“He Hideth My Soul” -- Exodus 33:14-23

I wasn’t very old, perhaps six or seven years old, when I first heard my dad sing a solo at church.

I had gotten out of Sunday School and wandered over to the choir room. Both Mom and Dad sang in the choir, and I would sometimes go around to say hi to them before worship. On this particular day, I looked into the choir room, and there was Dad, standing by the piano. As the pianist played, I heard Dad singing. I thought that was odd, since I’d never seen it before.

After the offering had been taken up, it was time for the special music. Imagine my surprise when Dad stepped up to the pulpit and began to sing, “He Hideth My Soul.” My dad had a wonderful bass voice, and the hymn was to his liking. I don’t remember anything else about that day, but I remember Dad singing the solo at church that day.

“He Hideth My Soul” is a hymn that speaks to us today. It takes us to the comfort and care that is found in God the Father. It speaks of peace and offers praise to the One who died for us, Jesus Christ.

Background

The hymn was written by Fannie J. Crosby. Ms. Crosby became blind as an infant. The blindness was caused by illness and poor treatment. She was sent to the New York Institution for the Blind when she was older. There she met her future husband, Alexander Van Alstyne. They married in 1858, and soon had a daughter. Sadly, the daughter died in infancy, and Ms. Crosby never stopped mourning the loss.

Whether it was the stress of losing their daughter or other issues, the marriage between Ms. Crosby and Mr. Van Alstyne did not last.

Ms. Cosby wrote over 8,000 hymns in her lifetime, which ended in 1915.

Today’s passage comes immediately after the Israelites created a golden calf to worship when Moses didn’t return from Mt. Sinai after 40 days. God, in His anger, didn’t destroy Israel only because of Moses’ intervention. Instead, God told Moses He would no longer go with Israel to the Promised Land. Instead, God would send an angel to guide them.

Again, Moses intervened. This passage includes Moses’ final appeal for God to go with them, and the promise God gives to Moses. In the dialogue between God and Moses, Moses seeks deeper understanding of God, to which God has to tell Moses no, but does offer Moses an alternative. It is this dialogue we focus on today.

Central Truth: God’s presence in our lives gives us rest.

We see God’s presence:

1. In His answers to prayer (14-17)

“The Lord replied, ‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’ Then Moses said to Him, ‘If Your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that You are pleased with me and with Your people unless You go with us? What else will distinguish me and Your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?’ And the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.’”

Have you ever noticed how someone can ask something of someone else, and when the first person is told the second person will do it, the first person then asks for a little more? That seems to be what Moses is doing in these few verses.

Ever since God told Moses in v. 3 that He would no longer go with them because of their stubborn rebellion, Moses has been asking God to relent and go with them. Interestingly, the record of Moses’ dialogue with God doesn’t start until after we are told of the special relationship between God and Moses. We are told that when Moses entered the Tent of Meeting, the pillar of cloud that represented God’s presence would enter the tent. We are told that God would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with His friend.

Moses begins his prayer with the words recorded in vs. 12-13, ending with the declaration, “Remember that this nation is Your people.”

As a result of Moses’ prayer, God relents and promises him that God’s presence will not only go with them, but that He will give them rest. The literal interpretation of the Hebrew is, “My face will go with you.” The idea of God’s face or presence is to mean that He will be intimately involved with them, as He has from the beginning of creation. The rest is the promise that God will lead them to the Promised Land. The people will find rest from their wanderings and will become an established nation.

It may appear that God’s answer is quite enough for Moses, because Moses reinforces his plea. The point that Moses makes to God is that the identity of Israel is intricately involved with God Himself. They identify themselves as God’s people, His chosen ones. This is their distinguishing mark that separates them from all other nations. God has called them His own and, even though they may not always act like it, they acknowledge their allegiance to God.

God’s response to Moses is the reassurance of His Presence with Moses and Israel, and the reason God will go with them is because of His relationship with Moses. “I am pleased with you and know your name” is a confirmation of Moses’ place in God’s heart. God acknowledges Moses’ faithfulness. It’s similar to God’s words to Satan in Job, when God called Job a righteous man. It is similar to the words we long to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21).

