He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the
shadow of the Almighty
He who dwells in the
shelter … will rest in the shadow …
…dwells in the shelter …. rest in the shadow…
He who dwells … will rest …
Dwells …rest …
As I sat there, motionless with anticipation in the court waiting
room, I heard what sounded like the voices of hundreds of people, quietly
repeating the above refrain. My quick scan of the room revealed no speakers
that might be connected to a public address or stereo system, but this steady
stream of sound was unbroken. Overlapping, as in a round … on the order of ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat’ Different
voices, some deep, others high pitched, and every pitch or tenor in between. I
was the only witness awaiting the trial, and there was no receptionist nearby. It
literally felt as if the voices were strangely projecting from the very stones
of the building.
He who dwells in…
the Most High… will rest… He who dwells in the shelter…
rest in the shadow…
dwells in the shadow…
He who… He who…
He who… He who…
Countless voices softly echoing these words.
As I sat there contemplating this curiosity, I found myself gently
breathing almost to the rhythm of the refrain, relaxing, letting go of tensions
of the week. And were there tensions. That week, I found myself knee deep in
tensions at work, at home, in social relationships, and even at church where I
typically find some degree of relief from life’s strains and stresses. Not this
week. I wasn’t sure if I was going through a trial of my faith, or temptation
to let my guard down and delve head-on into strife-ridden situations in order
to forge acceptable solutions.
But those voices. Who, where, why, how? My mind flooded with a
truck load of questions, with no one in site to ask.
He who…who
dwells…shall….he….rest….
The unwavering rounds continued.
The time for my hearing drew close. I could hear the echo of
footsteps of someone coming towards me from down a long hall. As this person
drew closer, I discerned he was walking to the rhythm of the voices which also
echoed down the hall. He motioned me to join him, returning in the direction
from which he had come. I clumsily gathered my personal effects, and walked
briskly towards him. As I approached him, I was struck by the brilliance of his
face and hands, the only parts of his body that were exposed. ‘Light white’ is
all I could think of. He quickly turned his back to me and I followed silently,
yet not in silence. As we walked, I quickly noticed the volume and intensity of
the voices increased every so gradually, maintaining the steady rhythm of the
rounds. My attempts to get the attention of my escort were futile. His strides
were much greater than mine, because though I am over 6 feet tall, I am sure this
person was well over 7 feet tall; reminding me of the tall, lanky Masai tribe
warriors I visited in Kenya. It was all I could do to keep up with him as he
strode to the rhythm of the voices. I felt like a little child struggling to
keep up with an adult walking at a normal pace.
As we neared the end of the hall, I saw a door with several small
windows arranged in an indecipherable design, through which streamed the
brightest light I can imagine. Some of the panes of the door must have been
stained glass or prisms, because it appeared as if the light coming through them
was changing colors, reflecting all the colors of a rainbow. ‘How curiously beautiful’, I thought.
My escort extended his long arm to open the door, and motioned for
me to enter the court. As he did, the volume of the voices suddenly increased,
literally flooding every fiber of my being. Bass voices deeper than deep can
imagine. Rich tenor and soprano voices reflecting an incredible strength and
conviction. Voices, voices, seemingly thousands of voices flooding my being as
I entered the court.
Scanning the room, I quickly saw hundreds of persons resembling my
escort, but I was taken aback as I realized they were not the sources of the voices. As my escort guided me to the
witness stand, I looked around and saw no discernible evidence of a public
address or sound system. I saw only The Judge and one Attorney standing before
the Judge’s bench, which was exceptionally high, and from which light emanated
that filled the room and the faces of everyone therein.
As soon as I was seated, I was startled by the reverberating BANG of the gavel, and a rich, deep
voice saying, ‘This court is now in
session’.
A split second before the second syllable of the word, ‘ses-sion’
was spoken, all of the voices suddenly stopped! For a brief moment, there was
total silence, with all eyes on me. A sole voice broke the silence. Deep baritone in tenor, speaking
slowly, and sounding as if echoing from a mountain peak across a long, deep
valley, it said,
He who dwells in the
shelter of the Most High
will rest in the
shadow of the Almighty…
This is the policy of The High Court.
Almost as if speaking on cue, I felt an incredible surge of energy
and faith swelling inside of me, bubbling up my chest, into my throat and out
of my mouth. These words shot past of my lips with a level of faith heretofore
unknown,‘I will say of the
LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust!’’
