Psalm 119:114 NKJV
114
You are my hiding place and my shield;
I hope in Your word.
My Hiding Place and My Shield
My Notes
Scripture: “You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word.” — Psalm 119:114 (NKJV)
My Thoughts
When the soul is weary and the mind assaulted by vain thoughts, where do we run? David fled to the Lord—not just physically, as he did from Saul, but spiritually. In the silence of his soul, he found refuge. God became his hiding place, shielding him from the torment of inward battles and the arrows of outward enemies.
There are seasons when we suffer in secret—then He hides us. There are moments we’re called to stand and fight—then He shields us. Whether in retreat or resistance, God is our safe place and our strong defense.
David’s hope wasn’t built on theory or theology alone—it was anchored in experience. He had seen God’s faithfulness, felt His protection, and trusted His promises. That’s why he could say, “I hope in Your word.” Not as a vague wish, but as a confident expectation rooted in a relationship.
This hope is not passive—it is powerful. It is the ointment that soothes sorrow, the light that pierces darkness, the anchor that holds fast in the storm. Hope in God’s Word is hope in Christ Himself—the Word made flesh, our righteousness, our salvation, our shield.
Let us be those who:
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Run to God as our hiding place when thoughts overwhelm
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Trust Him as our shield, when trials press in
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Hope in His Word, not just for comfort, but for strength
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Cling to His promises, knowing they are our defense and delight
Hope sweetens every sorrow and strengthens every step. And when it is placed in the Word of God, it will never disappoint.
Cross References
“You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah” — Psalm 32:7 (NKJV) “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly.” — Psalm 84:11 (NKJV)
Questions
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Where do I run when my thoughts feel overwhelming?
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How has God been my shield in past battles?
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What promise from His Word am I holding onto today?
Prayer
Lord, You are my hiding place when I need shelter, and my shield when I need strength. Help me to hope in Your Word—not just in theory, but in trust. Let Your promises be my refuge, and Your presence my peace. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Proverb for Today
The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe. Proverbs 18:10 NKJV
Summary of Commentaries:
Psalm 119:114 reveals David’s personal refuge in God amid spiritual and emotional battles. Commentators describe God as both a hiding place from tormenting thoughts and a shield against external threats. David’s hope in God’s Word was not theoretical—it was tested and proven through experience. This hope, grounded in relationship, offered strength, comfort, and protection. The verse emphasizes that true security comes from God Himself, not merely His promises. Hope in His Word becomes a sustaining force, especially in times of distress. Like a warrior behind a shield or a chick under wings, the believer finds safety and peace in God’s presence.
NOTE: Psalm 119 is an acrostic pattern. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet; each of the 22 sections is given a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and each line in that section begins with that letter. Today, we’re looking at verse 114, which is in the 15th section, which is called “Samek ס. The website https://www.abarim-publications.com/Hebrew_Alphabet_Meaning.html defines the letter Samek ס as: The verb סמך (samak) means lean upon, support, uphold. It is the verb that is used in the phrase “laying on of hands.”
…….Bill
Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
“Thou art my hiding place and my shield.” To his God, he ran for shelter from vain thoughts; there he hid himself away from their tormenting intrusions, and in solemn silence of the soul, he found God to be his hiding place. When called into the world, if he could not be alone with God as his hiding place, he could have the Lord with him as his shield, and by this means he could ward off the attacks of wicked suggestions. This is an experimental verse, and it testifies to that which the writer knew of his own personal knowledge: he could not fight with his own thoughts, or escape from them, till he flew to his God, and then he found deliverance. Observe that he does not speak of God’s word as being his double defense, but he ascribes that to God himself. When we are beset by very spiritual assaults, such as those which arise out of vain thoughts, we shall do well to fly distinctly to the person of our Lord, and to cast ourselves upon his real presence. Happy is he who can truly say to the triune God, “Thou art my hiding place.” He has beheld God under that glorious covenant aspect which ensures to the beholder the surest consolation.
“I hope in thy word.” And well he might, since he had tried and proved it: he looked for protection from all danger, and preservation from all temptation to him who had hitherto been the tower of his defense on former occasions. It is easy to exercise hope where we have experienced help. Sometimes when gloomy thoughts afflict us, the only thing we can do is to hope, and, happily, the word of God always sets before us objects of hope and reasons for hope, so that it becomes the very sphere and support of hope, and thus, tiresome thoughts are overcome. Amid fret and worry, a hope of heaven is an effectual quietus.
