He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.—Psalm 91:1. The beauty of the language of this poem fitly corresponds to the grandeur of the thoughts which it conveys. The Psalmist here sings “to one clear harp in divers tones”; and the central thought which he exhibits in its different aspects is that of God’s response to man. For every advance on man’s part there is an immediate and corresponding advance on God’s part. When man goes out to seek God, God meets him more than half-way. When he calls upon God, God will answer him. Loving faith on man’s part will be met by faithful love on the part of God. This is in the first verse, of which the whole psalm is an expansion. If man dwells “in the secret place of the Most High,” he shall abide “under the shadow of the Almighty.” We have here the condition and promise. In his later years, Calvin’s colleague at Geneva was Theodore de Beza (1519–1605), the writer of the metrical version of Psalms 68, which was the battle-song of the Huguenots. Taste for the culture of the Renaissance, passion for poetry, worldly success and fame, had weakened the impression of the religious training of his youth. A dangerous illness revived his former feelings. Escaping from the bondage of Egypt, as he called his previous life, he took refuge with Calvin at Geneva. In 1548, when he for the first time attended the service of the Reformed Assembly, the congregation was singing Psalms 91, “Whoso dwelleth under the defence of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” He never forgot the effect of the words. They supported him in all the difficulties of his subsequent life; they conquered his fears, and gave him courage to meet every danger.1 [Note: R. E. Prothero, The Psalms in Human Life, 185.] “The 91st Psalm is a mountain of strength to all believers”; so General Gordon wrote from Gravesend in 1869, one of the six quiet years which he used to speak of as the happiest of his life. Again, thirteen years later, in January 1882, he wrote thus from Mauritius: “I dwell more or less (I wish it were more) under the shadow of the Almighty.”