'Thou shall hide them in the secret of Thy presence from the pride
of man; Thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife
of tongues.'--PSALM xxxi. 20.
The word rendered 'presence' is literally 'face,' and the force of this
very remarkable expression of confidence is considerably marred unless
that rendering be retained. There are other analogous expressions in
Scripture, setting forth, under various metaphors, God's protection of
them that love Him. But I know not that there is any so noble and
striking as this. For instance, we read of His hiding His children 'in
the secret of His tabernacle,' or tent; as an Arab chief might do a
fugitive who had eaten of his salt, secreting him in the recesses of his
tent whilst the pursuers scoured the desert in vain for their prey.
Again, we read of His hiding them 'beneath the shadow of His wing';
where the divine love is softened into the likeness of the maternal
instinct which leads a hen to gather her chickens beneath the shelter of
her own warm and outspread feathers. But the metaphor of my text is more
vivid and beautiful still. 'Thou shalt hide them in the secret of Thy
face.' The light that streams from that countenance is the hiding-place
for a poor man. These other metaphors may refer, perhaps, the one to the
temple, and the other to the outstretched wings of the cherubim that
shadowed the Mercy-seat. And, if so, this metaphor carries us still more
near to the central blaze of the Shekinah, the glory that hovered above
the Mercy-seat, and glowed in the dark sanctuary, unseen but once a year
by one trembling high priest, who had to bear with him blood of
sacrifice, lest the sight should slay. The Psalmist says, into that
fierce light a man may go, and stand in it, bathed, hid, secure. 'Thou
shalt hide them in the secret of Thy face.'