I have said that if it can be
fixed with a hammer or duct tape or WD-40, I can probably do it. If it takes more than that. My wife, when we lived in Indiana
years ago, threatened to put a sign in the front yard of the
house that reads, Bob Vila does not live here. And then I took a trip abroad
and came back to the airport, and she met me at the airport
and was holding a sign reading Bob Vila. So I'm sure some folks
thought she was confused when she hugged me. But we are so blessed to be here,
and the hospitality of your pastor and his wife, the fellowship
we enjoyed yesterday, the opportunity to worship our father's son this
morning, the lesson that was brought to us a little earlier,
and I pray now that our God will be pleased to bless this declaration
of the gospel of his son, Jesus Christ. I invite your attention
to Psalm number 32. the 32nd Psalm. And if God be pleased, we will
consider the subject of Christ my hiding place. Psalm 32 and
in verse number 7, we find these words. You are my hiding place. You shall preserve me from trouble. You shall surround me with songs
of deliverance. Selah. You know the story of
Adam and his sin. The first man. God created him. Perfect and upright. Then made a garden for him. A
perfect garden. Ideal condition. An Eden here
on earth. One commandment, and that was
that you may partake of every tree in this garden except the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That's all you got
to do. One commandment. Adam broke it. Adam sinned. Then Adam heard
the voice of the Lord walking in the garden. hid himself from
God. Consider, Adam sinned, and then
Adam hid himself from God. But when the saint sins, the
saint hides himself in God. What a difference that is. Adam
hid from God, I hide in God. The psalmist here said, He says
in verse number seven, I acknowledge my sin to you and my iniquity
I have not hidden. I said I will confess my transgressions
to Jehovah and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. For this
cause everyone who is godly shall pray to you in a time when you
may be found. Surely in a flood of great waters
they shall not come near him. Notice, I acknowledge my sin,
but I hide in you. You are my hiding place. You
shall preserve me from trouble. You shall surround me with songs
of deliverance. My text in verse seven naturally
divides itself into three divisions. Consider, point one, you are
my hiding place. Point two, You shall preserve
me from trouble. Point three, you shall surround
me with songs of deliverance and then we will at the last
consider that word Selah. Point one, Christ is the believer's
hiding place. And this is by virtue of them
being hidden in Jehovah. Some may say, now preacher, The
text says that Jehovah is my hiding place. That is correct. You say Christ is your hiding
place. That is correct. How many hiding
places do you have? Only one. Only one. Some may object. But here we
find that Jehovah is my hiding place. The psalmist said so. And Jesus Christ's name is Jehovah,
is it not? Did not Jehovah say that when
I send Him, this is the name by which you shall call Him?
Jehovah our righteousness. That's His name. What is Jesus
Christ's name? It is Jehovah our righteousness. He is Jehovah, He is our righteousness. And so some will say, now well,
I can see where you say that you hide in Jehovah, but how
can you say that you hide in Jesus Christ? I mean Jehovah
is God. Jesus Christ is a man. Now that's
true. Jehovah also said in Isaiah chapter
32 verse 2 that a man shall be a hiding place. Now Jehovah said
that. A man shall be a hiding place. Well now some folks are just
going to be really confused. You said Jehovah is your hiding
place. That is correct. Now you say
a man is your hiding place. That is correct. Which is it? Is Jehovah your hiding place
or is a man your hiding place? Yes and yes. And I have only
one hiding place. My hiding place is God manifested
in the flesh. My hiding place is Jehovah who
came and appeared upon this earth. The divine word who was manifested
among men, assumed human flesh, took on my nature. God manifested
in the flesh, and in so doing, he became my hiding place. My
hiding place is Jehovah, and my hiding place is the man, Christ
Jesus. I am assured that we are in Him
who is true in God's Son Jesus Christ. I'm in Him. I'm hiding
in Him. He's my refuge. I have run to
Him for refuge. I have found refuge in Him. I am in Him. We are in Him who
is true in God's Son Jesus Christ. This one is the true God and
eternal life. He who is in Jesus Christ, the
true God, is assured that you will also abide in the Son and
in the Father. 1 John 2, verse 24. When I abide in Jesus Christ,
I abide in God the Father. The Son is in the Father and
the Father is in the Son. When I am in the Son, I am in
the Father. And Jehovah Jesus Christ is my
hiding place. Believers are assured that your
life is hidden with Christ in God. Consider, hidden with Christ
in God. My life is hidden in Christ and
Christ is hidden in God and my hiding place is Jehovah and the
man Christ Jesus. Christ is the hiding place, or
Christ the hiding place is a refuge in a time of trouble. Consider
what the psalmist said. You are my hiding place. And in the time of trouble, I
will find refuge in you. You shall preserve me from trouble. What kind of trouble? A man will
be as a hiding place from the wind and a cover from the tempest. Again, Isaiah 32 verse 2. A man shall be a hiding place
from the wind, from the rain, from everything that assails
man. Men seek refuge in times of storm
and caves of the earth. It's a good place to get to.
