Psalm 91

Introduction

When I was young I remember watching tv show starring William Shatner and no it wasn’t Star Trek. The show was called “Rescue 911” and it featured dramatic reenactments of real-life 911 calls to the police and paramedics. According to imdb, the series showed “the life-or-death dramas of people in situations such as burglary, kidnapping, heart attack, and more.” I was young when the show aired and being at an impressionable age, the stories solidified what I had been taught. “In an emergency, call 911”. Well, years later, someone pointed out to me that there is a Christian version of 911. In times of trial, terror, and temptation, go to Psalm 91. So today we will be looking at the believer’s version of 911. The believer’s hiding place.

Text Read

Psalm 91:1–16 (ESV)

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

Text Explained

Psalm 91:1–4 “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and buckler.” As we look into the first few verses, the Psalmist begins by calling those who would flee to God to remember who God is. In these four verses we find four different names/titles used for God. He is Elyon: the Most High/Exalted One, the One who possesses everything. We find this name used in Deuteronomy 32:8 When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, When He separated the sons of mankind, He set the boundaries of the peoples According to the number of the sons of Israel. (NASB) (Stevens, D. E. (1997). Does Deuteronomy 32:8 Refer to “Sons of God” or “Sons of Israel”? Bibliotheca Sacra, 154, 140.) In this we find El Elyon/the Most High having the authority to divide the earth as He sees fit. He is El Shaddai/the Almighty. He is the One who renewed the Covenant with Abram in Genesis 17:1 “When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless,” He is the God who is powerful enough to keep His promises even in the face of overwhelming adversity. He is Almighty. He is Jehovah/the Lord. This is the personal, covenant, divine name for God; the others names tend to be descriptive expressions. It is a name that consists of four consonants, YHWH (known as the tetragrammaton). (Way, R. J. (1979–1988). God, Names of. In G. W. Bromiley (Ed.), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised (Vol. 2, p. 506). Wm. B. Eerdmans.) It is the name that the Israelites went out of their way not to speak b/c they feared to speak it in vain. It is the name we use when we sing “Hallelujah” meaning “praise Yahweh”. He is Elohim. He is God. The Psalm calls those who would flee to God to remember who they are fleeing to. He is the Most High possessor of Heaven and Earth, He is the Covenant keeping Almighty, He is the personal God, He is “my God.” Dear One when we flee to God, this is the One we flee to. The Most High, Almighty, Personal, He is my refuge He is my fortress, He is my God. Those who dwell in Him are like those in a safe place, a refuge, not just a refuge, but a guarded fortress. Those who dwell in Him have no need to fear for God will deliver them. How does God deliver them? The picture is beautiful. “Those who rely on Him find that He is a shelter from the storms of life and a shadowy place of security, much like the area under a bird’s wing. He is a refuge where we can run for safety in times of danger and a fortress that will provide defense against attacking foes. God saves us from those who insidiously try to trap us and from deadly diseases. He does this as a mother bird does when she covers her young with her wings, namely, tenderly and carefully. He provides as sure a defense as a shield or large rampart can. ” This does not mean that a believer won’t go through trials but rather we can be at peace and not fear attacks. In fact, the Psalm continues in Psalm 91:5–8 “You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.” Here we see the protection of the Lord continued. You see the Lord, the Almighty, the Exalted One is the ruler of the universe and noone else. This truth brings peace because we know that nothing is outside of His control. The thousands who fall are those who do not trust in the Lord, yet for those who dwell in the Lord, we are invincible until our time is up. Then we enter into our eternal rest with God on High. Nothing here on earth can touch us without His permission, and no rebel can or will escape His retribution. Evil people will do evil things, but even their evil is under the sovereignty of God and will be judged, yet those who dwell in the shelter of the Most High can trust that He will deliver them. The song continues in Psalm 91:9–13 “Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge— no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.” Here we find the protection and deliverance of God expanded, for God will command His angels to guard and protect and not even poisons and wild animals can harm one who is under God’s protection. The song writer here is not speaking literally but using a figure of speech called hyperbole. This means to give an extreme example to get across a point. Now, God is able to protect everything from a stubbed toe to a lion’s attack but that does not give us free reign to jump off a temple or go wrestle a lion. The one who dwells in God can be assured that nothing happens without God’s permission and that God will take care of those who are under His care. The son ends with Psalm 91:14–16 “Because he holds fast to Me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows My name. When he calls to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation.” So this song ends with a promise that God, the Most High, the Almighty, the Personal God will deliver the one who holds fast to Him. God will deliver those who know and love Him. He will hear their cries, He will not abandon them, and often those promises of rescue and honor find a fulfillment in this life, though if not in this life, they will ultimately be fulfilled in the next life. Yet even if this life is short, in the words of Warren Weirsbe, “...God adds life to our years and makes that life worthwhile.”

Text Applied

Psalm 91:1–16 (ESV) He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge— no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent. For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot. “Because he holds fast to Me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows My name. When he calls to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” In this song, we find hope amidst the trials of life, we find comfort that the Almighty is the One in control and we find that we can have peace even when snares and pestilence and armies are arrayed against us. Yet how can we have this peace and rest, how can we have hope in amidst the trials and tribulations of life? The secret is found in verse 1 He who dwells… The one who lives in the shelter of the Most High is the one who is protected and honored. So many people claim to be Christian and yet they do not have this peace, they do not have a comfort amidst the storms and battles of life. And that is because they have never lived in the shelter of the Most High. In fact when they are attacked, when difficulties come, they more often than not flee to a different shelter and lean on our own understandings. We try to connive and scheme and figure things out on our own and don’t go to the Lord in prayer or seek His Word for guidance. We try and try and try on our own, and then maybe when everything else doesn’t seem to be working, we try God’s way, but if it doesn’t immediately work, we give up and say, “hey I tried that.” The secret of Psalm 91 the secret to having comfort and peace is living in the shelter, it is in abiding day in and day out. It is in the continual feeding on His Word, meditating on it, living it out and then, when the troubles and trials of life come, for in this life we will have troubles, we flee to our home, the shelter of the Most High and we abide in the Lord our refuge and fortress, our dwelling place. Many Christians, when the troubles of life come, they look at the shelter of the Most High from a distance, and from that distance they decide that God’s way won’t work. The shelter of the Most High isn’t big enough or strong enough to withstand these troubles, or God’s wisdom is not appropriate instructions for “my circumstances” so they look to the world. And it is no surprise when they do because they have not made the Most High their shelter. They spend no time in His Word, their prayers treat God like a Genie, give me, give me, give me, and they disobey the wisdom and instructions they don’t like. In essence, they have made their abiding place the world, so when troubles come, they look to the world for instruction, for protection, for wisdom and guidance, and then they scoff at the shelter in the Rock as not being good enough for their problems. Psalm 91 is a tremendously encouraging Song for those who make God their dwelling place. For those who have not, it can be an encouragement. Make Him your dwelling place. Live in His Word and in Obedience to it.