Psalm 32:1-11
A Psalm of David, Maschil.
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. [2] Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. [3] When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. [4] For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah. [5] I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah. [6] For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. [7] Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah. [8] I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. [9] Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee. [10] Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about. [11] Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.
A Precious Hiding place
[7] Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.
I. Hiding from God
We live in a world that has consciously made the decision to run from God rather than to Him. They live a life that says to God, “Catch me if you can.”
A person may try to run away and hide from God. He may deny, ignore, and neglect God. But the day is coming when God will call him and everyone else before His court of justice. And every person—all who ran away and tried to hide from God—will be judged...
· judged because they turned away from God.
· judged because they disobeyed God.
· judged because they rebelled against God.
“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: and before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from goats” (Matthew 25:31-32).
“And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thes. 1:7-8).
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).
“The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished” (2 Peter 2:9).
“But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men” (2 Peter 3:7).
“Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him” (Jude 14-15).
“And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works” (Rev. 20:12-13).
“Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them [sinners]; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them [sinners] from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks. For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes” (Jeremiah 16:16-17).
Friend, make no mistake about it, God can catch you.
You can not run far enough or fast enough that He cannot find you.
David said; “If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.” Psalm 139:8 (KJV)
II. Hiding in God
[6] For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. [7] Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.
When you choose to accept Jesus Christ as the Lord of your life, you are saying in effect,
I am no longer going to try to hide from you, I choose to hide in you.
You will say like Paul the apostle; I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20
The Godly man, having experienced such forgiveness, finds that he can turn to God in every moment of trial and find help. The floods of Great waters (temptations, discouragements, disappointments, failures, hostilities, infirmities) shall not come nigh him. Nothing can separate us from the love of God!
We can say like the Psalmist, “Thou art my hiding place”
In the shadow of his wings we shall trust…
Problems may come and go, but I will abide under the shadow of the almighty…
We have a deep sense of the nearness of our God and we declare; “the Lord is my shepherd, I will fear no evil for thou art with me …”
“The man who has found this hiding place is like the old tea kettle that sings when it’s up to it’s neck in hot water”
III. Hiding with God
We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. 2 Cor. 5:8
(replace with any point that deals with hiding with God..ie. When the trumpet sounds We will be hiding with God)
Today we mourn that which causes heaven to rejoice…
On Monday evening, around 7:25. You could sense that it was just a few minutes until Brother Middleton would be going home. All of the family began gathering into the bed room where he was and for the next few moments, everyone said their goodbyes and told this wonderful husband, father, grandfather, brother and friend, how much we loved him. That is what you and I saw…
What Brother Middleton saw was much different…
Along with the many family members, I believe that the room was filled with the Angels of God that the bible says, In Luke 16 carry saints into God’s presence. As we were saying goodnight to this trusted friend, and the sun was beginning to lower in the western sky, he reached out to the hand of Jesus and entered into that place called heaven, where the sun does not set and Multi-myaloma has no power! Where cancer has long ago bowed the knee to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
On Monday evening, Brother Middleton was able to quote the apostle Paul in
2 Tim. 4:6-8;18 (KJV)
For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. [7] I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: [8] Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing… and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.
v.11 of our text says “Be Glad!…rejoice…shout for joy!” and that is exactly what is going on in heaven today because Brother Middleton is hiding with God!
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 1 Cor. 15:55 (KJV)
Precious hiding place,
Precious hiding place,
In the shelter of his love,
Not a doubt or fear,
Since my lord is near,
And I’m sheltered in His love.
Avis B. Christianson