The wind's not going to whip around you like it does in the
outside. The rain's not going to come
in. The cloud does not enter the cave. I find a refuge in
Jesus Christ when the winds of life are howling and when the
storms of life are assailing and when the rains of men have
come upon me. In Christ, I find a refuge, a
time of trouble. There are many of these times
of trouble. We perhaps meet with them about
every day. Jesus Christ is a constant refuge. Whenever you find a time of trouble,
seek refuge in Him. Seek refuge nowhere else. This
refuge is in Christ alone. Furthermore, Christ the hiding
place is also called a secret place. It's interesting that
the Hebrew word here translated hiding place is sometimes translated
secret place. Now what is a secret place? It is a secret known only by
God and revealed to him to his people or by him to his people
so that they may find refuge in it. He knows where it is. He made this secret place. It
is a secret place and no one can find it. When the pioneers
began to move out west and they were moving into the land of
people that were hostile to them and oftentimes they built their
houses with a secret place. Sometimes that looked like an
ordinary floor, but if you knew the configuration of the boards,
you might realize you could pull a few of them up and there was
a hatchway down into the basement and no one knew. Or there may
be a false wall. And between two rooms there may
be a secret chamber and a secret door into it. It may be only
a couple of feet wide. And people looking for the occupants
of the house may walk across those boards never know that
the people they seek are hiding down underneath the boards. They
may walk into the rooms, walk into every one of those rooms
and not even know that the people are just inches away from them
in a secret place. And so it is with God as He protects
His people. The enemy of God's people comes
looking for them and sometimes walks right by them and does
not recognize that's where they are. Walks right over the place
where they are and does not know it, cannot perceive it. It's
a secret place. We delight in this secret place.
He gives it to us. Our God gives us a secret place. And the enemy might even walk
right up to it and not know it is there. He shall hide me in
a secret place. Repeatedly we're told so. Psalm
91 verse 1, he who dwells in the secret place of the Most
High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. The secret place. I'm in there, and his shadow
is over me, and it's all dark around me. The enemy comes right
up to the place, and the darkness conceals me from them, the shadow
of the Almighty above me. Psalm 27 verse 5 says, in the
time of trouble, in the secret place of his tabernacle, he shall
hide me. His tabernacle. When the Lord told his people
Israel to worship him in the wilderness, he gave to them the
tabernacle. The tabernacle had two rooms
divided by a curtain. Any Israelite could walk into
the courtyard of the tabernacle where was the altar. Only the
priest could walk through the veil into the first room of the
tabernacle. He could change the bread, light
the lamps, ascertained that the incense altar has the incense
in it. But beyond the second veil, no
one could enter except the high priest of the people, and only
he could do it on a certain day of the year, and it was in a
most stringent manner. And yet, I'm told that I can
find refuge in that place. Every one of God's children can
find refuge in that place. In Daniel chapter 9, we are told
that Jesus Christ is the most holy place. We're also told that
in this most holy place, every child of God is a priest, and
every priest of God can go into it. And in that place, in the
most holy place where God's presence itself dwells, I'm safe. I'm
safe. It's a secret place. The enemy
cannot find me therein because they know not how to get into
the most holy place. We read in Psalm 31 verse 20
that you, Jehovah, shall hide them in the secret place of your
presence from the plots of men. What is the secret place of his
presence? Well, what is his presence? His presence is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is called the angel
of Jehovah's presence, Isaiah chapter 63. Furthermore, his
very name, Emmanuel, means with us is God. If he's with us, God
is with us. God's presence is with us. Where
God's presence is is a secret place and we are safe therein.
