All over the world children enjoy playing hide and seek.  Our three year old granddaughter is no exception!  As we count to ten, she rushes off to find a secret place to hide.  The bulge in the curtain gives her away immediately, but we pretend not to notice.

 

There is a secret place where we can hide too.  It’s a place where we are safe from the arrows of the enemy, and a place of protection when trouble comes.  This place is described in Psalm 91 as being in the ‘shadow of the Almighty’, or being ‘under his wings’.

 

What does this mean?  Let’s look at two beautiful pictures in the Word of God that illustrate the meaning of these phrases.  The first is of a mother bird sitting on her newly born chicks.  As the baby birds huddle under the wings of their mother, they are not afraid.  In this place they are safe and sound, and everything they need is provided for.

 

Another picture is of the wings of the cherubim, stretching across the top of the Ark of the Covenant, in the Tabernacle.  These wings covered the gold mercy seat, the place where God said he would have fellowship with his people.  It is in this place that we find mercy and grace, and strength for each day.

 

Sometimes, like children playing hide and seek, we only rush to this secret place when we face a problem.  God’s promises though, are only fully enjoyed when we stay in this place.  Here we have rest and peace, even in the midst of storms.  Don’t allow fear to keep you out.  Let’s say, like the Psalmist, “I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’  Then we will be safe and secure, in this secret place, in the shadow of his wings.