"You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance."
Psalm 32:7 (NIV)
After we confess a sin, we often still keep our distance from God. We said the words. We asked Him to forgive us. But we still pray less and stay in the back of the room, as if we must prove ourselves before we come close again. We assume God needs some space from us. He never asked for that space. We did.
David ran to the very God he had been hiding his sin from. While he kept silent about his sin, God's hand was heavy on him. Then he confessed, and God forgave him. Right after that, he says to God, "You are my hiding place." The man who hid his sin from God now hides himself in God.
A hiding place is somewhere you run when danger comes and you need shelter. David knew what that meant. 1 Samuel tells how, before he became king, he hid from King Saul in caves and desert strongholds. Here he gives that picture to God Himself. He does not say God gives him a hiding place. He says God is his hiding place. David's safety is not found in getting away from God. It is found in the Lord.
In that hiding place, David finds protection and songs where guilt used to be. He says God will protect him from trouble and surround him with songs of deliverance. This is David's confidence in God, not a promise that life will be easy. In verse 6 he speaks of rising floodwaters, so he knows trouble still comes. What has changed is where he goes when it comes. His guilt once pressed in on him day and night. Now he is surrounded by songs of God rescuing him.
Run to God now, not once you feel worthy, and run away from your sin as you go. In that same verse, David urges everyone who is faithful to God to pray to Him while He may be found. That is an urgent invitation to come now. David has just told his own story of sinning and confessing, so those words are for people like him. They are for you. But you cannot hide in God while you keep going back to the sin you just confessed. In Christ you find forgiveness, and you also find the grace to turn from that sin.
Godseekers, the God you hid your sin from is the God you can now hide in. After you confess, do not stand at a distance. Run to the Lord and stay close. He has forgiven you, and He is your hiding place.
Prayer
Lord, my hiding place, I confess that I have kept my distance from You even after You forgave me. I have run to other places when guilt and trouble came. I run to You now, and I turn away from my sin. Keep me close to You, and surround me with songs of Your deliverance. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Personal Reflection
- After you confess a sin, what do you do instead of drawing close to God, and what do you believe He feels toward you in that moment?
- Where do you usually run when guilt or trouble comes, such as busyness, people, distraction, or the sin itself, and what has taught you that those places feel safer than God?
Step of Faith
Write "Lord, You are my hiding place" on a card or your phone's lock screen today. When you feel the pull back toward the sin you confessed, pray it out loud. Then walk away from the place, screen, or situation connected to that sin.
