My Hiding Place

Psalm 32:7

You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah

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Sometimes I hear people talking about their "life verse" - a passage of scripture that has been the theme of their life, or perhaps gives them a perpetual sense of motivation and purpose. I have heard people use the Golden Rule of Matthew 7, or the Great Commission of Matthew 28, or perhaps some quote from Paul that talks about God's calling in their lives. Jesus himself often summarized his life and ministry in one verse sayings, like "I have come to seek and save the lost" or "the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come that you may have abundant life."

This verse from Psalm 32 has been about the closest in my experience to a "life verse." It has followed me through several seasons of life and never fails to comfort and recenter my view of life and understanding of God's love.

The first season where this verse met me was in college. I was studying Hebrew in a mostly nonreligious Religion department (yes, I said that right). I translated this passage from the Hebrew and was drawn into the beauty of this psalm by the hidden rhyme found in this verse, which does not carry over in the English translation:

Atah seter li
Mitzar titz-raini
Ra-ney fallet tisovivani

I enjoyed this verse so much that I painted the Hebrew words on the wall of my small apartment bedroom. I wanted to be reminded that God's love and protection were always around me, that God himself was my hiding place.

The second season where this verse appeared in my life was in seminary. The last phrase of the verse includes the word "shouts" but this can also be translated "songs." I had always loved music, grew up playing my dad's guitars, and from early in my christian life helped to lead others in youth groups to worship in song. The idea that God the creator was singing over me and that this was part of his deliverance was very comforting.

This comfort took on new meaning in seminary when I met a lovely young lady who shared my love for music, worship, ministry, and all things beautiful. Her name was Donna, and when we started dating, it was just before Christmas, which put me in the fun position of finding a present for her that was special but not TOO special. I decided to make a framed picture montage with snapshots of our brief time together. In the center was one simple verse of scripture, written in Hebrew - Psalm 32:7.

This verse would continue to comfort and remind me and Donna in the coming years of God's song of deliverance, through times of both joy and sorrow. The frame still hangs in our living room to this day.

Today, I was driving to work, feeling particularly tired and discouraged. I have every reason to rejoice: a family that loves me unconditionally, a job I enjoy with an upcoming promotion, a Savior who forgives and provides. But my fears and self-hatred often overwhelm these obvious realities. So, like I've done hundreds of times, I put Andrew Peterson on the stereo and proceeded to sing my heart out, crying tears of joy and gratitude as I preached the words of God's grace to myself yet again. 

These are words that I will never fail to need reminding of. They are God's song of deliverance to me, and I hope to continue singing these words and others like them for many seasons to come:

High noon in the valley of the shadow
When the deep of the valley was bright
When the mouth of the tomb
Shouted, "Glory, the Groom is alive" 

So long, you wages of sin
Go on, don't you come back again
I've been raised and redeemed 

You've lost all your sting
To the victor of the battle
At high noon in the valley
In the valley of the shadow