In the last issue, we discovered how important it is to maintain an attitude of joy in our lives regardless of our circumstances. We discovered that joy is a choice, and we learned that by making that choice in the midst of our trials, God can not only deliver us from our circumstances, but also achieve great victories for us and through us. This week, we want to look at how to tap into the well of joy that is locked inside us. It’s great to know the power of joy, but if we don’t know how to access it, we’re left feeling more frustrated than before.

Psalm 91:1-2 reads, “he who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’� There are two key words in these verses that cannot truly be understood through the translation. The first is dwell. This word conveys a sense of marriage, or a permanent and intimate connection. So dwelling in the shelter of the Most High requires an initial decision as well as an ongoing choice to remain there.

As we know, God’s will for marriage is that it be lasting and eternal (Matt. 19:6), but anyone who is married knows that isn’t always easy. Just because you’re a Christian and you say, “I do,â€? doesn’t mean you will live happily ever after. You must continually choose to remain (dwell) in that marriage, and there will be many times when it is only because of your vow. This is the difference between dwelling and experiencing. To dwell is to stay in that place whether or not you feel like it. It is permanent, and it is the only optionâ€"you do not allow yourself a way out. Experiencing is temporary; it comes and goes. It is all about feelings, and feelings change from one moment to the next.

The second word is shelter, which is translated from the Hebrew word seter and means secret place. This is the same word which David uses in Psalm 139:14-15 when he says, “I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place.�

The secret place is a place of tremendous joy. To understand why, we must look at the context of these last two verses, and then at the whole scope of creation. David is speaking of the wonder of what God has made, both on a broader scaleâ€"“Your worksâ€?â€"as well as more specifically, himself. We cannot fathom the vastness of the universe, but when we look up at the stars at night, we get a tiny glimpse into the awesomeness of God’s creation. Just imagine if we could have been there to witness Him at work when He placed them throughout the sky! It must have been an incredible experience for the angelic host to watch!

Then, when God focused in on this planet and separated the land from the waters, when He created day and night, all the plants, and then the animals; there must have been an excitement in the heavens like never before. Every angel must have waited eagerly each night for the next day to come and the next phase of creation to begin. Just like children on Christmas Eve, they must have tossed and turned all night long in anticipation. Finally, after five glorious days of celebrating God’s incredible imagination and artistry, the culmination of all His goodness was manifested in…man. What a celebration there must have been in heaven! The first Sabbath must have been the most incredible party in all of history!

This is what the secret place represents. It is a place of such deep, abiding joy and constant excitement and expectation that there is no room for grumbling. It is not something that God places within us, but something that we draw out of ourselves when we truly meditate on who our God is and what He is capable of. Nothing on this entire earth can touch that kind of joy, because when we are in the secret place, we begin to understand just how amazing our God is! We begin to understand just how much we really do mean to Him, and what lengths He will take to ensure our happiness. When we start to realize that everything in the universe was made and exists in perfect harmony for our benefit, we will begin to experience the secret place, and the more we experience it the more we will want to dwell in it.

That is what the rest of Psalm 91:1-2 means. The second half of verse one is almost a repeat of the first half with a slight twist. The word rest can mean to permanently abideâ€"somewhat similar to dwellingâ€"or it can imply an overnight stay. Both meanings are important to the idea the psalmist is conveying here. To permanently abide, obviously, is to stay in His shadow regardless of where we go or what we do. But to only stay overnight is also an important distinction, because there are times when we just need a good night’s sleep. If the Christian walk can be compared to a race (1 Cor. 9:24-27), then at the end of each day, we need to get enough quality rest to be ready for the next leg of the journey.

Several years ago, Lance Armstrong won the Tour De France for a record sixth time. The Tour De France is a grueling bike race that lasts many days and takes the racers through all types of terrain, including mountains. Each day’s leg is laid out for the riders, and when they finish, they are done until the next morning. Imagine if any of them did not sleep well on any given night. The next day’s leg would most likely be a disaster. This is how we must look at the well of joy we dip into. Sometimes, we need to go there to take a break from the race. This is not to say we drop out of the race, but instead, we take a moment to refresh. This is one reason why weekly church attendance is so important, especially in a church that has anointed worship. There is a joyâ€"and consequent refuelingâ€"that takes place during worship that we really can’t experience anywhere else.

For this reason, as well as others, it is imperative we learn to worship on our own, too. There is definitely an intensity in corporate worship that is indescribable, but we can’t always make it an entire week on one night’s sleep. That’s because we were never intended to. Church is like the slumber party with our friends, but it doesn’t replace our sleep on the other six nights! We absolutely need to worship God on a daily basis if we’re going to learn to dwell in the secret place.

The “shadow of the Almighty� is a form of defense, or a hiding place that is safe and warm. It is similar to the wings of a mother hen, under which her chicks will rest comfortably (see Psalm 91:4 & Matt. 23:37). They can hear and feel their mother’s heart beating, and they instinctively sense they are completely impervious to harm in that place.

Verse two of Psalm 91 is a reiteration of the second part of Nehemiah 8:10. “The joy of the Lord is your strength� could easily be rephrased as ‘the joy of the Lord is your refuge and your fortress.’ It is also a proclamation that helps us dwell in the secret place and rest in the shadow of the Almighty. The word, say, means to proclaim, to boast, or to say in one’s heart. David is reminding us how important it is to personalize (“I will say…He is my�) and speak out the characteristics and promises of God. When we do this regularly, it helps us maintain the level of joy and faith it takes to look beyond our circumstances.

This is the point where many of us go down the wrong road. The story in Acts 16 shows us how the pattern described in Psalm 91:1-2 should play out in real life. Paul and Silas found themselves in a desperate situation. They were in prisonâ€"naked, beaten, and shackled. They did not know what was going to happen next, but they did know some things about their God. So they took a break from the race, went to that secret place, and hid themselves under His wings!

They proclaimed His goodness through worship and prayerâ€"with the other prisoners listeningâ€"and suddenly an earthquake shook the building, causing the doors to fly open and their shackles to fall off. It does not seem very likely that they were praying for an earthquake to set them free, because they didn’t escape afterward. In fact, what happened next seems even more ridiculous than their worshipping: they stayed there! There is no logical explanation for this, so we have to assume the Holy Spirit instructed them to stay. None of the other prisoners left either, so Paul and Silas must have already had an impact on them!

This is why we must learn to dwell in the secret place of the Most High. God wants to perform miracles through us, but we refuse to follow His instructions! Psalm 91:1-2 gives us the roadmap, and James 1:2-4 explains what will happen when we use the roadmap: we will become mature and complete, not lacking anything! That sounds good to me!

Saemus Sutton is the author of Leaders Make Leaders, featuring the Wash, Rinse, Repeat mentoring model. You can download the eBook free at http://www.leadersmakeleaders.com/.

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