Genesis Framework
GF 14 Psalm 91
September 27, 2015
Part 14

 

This psalm provides great assurance to the believer that the Lord will protect you from aggressive enemies. This message is particularly for those believers who tend to live in some degree of fear; and there are a greater number of those individuals than you can imagine.

The promises from God that are contained herein cover a wide range; from trouble in general, to promises more particularly of safety from opposition that attempts to destroy the believer. Listen to God as He raises His right-hand and promises on His own life to do these things for His own.

Listen to God’s oaths and believe Him!

In the Hebrew there is no heading in the text that would indicate the author, or circumstance that may have inspired this psalm, but its truth applies to all ages. Many of these protection features are enhanced since the advent of Christ, the great Protector of His people, so we can draw even more confidence from these oath-words of God than those who read of it during the time of its origin.

Scripture

NKJ Psalm 91:1
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

The Lord conveys to His readers that He takes great delight in protecting the people who rely on Him. The weight of this psalm is greatest at both ends of it, beginning with the importance of abiding in the secret place, to its closing where God speaks Himself to the believer who offers his trust in the Lord.

1 Anyone who settles down (participle) to sit, remain, dwell, in the hidden place of covering, hiding-place, in a place as of under clouds as covering of God Most High the Highest, the Most High, name of God; with other divine names

Reference: the Most High place on earth is where the Glory-Presence abided; in the Holy of Holies, and the Most High Person is God who is above

under the shadow of Shaddai n. mas., lit. female breast of me;
name of God, Shaddai

This figure is a very tender, mother-like one promises just as a mother would not forsake her nursing infant, so the Lord will not abandon those who trust in him.

he settles himself down. intensive causative reflexive …anyone who settles down in the hidden place of the Most High.

How does anyone go about “settling down” in the secret place of God Most High? And to what does the notion of the “secret place” actually refer?

Settling down, or abiding, means to draw close to the Lord in a consecrated union with Him.

Remember– Consecration is one of the chief structural principles of the covenantal order of life.

At its highest level, consecration has been identified as the essence of religion. At its elementary level, consecration may be defined as simply the subordination of the interests of one person or thing to those of another.

Before the advent of Christ, that sort of intimacy with God was difficult to realize directly and personally, since only the high priest was permitted to enter the secret place of the Holy of Holies, where God resided on earth; and then, only once annually... definitely not the way to sustain an intimate relationship.

Because of the completed atoning work of Christ the Incarnate God, believers can live in unbroken union with the Infinite God. This place is the Holy–Presence of God,
considered secret because it is a consecrated place of gracious blessing, hidden from the natural eyes of men. So, instead of seeking the Holy-of-Holies in a
physical temple-palace-of-God on earth, the Lord has come as Immanuel to take up residence among His people by His Glory-Spirit dwelling within those who trust in Christ as Lord of their destiny.

NKJ Isaiah 7:14
"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.

NKJ Matthew 1:23
"Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us."

But before Christ came, the believer could enter the Most Holy place only vicariously through the presence of the high priest, and by the blood of the lamb sprinkled on the mercy seat behind the veil. In a very real sense, however, the believer was there, because by relying on the blood of the lamb, it was viewed by God as though it were the
believer’s own blood, through substitutionary atonement made possible by the blood of the lamb.

Scripture

NKJ Psalm 91:2
I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”

Shelter- hides one from danger
Shadow- shields one from glaring heat
Refuge- safe-place of security
Fortress- a place to run into to avoid attack

2 I will say of the LORD of the Covenant, of Yahweh “My refuge Root:lit. “a wall of thorns”

Today, we might picture a thick, barbed-wire fence.

mitsudah, literally: “a hiding place to run into, surrounded by sides”

NKJ Psalm 91:3
3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence.

3 For He shall snatch you away

from the bird-trap( the lure of the ambush),

This is the basis of the plea we find later in the Lord’s Prayer:

NKJ Matthew 6:13

And do not [start to] lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.“But, drag us away from the evil one”...[before the allure pulls us into ambush]
...more likely required when we stray outside our kingdom.

from the lethal pestilence. He will also drag us away from the deadly plagues of disease.

The lure can be any kind of attractive bait used in the schemes of the ungodly in order to entrap the believer into sinning, an attraction designed to draw him away from a holy closeness with God. Often the ungodly hate to see you experiencing a close relationship with the Lord, and demonstrate their resentment by trying to make sin appear as attractive and entertaining to you as possible; beware the trap!

Plagues are ways of God’s judgment.