‘Where did that
come from’, I
wondered? I could feel all eyes in the room fixed intently and approvingly upon
me, signaling I was somehow not
out of order. I released a great sigh of relief, and noticed movement in the
court. The sole Attorney who was present was approaching me. With a confident
stride, a strong, bright face and calming eyes that seemed to peer right
through me, He started his discourse…
Looking at me and pointing to the Judge, He belted out,
Surely He will save you from the fowler's snare and from the
deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you
will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will
not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the
pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
I struggled unsuccessfully to decipher the meaning of these words
that pierced through my consciousness. He continued, pacing across the
courtroom.
A thousand may fall at your
side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will
only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. As you make
the Most High your dwelling - even the LORD, who is My refuge - then no harm
will befall you; no disaster will come near your dwelling.
I sat there taking in all of this. The splendor of the court, the
brightness of the light, with no obvious electrical source. ‘Why only one Attorney’, I wondered? ‘What a magnificent Judge’s desk’, I
thought. ‘When will I be questioned’,
I pondered as I tried to refocus on the marvelous words and affirmations
streaming out of the soul of this Attorney who spoke so convincingly.
Speaking to me but facing and motioning with His hand to those
bright faces in the audience, He continued,
For He will command His angels concerning you to guard and keep
you in all your ways. They will lift you
up in their hands, so you will not strike your foot against a stone.
‘Angels?!’, I gasped quietly. ‘Then that means the He must be….’ ‘Even if you tread upon the lion and the cobra’, He continued, interrupting my thought, ‘…or trample upon the great lion and the serpent, they will not hurt
you!’
I sat there motionless and in awe of what I was seeing and hearing.
Though I was the witness, in reality, He was witnessing to me rather than poking me with dozens of lawyerly questions
as in any normal trial or court hearing. Once again, I gasped.
As if cutting off this Lawyer’s fine discourse in mid-stream, for
the second time, I heard the overpowering voice of The Judge. ‘Because he loves Me’,
he thundered, ‘I, even I will rescue him;
I will protect him, because he acknowledges My Name!’
With mouths open agasp, all of the angels fixed their gaze upon The
Judge sitting on His splendid and lofty bench, and robed in indescribable
majesty and brilliance. He continued,‘He
will call upon Me, and I, even I will answer him.’
Then He turned and stared intently at me in a brief moment of
silence, which felt like an eternity. My mind raced to review everything I had
witnessed thus far. I recalled just about every TV show and movie I had ever
seen about holding court, and tried to sift and sort what might happen next. ‘Is it now my turn to be interrogated? What
does all of this mean?’, I wondered
My heart thumped irregularly as if in my throat, and I could feel
large beads of sweat begin to form on my brow. The palms of my hands became
moist as He continued, addressing me personally for the first time. ‘I will be with you in trouble, to deliver
you and honor you.’
‘What manner of
speech is this for a Judge of such magnificence to address a wretch like me?’, I thought. ‘Is this a dream or what?’ The words, ‘I …will … honor … you…’
reverberated in my ears. I felt a large drop of perspiration roll down my brow
into my eye, triggering a tear from the stinging saltiness. I gasped to catch
my breath as He continued.‘With l-o-n-g
life will I satisfy you and show you My salvation.’
By now, a flood of tears had washed the salty sweat from my eyes
as I was overcome with emotion at the gracious words I had just heard from this
Judge. Looking around the courtroom in repose, to take it all in, all I could
see was exceedingly bright and broad smiles …from my Attorney and his attending
angels. I was shocked out of my brief repose by the thunderous sound of the
Judge’s gavel being struck, signaling adjournment of this High Court.
Simultaneous with the sound of the gavel, the now thousands of
voices I heard from the beginning, once again began their refrain. But this
time, they were not soft, nor were they repeating in rounds. Rather, as in one
incredibly united, confident voice, they continually repeated,
He who dwells in the
shelter of the Most High
will rest in the
shadow of the Almighty!
As I sat there still trying to discern the sources of these
melodious voices, my escort angel quickly ushered me out of the courtroom, back
into and down the hall. He remained silent, yet radiated a great sense of
satisfaction and peace. This time, I managed to keep up with his long strides. I
decided to respect his silence. After all, I didn’t know what words I could say
in response to all that we had just witnessed.
We approached the entry door, which he graciously opened for me. With
a wide smile, he turned and said to me, ‘Praise
The Lord our God, we all now have our (marching) orders concerning you!’
For He will command His angels concerning me,
to keep me in all my ways…
