God is our hiding place

One thing we all learn is how to find a safe place. We learn the quiet places, the warm places, and the sturdy places. It could be the table at a friend’s house where we go for a cup of coffee, far out in the woods, or in a favorite chair. This can be a healthy thing to do, but it can turn negative too. We might also hide from responsibilities, from conflicts, or from disappointment. We might choose an escape instead of a safe place. We might escape in our work, in our hobbies, in our duties, or in our vices. Whether done in a positive or a negative way, we love our hiding places.

The trouble is, there is no place we can find that is remote enough, inaccessible enough, or exclusive enough to truly insulate us from the realities of the word. The vacation ends, the effects wear off, and the work comes to a close.

In Psalm 32:7 the psalmist says that it’s God who is his hiding place. This is more than a repetition of truth with the hopes that it finally sticks this time, the Psalmist calls God his hiding place for a reason. Psalm chapter 32 walks us through the Psalmist’s experience with the need to hide, with his confrontation of sin, with the forgiveness of sin, and finally, with his hiding place.

The reality of life is that there are things we want to hide from. We may temporarily succeed in healthy or unhealthy ways, but it’s unnecessary as well as futile. We have deliverance, preservation, and an eternal home, far better than any place we could find, create, or run to.

As you pray today, ask God to show you places where you have been hiding, and ask God to show you how he can be your hiding place.

Psalm 32