But what about when we are ill with the flu, or have heart disease, or die from cancer? In such times it is all the more necessary to trust in the Lord, because He turns everything to good in its time, for the one who trusts in Him.

Even the sting of death is taken away. The tragedy of it is removed and evil will not prevail, because even our tragedies are turned to triumphs in Christ. No permanent harm can come to us!

Scripture

NKJ Psalm 91:4
He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

4 He grants that you be covered by His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge;

His truth shall be your large shield (covering the whole body)

and your small shield (buckler, for close combat].
Buckler- a small round shield worn on the left arm, or held extended by the left hand

Scripture

NKJ Psalm 91:5-6
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.

5 You will have no fear before the terror of night, for the arrow that flies by day,
6 for the pestilence that stalks in thick darkness, for the destruction that brings devastation at noonday.

...of the unseen dread of the night
...of the dart flying toward you of the day
...of the plague making its way through in the night
...of the calamity that seems to come from nowhere

7 A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you.

A thousand will fall at your side, a horde at your right hand; but it will not even come near you.

8 Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked.

Only with your eyes will you behold; the recompense of the wicked you will see.

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;

Because the Covenant Lord, my refuge, you have firmly set as God most high, your dwelling place, you will never suffer evil; and a plague will not come near your tent.

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.

For He will command His angels about you, to keep you in all your ways; in their hands they will lift you up so that you will not bruise your foot against a stone.

For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.

Contrary to the popular notion, Scripture does not teach that each believer has been assigned a single ‘guardian angel’ charged with the task of protecting you. Although just one angel would be powerful enough, God brought judgment on 185,000 Assyrian troops camped outside Jerusalem by one angel (Isa 37:36).

Instead, the Psalmist indicates that the Lord has charged His angels (plural) to protect His people from calamity! And they are always closer than you might think!

13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

On the lion and the cobra you will tread; you will trample the young lion and the snake.

The lion and cobra are images for people bent on harming the faithful in Christ. That old serpent, the devil, has no interest in hearing that God’s people will tread on the cobra
and trample on the snake.

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.”

“Because he has focused his desire on Me, I will rescue him; I will make him inaccessible because he has known My name.
He will call on Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in distress; I will deliver him and glorify him.
With long life I will satisfy him; and I will make him see My salvation.”

While the people who trust in the Lord will experience many trials; on some occasions the Lord will honor their trust and intervene immediately; but when the trial involves prolonged suffering, divine grace will always lead to glory. With the coming of Christ, a new and living way is opened unto the protective-Presence of the Lord. By constant reliance on the blood of Jesus Christ, you can settle down permanently in the Lord’s secret place; justified by faith, every day you can abide under the shadow of Shaddai.

Many will be surprised on the Day of Judgment when they discover that it was just as the Word of God says; only the righteousness of Christ is able to save you.All men are sinners and no one can save himself. God is just, so He must punish sin; but He is also merciful, moreover gracious, and offers His Son as the perfect sacrifice in order to purchase a place for you in heaven, which He offers to you as the free gift of eternal life.

Jesus is God Incarnate

In order to pay the debt of our sins, He came from Heaven, having been sent by the Father, where He lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father even unto the shameful death upon the cross in order to pay the debt of your sins.This gift must be received by faith, believing that Jesus’ perfect life and Cross Work was His complete and necessary Atonement for your sins, in your behalf.Faith is a gift that comes by the Power of God the Holy Spirit working in a person’s innermost being. The Holy Spirit has the authority and power to quicken your dead spirit, to make it come to life. If you have not done so before this moment, ask Jesus to forgive you your sins, tell Him you’ve stop trying to be your own savior, and ask Him to come into your life right now, and to give you eternal life. Then, in faith believing, thank Him for the gift that He is giving you, the one He paid for in full in your place, in Jesus’ name,AMEN

Bibliography

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Chapman, Benjamin. Greek New Testament Insert. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1977.
Dana, H. E., and Julius R. Mantey. A Manual of the New Testament. Canada: The Macmillan Company, 1957.
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Wuest, Kenneth S. (Revised, Donald L. Wise). The Practical Use of the Greek New Testament, rev. ed. Chicago, Il: Moody Press, 1982.
Walsh, J. Martyn and Anna Kathleen Walsh. Plain English Handbook: A Complete Guide to Good English, 7th rev. ed. Cincinnati, Ohio: McCormick-Mathers PublishingCompany,1977.

Copyright September, 2015
Rev. Jim Craig
All Rights Reserved