Psalm 91
"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.'
Surely He shall deliver you from the snare
of the fowler
And from the perilous pestilence.
He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.
Only with your eyes shall you look,
And see the reward of the wicked.
Because you have made the Lord, who is
my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
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.
He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation."
This is my favorite Psalm of all time. Obviously. I posted the whole thing instead of just one verse. The idea of reading just one verse out of the other 16 seemed sacrilegious. This Psalm is such a wonderful example of cause-and-effect that the verses seem to be a package deal; you can't read one and get the full meaning without the others.
The first thing that really stands out to me about this Psalm is how many promises there are. The Psalmist uses the words "shall" or "will" 20 times! More times than there are verses in the entire Psalm! And he backs them up with words like "surely" for emphasis!
This Psalm is such a wonderful bundle of promises that one can't help but be encouraged when reading it. Our God is a God who keeps His promises. Nowhere in this Psalm does it say "maybe" or "possibly" or "might." These are concrete verbs; God is going to follow through.
How do we reap the blessings of God's promises? Verse 1 lays it out pretty clearly: "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High..." Not feeling overly blessed lately? Where have you been dwelling? So many times in my life I've wanted to know why God seemed so far away, and I realized I wasn't pitching my tent anywhere near Him. I was off doing my own thing, living how I wanted to live, and then was fussing that God wasn't unleashing blessings on me!
So then what? A Christian's life will be perfect? I wish! But the difference is astounding: When evil befalls the wicked, they feel lost, alone, and helpless. They have no one to help them or bear them up. But look at the wonderful promise in Verse 15: "He shall call upon Me, and I WILL answer him; I WILL be with him in trouble; I WILL deliver him and [WILL] honor him." When trouble comes a-knockin' at our doors, the difference is that We. Are. Not. Alone.
Praise the Lord!
We don't have to face the darkness, the fear, the uncertainty, the trouble alone. If we are dwelling in Him, He should be the first One we call in times of distress. And He WILL answer! No doubt about it! No busy signal. No "I'm too busy." No voicemail. We have a hotline directly to the throne room of God, and He will come the moment we call!
He might not always give us the answer we want. We might want to be delivered completely from the trouble, and He might tell us we have to walk through it, but the good news is: We. Don't. Have. To. Walk. Alone. He will be right by our side, protecting, encouraging, and carrying us when necessary. He will deliver us.
Deliver us from the evil one.
Deliver us from the pit.
Fellow travelers may be falling all around us. Traveling in their own strength. Dwelling in the secret place of their own accomplishments. Dwelling in their self-righteousness. Dwelling in their own strength.
When will we learn: we only succeed when we give up? Give up ourselves. Give up our plans. Give up our pride. And dwell in Him. Dwell in His arms. His safety. His strength. Why do we want to do things on our own when we have Someone so much bigger, stronger, and wiser to help us along the way? Dwell in the secret place of the Most High. There is no one higher or more powerful. Rest in that thought today, friend.
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