Psalm 91
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Belcher - Messiah in the Psalms “This Psalm contains some of the strongest affirmations of confidence in God’s deliverance and protection in all the scriptures. In fact, one wonders if this Psalm does not promise too much … Does God promise too much here? What happens when these promises are not fulfilled? Should early death through illness or the tragedies of life shake our confidence in God’s power to protect?”
Belcher - Messiah in the Psalms “This Psalm contains some of the strongest affirmations of confidence in God’s deliverance and protection in all the scriptures. In fact, one wonders if this Psalm does not promise too much … Does God promise too much here? What happens when these promises are not fulfilled? Should early death through illness or the tragedies of life shake our confidence in God’s power to protect?”
Thus the dilema when we come to
Because Life isnt easy … there is death and bereavement, and illness, and betrayal, and financial ruin ...
No matter how well planned we are … or how successful or powerful we are there is no way of stopping these things
It’s like what Shakespeare wrote:
“Each new morn
new widows howl, new orphans cry, new sorrows
strike heaven on the face”
William Shakespeare
How can we find peace … and worship with Confidence?
The Psalm begins with a promise …
The Promise
The Promise
(ESV)
My Refuge and My Fortress
91 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
Don’t Misunderstand
Don’t Misunderstand
2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
Look at Names/Titles of God
Most High - El Elyon - Cuts everything else down to size
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said,
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
and blessed be God Most High,
who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”
And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
Genesis 14:
Almighty - El Shaddai - The Powerful Sustainer
When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless,
Lord = Yahweh - Divine Name - Covenant God - I am
My God … It is personal - Intimate -
God described
Shelter - A Covering; Place to hide
Shade - A Place of Protection from the desert sun
Refuge - Protection from Danger
Fortress - A Mountain Stronghold (Ever been to Masada?)
A Mother Bird -
Pinion = Feathers
Under His Wings = A Place of Refuge
His Faithfulness is a
Shield - A Large Standing Shield - Covered whole body
Buckler - Another metaphor for protection … it was a defensive shield.
Psalms 73–150: An Introduction and Commentary Your Refuge (91:3–13)
As for God’s care, it combines the warm protectiveness of a parent bird (4; cf. Deut. 32:11; Matt. 23:37) with the hard, unyielding strength of armour (4b). Shield and buckler gave respectively the cover that was large and static, and small and mobile.
Lets look at the Image of the Mother Bird covering her chicks to protect them … Rich Biblical Image (Over and over God is likened to a mother bird protecting her young
Boaz to Ruth
The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!”
How priceless is your unfailing love!
Both high and low among men
find refuge in the shadow of your wings.
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
over the man who carries out evil devices!
Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
till the storms of destruction pass by.
I long to dwell in your tent forever
and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.
I saw this bird in Oahu, Hawaii … I took the far away pic … then moved closer and zoomed in
She was protecting her babies
God protects …
He is my refuge and fortress My God in whom I trust … This is covenant language
God says you will be my people … I will be your God … This is Covenant
If You trust God … His promise is to Protect you … There it is … Thats The claim
How do we understand that?
Don’t Misunderstand
Don’t Misunderstand
The Psalm in the middle seems to go on and say that if you trust God you wont have any hardships …
No Fear … violence … disease … or disaster - 5-7
But you will see the wicked judged for their actions
No evil will befall you BECAUSE you are trusting in God
No Plague - v:10
You won’t even stub your toe - vv:11-12 (And angels will help you here)
You won’t even be in danger from animal attacks - v:12 (Poisonous snakes; Lions … no problem … just stomp on them)
It sounds as though what this is saying is that if you really trust God nothing bad is ever going to happen to you.
If you really trust God your life will Go smoothly and you won’t really suffer
The opposite would also be implied … If your life is not going smoothly, or if you are suffering, or if you are facing hardship … Your really not trusting God.
It is the logical conclusion!!!!
Is that the way to read these verses?