the hiding place was typified by the cities of refuge in Deuteronomy
chapter 19. The cities of refuge. When the
Lord brought the children of Israel out of the wilderness
and into the promised land, he gave them six cities of refuge. Three on the east bank of the
Jordan. Three on the west bank of the
Jordan. three in the north and, or pardon
me, two in the north and two in the south and two in the center,
equidistant from each other. And every man, every Israelite
was close to a city of refuge, situated in the land. And they
were fixed there so that the unintentional manslayer might
find refuge from the avenger of blood. And if he has committed
manslaughter, but it was unintentional, the Lord said, you flee to that
city of refuge. If you can get there before the
avenger of blood catches up with you, you're safe. You're safe.
It's a hiding place. It is a hiding place. The road
to that city of refuge had to be kept clear of obstacles. No
one was to be impeded. or obstructed in His way to that
place of refuge, and so it is with Jesus Christ. He is our
city of refuge. He is our hiding place. He is
that place where God protects His people. He's near to people,
whether they be in the east or in the west, whether they be
in the north or in the south or in the center. Matters not
where they are, He's near enough. He's near enough. But oh, my
friend, we all have that avenger of blood coming after us. God's
divine justice is coming after us. God's wrath is coming after
us. We need to flee to that city
of refuge. The way to that city has no obstacles
except any you put in front of yourself. Put none there. Put
none there. Flee to the city. That avenger
of blood may be coming through that door this very moment looking
for someone. May be walking up and down the
aisles where we are right now looking for someone. If you're
that one, you better flee to Christ right now. Flee to Christ. He's a hiding place. He's the
only one that will avail. Christ the hiding place was also
typified by the ark of Noah in Genesis chapter 6. 7, 8, 9. The whole world was wicked. God
looked down from heaven and there was not a just man on the whole
earth. And Noah found grace. Noah found
grace. Didn't find merit. Didn't find,
God found no merit in him. God found nothing good in Noah.
He was as wicked as the rest of them. But Noah found grace. Lord said, I'm going to destroy
this world. Noah, build an ark. I'm going
to spare you and your wife, your three sons and their wives. I'm
going to spare two of each of every animal. Now prepare the
ark. Well, Noah had only the rough
tools that he himself could make. Took quite some time to do it,
and he evidently preached every day. And they mocked him. It
had never rained. And here's Noah telling them
that it's going to rain one of these days. The Lord's going
to destroy this world by water. And they laughed him to scorn.
He finished that ark. that one that was big enough
to house him as a hiding place for him and his family and the
animals that God would give to him. He covered it completely
with pitch. It was now watertight. And God
said, get in. And Noah did. Noah did. He got into the ark and God shut
the ark. Noah was now in a hiding place. Noah was now in a secret place
and no one else could find it. God said to the clouds in the
heavens, pour out every drop you got and destroy the earth.
God said to the fountains of the deep, empty your contents
and destroy the earth. And the clouds rained down God's
wrath from above and the fountains caused God's wrath to spring
from below, and the earth was covered. And you could hear the
cries and the wails of all the wicked around that ark. Save
us, save us. And God shut his ears. Inside
that ark, they're saying, hallelujah, we are hidden. We are hidden. We have found a hiding place.
Not one drop of God's wrath came into that ark to hurt anyone.
No one. No one was hurt inside that ark. No one drowned. No one even got
drenched by God's wrath. They were in a hiding place.
