My 52 Snippets from the ‘Secrets of the Secret Place’
A Psalm written by Chan Yip Pheng during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.
I will bless Yahweh, and put my trust in Elohim the Triune God,
I will find my delight in El Shaddai the Almighty One, and I am saying “Yes” to the Secret Place.
O, how it thrills my heart that God calls me His precious beloved child,
And how it warms my innermost being that I can call the Creator God my Abba Father.‘Tis so sweet that God bids me come to seek Him in the Secret Place,
‘Tis blissful joy that God invites me to shut the door to spend alone time in His presence.
It matters not whether it is day or night, He is always there waiting,
It makes no difference whether I feel like it or not, He is ever happy to welcome me.Still my soul in Your presence in the Secret Place, for I want to hear You clearly,
Quieten my wandering thoughts, for I want to be attentive to Your Words.
Draw me aside to wait upon You, and let me be found listening when You speak.
Cause Your maidservant to hear and listen; let it be to me according to Your Word.“Hear and obey”, simple words but hard to master,
Still my wayward heart to walk in Your ways, to walk in the narrow path.
Happy will I be when I appropriate God’s miracle words and live by them,
Blessed will I be when I allow Jesus to live His victorious life in and through me.Search me, O God, and see if there be any displeasing and wayward ways in me,
Try me, O Father, and shine into the innermost recesses of my being to surface the filthiness.
I repent, O God, of my sins; cleanse me that I may shine forth Your beauty and holiness,
Create in me a clean heart, O Father, and renew a right spirit within me.I want to make time to soak in God’s Word, and learn of the Holy Spirit my Teacher,
Sow and write Your Words on the tablet of my heart, O LORD, for I desire Your wisdom.
I want to be the fertile ground that bears forth good fruits, and whose leaves do not wither,
I yearn to sit at Jesus’ feet and be the good soil that produces fruits thirty, sixty and a hundredfold.God alone is my strong tower, my refuge and my fortress,
Jehovah is the only One who can deliver me and give me triumph over troubles.
I will appropriate the promises and protection of Psalm 91, and lean on God every step of the way,
It is He who will fight my battles, and surely, He will deliver me with His mighty right hand.Lord, please teach me daily, and direct me on the decisions that I make,
Spirit, illumine my mind to know Your truths and the purpose that You have set for me.
Teach me to walk close to You to hear Your heartbeat, and to learn from You,
Whisper into my ears that I may hear You clearly, to draw wisdom and insight from You.Give me eyes of doves to see only You, O God, for there is no plan B apart from You,
Teach me to lean on You always, and put my trust and hope for deliverance in no one else.
You alone, O God, can fight my battles, vanquish the enemy and give me great victories,
Teach me to fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, for You are ever with me.Spirit of the living God, fall fresh on me,
Melt me, mould me, fill me, use me, that I may be holy as You are holy.
Refiner’s fire, burn away the filth and the unloveliness in me,
Convict me, cleanse me, wash me, purify me, that I may shine forth as pure gold.I hear the clarion call: “Earnestly seek the Lord while He may be found”,
Awake my spirit, O God, and rid with violence the worthless and silly pursuits in my life.
Excite me, O Lord, as I read Your Word and feast at your banquet table of choice rich food,
Let me come to You to drink from the refreshing fountain of living waters.Apart from God I can do nothing in and of myself,
Only when I lose myself in God will I find bountiful victories beyond my imagination.
God desires humility and a teachable spirit, and an attitude that is emptied of self,
I lean on You, God, who alone is my source of strength and my source of hope.It is clear that I desperately need the community of godly believers,
It will be foolhardy for me to think that I can live as a loner Christian.
Intercede and pray for one another, strengthen and encourage each other in the Lord,
I am greatly blessed when I hear of God’s wonder-working power and His grace in each of our lives.Look up to God, stay awake, keep watch, and pray,
Let God’s Word be the barometer for godly living in a dark and lost world.
Draw wisdom and glean discernment from the Scriptures
Know God’s Word so as to be on guard against the deceptions and schemes of the evil one,Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so,
How blessed it is that God loves me with an everlasting hesed love.
Take God at His Word, He is certainly not one to lie,
Look full in His wonderful face, and seek to radiate forth His likeness.It thrills and warms my heart that God loves me and is besotted with me,
Let the truth of God’s love sink in deep; never let the evil one distracts me with busyness.
Don’t take a break away from time with God; don’t miss the blessings of time spent with Abba,
God is delighted for me to seek Him; God will rejoice over me with singing.Ahh, a prayer retreat with God; how do I plan one? I need my Napier peeps for company.
Will someone give me a handle on the specifics and the how-to’s?
