He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Ps. 91:1

“Abiding under the shadow of the Almighty.” Oh, what a privilege ! How wonderfully glorious it must be! But we do not need to long and sigh as if such a blessing was to be desired, but could never be attained. It is the privilege of all the children of God to abide under the shadow of God—to be overshadowed by His presence.

The shadow of the Lord! Think about it. It is a sweet expression, but what can it mean? To the Israelites it was a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. This implies protection and guidance. A shadow is the representation which anything makes of itself. If you hold your hand between a light and the wall, there will be a shadow, or a representation of your hand on the wall. The shadow of God is the representation of God. To represent is to show, to exhibit, to bring into sight. The shadow of the Lord is an exhibition of the Lord—of His goodness, mercy, love, etc. Sick folks were brought into the streets and laid where the shadow of Peter might overshadow them. There was no virtue in Peter’s shadow; it was the virtue of God through Peter that fell on the people healing them. The shadow of the Almighty is, we might say, the virtue of the Almighty. Virtue went out of Jesus and healed the woman. This was His shadow, or a representation of Himself, and exhibition of His power.

God cannot get sick, because He is health itself. God cannot any more get sick than He can hate. God cannot hate with a carnal hate because He is love; He cannot sin because He is holy; He cannot get sick because He is health.

Jesus had aches and pains, no doubt, in His human body. The nails, the thorns, and the spear without doubt hurt him. It is no sin to be sick in our mortal bodies, but God can impart His health to our bodies the same as He can impart holiness to our souls.

God is simply everything unto us. He is our health, our love, our holiness, our guide, our protection, our comfort, our strength, our daily bread, our refuge, our high tower … our everything. All this is included in “the shadow of God.” To be overshadowed by the Lord is to have health, peace, joy, raiment, daily bread, protection, victory, guidance … everything!

God can interpose His presence between you and the literal sun, so its heat shall not smite you. He overshadowed the Hebrew children in the furnace flame.

Let’s take our Bibles and notice some expressions.

    “Cover thee with his feathers.” Ps. 91:4
    “Hide me under the shadow of thy wings.” Ps 17:8
    “In the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.” Ps. 63:7
    “In the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me.” Ps. 27:5
    “Thou shalt hide them in the secret of his presence from the pride of man: Thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. Ps. 31:20
    “I will guide thee with mine eye.” Ps. 32:8
    “He will be our guide even unto death.” Ps. 4:14
    “Thou art my hiding place.” Ps. 31:7

All of these expressions or blessings are included in the words “abiding under the shadow of the Almighty.”

“Cover thee with his feathers.” “Hide me under the shadow of thy wings.” Are you so taken up with the cares of life that you seldom take time to meditate upon such words as these? Why not take a short time, at least, each day to go into some quiet place and let your mind dwell upon such words. Let your faith make them really true to you. Think of God covering you with His feathers. “Like as a hen gathers her brood under her wing,” so God will gather you under His wing. To have faith, to know that this is true to you takes the fret, worry, and anxiety out of life and allows the days to pass along like the peaceful flowing of a river. The commotion, the turmoil, the confusion, the strife of tongues cannot reach you when God’s wing is spread over you. I am sure God wants to make these texts more real in the lives of many of His dear children. There are those of God’s own who do not enjoy the real deep rest, sweet peace, and calm repose at all times that they should. The reason is that they do not meditate in faith upon the blessed promises as they should.

But who shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty? It is those who dwell “in the secret place of the most High.” A secret is something that is known to but very few. A thing that most everyone knows is not a secret. “The secret things belong unto the Lord our God.” De. 29:29 There are many precious secrets hid in the bosom of the Lord. There is one secret—and perhaps only one—that the angels, and even Jesus, the well-beloved Son—does not know, but only the Father.

There are many secret things, however, that God loves and longs to tell His dear children. The place where God tells secrets to His children is called “the secret place.” God is careful about His secret things; He is not going to tell them to you out where everyone can hear. If you want to know the precious secret things of God, you must come down into the secret places with God. ~