You shall preserve me from trouble. This is what God does to those
who are in his hiding place. He preserves them. I have set
before you this morning, Jesus Christ, a hiding place. a hiding place in whom you can
hide when you've sinned against God. You can hide in Him. You
can hide in Him. He will hide you just as David
was hidden from Saul in a cave and Saul was within just about
a hand's reach from him and did not know David was there. God
hid him. You can be hidden Just as Noah
was hidden in that ark, you can be hidden just like the avenger
of blood could be hidden in the city of refuge. You can find
refuge, but it is in Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ alone. Some
say we won't have it. We think we can make our own
refuge, and so they make what the scriptures call a refuge
of lies. Hear the word of Jehovah, you
scornful men. You who have said when the overflowing
scourge passes through, it will not come to us, for we have made
lies our refuge, and under falsehood we have hidden ourselves. Therefore
thus says Adonai Jehovah, the hail will sweep away the refuge
of lies, and the waters will overflow the hiding place. That's
any hiding place other than Jesus Christ. Some are hiding in their
church. God's going to sweep it away.
Some are hiding in their doctrine. God's going to sweep it away.
Some are hiding in their free will. God's going to sweep it
away. Some are hiding in their works
of righteousness. God will sweep them away. Some
will hide in this and that and the other, because men make every
kind of refuge they can in order to come to Christ. The only refuge
in God's is, I'll sweep every one of them away. Every one of
them away. Do not be in such a refuge as
that. When the day of God's wrath comes,
He'll sweep it away. But just as the waters that destroyed
the wicked caused the ark to float, So do the waters of God's
wrath when he sends it upon the earth cause his people to be
saved. Floats them away in safety and
they never know harm. That's my first point. My next
two points are short. Second point, all in Christ the
hiding place are preserved from trouble. Here it is. Here it
is. You shall preserve me from trouble. What kind of trouble? Have you
noticed the kinds of troubles I have already described for
you? He will hide me from God's justice,
pursuing me because of my sins, God's wrath that will destroy
the wicked, every time of trouble, plots of men, and the strife
of tongues, and the storms of life, every kind of trouble you
can imagine. I'm safe. I'm safe. I am in Christ. I am in Christ. He is my hiding place and I am
preserved and hidden in him and I fear no trouble. I fear no
man. I'm preserved in him. I am told
that he shall set me high up on a rock And this rock is impregnable
because it is Jesus Christ. I will say he is my refuge and
my fortress, my God. In him will I trust my hiding
place. Now that's my hiding place. I'm
safe, folks. I'm safe. Well, we'll kill you. You can't. I have everlasting life. You
can kill my body, but that's not me. That's not me. We'll destroy you. You can't.
To destroy me, you've got to get into my hiding place, and
you do not have the key, and you do not even know where it
is. It's a secret place. Folks we're safe in Christ in
Christ. We are safe. We are safe nowhere
else except in Christ you shall preserve me from trouble and
third and final point All in Christ the hiding place are surrounded
with songs of deliverance by Jehovah Think about it In Zephaniah chapter three, verse
17, we read that Jehovah assures his people that I will rejoice
over you with singing. Do you realize that we have the
only God who sings? The only God who sings, the only
God who can sing. Can an idol sing? He's got a
mouth, but it cannot sing. Cannot sing. Cannot garble words. Cannot moan. Cannot mutter. Can do nothing with its mouth.
My God opens his mouth and sings. Sings. What does he sing? Songs of deliverance. Songs of
deliverance. He shall surround me with songs
of deliverance. We sing these hymns of deliverance. God gives them to us. And as
we lift our voices in praise to our hiding place, he lifts
his voice to say, I will keep you. I'll never, no, never, no,
never forsake. When you walk through the fire,
I will be with you. Your garments will not be consumed,
and the smoke will not leave its scent upon you. When you
go through the deep waters, I will be with you. They shall not overflow
you. When you come to old age and
you can no longer walk, I'll pick you up and carry you. You're
hidden in me. You're safe. I will deliver you. Friend, that is my hiding place. My hiding place, is it yours? In the day of trouble,
where are you hiding? Flee to Christ. If you've never
done it, do it right now. Flee to Christ and then you can
say, you are my hiding place. You will preserve me from trouble.
You will surround me with songs of deliverance.