"The Secret" and God's Secret

Hi all:

Yesterday I talked about my current Bible reading in Daniel and how it applies to "The Secret."

Today I want to look at other passages in the Bible that talk about secrets (as translated in the New King James version) and God. Because the truth is that the God of the Bible is a Big God and not all His ways are revealed to us - we wouldn't understand them anyway. But the God of the Bible does reveal everything we need to know.

For example, consider this passage from Psalm 25:

8 Good and upright is the Lord; Therefore He teaches sinners in the way. 9 The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way. 10 All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies. 11 For Your name's sake, O Lord, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great. 12 Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He F21 teach in the way He chooses. 13 He himself shall dwell in prosperity, And his descendants shall inherit the earth. 14 The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant.

The fear of the Lord here is a healthy respect and reverence for the almighty power of an awesome God, who is so much bigger than us. Indeed, whenever anyone in Bible stories gets even a glimpse of God they always fall down at His feet in awe of His majesty and Otherness.

Yet we don't have to fear God as we do earthly dangers. Consider Psalm 27 , which talks about another type of fear and God's secret answer:

1 A Psalm of David. The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When the wicked came against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell. 3 Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war should rise against me, In this I will be confident. 4 One thing I have desired of the Lord, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to inquire in His temple. 5 For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.

Wow! What a promise: To be safe in the secret place of God!

Here's a similar passage from Psalm 31:
20 You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence From the plots of man; You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion From the strife of tongues.

And Psalm 91:
1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty ... 5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, 6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

So don't fear the secret place of the Most High, but be very afraid of the secret places of humans. Tomorrow I'll look at what the Bible has to say about the dangers of human secrets, and why we should always be wary of new "secret" paths to success.

But before I leave the subject of God revealing everything we need to know, let's look at two passages from the New Testament.

First, consider what Jesus said when questioned by the high priest during His trial as recorded in John 18:
20 Jesus answered him, "I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where the Jews always meet, F98 and in secret I have said nothing.

Indeed, according to Paul in his letter to the Romans, chapter 16, Jesus Himself is the revealed secret of God:
25 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began 26 but now has been made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures has been made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith-- 27 to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. F90

To which I can only add another hearty "Amen!"

hrh