He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.” (Psalm 91:1-2)

There is a belief in Judaism that when God created the world, He determined to limit its’ growth with the command, “Dai — Enough!” The idea is that God ordained that the physical world must be finite because if it were allowed to be infinite and unlimited, then it would possess characteristics that are assigned only to God. In short, it would have been perfect in the sense that God is perfect. The theory goes on to argue that, because the world is not perfect in that sense, there are dark areas in the world — shadows if you will — where the perfect Presence of the Almighty is not as evident as it is in other areas.

Whether there is validity to this idea or not, I’ll leave to it the reader to decide. However I will say this: there are things in this world that we simply do not understand and there are times and situations when we struggle to perceive God’s Presence or purpose. Put simply, there are times in our lives when we feel we are groping in the dark and unable to find our way. In those times we are often tempted to feel that God’s Presence is absent or at least distant. Of course, the reality is that God’s Presence is everywhere, whether in light or darkness. Furthermore, Moses’ words reveal that it might be that when we find ourselves in darkness, that is when He is the closest.

I’ve often wondered how much physical light actually penetrated the Holy of Holies. The courtyard of the Sanctuary would have been illuminated by the light of the sun; the Holy Place would have received the benefit of the light that shone outside its entrance. But considering that there was a heavy veil that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Sanctuary, how much of the sun’s light was able to penetrate that sacred chamber? Was it dark, or at the very least, enveloped in shadows? Yet that is where His Presence resided — and where those who love Him desire to be.

That is the point: those who are truly seeking to have an intimacy with the Most High desire to dwell in the secret place and abide under His shadow. Those who are pursuing Him are able detect His Presence even in the times when life casts a shadow over our path. And it is in those times that we come to realize that “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.”

Blessings and Shalom,  

Bill 

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