Houghton Academy - Pebble Yearbook (Houghton, NY)

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4 REV. C. I. ARMSTRONG FROM CDUR PASTOR Years ago a very dear friend wrote my name in the fly-leaf of a lovely new Bible of mine fat my requestj . Then this friend wrote that part of the quotation from the ninety-first Psalm, as heads this item, under my name. That has been a life motto for me ever since that time. He that dwelleth . . . shall abidef, What a Psalm is this! Many have felt that there is no poem in Latin or Greek comparable to this Hebrew Ode. We doubt that one can find anything in human language, anywhere, more solid, more beautiful, or more profound than this lovely Scripture. We have no means of dating it. Nor can we credit it to any human author with certainty. ln the entire collection of Psalms none stand out with such a sub- lime and sustained note of faith throughout. And so, in the high Alpine peaks of eternal verities its author begins: He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. The late Dr. G. Campbell Morgan said: This psalm is one of the greatest possessions of the saints. It is a great song of the safety of such as put their trust in Jehovah, and it contains the Divine assurance of such faith as fruitful. Very little of exposition is necessary. What is the Secret Place of the Most High? The idea of this secret placev is met with often in Scripture. Sometimes it tells of some secret hiding-place, such as David often resorted to when a fugitive from King Saul. There the sure pro- tection of God was likened to such a safe shelter. At other times the central tent of the commander of an army seems to be meant. Psalm 27:5- He shall hide me in His pavilion. There the thought is that an enemy would have to break through rank after rank of the encamped army ere he could reach the well-guarded 16

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Mrs. Kilpatrick, L. Kreckman, R. Hamilton, G. Barker, S. Carey 8TI-I GRADE F. Russell, Mrs. Kilpatrick, L. Knowlton, P. Sprankle, M. L. Nichols, Andrews, R. Fero 7Tl-I GRADE C. Hazlett, E. Kreckman

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central tent of the commander, or leader. Such inaccesibility to the foe, is taken as an emblem of our security in God. Howeyer, in verse one of this ninety-first Psalm, we thinlc the allusion is here made to the most holy place of the tabernacle and the temple, that sacred chamber where no one but the High Priest went once each year, and that on the great Day of Atonement, bearing the blood of atone- ment for the sins of the people. That secret place was the earthly dwelling-place of God. There between the cherubims He was said to dwell. ln the name of the Lord jesus Christ, our merciful and faithful high priest , wc come to God, pleading His all-sufficient sacrifice and atonement. The law's condemnation, sin's powcr, all earthly care, yea, even death and the cold grave can do us no harm as long as we ABIDE. We too shall be able to testify to others as the writer of this text, if we dwell in the secret-place: fverse Zl I will say of the Lordf, Yes, if we abide we shall Say! We shall confess a good con- fession before men everywhere, because we dwell and abide. I will say of the Lord, He is my God . . . Yea, He has become the confidence, the delight, the supreme joy of our souls. Oh, young people, begin early to practice the DWELLING in the secret- place! He will be to you, not a refuge, but My Refuge! Then in your life as in the rest of the Psalm. there will be one prolonged testimony to the blessedness of thus dwelling in God. No matter the place, no matter the test. And so the nromise is declarrd in this sacred writ: I will be with him in troublez I will deliver himf, Make it vovvr first business in life to DWELL,,-tlien you shall ABIDE.,' And keep on abiding. 17