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Enduring Word
You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word: The God the psalmist knew so well through His word became a refuge in troubled times. The hope he had in the word of God was not initiated by mere academic or intellectual knowledge; it was founded on a relationship with and security in God Himself (my hiding place and my shield). (Guzik)
i. A good hiding place has strength, height, concealment, and reliability. Jesus is our safe room or panic room. (Guzik)
ii. “There is a time in which I may be called to suffer in secret; then thou hidest me. There may be a time in which thou callest me to fight; then thou art my Shield and Protector.” (Clarke)
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John Gill
Thou [art] my hiding place,…. From temporal calamities. The perfections of God are chambers of retreat and safety to his people, where they may hide themselves and be safe, till such calamities are over, Isaiah 26:20. And from spiritual evils; from avenging justice, from divine wrath, from the rage of Satan, and the fury of men, Isaiah 32:2; and from eternal death, and being hurt by it; the spiritual and eternal life of saints being hid with Christ in God, Colossians 3:3; see Psalm 32:7;
and my shield; to protect from all dangers, and preserve from every enemy: such are the love and grace, the power and strength, the truth and faithfulness of God; which are the saints’ shield and buckler, Psalm 5:12; such also the person, blood, righteousness, and salvation of Christ, who is a sun and shield; the shield of faith, or which faith holds up and defends the soul against the attacks of a powerful enemy, Psalm 84:11;
I hope in thy Word; in Christ the Word, for acceptance and justification, for peace, pardon, and eternal salvation; all which are in him: in the word of promise, for all supplies of grace, strength, light, life, and comfort here, and for glory hereafter, contained therein; see Psalm 119:74.
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Matthew Henry
1. God’s care of David to protect and defend him, which he comforted himself with when his enemies were very malicious against him: Thou art my hiding-place and my shield. David, when Saul pursued him, often betook himself to close places for shelter; in war, he guarded himself with his shield. Now God was both these to him, a hiding-place to preserve him from danger and a shield to preserve him in danger, his life from death and his soul from sin. Good people are safe under God’s protection. He is their strength and their shield, their help and their shield, their sun and their shield, their shield and their great reward, and here their hiding-place and their shield. They may by faith retire to him, and repose in him as their hiding-place, where they are kept in secret. They may by faith oppose his power to all the might and malice of their enemies, as their shield to quench every fiery dart.
2. David’s confidence in God. He is safe, and therefore he is easy, under the divine protection: “I hope in thy word, which has acquainted me with thee and assured me of thy kindness to me.” Those who depend on God’s promise shall have the benefit of his power and be taken under his special protection.
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Miscellaneous Comments
“Thou art my hiding place and my shield,” etc. From vain thoughts and vain persons, the Psalmist teaches us to fly, by prayer, to God, as our Refuge and Protector. This course a believer will as naturally take, in the hour of temptation and danger, as the offspring of the hen, on perceiving a bird of prey hovering over their heads, retire to their “hiding place,” under the wings of the dam; or as the warrior opposeth his “shield” to the darts which are aimed at him.
—George Horne.
“I hope in thy word.” Of all the ingredients that sweeten the cup of human life, there is none more rich or powerful than hope. Its absence embitters the sweetest lot; its presence alleviates the deepest woe. Surround me with all the joys which memory can awaken or possession bestow,—without hope it is not enough. In the absence of hope, there is sadness in past and present joys—sadness in the thought that the past is past, and that the present is passing too. But though you strip me of all the joys the past or the present can confer, if the morrow shineth bright with hope, I am glad amid my woe. Of all the busy motives that stir this teeming earth, hope is the busiest. It is the sweetest balm that soothes our sorrows, the brightest beam that gilds our pleasures. Hope is the noblest offspring, the firstborn, the last buried child of foreseeing and forecasting man. Without it the unthinking cattle may be content amid present plenty. But without it, man should not, cannot be truly happy.
—William Grant (1814-1876), in “Christ our Hope, and other Sermons“
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Additional Cross-References
Psalm 3:3 (KJV)
3 But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me;
My glory, and the lifter up of mine head.
Psalm 32:7 (KJV)
7 Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble;
Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.
Genesis 15:1 (KJV)
After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
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Samek ס: Held up and supported by the word of God.
113
I hate the double-minded,
But I love Your law.
114
You are my hiding place and my shield;
I hope in Your word.
115
Depart from me, you evildoers,
For I will keep the commandments of my God!
116
Uphold me according to Your word, that I may live;
And do not let me be ashamed of my hope.
117
Hold me up, and I shall be safe,
And I shall observe Your statutes continually.
118
You reject all those who stray from Your statutes,
For their deceit is falsehood.
119
You put away all the wicked of the earth like dross;
Therefore I love Your testimonies.
120
My flesh trembles for fear of You,
And I am afraid of Your judgments.
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