Plant in me a desire for a retreat, for You bid me seek You while You may be found,
I want to accept Your invitation to buy wine and milk without price, and feast of Your rich food.Download Your Rhema Word to me, O Lord, I want to hear You often and hear You clearly,
Speak to me Your specific words for me, I need to live my life by Your wisdom.
It’s a joy to journal what You reveal, and to record the daily blessings and the answers to prayers,
By Your grace let me catch the balls and insights You give to me, and live faithfully by Your Word.Taste and see that the Lord is good,
Meditate on His Word, cling and hold on to His promises.
God’s Word is much more to be desired than gold and silver,
His Word gives life to all who find them and health to all their body.The secret of simultaneous reading is a secret that I have yet to grasp well,
I admit that I have big lapses in this particular aspect.
The Lectionary from St Andrew’s Cathedral SG app is one thing I should give a try,
Let me not give up, but press on to give the Lectionary a go.The Bible is teeming and brimming with God’s promises,
There are so many that I can lay hold of and appropriate by praying the Scriptures.
And appropriate by praying the Scriptures.
And God deserves my highest worship, praise and adoration,
I can praise Him too by praying the Scriptures from the book of Psalms.Linger in God’s presence and let Him finish His work with me; be not hasty to depart,
Be intentional to seek the Lord’s face, and behold His greatness and His power.
Linger and allow God to bring me out to a spacious space,
Don’t hurry my time with God; else I short-change myself of the manifold blessings He bestows.The secret of the morning – the wee hours of the morning are not my best times,
I am not a morning person; the drowsiness of the wee hours hangs over me.
I am more alert in the later part of day, that’s when my mind is clearer and I can hear Him better,
And I enjoy and prefer journaling what God speaks to me on my faithful and trusty laptop.There’s no escaping that I face spiritual battles and an invisible enemy who’s real,
But I am so blest that I have a mighty God who is able to overcome, for He is God eternal.
I have my God who is always with me, and I am shielded in His hedge of protection,
Daily I must get dressed, put on the full armour of God, stand firm and claim God’s victory.Let God be the rightful driver in my life and let Him take the central place,
For God has gone ahead into my future, so He knows what’s best for me.
I must learn self-denial from Jesus’ example, and entrust my life fully to Him,
For He is a loving God who desires only the best there is for me.The spirit life is one to be lived by faith, and not by sight nor by feelings,
Press on in the Secret Place to seek God, to spend time with Him.
It doesn’t matter whether I feel spiritually high or I feel bored, for feelings are deceptive,
So shut the door, and know that God will meet me at the Secret Place, however I feel.God my Father smiles on me and enjoys my time with Him,
He loves me in totality, including my shortcomings and imperfections.
My God finds me attractive and tells me that I am a person of great worth,
He sees my potential beyond the natural, and lovingly fashions me as His special treasure.God, I am desperate for You; I don’t know what to do, but my eyes are on You,
I am desperate and I lean on You to bring forth victories over the challenges that life throws at me,
Lord, I am desperate for Your mighty power to fight the battles.
I am desperate for Your miracles in my life to bring forth beauty out of ashes.Nourish daily on the Lord’s manna, be ever hungry for His rich food,
Eat of His fresh supplies every day, stale food of yesterdays will not do.
Cling to God, for He upholds me in the palm of His right hand,Hand-in-hand with Papa God,
journey together and expect exciting experiences with Him daily.Hardships are part of life’s package on planet Earth,
Trials are no respecter of persons, but God will save and deliver when I endure to the end.
How awesome that God is my stronghold, my refuge, and my tower of strength,
He takes hold of my right hand and says to me, “Do not fear, I will help you!”Confinement is not easy to bear for us who are blessed to live in the free world,
COVID-19 has upended our normal lives and made us home-bound in a lockdown.
Undeterred, our Napier community is gladly meeting each other more often on Zoom,
Hungry for God’s Word, we feast on rich food lovingly dished to us by many teachers.Wait for the Lord, for He knows the best timings,
Rush not, trust in God, and put my hope in Him, for He does not and will not disappoint.
God has gone ahead into the future, He has plans for me to give me a future and a hope,
The Cross speaks of His lavish love, and He will outdo His love for me again and again.God sees my every tear, and He has stored my tears in the bottle,
That speaks volumes of how precious I am to Him.
God aches and feels my pain when I am hurt and when I weep,
Nothing in my life escapes His loving and watchful eyes over me.“Be holy, just as the LORD is holy”; pray to God for clean hands and a pure heart,
Holiness is derived from drawing near to God, and is not of ourselves.
Be the salt and the light; be bearers of His light to shine forth in this dark world,
Be God’s ambassadors of love and grace to a hurting world.God counsels me to buy gold, for He has spiritual riches in store for me,
So I yield myself to learn from Him, and let Him lead me on the path of life.
