Sweet Sisters,
Today our tour is going to take us to the book of Psalms. We will explore the 91st chapter. As we begin our tour we will pause and rest for a moment at the first verse.
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
The psalmist uses two different phrases for God in this verse. “The Most High” in Hebrew is El-Elyon. “The Almighty” is El-Shaddai. He is painting a picture here of a place of absolute security and peace.
He continues this thought in verse two:
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
We see a third phrase here. “The Lord” in Hebrew is Adonai. And “my God” uses a fourth term, Elohai. (Some scholars may use different Hebrew names based on how they see it. I chose to use these.) The word ”fortress” or castle refers to a place of refuge where evil cannot enter.
When I read these verses, they bring to mind a small child who runs into the arms of a parent when they feel insecure and frightened.
As we continue our tour, we come to verse three.
Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
I found it interesting that “the fowler’s snare” can also be translated hidden dangers or evil attacks and “pestilence” can be translated plagues or deadly diseases. The more we explore this Psalm, the more we see how much we can trust God’s protection.
In verse four, God is compared to a mother bird who spreads her wings around her babies. His faithfulness is compared to a shield and a rampart, which is a protective barrier.
He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
With all that is going on around us in the world right now, verses five through eight gives us great reassurance.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
“Night” can mean secret attacks, the ones you don’t see coming, the ones that catch us off guard and unprepared. “Day” can mean open attacks; blatant, confrontational, “in your face” attacks. It may seem like your world is crashing and burning all around you, BUT DO NOT BE AFRAID! God is protecting you!!!!
In moments like these, the words of verses nine and ten have got to be where we put our focus.
If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
Verses eleven and twelve may sound very familiar to you.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
These are the words Satan used to try and tempt Jesus in the wilderness. You can find that scene in Matthew 4:6.
We should be aware that Satan will twist God’s words against us as well if he thinks it will confuse or distract us. We need to be familiar enough with scripture to counter attack like Jesus did.
Verse thirteen is actually much easier to understand than it seems.
You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
“Lion” is a metaphor for power or strength. “Snake” is a metaphor for sly or sneaky.
I love the way the Psalmist concludes this chapter in verses fourteen through sixteen.
14 “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
Let me give you Debbie’s summary of what is being said here. In verses fourteen through sixteen, God says if you will love me, acknowledge me, and call on me, then I will
Rescue you
Answer you
Protect you
Be with you when you are in trouble
Honor you
Satisfy you
Show you my salvation
Sweet Sisters,
what more could we ask for? I am not just saying if we do what it says in verses fourteen and fifteen that life is going to be easy and stress-free. Psalms 91 describes a battle scene. I see it as a spiritual battle scene. Scary things are happening day and night all around us.
It may look like people all around us are giving up and surrendering to Satan, but for
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
They will find refuge and protection. God promises that and our God is faithful to keep His Promises.
Debbie