You are a hiding place for me;
You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with glad cries of
deliverance (NRSV).
There are elements here of care,
protection and rescue.
Yet, when it comes right down to it,
what does this verse really mean?
We ask this question, because in
reality we know that even Christians, including the most wonderful committed
Jesus-followers, suffer extreme opposition and persecution and sometimes death.
This is what happened to many of the first disciples, generally to the
Christian community of the first century, and to so many Jesus-followers of
various places and times since.
We might get a clearer picture of what
the psalmist meant, if we look at the verses surrounding this verse:
Ø Verse 1 talks about how better life
looks and feels when we experience forgiveness. King David of old would
certainly be able to credibly report on this! The first two verses largely
speak about the impact of guilt and shame being lifted off a person. The NLT
translates verse 1 as: “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose
sin is put out of sight”. To be “put out of sight” means that it will never
be actively revisited.
Ø Verse 2 ends with the interesting
phrase … in whose spirit there is no deceit. Or, (NLT) … whose lives
are lived in complete honesty. So we have to understand that the process of
God forgiving us involves be totally honest about ourselves as well as our
sincere commitment to not repeat our mistakes – this what the word
“repentance” means … a change of mind toward a new direction. We can attempt to
fool ourselves and keep silent, or be honest and look to go forward.
So this starts to define for us the
sort of “hiding place” that God offers. This is a “place” of protection … yes …
but mostly a “place” of protection from the impact of our own
misdeeds and our lack of honesty. For abiding in and dwelling on the negative
is a self-destructive course. Then, the glad cries of deliverance are
loud and public expressions of joy and thankfulness concerning salvation from
sin.
Ø Verses 3-5 then restate this process
of despair to repentance to forgiveness. These verses certainly probe to the
heart of the human predicament (M. Wilcock). Many times the psalmists blame
opposing forces for their dire situations, however this psalmist knows that his
particular past condition of misery has being caused by keeping silent (when he
should have owned up). There is here an acknowledgement that things should be
different – the workings of our conscience you might say … for day and night
your hand was heavy upon me. Most people have some level of this feeling of
guilt, and those that have come into contact with the notion of a loving
Creator God feel this in heavier measure. They know what they should do, and
when they don’t, and when they keep silent, it feels like their body is wasting
away (v.3), and they lack strength and energy (v.4b). Silence may also
represent an attempt to cover-up rather than admit wrongdoing. Later in verse
9, the psalmist talks about giving up such stubborn resistance. They know there
could be something better, but for some reason prefer the status quo –
sometimes a known darkness is more palatable than an unknown light. It comes
back to those deep human motivations.
The story is told of the office
manager whose filing cabinet was overflowing. The suggestion was made to him to
cull some of the less important or older files. He was agreeable to this, as
long as all the discarded files were photocopied first!! Some people think that
confession will bring a feeling of loss, but in reality it brings a great gain.
Yet, this psalm brings out the
complete contrast in a person’s well-being either side of the confessional
fence. To dwell in the negative and be resistant to God in your life affects
your health, and not in a good way!! There might be certain therapies or drugs
that can make us feel better for a while, but these will ultimately prove to be
insufficient (because we are not addressing the root cause). Then, often at
one’s lowest point, there is a change of mind – we come to our senses. We
decide to open our mouths, break our silence, and make this determination, I
will confess my transgressions to the Lord (v.5b). And potentially everything changes for the
better.
The psalmist David himself was able to
reflect on all this because of his own agonising battle with sin and self.
While David was referred to as ‘a man after God’s own heart’, he nevertheless
descended to the lowest depths of deception, violence, lust and evil (CJH
Wright). David discovered the effectiveness of open confession, and also repentance
in response to supernatural grace, mercy and cleansing. David was able to then
share the assurance he gained through coming out the other end following this
surrender to God (as expressed in verse 6).
Having made the determination to be a
confessing person, this will then be the natural pattern of the person on the
path of salvation. When we read about the faithful offering prayer in verse 6,
the context would reveal that this is a prayer of repentance. We can never feel
that we are beyond the confessional prayer; and in fact, the more mature and
humble we become, the more likely we are to be repentant, and increasingly
prepared to be so publicly within the Christian congregation (refer James
5:16). It is in this way that we will be surrounded with glad cries of
deliverance, or (with NLT) … songs of victory (v.7c). And
this will not just be a personal experience, but one that can be noticed and
celebrated by others!
Ø Verse 8 then explains what happens
within this “hiding place”. How do we gain entrance again??? Through grace!
Whilst within what we may see as an intimate communion with God, we receive
instruction and teaching about our way forward. The Bible, especially the
Gospel of Jesus, makes much more sense now – it just seems that things are
clearer (like when a dirty window is well cleaned) … that there are less
impediments in the way! Our ethical responses to the teaching of Jesus become
easier to apply. Decisions, generally speaking, are easier, because we more
clearly see what is important over against what is trivial. It could be that
challenges become stronger, but this is only because we are more ready now for
deeper engagements. The more sensitive we become to God, the more gentle God
can be in his leading of us – rather than the more dramatic means possibly used
in the past (v.9). What a beautiful phrase does follow: I will counsel you
with my eye upon you (v.8b). This has this element of God’s personal
interest in us. It suggests we are never out of God’s sight; and being thus in
view, love follows, and the impulse which knows no space nor separation (EM
Blaiklock).
Ø All of this leads to a greater
appreciation of God’s love and all that God’s love can achieve (v.10b). We can,
despite where we have come from, and also despite sometimes what life does to
us, “shout for joy” (v.11), because we have moved away from the influences of
evil and the negative power of torment (v.10a). Our trust is firmly in God for
all that he promises to us.
So this “hiding place” is not a
secret cave that we flee to – far from it! It is sin that makes us hide from
God just like Adam did (in the first story of rebellion). This “hiding place”
is also not an escape from reality, but rather the way of coping and
thriving through any reality. From here temptation can be
resisted. This “hiding place” is our way of life, the way of salvation, the way
of resurrection life, and the way of the Holy Spirit, where we travel day-by-day
with the unencumbered and unimpeded presence of God with us. We of course don’t
hide from God, but we hide in God. Here is our point of
celebration and our point of comfort. Here is where we appreciate God the most
and humbly offer our thankfulness.
You are a hiding place for me;
You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with glad cries of
deliverance.
