There are so many times when we long to find a hiding place, a place away from the storms of life.

David wrote in Psalm 32:7:
You are my hiding place;
You shall preserve me from trouble;
You shall surround me with songs of deliverance.
Selah

Yeshua is our Hiding Place.  He is our shelter in the midst of every storm.  Let’s see what David meant in calling Him, his hiding place.

Hiding Place:: Strong’s H5643 – cether    Definitions for #5643

סֵתֶר çêther, say’-ther; or (feminine) סִתְרָה çithrâh; (Deuteronomy 32:38), from #5641; a cover (in a good or a bad, a literal or a figurative sense):—backbiting, covering, covert, × disguise(-th), hiding place, privily, protection, secret(-ly, place)

The primitive root is Strong’s #5641  çâthar, saw-thar’; a primitive root; to hide (by covering), literally or figuratively:—be absent, keep close, conceal, hide (self), (keep) secret, × surely

There is nothing unusual about these definitions, but there is more treasure to uncover.  Okay, are you ready?… Here it is in Hebrew reading from right to left:

Samech, Tav, Resh are the letters that spell HIDING PLACE.

Samech 60 = Pride, Conceit, Earthly. Means: To Lean Upon, a Prop or Aid, Hold, Assist or Support – the heart of God

Tav 400 = The outcome of Trial and Testing. Means: a rough Cross, Covenant, Seal, Mark, A Sign, Ownership, Finished or Complete

Resh 200 = Insufficiency, Poverty. Means: Head, Chief, Beginning, Highest, Most Important, a Person, Human Reasoning vs. Obedience

There is something about that first letter, Samech.

The Sages see the circular form of the Samech as the heart of God, which upholds and supports us. Just as a circle has no beginning or end, neither does God. His love is from everlasting to everlasting. We can lean on His faithful love and support. As we do, we will be surrounded, supported, and kept in perfect peace in the heart of God.

Isaiah 26:3 says,
“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You because he trusts in You.”

When you put this understanding together with the other letters here is the meaning of this word through Hebrew eyes:

To live in His Hiding Place is living in the midst of God’s heart.  To trust Him fully and His covenant promises of help and protection.  When we do, He replaces our human reasoning that’s caused us to be disobedient to His word and shows us the freedom and peace available when we allow Him to be  is head over all our lives

And Psalm 31:19-20
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.

The words Hiding Place and Secret Place come from the same root word.  Here is something He shared with me years ago about the Secret Place that we can equally apply to the Hiding Place.

~ Journal Notes ~

The secret place is a place of quiet, inside your soul, a place to rest in Me completely. It is under-water freedom from the weight of life. Buoyed in My hands carried in Me. There’s a habitation for you, one that I’ve held in reserve, waiting for you to come. How I long to sit with you there and share My heart and My secrets. Truly sin cannot possess there. The enemy cannot enter in.

It is not just a stopping place or a place to run to in times of danger, but a place to live.

In Me you live and move and have your being. (Acts 17:28) Outside of this place is chaos, confusion, fear, and dread.

You can live here all of the time. You never have to leave. It’s a choice to remain in Me. There will be times when the circumstances of life will pull you aside from abiding here, but I will teach you the pathway of return. I will show you the way home to this place of quiet rest of soul.