Do these verses mean that everything will Go well for you is you really trust God and if things are not going well for you it means your not trusting God
Let me give you a few reasons NOT to understand these verses this way!
This understanding flies in the face of reality (and the rest of the Bible … and Jesus)
For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,
You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me.
my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me.
(NIV)
32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. 33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34 You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. 35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. 35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
2. One word … Job
Remember Job (Start study before Easter)
Job faces disaster, disease and death in his family
He experiences Violence, harm and pestilence -
All the things you would consider out of place if you interpret as a magic amulet that frees us from suffering if we trust God
In fact God’s testimony about Job is that He does trust Him
Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”
Job
God is saying this …
Job has three friends who come to him … They have an interesting premise … Here it is ...
Job, if you trust in God, he will not let bad things happen to you. (Premise 1)
Bad things are happening to you Job (Premise 2)
Therefore, Job you must not be trusting God (Conclusion)
Great friends wouldn't you say?
Job refers to these friends in 13:4 as “Worthless Physicians” and in 16:2 as “Miserable Comforters”
He states in 12:2 that “Wisdom dies” with them
Now hear God’s assessment of their interpretation of Job’s suffering …
After the Lord had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.
Job
3. Satan wants us to read these verses this way
Satan wants us to understand these verses in this way
This is, of course, a statement of exact, minute providence, not a charm against adversity. The no less sweeping promise of (‘… everything … for good with those who love him’) does not exclude ‘nakedness, or peril, or sword’ (8:35); cf. again the paradox of , . What it does assure us is that nothing can touch God’s servant but by God’s leave; equally (8) that no rebel can escape his retribution.
Kidner, D. (1975). : An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 16, p. 365). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. William Shakespeare
For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
William Shakespeare
And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written,
“ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,
to guard you,’
and
“ ‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”
Satan Tempting Jesus in wilderness - Trying to derail His path to the cross … Satan is strategic here
He knows that if one believes this … That if you are faithful to God nothing bad will happen to you … it will end in disappointment
You must read in light of the whole of scripture …
Remember Joseph …
Jacob’s favouritism
Joseph’s run in with Brothers; His false accusation and jail time in Egypt
Joseph suffered … but He was also protected
From the arrogance and bitterness that could have controlled Him
From the wasted life that could have marked him
Joseph’s perspective at the end of Life
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
This verse in Genesis almost sound like …
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But not a hair of your head will perish.
You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But not a hair of your head will perish.
Luke 21:16-
Luke
Dont miss this … Dont miss ONE key word
You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But not a hair of your head shall be lost. By your patience possess your souls.
The word Together
All things are NOT GOOD
Rape; Genocide; murder; racism;
These are horrible
THis verse is NOT saying that ...
Every cloud has a silver lining
or Even bad things are good for you if you learn to look at it like this
NO … Bad things are Bad things
BUT … all things work TOGETHER for Good
God is somehow bringing HIS power to bear on all things in such a way that ...
From the vantage point of eternity …
The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive, 2014–2015 Prayer of Rest
But when it says everything, even the terrible things, even the most terrible things, work together for good, what that means is that even though those things are terrible (there’s nothing good about them) God somehow is bringing his power to bear on all things in such a way that we will see from the vantage point of eternity that every bad thing that happened in the end brought about something better and more glorious than would have happened if the bad thing hadn’t happened.
In other words, the bad thing brings about something better than if it hadn’t happened, which means all the evil intention of evildoers will be utterly thwarted. Evil will be absolutely defeated, if it’s really true (and it is) that every bad thing that happens in the end only leads to something more glorious and great than if it hadn’t happened.
Luke’s gospel will help us understand Psalm 91
You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives.
You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But not a hair of your head shall be lost. By your patience possess your souls.
Jesus talking to Disciples … I am going away
You will be:
persecuted
bad things will happen
betrayed
Put to death
Hated
BUT … Not a hair of your head will be lost … HUH?
By your patience possess your souls!
