Hiding From God or Hiding Within God?

“I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”; and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah. Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him. You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.”  Psalm 32:5 – 7 (NASB)

What is the oldest game known to mankind?

It is “Hide and Seek”. Ever since Adam and Eve rebelled against God we’ve been hiding; hiding from God, hiding from ourselves, hiding from one another. We hide in our families, at our jobs, in our neighborhoods, even at church. (The second-oldest game is the blame game, it is someone else’s fault; Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the serpent, and we’ve been blaming others for our sins ever since).

In verse 2 of this psalm David writes, “How blessed is the man to whom Yahweh does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.” It is indeed a blessing to be delivered from guile and deceit, from wearing a mask, Can we hear Jesus saying to Nathaniel, “Behold, and Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile (deceit)!” John 1:47.

I have known people who thought that they might have cancer, who have had lumps on their body, and yet did not go to the doctor because they didn’t want to have their fears confirmed. When they finally did go to the physician their fears were confirmed but it was too late for effective treatment. It does us no good to hide from our fears, to hide from the lumps in our lives, and it certainly does us no good to hide our iniquities from God. When David hid his sin, he writes (Psalm 32:3-4):

“When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah.”

When we acknowledge our sins to God, when we allow the Holy Spirit to bring our sins into the light, then we experience God’s amazing forgiveness. (1 John 1:9 - 2:2)

We can either hide from God as we hide our sins, or we can hide in God in deep relationship with Him.

Is there anything we are hiding from God? Are we hiding from God? Or, are we hiding in God?

“Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”  Colossians 3:1 – 4.

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