Psalm 91 is probably as well known to believers as is the 23rd Psalm. It is a powerful faith confession and a powerful prayer. As you read it, underline the “I will or I shall” declarations of God.
God does not promise a world free from fear or danger, but He does promise to be our protector, our shelter, our refuge, our place of safety. Verses 9-10 read, “IF you make the Lord your refuge, IF you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your dwelling.” (emphasis added) The choice is ours.
“‘God, you’re my refuge. I trust in you and I’m safe!’ That’s right – he rescues you from hidden traps, shields you from deadly hazards.” (vs 2-3, Message Remix Bible) These verses remind me of lighthouses, which are strategically placed to warn passing ships of coastline dangers. I’ve seen awesome photographs of huge waves slamming against lighthouses...you can almost hear the fury of the storm even in the photo. But through it all, the lighthouse stands, tall and unmoved. Anyone within the lighthouse is safe from the storm. God is our lighthouse...a mighty fortress... a place of rest, a place of protection when storms pop their ugly heads up in our lives. He is our armor and protection. He’s there to warn us of the jagged, rocky places waiting to trip us. In the midst of the noise of the storm, He is our peace.
“When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue them and honor them. I will satisfy them with a long life and give them my salvation.” (vs 15-16). God does not say we will not have trouble in this life, but He did promise that He will be with us IN trouble when we call on Him. He does more than just be in the trouble with us, he will go through the trouble with us. I like the way the Message Remix reads, “Call me and I will answer, be at your side in bad times; I’ll rescue you, then throw you a party.” God will rescue us if we call on him and then follow up with a celebration of our rescue!
Verse 3 of the hymn “A Might Fortress is Our God”...
“And though this world, with devils filled,
Should threaten to undo us;
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us:
The prince of darkness grim,
We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure,
For lo! His doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.”
3 comments:
This Psalm is a special one for me that kind of walked me through a difficult time in my own life. I love the first verse that says "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High...." and v. 9 "because you have made the Lord...even the Most High your dwelling place..." and v. 14 "because he has set his love in Me....". That dwelling place and setting our love on Him is not religion, just showing up at church, or just being a nice person. When I read that, something in my heart stirs and longs for deeper relationship with the Living God. He is talking about intimate relationship, hiding ourselves in under the shadow of His wings, living in His presence, and camping out day after day in His presence, and His promises are awesome. When I read this Psalm, I think of those moments when fear creeps in, or when I am wondering if I'm really in the will of God in a circumstance, or when I feel under attack. We can't go wrong getting into His presence and sitting under His wings and resting under His protection and His word. And the promises in this Psalm aren't to perfect people, but to anyone that wants to make Him their dwelling place. We can get through anything in our life if we can make Him our dwelling place.
This is one of my favorite Psalms. When we went on a missions trip to the Philippines in 2000, this was the Scripture i memorized before the trip and prayed and claimed every day while we were gone. Today, too, when i read it, God breathed comfort, strength and peace into me. What a great note from God to His kids!
Amen again to all that has been said already!!! I love how my translation puts so much of this chapter - in the declarative! "Those who live in the shelter of the Most High, WILL find rest in the shadow of the almighty. This I DECLARE about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety, He is my God, and I Trust Him!" Wow - David is declaring what he believes and what he does in the middle of hard times. I will - He is!!! That's how I want to be and I can be if I look at things thru His eyes!!!
I have been noticing lately that so many of us, myself included, like to try and help people thru their hard times - We can only help by pointing them to Jesus and encouraging them to find strength in Him themselves. We can't protest people from the choices they make themselves BUT we can be an example of how to put your trust in the Lord NO MATTER WHAT COMES OUR WAY!!! He is the only savior!!!
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