Scriptures with Stipulations-Dwelling in the Secret Place

October 16, 2024

Scriptures with Stipulations-Dwelling in the Secret Place

The Word of God is powerful and it is filled with amazing promises that the Lord has given to believers of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately a lot of us do not get to see many of those guarantees being fulfilled because of misinterpretation or the lack of knowledge.

God is very clear when He explains to us in Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…” The lack of information regarding the stipulations that are attached to the Scriptures is what is preventing a lot of people from receiving their break through. The Lord’s Word is considered the Book of the Law (Joshua 1:8) meaning that there are rules that need to be followed in order to see your desired results. If you leave out important parts of God’s specifications, your promise may not come to pass.

So many times we hear preachers in the pulpit quoting a passage of Scripture but they don’t include the condition attached to it. That is why it is so imperative that you study the Scriptures for yourself so that you can have a clear understanding of God’s Word in its entirety. There are a great amount of promises given to us as believers of Christ that contain prerequisites and we need to be mindful of them so they don’t get overlooked.

One way that you can determine if there is a stipulation linked to a passage of Scripture is by looking for key words like “if”, “but”, “then”, etc. When you see these words take a closer look to ensure that you are reading the entire passage for clarification. You can literally miss your blessing, breakthrough, protection, and so many other benefits just by not digging deep enough into the meaning of God’s Word.

One of the most powerful chapters in the entire Bible is Psalm 91. It provides God’s children with a promise of protection against any device that the enemy would try to throw your way. The thing is there is a stipulation to this Psalm found in the first verse of the chapter. Let’s take a closer look at what that requirement is.

Psalm 91:1

“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”

Here we can see that the Lord is establishing the stipulation for the amazing protective covering that He is offering His children. He is telling us that those that choose to remain in the secret place of God will abide in His shadow. What exactly does that mean? Unfortunately a lot of Christians do not have a genuine relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. They treat Him like a spare tire that you have tucked away only calling on Him when they absolutely need to.

That is not what dwelling in the secret place means. God wants you to spend time with Him more than just on Sunday afternoon while listening to a sermon that your Pastor is preaching. He wants to have an intimate and personal relationship with every single one of us where we spend time with Him when there is nobody else around.

Now let’s take a closer look at what Psalm 91:1 is telling us. The words “he that dwells” being used is the Hebrew word “yāšaḇ” which means: to dwell, remain, sit, and abide. The words “in the secret place” being used is the Hebrew word “sēṯer” which means: covering or cover, hiding place, secrecy.

The words “shall abide” being used is the Hebrew “lûn” which means: to lodge, stop over, pass the night, abide. The words “under the shadow” being used is the Hebrew word “ṣēl” which means: shadow, shade (as protection from sun) and branches.

So what we can determine that the Lord is telling us in these key phrases is the fact that those that remain and abide in His covering or hiding place (prayer closet) are that ones that will be safely protected when the storms hit. The Lord also makes it clear that in order for someone to receive this type of shelter you have to stay in His shadow.

In other words it requires closeness and intimacy with Him so much so that you could literally be a part of His shadow. How would someone abide in the secret place? The Lord describes it perfectly as one of the meanings of “shall abide” and that is to lodge. When someone lodges or stays the night somewhere this requires a great amount of time being spent.

Abiding in God means that you have a relationship with Him, you are obedient to His Word, making Him your first line of defense and not your last option, you are spending dedicated moments with Him in prayer, worship, and most of all reading His Word. These are some of the ways that you can ensure that you are abiding in His shadow and under His protective covering.

The fact is that God does not want us to just visit Him from time to time during Bible study or at church on Sundays. He wants us to dwell with Him getting to know Him on a personal level which requires effort on our part. The best way that you can develop a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ is to get into the Word of God study it, digest it, and apply it to your daily life.

Your Bible is God’s voice speaking to you every time that you open it up and read the Scriptures on every page. God’s Word discloses His character, His will for your life, and His Biblical law which provides us with the guidelines on how a believer should live their lives.

This first part of this Psalm is showing us the stipulations needed to be fulfilled if a person wants to take advantage of the amazing promises found throughout Psalm 91. Now I’m going to list the promises given to us if we follow the requirement listed in Psalm 91:1.

Promises found in Psalm 91

He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence.
He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge
His truth shall be your shield and buckler
You shall not be afraid of the terror by night
Nor of the arrow that flies by day
Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday
No evil shall befall you
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling
For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways
You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot

After looking at all of the promises listed in this powerful Psalm we can clearly see that the Lord is protecting us from any and every device that the enemy will try to ensnare you with. However there is a stipulation that is attached to every one of these guarantees and that is found in Psalm 91:1, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” We need to understand how important God’s requirements actually are.

Conclusion

The Word of God is saturated with the Lord’s amazing promises that He has afforded every believer of Jesus Christ to take advantage of. The unfortunate thing is that a lot of us don’t read the Scriptures for ourselves and so we tend to miss the stipulations that are attached to them. By not properly applying God’s Biblical law we miss out on the benefits that He wants us to have.

Luckily we have the free gift of the Holy Spirit living on the inside of us and He will guide you into all Truth, John 16:13. So, if you aren’t sure about anything that is written in the Word of God ask for wisdom and the Lord will give it to you liberally, James 1:5.

Also, don’t forget to check out my other blogs:

Scriptures with Stipulations-All Things Work Together For Your Good

Breaking Spiritual Strongholds-Fight Back

Breaking Spiritual Strongholds-Feed Your Spirit

Breaking Spiritual Strongholds-Renouncing

Breaking Spiritual Strongholds-Confess and Repent

Recognizing Spiritual Strongholds

What are Spiritual Strongholds?

The Spiritual Laws of God-Poverty Part 1

The Spiritual Laws of God-Poverty Part 2

The Spiritual Laws of God-Restoration

The Spiritual Laws of God-The General Principles

The Spiritual Laws of God-The Power of Your Tongue!

The Spiritual Laws of God-Having an Understanding

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