Psalms: My Refuge and My Fortress

Introduction

Open your Bible this evening to Psalm 91

We are entering book fourth of the psalms

Last time we looked at the right way and the wrong way to consider historical and grammatical issues in the text.

The main theme of all of the scriptures is Christ. Tonight, the believer can take great comfort in God’s words, because of Christ.

for context we need to consider the forces gathered against us.

Spiritually speaking

Our own flesh

The world

The prince of the power of the

Devil seeking destroy

Principalities in high places

Physically

we get sick and we die

With all these enemies gather to destroy and our frailty our position is helpless and hopeless.

But for our God, he is our savior and in his shadow we dwell.

Let’s Read

Psalm 91:1–16 ESV

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” 3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. 5 You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. 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 look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. 9 Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge— 10 no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent. 11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. 12 On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. 13 You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot. 14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. 15 When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. 16 With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

My God Bless the Reading of his Holy and Infallible Word

Lets Pray

Transition

The first 4 verses are dedicated by the psalmist to Gods protection for those that trust him.

Body

He is our Shield

Psalm 91:1–4 ESV

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” 3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.

To dwell, to stay in, to put hope in

God calls us to run to him and take shelter.

“say to the Lord” a verbal confession.

Verse 4

Calvin Comments here beautiful/

“When we consider the majesty of God, there is nothing which would suggest a likeness such as is here drawn between him and the hen or other birds, who spread their wings over their young ones to cherish and protect them. But, in accommodation to our infirmity, he does not scruple to descend, as it were, from the heavenly glory which belongs to him, and to encourage us to approach him under so humble a similitude. Since he condescends in such a gracious manner to our weakness, surely there is nothing to prevent us from coming to him with the greatest freedom.” [1]

Indeed saint, the greatest act of congestion God could ever do was Jesus. He become human, and not just any human be came as a servant.

Transition

What do we have no fear, then? The psalmist use repetition as a method

The Stay in Trouble

Psalm 91:5–10 ESV

5 You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. 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 look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. 9 Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge— 10 no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.

Verse 5- 7 Day or Night nothing can come near you.

Skip down to verse 10,

“to evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.”

I can hear the objection now…

How man Christians died in the black plague

How many Christs dies with an arrow in their chest?

How many have been martyred for their faith,

There really isn’t a more clear of people that put their faith in the Lord and still die honorably then a martyr.

I think Calvin helps here a little,

“The Psalmist continues to insist upon the truth which I have just adverted to, that, if we confide with implicit reliance upon the protection of God, we will be secure from every temptation and assault of Satan. [2]

Every thing that comes near a believer does so not because of satan or any other enemy, but because God decreed it.

We have been reading in Job this week,

How many times did Job say, look what Satan has done to me?

None

“Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” (Ac 2:23, ESV)

Every saint that has ever by martyred, tempted, tried in every manner of trial, has be placed there by God for their good.

“28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Ro 8:28, ESV)

Again with Job, I think this example from Job are coming to mind because we have been reading there. Job said.

“But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.” (Job 23:10, ESV)

Job said, yes I am going to complain,

Call for my case to be heard because I am tired of this trial, I am weary. But, you know that in the end, all of this is going to make me like pure gold.

Transition

What can the saint say in trial, this is making me like Christ, it all come back to him, even satan used this psalm when talking to Jesus. Look at verse 11 - 16

The Active Guardian

Psalm 91:11–16 ESV

11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. 12 On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. 13 You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot. 14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. 15 When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. 16 With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

The first two verse here are applied to Christ, by satan in his temptation.

Because they apply to Christ, they apply to us.

Without Christ, this whole Psalm could never bring us comfort.

Its interesting that Satan quotes verse 11-12 when verse 13 is talking about him.

This is Christ the serpent crusher.

In him we are also victorious, as Paul said in Romans 16 20.

"The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” Ro 16:20.

Verse 14-16 the him is Christ and we are there because we are in Christ.

This is fulfilled in Christ, he is the archetype of this salvation.

This is what Paul means in Romans 10:13,

“For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Ro 10:13, ESV).

Conclusion

There are many avenues of thought we were simply not able to go down tonight.

Consider for a moment,

the Implications of the Father’s Election for those that call on his name. without that election and regeneration no one would call on the name of the Lord.

The work of the Spirit applied the fathers election in the heart of the believer.

There is trite about the saying, it take a whole Bible to make a whole Christian. We must dive in to the word and find Christ, we will reveal the father to us by the teaching of the Holy Spirit.

Benediction

Romans 16:20 ESV

20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

References

[1] John Calvin and James Anderson, Commentary on the Book of Psalms, vol. 3 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 480.

[2] Ibid, 481.

Bibliography

Calvin, John, and James Anderson. Commentary on the Book of Psalms. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010.