls us to a place “in the cleft of the Rock”….so that we can see the price of our protection and provision…..and give testimony concerning it in our lives.
The Lord is calling her take her place in His provision…..and to be a living expression of His death and resurrection life.
He calls her to “the secret place of the stairs”.
Psalm 91:1-2 “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.”
Every benefit which we can have from His resurrection life, we already have…..He has given them to us in His Holy Spirit…..
…but at the same time we still carry with us our old man….that which hinders the joy and the grace God gives.
So the question is not how much do we possess of Christ, but the question is how much have we lost of the old man, which hinders us?
Psalm 27:5 “For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion: in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me; he shall set me up upon a Rock.”
These verses describe a secret protection…..a secret supply of help.
Psalm 31:20 “Thou shalt hide them in the secret of Thy presence from the pride of man: Thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.”
It is not secret from us…..but from the enemies we have.
God’s help comes from many places….many different places.
And many different ways.
(In Pilgrim’s Progress….Christian has come in the wicket gate…..and on to the house of the Interpreter (the Holy Spirit)….so He will show Christian some things that will instruct and encourage him, on his journey to the Celestial City.
There, the Interpreter shows him a fireplace, with a blazing fire!
In front of the fireplace, there is one who is throwing water on the blaze, to put it out….this He explains is the devil, who wants to put out our light.
As Christian looks slightly concerned,….
….the Interpreter takes him around the back of the fireplace and shows him One (our Lord Jesus), who is always pouring oil on the fire, to keep it going.)
This is our secret supply of Help. God is always pouring grace on us, as we use it…..He is always giving us His peace (we have none of our own)….He is always showing us His Will, in His Light….
….He gives us courage, and strength. He gives us ability and guidance.
What need won’t He meet? None.
When I say that our hiding place is God….that does not mean He wants us to hide out from the world….
….but it means that we shelter under His sovereignty, His peace, HIs love, His joy;….and use His courage and grace.
It means that though circumstances may be terrible…
….in Him, we are at rest.
(This rest is not “calm”……I have been calm, like the eye of a hurricane…..where it is deadening….yet waiting for the next part of the storm.
That is calm. I want “rest”…the rest of God, Who has seen the end from the beginning…
…and has enough grace to see me through, if I will take and use it.)
Song of Solomon 2:14-15 “O my dove, that art in the clefts of the Rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice and thy countenance is comely.
Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines; for our vines have tender grapes.”
Let Me see thy countenance, let Me hear thy voice.
He is our hiding place…..are we being His lights?
So much of what we are and say, is a reflection of our love to Christ.
Is He seen in us? Is He testified by us?
Well, if there are any hinderances to that…..”take us the foxes….the little foxes…..that spoil the vines.”
Christ is calling this loved one (me, you, us)….to remove even the little hinderances to fruit bearing.
Sometimes it is not the “big” things……we know they are wrong.
But it is the little hinderances…..little sins, little grievances, little twists in the truth….that can cause us to loose fruit for Christ.
Let us rejoice that He is our safety…..our joy….our rest.
And let us remove all hinderances to us being seen and heard….”for His sake.”
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 