Station Manager’s Desk

“Psalm 91 - Safety of Abiding in the Presence of God”

 

 



How do you picture God when you need Him?  Is God a place of refuge?  Is he considered a fortress?  Is God someone with whom you placed your ultimate trust?  Psalm 91 describes that in God.  This psalm has a very strong messianic thrust; it is indeed a Psalm of deliverance. The psalm has four parts:

(1) a confession of confidence in the Lord (vv. 1, 2);
(2) assurance that those who trust in the Lord need not fear evil (vv. 3–8);
(3) promises of God’s protection to the coming One (vv. 9–13);
(4) a description of the Lord’s protection of the coming One (vv. 14–16).

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.”

The person who trusts in God is the one who lives close to Him. The title Most High is used in this Psalm.  It emphasizes God’s majesty and is parallel to the term Almighty, a translation of the divine title Shaddai. Together the terms Most High and Shaddai speak of God as a mountain-like majesty, in whose presence there is a “secret place” or a shadow.

Here God is described as “My refuge and my fortress”, which may be rephrased as “my secure fortress.”

God is also described here as a mother hen under whose wings the psalmist can come for refuge.  God’s truth is described as a “shield and buckler”, indicating complete protection from all harm. God is an “all protective shield” for the believer.

Finally, like the Israelites in Egypt who were spared the danger that touched their neighbors, believers in the Lord are protected from any assault.  With God, the punishment of the wicked is as sure as the deliverance of the righteous.

Do you need a shelter this week?  Are you in search of comfort…from storms…from trouble…from problems that continually seem to haunt you?  There is a shelter from the storms.  To repeat verse one,

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

Stay close to God.  He’s the best protection plan available.