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There is a much greater difference between the Hebrew
words for `dwell' and `abide' than our English version would
indicate. The word `dwelling' implies a settled place of
habitation, as, for instance, in Psalm 23:6 : `I will dwell in the
house of the LORD for ever'. Isaiah, also, uses the word as he
looks forward to the future reign of peace: `They shall build
houses, and inhabit them' (Isa. 65:21). `To abide', on the other
hand, means `to lodge for a night' (Gen. 32:21) or `to tarry a
night' (Judg. 19:10). The transitoriness of the word is evident in
Psalm 30:5 where we read that `weeping may endure for a night,
but joy cometh in the morning'. The believer dwells, as in a
permanent habitation, `in the secret place of the most High'; he
lodges as though tarrying for a night `under the shadow of the
Almighty'. The first word speaks of the believer's eternal
security, the second of the protection afforded day by day as he
journeys homeward through the wilderness.
`The secret place'.
Jonathan advises David in 1 Samuel 19:2 to `abide in a secret
place' because of Saul's anger, while Job speaks of Behemoth as
lying `in the covert of the reeds and fens' (Job 40:21). Isaiah,
also, uses the word when he speaks of Moab as `a covert ... from
the face of the spoiler' (Isa. 16:4), while in chapter 32 he speaks
of another `covert', infinitely greater than Moab :
` Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in
judgment. And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a
covert from the tempest' (Isa. 32:1,2).
When the Lord came forth to deliver David as he was fleeing
from the hand of Saul, we read that `He made darkness His