“Oh, how great is Your goodness, Which You have laid up for those who fear You, Which You have prepared for those who trust in You In the presence of the sons of men! You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence From the plots of man; You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion From the strife of tongues.” (Psalms 31:19-20 NKJV)
This is true—yet, sometimes it doesn’t appear to be true. When bad things happen, we wonder how God can be good. How do we respond to the seemingly successful plots of evil men? What if we apparently find no refuge from caustic speech directed our way.
The reality is that we see through a glass darkly (1 Cor.13). This is why Scripture says we walk by faith and not by sight. We’ll understand it better by and by.
When we are tempted to doubt God’s goodness, all we must do is run to the cross, and see the refuge He provided for us there.
There is shelter in the secret place of God’s good presence, “From the plots of man…”. In context, the psalmist is extolling the goodness of God in protecting us from evil people. I think of Corrie Ten Boom, whose story was told in her book, “The Hiding Place.” She, and her sister wound up in a Nazi concentration camp—and her sister would die there. Yet, God brought her through. Her body may have suffered—and she could have joined her family in death—but, the real Corrie—the born again Corrie who was God’s child—the person living inside the house of her flesh, was never threatened. Our souls are sheltered in the arms of God, whatever storms batter our physical being.
“You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion From the strife of tongues.” As a child I heard, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me.” Is that true? If it is, then why do we recall such hurtful words that may have been spoken about us from long ago? Yet, in this sense it is true—the child of God cannot suffer real harm from lies, slander, and criticism. Recall the lies told about Jesus that led to His harm in crucifixion, and yet which ended in the triumph of His resurrection and accomplishment of His mission. Paul was nearly torn to pieces in Jerusalem by an angry mob based on a lie, ended up in jail, in a shipwreck, bitten by a venomous viper, yet this became the occasion of God doing a great work in spreading the Gospel (see Phil.1:12-13). When bad men rule, a good God, overrules!
God works all for good, for He is good—even the bad that comes in a broken world is transformed by His infinite wisdom and grace into something redemptive!
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