In all of the events of recent months, many people have posted on Facebook, portions or all of Psalm 91. I have shared every post that showed up on my FB page. It is a wonderful passage to meditate on and to proclaim over ourselves and our loved ones always, but especially in troubled times.
I took the Psalm apart.
However, due to my background in biblical study, I began to take the Psalm apart and make it personal. Many years ago, when I first met and married my husband, artist-teacher Casey McCulley, he taught me that most scriptural promises were "condition-response." I found this to be true. Many of the things I learned as a child and teenager, growing up in a classical Pentecostal church had seemed spiritually inspiring but for many of us, difficult to achieve and receive. When I began to learn the concrete, practical application of believing, living, and doing scripture, it changed my world. As I read and reread this Psalm that most theologians say was written by Moses, (Moshe), I started asking myself questions. What is the secret place? How do I find it and stay there? Per usual, the more you dig into scripture the more you realize there is nothing there by accident. Furthermore, you realize, (at least I do) how little you know.
What is the secret place?
As I said in the previous paragraph, I began to ask, Where/what is the secret place? How do I find it? Verse one says: He (the person) that dwells in the secret place of the most High (Elyon) shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty (Shaddai). "Secret" in the Hebrew is 5643 (Strong's), cithrah or cether; pronounced something like sith raw and say ther. Some associated words are; a cover, covering, covert, disguise, hiding place, protection, secret. Both words come from a root; H5641 (Strong's) cathar, saw-thar, which briefly stated means: to hide (by coverings); also--conceal, keep close, hide, keep secret.
Some translations simply use the word "shelter" for this Psalm, however, shelter is a different word in Hebrew and. to me, misses the depth of protection implied in the various ways cithrah, cether, and cathar are translated. Place in the verse is simply position. So for this blog, let's begin to think on being in a position with Elyon, the most High where we are completely hidden, covered, concealed; kept close to God from all the fearful, dread happenings of verses: 3 and 5-8.
The Moses connection:
Moses was protected in a secret place before he could know God personally or protect himself. He was born in a land and time when the Pharaoh ordered all male Israelite babies to be thrown into the Nile as soon as they were born. (See Exodus Chapter One) When Moses was around three months old, his mother put him in a little box (ark) made from bulrushes and pitched with tar. She put him in the same river where other babies were being killed. Miraculously, he was completely hidden in the papyrus reeds until Pharaoh's daughter discovered him. Elyon, the most High, Shaddai, the Almighty protector of Israel positioned Moses to meet his destiny.
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