He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91: 1. NKJV
Blessed Lord, as we come before You, we pray that You will empty us of ourselves, and fill us with Your Holy Spirit; for Christ’s sake. Amen
Today we are going to look, not only at this verse again, but we will include other portions of the psalm as well. Our study will be based on some of the commentaries found in the NRSV (The New Oxford Annotated Bible). This study is quite different from the personalized angle that we looked at yesterday. Psalm 91 is categorized as a psalm of trust, and views God as “the protector from demonic foes.”
The concept of evil forces at work runs throughout the Bible. In Genesis we see Adam and Eve (disobeyed God) and their children (Cain killed his brother Abel) under the attack of the evil one. Then God, their Protector, comes and promises to deliver them by sending His Son, “the seed of the woman,” who would “bruise” the serpent’s head.
In the New Testament Jesus uses the imagery of a mother hen protecting her young to express His desire to protect His people: “How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings…” He goes further, He warns us of the intentions of the evil one: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” But the Protector, the Savior “came that [we] might have life, and have it abundantly.”
The “secret place of the Most High” and the “shadow of the Almighty” become shelters where we find protection from evil. He covers us with His feathers and under His wings we find refuge. The first set of dangers from which we are protected (verses 3-6), are, according to the commentary, “superhuman” (terror of the night, arrow that flies by day, pestilence that stalks in darkness, destruction that wastes at noonday). The next set of dangers ( verses 4-7) are “sub human” (lion, adder, young lion, serpent).
Nevertheless, the psalm ends on a note of victory: “[N]o [superhuman] evil shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent….You will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot….With long life I will satisfy [you] and show [you] my salvation.”
As a young man was leaving home going off to war, his mother gave him a pocket Bible, and highlighted Psalm 91. He promised his mother that he would keep it with him at all times, and read it. One day in the heat of the battle a bullet came and hit him smack in the chest. The impact threw him to the ground. When the firing came to a brief halt, his friends ran to where he was lying. He was stunned, and greatly shaken, but miraculously alive! Reaching into his pocket he found, to the amazement of all, that the bullet had pierced his pocket, penetrated his Bible, and stopped right in the middle of psalm 91: 7, “A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.”
The great “I Am What I Am,” can “Be What[ever] He [chooses to] Be,” in order to save His children. We are not victims at the mercy of evil! We are in a safe place!