No Plague Near Your Home

Psalm 91

Psalm 91:1–16 NKJV

1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” 3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence. 4 He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. 5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, 6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. 7 A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you. 8 Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked. 9 Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, 10 No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; 11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. 12 In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone. 13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. 14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. 15 He shall call upon 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.”

Psalm 91:1–15 NKJV

1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” 3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence. 4 He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. 5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, 6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. 7 A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you. 8 Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked. 9 Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, 10 No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; 11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. 12 In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone. 13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. 14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. 15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.

psa91

gives us a picture of the confidence we can have in Almighty God.

This confidence is available by Faith - not automatically

To the One Who “dwells in the Secret Place of the Most High”

Do you have a “secret place”?

There is a place that you can dwell, where no other can see...

A Place of safety a place of power

Throughout this Psalm, there are reminders of our part - the picture of our faith - the condition of the promise

Dwelling in the Secret Place

Abiding under His shadow

“Because” he has made the Lord his dwelling place

“Because” he has set his love upon ME.

“Because” he has known MY name

Great and precious promises we have here -

a picture of rock solid security

a fortress, a refuge

You Shall Not Be Afraid of The Terror

There are a great many things to be afraid of in the world today

This is actually true at any time - there are always dangers, and risks

But sometimes, there are especially high levels of trouble

This seems to be one of those times

The Corona virus epidemic:

Many people are sick

Many people are losing work

Schools are closing. industry and commerce slowing down

Long term risks to the economy

people’s lives are upended

grocery stores are out of stock

Where should we look for answers?

Do our leaders have the answers?

Does the media have the answers?

Some countries are responding differenetly than ours: Who is right?

Telling people with a high temperature or cough to self-isolate for a week will have the "biggest impact" in the fight against coronavirus, the UK's chief science adviser says.

Sir Patrick said he hoped the government's approach to tackling the virus would create a "herd immunity in the UK".

Defending the government's approach, Sir Patrick told BBC Radio 4's Today program people were most likely to get an infection from "a family member or friend in a small space, not in a big space".

There is no safe place on earth outside of the will of God

I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress

The truth is, the Leaders don’t know the answers. They’re just doing the best they can.

Look to the Bible for the answers, and to Jesus Christ:

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly...

Is This The Beginning of The Tribulation?

If we look to the bible for the answers, a lot of people immediately begin to think about the tribulation, and end times

Several people have called my, or asked me in person or the internet: Is this the plagues and pestilence mentioned in revelation?

Most often they are referring to the tribulation times:

Revelation 6:5–8 NKJV

5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.” 7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” 8 So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.

rev

Here John saw a vision of horsemen, the black horse representing economic collapse and the pale horse representing death, plagues and pestilence.

The book goes on to describe some terrible and unimaginable things that will happen in the earth during these times

these are intertwined with images of praise and celebration in heaven, and rejoicing that the awaited time has come

There are other places in the bible that also describe these events, as Jesus said to His disciples that there would be natural disasters, wars, famines and pestilences, more than had ever been.

So, are we there now?

I do not believe that we are. What we are seeing in the world right now, although extreme, and unprecedented in our lives, is not that.

But it should be seen as a prelude to those events. We should be reminded of the truth of scripture.

The things happening now, are bringing us closer, ever closer to what will come.

We should observe, that with all the advances in medical science, we cannot prevent the arrival of these new “pestilences”, and when they arrive so suddenly, we are completely unprepared.

The corona virus, as contagious as it is, is not terribly lethal. One day another virus could arrive that is.

We should be awakened by these events, and look to The Lord.

The question should not be “what should do about the virus?”

The Question should be “Since all these things are happening and will happen, what kind of life should I be living?

2 peter3.

2 Peter 3:11–12 NKJV

11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?

So What Should We Do?

If we look to Jesus for our answers, we will be secure

First, we know that no matter what, we are safe in Him

Even if the earth is removed - no fear

We can dwell in that secret place

If we put our trust in Him, we can abide under His shadow

We have these great promises

I shall not be afraid of the terror by night

Psalm 91:5–7 NKJV

5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, 6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. 7 A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you.

It shall not Come near You.

A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; But but it shall not come near You

Because You Have Made the Lord Your refuge

Have you made the Lord Your refuge?

Many people want to run into hiding, but I want to run into prayer

Some people want to run to the Television for New, but I want to run the Church and Worship

He said “I will set Him on High, because he has know MY Name”

Do you know His name?

Be Practical and Wise, But 1st, Be Faithful

Of course you should be practical

Go to the doctor of you are sick

If you’re sick, stay home.

Wash your hands, and clean things people handle.

Don’t do a lot of shaking hands and hugging, especially crowds of unknown people, and traveling people

But 1st - Notice, I did not say “after all that”, I mean to say “before all that” - Be Faithful.

Are you Dwelling in that Secret Place, do you know His name, His He really the fortress you trust to protect you?

Consider the examples we have from the bible and from history:

Jehoshaphat sent out the Praisers before the army, as he looked to the Lord for his help -

saying “we don’t know what to do, but our eyes are on you”

Gregory the great, during the black plague organized 3 days of Prayer processions through Rome - and the plague ended

I believe that God has given his angels a command to protect me

You must believe His Word. That’s your part. Believe God

Do you know Him

Daniel 11:32 NKJV

32 Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.

Even in the middle of troublesome times, you can be confident

you can feel secure, and enjoy the Lord

He will protect you, and you will be a blessing to the world around you.