Pray to your Father who is in the secret place

Matthew 6:6
But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

God values our prayer when we prayer to Him, that means there is no reason we need to show others when we pray to God. Just like when we are talking with someone, we don't need to talk in front of other people that we are not directly talking to. To do so would be pretense. And God also values simple childlike prayer as Yshua has thought us, instead of repetitious religious sounding phrases. Finally prayer may include asking things, but those are supposed to be things which are consistent with the will of God, not just things that we want for our personal benefits only.

When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father

Matthew 6:6
But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly

God is in the secret place, so when we pray we have to come to Him in that secret place. This is not some place that can contain God, because God cannot be contained in any location, whether it is the Tabernacle, the Temple or our private praying place. Instead, this secret place is where we meet God in the private one to one correspondence with God, where nothing else in the world mattered. Do we know how to get into such a meeting place with God? There is no specific formula but it is generally a quite place with no disruptions so that we can focus on the Lord alone.

Sing Aloud to God Our Strength

The psalmist calls to make music to God, including singing, shouting, playing the harp, lute, trumpet and timbrel. He recalls the promises of God established since God led the Israelites out of Egypt. There is also a clear reminder that God desire full loyalty from His children and warn them against worshipping any other Gods.

And the psalmist recounts the stubbornness of the people who walk in their own ways and some went towards other foreign false gods. However there is always an opportunity for them to return and then God will again deliver them from their enemies


Psalm 81
To the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath.[a]A Psalm of Asaph.

 1 Sing aloud to God our strength;
         Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob.
 2 Raise a song and strike the timbrel,
         The pleasant harp with the lute.
        
 3 Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon,
         At the full moon, on our solemn feast day.
 4 For this is a statute for Israel,
         A law of the God of Jacob.
 5 This He established in Joseph as a testimony,
         When He went throughout the land of Egypt,
         Where I heard a language I did not understand.
        
 6 “I removed his shoulder from the burden;
         His hands were freed from the baskets.
 7 You called in trouble, and I delivered you;
         I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
         I tested you at the waters of Meribah.  Selah 
        
 8 “Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you!
         O Israel, if you will listen to Me!
 9 There shall be no foreign god among you;
         Nor shall you worship any foreign god.
 10 I am the LORD your God,
         Who brought you out of the land of Egypt;
         Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
        
 11 “But My people would not heed My voice,
         And Israel would have none of Me.
 12 So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart,
         To walk in their own counsels.
        
 13 “Oh, that My people would listen to Me,
         That Israel would walk in My ways!
 14 I would soon subdue their enemies,
         And turn My hand against their adversaries.
 15 The haters of the LORD would pretend submission to Him,
         But their fate would endure forever.
 16 He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat;
         And with honey from the rock I would have satisfied you.”

David Not Ashamed of the LORD

David praises God with all honesty and humility. The keywords in this Psalm are repeated in other psalms including God is David's trust, rock, refuge, fortress, strength. Then David calls upon God again to help in a situation where it appears David was turned away from his friends. Some description here seem to suggest this is in the later part of his life. And David continues to call on God for His mercy.

Yet in his time of trouble, David again tells God that he still trusts God and still clings to Him. He has confidence in God who would deliver those who fear Him and trust Him. Despite the persecutions, despite the enemies plotting against him, despite the wickedness surrounding him, David had the peace and joy in the LORD, remembering that God would protect him and hide him in His secret place.

David closes with an encouragement:
"Oh, love the LORD, all you His saints! For the LORD preserves the faithful"


Psalm 31

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

 1 In You, O LORD, I put my trust;
         Let me never be ashamed;
         Deliver me in Your righteousness.
 2 Bow down Your ear to me,
         Deliver me speedily;
         Be my rock of refuge,
         A fortress of defense to save me.
       
 3 For You are my rock and my fortress;
         Therefore, for Your name’s sake,
         Lead me and guide me.
 4 Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,
         For You are my strength.
 5 Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
         You have redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.
       
