Psalm 91
Notes
Transcript
God’s Protection is for us!
God’s Protection is for us!
The Psalmist of Psalm 91 wrote this promise for those who are close to God and to those who dwell with him. This is a promise that God will protect us and we can rest in him through every trial that we will face. This is a comforting Psalm because it focuses on God promise as being our safe haven. The verses are similar to that of Psalm 23 in which everybody has read about the LORD being our shepherd and protector. Psalm 91 reiterates the importance of God being our protector and He is our safe place.
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
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.
5 You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only look with your eyes
and see the recompense of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—
the Most High, who is my refuge—
10 no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
no plague come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the adder;
the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
15 When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
1. God provides security
1. God provides security
The Psalmist starts this Psalm with the proclamation that God is his refuge or safe haven. This is an awesome picture because it suggest that we are able to find our security in God. This entire Psalm is written from a person who was deeply in fellowship with God. They knew God and didn’t want to leave his presence.
Whenever you enter into God’s Presence and understand that God is good then you do not want to ever leave his comfort and protection.
Those who have a relationship with God through salvation can find security in God because he is All Powerful and Ruler Above All Things.
What is God our security from though?
God is our security from evil and from the world. I love the word refuge because I instantly think of being a kid and having a nightmare and being terrified. The first person I wanted whenever I was terrified was to be close to my parents. They were my refuge as a child because I knew that they would keep me safe and secure. We need to realize that God is our refuge. He is the person in who we can find ultimate comfort and security.
The first couple of verses also point out the importance of us dwelling in God because we will be under his shadow.
If you are in someone’s shadow you are close to them and you are under the protection of whosever shadow you are under. If we are living within God’s shadow we are extremely close to him at all times.
As Christians we must learn to live daily resting in God for everything. This is something that we rarely do because we want to live life on our own and not have to rely on anybody, but as Christians we should not be able to go a day without God’s closeness to us.
We need to realize that God is a person in who we can find refuge in at all times and the ultimate refuge. He is the only person that can provide us spiritual peace because He is peace.
God is our security but he is also our deliverer.
2. God provides deliverance
2. God provides deliverance
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.
5 You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
God is our deliverer. God protects us from Satan and his attacks. God protects those who are His from his own wrath and judgement.
God delivers us from the evils of this world because of his love he has for his children. The OT christians had the mind set that God would deliver them from any sort of turmoil or difficulty at that exact moment, But that is not what scriptures states. God will deliver us from this disaster that we live in not at this moment but through our death. God is our ultimate deliverer because he delivers us to eternity with Him.
He will deliver those who have placed their faith in him to a perfect place where there is no pain or death or disappointment.
We need to look at God as our deliverer because he is not only a person we run to whenever bad things happen but rather God is actively protecting us from the snares that Satan throws at us.
This is encouraging to us because we know that God will protect us whenever we are doing what he has called us to do. His protection might look or be different than what we want but we know that his protection is the best protection that we could have. However, God’s protection does not mean that we will never have difficulties or sickness but rather He will deliver from them for his Glory to be shown.
We must have faith that God has and will deliver us and that he promises to do so.
Those who love God are delivered by him. This shows the ultimate demonstration of trust between Christians and God. God’s promise to those who trust and love him is that he will deliver them from the punishment of sin which is hell.
3. God provides assurance
3. God provides assurance
14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
15 When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
The last part of this Psalm is a promise from God to those who have a relationship with God. God assures us that he will deliver, protect, answer, honor, satisfy, and save those who love him.
This part of the Psalm is as if God himself was talking to the Psalmist. God assures us that he is not far to those who love him and find refuge in Him. God is the great protector who is constantly protecting us from evil.
God’s promise to those who dwell in his love and in his presence is that He will answer whenever we pray. There is a catch to this though… God will answer when you call if you are dwelling in him and not in the world.
God does not answer us whenever we are living in sin. Because we have broken the fellowship with the loving God. However, the moment we confess our sins and plead for his forgiveness He then begins to hear us and answer us.
God ultimately assures us that he will show us salvation! The God of the universe assures us that he will save those who love him. This is the promise that we can hold onto for the rest of our lives. God saves us from his wrath to eternity with him.