The Psalmist wrote: “You are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble. You surround me with joyful shouts of deliverance” (Psalm 32:7) and “You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word” (Psalm 119:114, NKJV).
In the sixty-first Psalm the same Hebrew word is translated “shelter.” “God, hear my cry; pay attention to my prayer. I call to you from the ends of the earth when my heart is without strength. Lead me to a rock that is high above me, for you have been a refuge for me, a strong tower in the face of the enemy. I will dwell in your tent forever and take refuge under the shelter of your wings” (Psalm 61:1–4). Like a mother-hen gathers her chicks under her protective wings, Almighty God protects His beloved children in His warm and welcoming embrace. He “shelters” us! He is our “Hiding Place!”
Corrie ten Boom’s story is titled “The Hiding Place.” Corrie and her family were watchmakers in Holland in the early 1900’s. Their little home became a hiding place for Jews during the German invasion in World War II. Behind the headboard in Corrie’s bedroom, a false wall was built to form a tiny closet. There, in that cramped space, Jews hid from the prying eyes of German soldiers.
After they were arrested and sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp, Corrie and her sister, Betsie, lived in flea-infested barracks. Astonishingly, the faithful sisters recognized their dark, dank, dirty dwelling as God’s hiding place. You see, the German soldiers wouldn’t enter the barracks due to the fleas. They prayed, thanking God for sheltering them under His wings… they thanked God for His hiding place, and they even thanked God for the fleas.
Once, when the disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee in a small fishing boat, they got caught in a storm. “A fierce windstorm came down on the lake; they were being swamped and were in danger… ‘Master, Master, we’re going to die!’ Then (Jesus) got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves. So they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, ‘Where is your faith?’ They were fearful and amazed, asking one another, ‘Who then is this? He commands even the winds and the waves, and they obey him!’ ” (Luke 8:23–25). Who was He? He was their refuge in the storm! He was their Hiding Place.
Jesus calls to us when we are caught in the storms of life… “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
When you are facing the Enemy’s temptations… He’s your Hiding Place!
When the doctor calls with a daunting diagnosis… He’s your Hiding Place!
When the boss is handing out pink slips… He’s your Hiding Place!
When you stand at the side of a loved one’s casket… He’s your Hiding Place!