With God on my side, I am guaranteed and assured of victories; in His presence is fullness of joy,
Let me learn from God the lessons He intends for me through each trial.I invite Your gaze, O Lord, look favourably on me, and be gracious to me,
Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts.
You are the potter, I am the clay; be merciful and patient with me,
Have Your way and fashion me into a beautiful masterpiece.The Cross speaks of God’s reckless love for me, an unlovely sinner,
At the Cross, victory has been wrought and won, and the evil one utterly defeated.
I have been crucified with Christ, and He gives me a new life,
There’s nothing to add to His completed work, so rest secure in His perfect deliverance.God promises me rest and refreshing in His presence,
So get off the merry-go-round of the world’s relentless rush.
God can easily accelerate the work to be accomplished in lesser hours,
So seek the calm and peace that can be found in Him amidst the world’s frenetic pace.True riches is found in pursuing God, for He is the source and giver of all wealth,
Teach me, O Lord, to value eternal riches far above perishable earthly riches.
And in all my getting, O Lord, steer me to get wisdom and understanding,
I am so thankful that God delights in giving wisdom generously to all who ask in faith.Lord Jesus, You are altogether lovely, all together wonderful to me,
Keep my eyes ever focused on beholding Jesus in every Book of Your Written Word.
Capture my heart, O Lord Jesus, and overwhelm me with your hesed love and grace,
I want to experience You the living Word, and savour the fullness of Your power in my life.Standing still in rapt wonder at the majesty and beauty of King Jesus,
The Messiah Jesus, full of compassion, making intercession for us at the Father’s right hand.
Christ’s love for us knows no bounds; He willingly came to earth to go to the Cross,
So that we who are adopted into His Kingdom are born again to a living hope.Jesus, the true Light of the world, shine fully into my bodily being,
That the bodily light I so derive may beam forth to light the paths that I should take.
Teach me to put salve on my eyes and to diligently guard my eyes,
That with healthy eyes I will receive crystal clear enlightenment from Your Word.I love Him because He first loved me; it is God who initiates and I respond,
The Cross is the greatest demonstration of His love for me.
How much do I love You, Lord? – It’s not yet enough,
Teach me, Lord, to requite Your love, and cause my love for You to grow in intensity by the day.There’s nothing within me that is a secret to Jesus – the good, the bad, the ugly,
He knows me inside out, through and through – ‘tis awesome that I’m being known by Him.
Nothing in me will make Him love me less, nothing I do will make Him love me more,
My broken life He willingly receive to fashion into a beautiful masterpiece.Lord, how often I must have gotten it wrong, but I thank You that You are ever patient with me,
It’s so easy to rush around like a Martha, when what You want is a Mary in me!
Yes, ingrain in me this deep truth that You desire intimacy first,
And get me off the merry-go-round of life, and still my soul to seek You first!Jesus, the Bridegroom, and we the church are His Bride,
Jesus will return as the rightful King of Kings to reign.
In our bridal identity, we cry out longingly for Him, “Come!”,
Know this: He is not slow in coming; He is just not wanting anyone to perish.When I am so overwhelmed and I don’t know what to do, I hear the Lord saying to me,
“Fear not, I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; I am the one who helps you.
”Oh, what a privilege of clinging to Him; sweet peace floods my whole being,
I can rest secure, for I am standing on the promises of my God who cannot fail!Walking with God – what a privilege for me to lay hold of as my heritage in Christ,
Walking with Jesus – walking every day, walking all the way, 365 days a year.Jesus calls me His friend, and He wants to
reveal deep secrets to me,O, let me savour the joy of an intimate walk with Him, and being counted among His inner circle!Keep watch, stay alert, buy oil – this is the Master’s constant call,
I am weak in of myself, O Lord, please empower me.
I want to be among the lot of the five wise virgins, prepared at Your return.I am powerless and emptied of myself, how am I ever going to do it?
And the Lord says to me, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit”.
The Holy Spirit is the answer to a constant supply, so get connected, tap in to His well source,
By His grace He will level all mountains to teeny molehills, and accelerate His work for His purpose.Jesus is the true Vine, and I am the branch; apart from Him, I will atrophy,
Don’t let me miss out on the joys ofabiding in Christ; I am desperate for You, O Lord.
I have a great need for Christ and it is wonderful that I have a great Christ for my need,
O, let me sink my roots deeper and deeper into that wellspring of living waters.Union with God – that oneness in spirits, completely made possible by Christ;
The indwelling of the Holy Spirit, Christ in me, and God the Father in Christ – perfect oneness.
Daily, I appropriate the gift of intimacy with God the Father, God theSon and God the Holy Spirit,
Indeed, praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.