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"We exist to train God-hungry people in the disciplines of prayer."

40-Day Devotional Guide & Study of
The Wonderful Names of Jesus
by Richard W. LaFountain

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Listen to Sermons on The Name


Hiding Place
Hebrew: cether (say'-ther)

You are my hiding place. You will preserve me from trouble. You will surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah. - Psalm 32:7

A Hiding Place
Most of us over 50 years old remember Corrie Ten Boom's book, The Hiding Place. Corrie's family was plunged into the holocaust. An underground worker named Mr. Smit suggested they needed a hiding place. "What you need is a secret room in your home, in case the Gestapo raid your house looking for Jews. I will come and visit you to arrange it." The ten Boom house was a very old house, with all kinds of unexpected corners and spaces in it. The room was to be as high up as possible to give your people time to hide if the Gestapo came. They chose Corrie's own little room at the top of the house. They marked off a space about 75 centimeters from the end wall and built a very tiny room. It became their safe room.

My cat has a hiding place and it is not about fun and games. There is a mean black cat the lives in the neighborhood. A few months ago our cat, Peaches, came home with a chunk out of her back side. We took her to the vet and she said it was obvious that Peaches had been in a fight, but being smaller and slower than most cats she was running away from the fight when the other cat bit into her back side. Ouch! It took some time to heal and we kept her indoors. She is back outside now but we discovered that she now has a favorite retreat, a hiding place. It is under the deck close to the back door. There we have found her many a fearful night crouched in the darkest corner hidden from view of her predator, Mr. Black cat.

We all need a hiding place from the enemy. It needs to be as close to the Lord as possible. It is a place where you and the Lord have agree to meet in secret whenever the enemy comes in like a flood. Jesus called it a "prayer closet." What better retreat can we ask than a quiet, undisturbed place, far from the noise and pace, where God can soothe our troubled hearts.

Use in Scripture

  • Psalms 32:7 Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.
  • Psalms 119:114 Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.
  • Isaiah 28:17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
  • Isaiah 32:2 And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

Questions to Discuss

  1. Do you remember a favorite hiding place as a child? If that's too far back, do you remember your children having hiding places? Did you ever play hide and seek? Are you good at it?
  2. Have you ever felt like God was hiding from you? Does God hide himself? If so, why do you think he would play that game with us, his children?
  3. God is our hiding place. He is a place of refuge where we can go to be safe from the enemy. Can you think of reasons why you might choose this as the name of the Lord for the coming year?
Songs:

Hiding In Thee
O safe to the Rock that is higher than I, My soul in its conflicts and sorrows would fly; So sinful, so weary, Thine, Thine, would I be; Thou blest "Rock of Ages," I'm hiding in Thee. In the calm of the noontide, in sorrow's lone hour, In times when temptation casts o'er me its power; In the tempests of life, on its wide, heaving sea, Thou blest "Rock of Ages," I'm hiding in Thee. How oft in the conflict, when pressed by the foe, I have fled to my refuge and breathed out my woe; How often, when trials like sea billows roll, Have I hidden in Thee, O Thou Rock of my soul. A Quiet Place There is a quiet place far from the rapid pace where God can soothe my troubled mind. Sheltered by tree and flower there in my quiet hour with him my cares are left behind. Whether a garden small, or on a mountain tall new strength and courage there I find, and then from that quiet place I go prepared to face a new day with love for all mankind.

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