A God of Secrets

“The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him...” – Psalm 25:14

         The book of Psalms makes it plain that our God keeps secrets (27:5; 31:20; 90:1). And He reserves the right exclusively to reveal them when, where…and to whom He chooses. If we bristle at this, I would remind us of two things: God is always right in whatever He does (Psl. 18:30a); and there isn’t one among us who does not cherish the right to choose who will be his or her confidant among friends and acquaintances. God loves and will save any man, woman, or child who puts their faith and trust in the Blood of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins; but He still declares there are those who retain an intimacy with Him that is not shared by all. And I would submit that this difference has nothing to do with Sovereignty and everything to do with choice.

We can see this same principle of exclusive intimacy in the life of our Lord, as well. Didn’t He choose twelve out of those who followed Him, and three from these to share His most intimate encounters with Heaven, while one was so close, he could hear His very heartbeat (Jno. 13:23). And of homes around Galilee that would surely have been open to Him, why did not regularly He seek out that of Martha, Mary, and their brother, Lazarus?

         If you’re as anxious as I am to be part of this privileged group, your next question will be, “How do I qualify?” I could point out some of the things on which you and I base the intimacy of our friendships, like shared interests and whether or not they’re willing to go out of their way to spend time with us. And those would be legitimate considerations. But, thankfully, God has left us a four-word description of those to whom He will whisper His secrets: “those that fear him.”  Now, before you remind me that you’ve always been proud to label yourself a “God-fearing woman or man,” let me read you just one of many like verses in the Bible: “And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,” (Deut. 10:12). A healthy fear of authority of any kind is always marked by one thing: obedience. Notice in the verse, loving, serving, and walking with God all go back to true fear of Him. When God is your deepest desire of heart and soul, obedience to Him will be the ultimate expression of this, not any outward praise.

         God has a secret — many of them, as a matter of fact, and He has some personal, just-between-the-two-of-us secrets for you and me. Some of them will be so intimate, we’ll be hesitant to share them with anyone. Still others may be used to bless hearts and bring men and women. King David, who knew what it was to share in God’s secrets, said, “Come, ye children, hearken unto me: and I will teach you the fear of the LORD” (Psl. 34:11) Well, I want to be one of God’s children willing to be taught the (true) fear of God. I want to be one of those to whom He reveals Himself from day to day in a special, secret-sharing intimacy. What about you?