The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant, (Psalm 25:14 NKJV). As creation was taking place, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit conferred together to discuss the project, but especially to consult with each other about making a human being. As the Father talked to Jesus and the Holy Spirit, Genesis 1:26 (NLT) tells us, then God said, "Let us make human beings in our image, to be like ourselves. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground." A brand new, never-been-done-before, innovational creation emerged from the Godhead’s council, and man was created.
Who else was consulted? Apparently no one. We’re told in 1 Peter 1:12 that angels long to look into certain affairs of men (1 Peter 1:12), but there were no men yet, so the Council of the Godhead decided the matter. It was the Father’s suggestion to make man in the image of the Godhead, and He shared this idea with His holy colleagues. It was a secret council to discuss a secret of the Lord.
Eliphaz, a “friend” (not really) of Job’s, asked him this question in Job 15:8 (NLT), Were you listening at God's secret council? Do you have a monopoly on wisdom? There are things the Father only discusses with Jesus and the Holy Spirit, possibly because, as Jesus said to the disciples in John 16:12 (NLT), when He was talking about things to come, there is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. These “secret things,” according to the Hebrew meaning of the word cowd, are things discussed in intimate, private consultation, among a company of persons in close deliberation. Other scriptures referring to cowd include:
· Proverbs 3:32 (NKJV) For the perverse person is an abomination to the Lord, but His secret counsel (cowd) is with the upright.
· Psalm 25:14 (NKJV)—our opening verse…the secret (cowd) of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant.
· Amos 3:7 (NKJV) Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret (cowd) to His servants the prophets.
Has anyone ever confided an intimate, personal secret to you? It is an honor and privilege when a trusted friend shares such a confidence, and if we are truly a friend, we maintain absolute privacy of the secret, guarding and protecting it in the same way we, in turn, would want a confidence to be kept. Deuteronomy 29:29 (KJV) explores an interesting truth about God’s secret things: The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
So the Lord reveals His secret things to us, but under what condition? The secret of the Lord is with those who FEAR Him, and He will show them His covenant, (Psalm 25:14 NKJV). Remember that the secret things of the Lord—the cowd—have to do with private consultation and intimate conversation. God includes us in His secret plans when He knows that we fear Him. He had no problem knowing that about Jesus and the Holy Spirit, but it blows my mind that He trusts US with His secrets when we demonstrate the fear of the Lord.
Proverbs 1:7 sheds some understanding as to why the Father trusts us… The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and knowledge. This “knowledge” is referring to our level of “knowing” God by having an intimate, experiential knowledge of Him. The more I know you, the more apt I am to trust you with my secrets. So it is with the Father—the more we “know” Him, the more He trusts us with His secret things.
Furthermore, Psalm 111:10 (NLT) opens our understanding of God’s desire to share His secret counsel with us as evidenced in these words, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever. When we demonstrate the fear of the Lord, we can access His wisdom, which is the Hebrew word chokmah, meaning “wisdom, experience, shrewdness.” Chokmah is the knowledge and the ability to make the right choices at the opportune time. The consistency of making the right choice is an indication of maturity and development. The prerequisite for "wisdom" is the fear of the Lord (Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words).
As the Council of the Godhead discussed creation, wisdom was there. I, wisdom, was with the Lord when He began His work, long before He made anything else. I was created in the very beginning, even before the world began, (Proverbs 8:22-23 NCV). The secret things of the Lord were discussed as wisdom permeated the conversation.
And so it is that we who fear the Lord are invited into this most intimate place of sharing in and learning about the secret things of the Lord. What an astounding privilege! Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man, (Ecclesiastes 12:13 KJV).
© 2021, Chris Werre