SAY WHAT?
Psalm 91:1-2 NKJV
1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”
I had a friend during my early years that I went to church with. He was a little guy and the youngest of four brothers. He may have been little, but he was scrappy. I was with him when some guy mumbled something his way. My friend shot back, Say what? It had such attitude that the other guy shut up and walked away. We need some of that same attitude when it comes to the things we deal with in life. But our attitude is based on Who we know and Who we belong to. I will say of the Lord. Say what? You mean there are some things we should be saying about the Lord? Absolutely.
This ninety-first psalm is known as the psalm of protection. The author starts with the advantages of living in close connection with the Lord. Dwelling in the secret place is living close to Him. Living close to the Lord is hidden from those who do not have a relationship with Him. But because we have received Christ and are part of God’s family the secret place is not a secret to us.
But here is a key to living in the secret place. What we say about the Lord. What we verbalize in our private times of prayer and what we say during the course of our day. There is an interesting phenomenon that involves our words. What we talk about, we are able to focus on, and it becomes more real to us. The Japanese bullet train employees are taught to point and speak regarding safety procedures and train functions. Studies have shown that pointing to an object and verbalizing your intention increases awareness and attention, making it harder to mess up. The Japanese train system has dramatically reduced accidents using this method. It may appear strange, but it works. So if it works for a train system, how much more can it help us spiritually? We can point when we look at God’s word in the Bible. And we can verbalize what we see. That is a reason if you are having trouble focusing when reading Bible 365 (everyone at The Ark reads Bible 365), read it out loud. The pointing and speaking will increase your attention and awareness.
Okay, besides reading out loud, say what else? What should we be saying about the Lord? We can take a cue from verse two. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress. There are times when we need the Lord to be a place we can go for safety when it seems life and attacks are bombarding us. What helps us is to develop a pattern of regularly saying about the Lord - Lord You are my refuge and fortress. As we begin to say this about the Lord, we create a better sense of awareness of God as our safe place and a place where we can go when life’s arrows are flying.
And we can say that God is my God. God is the One I trust. I trust the Lord Jesus, my Master and Savior. I trust the Holy Spirit; the strong One sent to help and guide me. Declaring our trust in the Lord on a regular basis increases our awareness of Him and our attention on Him.
When life and the enemy start chirping at us, we can’t afford to back down. Say what? Say the Lord is my strong safe place. The Lord is helping me. I am not afraid and not discouraged. I trust in the Lord.