 6 I have hated those who regard useless idols;
         But I trust in the LORD.
 7 I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy,
         For You have considered my trouble;
         You have known my soul in adversities,
 8 And have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy;
         You have set my feet in a wide place.
       
 9 Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am in trouble;
         My eye wastes away with grief,
         Yes, my soul and my body!
 10 For my life is spent with grief,
         And my years with sighing;
         My strength fails because of my iniquity,
         And my bones waste away.
 11 I am a reproach among all my enemies,
         But especially among my neighbors,
         And am repulsive to my acquaintances;
         Those who see me outside flee from me.
 12 I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind;
         I am like a broken vessel.
 13 For I hear the slander of many;
         Fear is on every side;
         While they take counsel together against me,
         They scheme to take away my life.
       
 14 But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD;
         I say, “You are my God.”
 15 My times are in Your hand;
         Deliver me from the hand of my enemies,
         And from those who persecute me.
 16 Make Your face shine upon Your servant;
         Save me for Your mercies’ sake.
 17 Do not let me be ashamed, O LORD, for I have called upon You;
         Let the wicked be ashamed;
         Let them be silent in the grave.
 18 Let the lying lips be put to silence,
         Which speak insolent things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.
       
 19 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!
 20 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.
       
 21 Blessed be the LORD,
         For He has shown me His marvelous kindness in a strong city!
 22 For I said in my haste,
         “I am cut off from before Your eyes”;
         Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications
         When I cried out to You.
       
 23 Oh, love the LORD, all you His saints!
         For the LORD preserves the faithful,
         And fully repays the proud person.
 24 Be of good courage,
         And He shall strengthen your heart,
         All you who hope in the LORD.

David Seeks God's Face

David starts of this Psalm with the great encouragement that the LORD is my light and salvation - so whom shall I fear? In other words, when the Mighty One of Jacob is our God, there is nothing else to be afraid of.

So David describes that no enemy army, nor wicked foes, nor wars would cause him to fear. He has set his sight on high - thinking about living with God. In times of trouble God will hide us in his secret place.

It is no wonder God describes as David as after His heart. David calls upon the mercy of God first and determines to seek God's face, to know Him, to be close to Him. He has full trust in God that even as earthly parents may forsake him, the LORD God will not forsake him.

As David pleads with God to teach him His ways so that he can withstand his numerous enemies and tribulations, one interesting verse is this: "That I would see the goodness of the LORD
In the land of the living." Clearly David believes the blessings and goodness of God is also for this earthly life as well as for eternity.

Finally David ends the Psalm with an encouragement for each of us to: "Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; "



Psalm 27

A Psalm of David.

 1 The LORD is my light and my salvation;
         Whom shall I fear?
         The LORD is the strength of my life;
         Of whom shall I be afraid?
 2 When the wicked came against me
         To eat up my flesh,
         My enemies and foes,
         They stumbled and fell.
 3 Though an army may encamp against me,
         My heart shall not fear;
         Though war may rise against me,
         In this I will be confident.
       
 4 One thing I have desired of the LORD,
         That will I seek:
         That I may dwell in the house of the LORD
         All the days of my life,
         To behold the beauty of the LORD,
         And to inquire in His temple.
 5 For in the time of trouble
         He shall hide me in His pavilion;
         In the secret place of His tabernacle
         He shall hide me;
         He shall set me high upon a rock.
       
 6 And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me;
         Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle;
         I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.
       
 7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice!
         Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
 8 When You said, “Seek My face,”
         My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.”
 9 Do not hide Your face from me;
         Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
         You have been my help;
         Do not leave me nor forsake me,
         O God of my salvation.
 10 When my father and my mother forsake me,
         Then the LORD will take care of me.
       
 11 Teach me Your way, O LORD,
         And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
 12 Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries;
         For false witnesses have risen against me,
         And such as breathe out violence.
 13 I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
         That I would see the goodness of the LORD
         In the land of the living.
       
 14 Wait on the LORD;
         Be of good courage,
         And He shall strengthen your heart;
         Wait, I say, on the LORD!