There are a number of times we can look back and see that God has not only heard our prayers but has answered them in a way that brings reassurance and peace. Because we are His children, born in the crucifixion and resurrection of His Son, we are made His children by faith, not works. We do not have to strive to earn God’s favor. By the same token, we should never take His love and grace for granted. God hears our prayers, and we find comfort in His commitment to us and to our concerns.

2. In His mercy and compassion (18-20)

“Then Moses said, ‘Now show me Your glory.’ And the Lord said, ‘I will cause all My goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim My name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,’ He said, ‘you cannot see My face, for no one may see Me and live.’”

At first glance, it may seem that Moses’ next request from God is filled with hubris. I don’t think that’s the case, though. We know from earlier verses that God spoke to Moses face to face, as a man would speak with his friend. There is already an intimacy between God and Moses. Moses, sensing this closeness with God, and having already asked to learn God’s ways in order to know Him better, simply asks God the next logical thing: Show me Your glory.

What Moses is asking is to see God more clearly and to experience Him in a deeper way. It is akin to Philip asking Jesus to show them the Father. Philip was caught up in the moment with Jesus, and asked to grow deeper in the relationship.

Just as Jesus had to tell Philip no, so God tells Moses the same. And, just as Jesus gave Philip an alternative to seeing God, so God gives Moses an alternative. Moses is asking to see God literally face to face, as opposed to the figurative statement of v. 11.

To see God’s face is to see His full disclosure. God is a holy God who detests sin. No one can look on God’s face and live, at least on this side of eternity. But God offers Moses a positive response to his request. Rather than see God’s glory, God offers to reveal His goodness and to speak His name to Moses. This is a promise of a greater awareness of God. The name in ancient times represented the essence of the person, and God’s goodness is an important part of Who and What He is.

The phrase about mercy and compassion may seem at first glance that God is a capricious God, arbitrarily deciding whom He will like and not like. This is not the case. What God is reminding Moses and Israel of is precisely that they, out of all the people in the world, have been selected by God Himself to be His people. It is through them that God will reveal Himself most fully. Israel is aware of this peculiar relationship, and they marvel in wonder that God would so bless them as to pick them to be His people.

In answering Moses’ request in this way, God is reminding him and us that He is a God of compassion and mercy, which brings us comfort and peace as we walk with Him. He delights in drawing us closer to Him, while reminding us that there is always more to learn, always more to grow.

3. In His protection (21-23)

“Then the Lord said, ‘There is a place near Me where you may stand on a rock. When My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with My hand, until I have passed by. Then I will remove My hand and you will see My back; but My face must not be seen.’”

In order to protect Moses, God instructs him to go stand on a rock. In that rock is a cleft. God himself will put His servant in the cleft of the rock, and when the time is right for Moses to look without fear of harm to himself, God will remove His hand from Moses’ face.

What God is doing here is to allow Moses to see God from past experiences while also experiencing Him in the present. This is true of the way we often experience God. We often see how He has worked in our lives after an event has passed. We see His grace and compassion in those moments and we praise Him. But we also experience God in the present as we intentionally come to worship and praise Him. As we fellowship with Him in prayer and Bible study, in worship with others, we see God and His glory.

Moses will see God’s back after the glory has passed. He will see a more intimate manifestation of God. This manifestation will enhance Moses’ relationship with God without harming Moses.

Notice that it is God that puts Moses in the cleft of the rock. He holds His hand over Moses until it is safe. God’s protection is always with us, just as His presence is always with us.

We see God in His protection.

Conclusion

When I sing or hear “He Hideth My Soul,” I hear my dad’s voice. It’s a comfort to me to remember Dad singing and his favorite hymn. It also causes me to miss him.

And yet, I know there will be a time when I will once again hear Dad singing. I’ll hear Mom whistling and I’ll see the loved ones that have gone before me. I know this because God has promised us that we have eternal life in Jesus.

To know the presence of God is to find rest, peace and assurance.