ESV Trans. Life (Should have used Bios; or Zoe)
Better - NKJV - Souls - Psyche
The idea here is “True life” … that which transcends earthly life
Here is what Jesus is saying … Bad things will happen to you … But not a hair of your head will perish
And in patience you will possess your souls
POINT
If you love anything more than God … If there is anything in life that has more meaning than Him
You dont possess your soul
Rather, what you love most … what you worship … has title to your soul
Job, Career, Family, $$$, Stuff
You dont possess your soul … Rather this stuff possesses your soul
There is no rest here
No Peace
It’s life on the roller coaster
Look Back at Jesus’ words
In patience … Long-suffering
Trusting in Him … Resting in Him … Relying on Him in Suffering … You Possess your soul
Peace … poise … CONFIDENCE
The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive, 2014–2015 Prayer of Rest
You can’t read Psalm 91 as saying, “God is going to let me keep all of the things I love more than him.” That would be the worst thing for you. Instead, you have to recognize what it’s really saying. “I will protect you. I will protect the real you. I’ll protect the you that will last forever. I will protect the only part of you that really matters. There are a lot of other parts of you that need to be shed anyway.”
How can I take the message of and reinvest in my relationship with God so that I can live with the peace and confidence that This Psalm Promises
We need to read all of the Bible in light of all of the Bible
Claiming God’s Promise
Claiming God’s Promise
Final three verses are an oracle … God Speaking directly to the reader … here is the summation of and the force of the Application:
The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive, 2014–2015 Prayer of Rest
Here’s how you can rest under the shadow of his wings. When bad things happen to you, it’s always a way for you to possess your soul by taking your heart’s overinvestment in these other things and putting it in God. The way to do that is not just to do it in some abstract way.
Here are Concrete ways I can reinvest in My God instead of this life alone:
I will rest in God’s Love - I will appreciate the Gospel
I will trust in God’s Character - His name (Yahweh) … Need to grow to know Him
PS There is Great Joy and stability in knowing I am His child and known by Him
I will call to him in Prayer - Individually and with Others
I will be confident in his Providence
providence: The doctrine that God is continually involved with all created things in such a way that he (1) keeps them existing and maintaining the properties with which he created them; (2) cooperates with created things in every action, directing their distinctive properties to cause them to act as they do: and (3) directs them to fulfill his purposes. (16)
Note -
With in Trouble
Not OUT OF Trouble
Do you know the lengths to which God went to be with us in Trouble?
Jesus … The Incarnation - God became a Human Being
Born in a Barn, Laid in a Manger
He experienced betrayal, wrong doing, violence, injustice, death
The Invulnerable God
Became Vulnerable
The Immortal God
Became Mortal
He Became Killable
He went to the cross … here he says I will be with you in Trouble
That is the medicine you need to use on your heart when Bad stuff happens
He was there FOR You
He walked and WALKS with you b/c he was there
Jesus describes himself as a mother bird who wants to Protect and Shelter You
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!
Luke 13:
Context here is Judgement
If you come under my wings I will protect you from that …
True story from Hopewell Virginia
Hailstorm … Golfball sized hailstones … Farmer went out and found a dead mother bird had covered her chicks and had taken the beating of the hail and protected her chicks.
Thats what Jesus did on the cross for us … He was Literally with us in trouble
He took the beating of the judgement of God … and became our Shelter … our refuge … our fortress
Our Place of Safety and CONFIDENCE
This is the ultimate way to live confidently while in trouble and suffering
I have a debt to pay that I cannot pay … wait … The only debt that can really destroy me (SIN) It’s been paid for
I have a disease it may kill me … wait … the only disease that can kill me eternally (MY Sin) has been healed
BOTH by My Saviour … under whose wings I have taken shelter
The judgement fell on Him
In the Greatest act of Love ever … The hail of God’s judgment fell on Jesus
He was patient in Suffering for me and Secured MY SOUL
He was forsaken
Rejected
We never ultimately will be
Will you be patient and long-suffering in your trial