Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 91:9
Because thou hast made the LORD, [which is] my refuge, [even] the most High, thy habitation;
9. For thou, Jehovah, art my refuge!
Thou hast made the Most High thy habitation.
So we must render. The A.V. is an attempt to escape from the difficulties of the verse, but it involves an intolerably harsh construction. As the text stands, the Psalmist begins the second division of the Psalm by repeating the profession of Psa 91:2, and then, as before, addresses Israel as a whole, or the godly Israelite. Psa 91:9 b is virtually a protasis; If or since thou hast made there shall no evil befall thee.
Here too some critics would cut the knot of the change of persons by emending, Because thou hast said, Jehovah is my refuge, and hast made the Most High thy habitation; or, For as for thee, Jehovah is thy refuge. But the change is unnecessary. The word for habitation is the same as that rendered dwelling-place in Psa 90:1. The rendering of the P.B.V., “thou hast set thine house of defence very high,” is probably a misunderstanding of the Vulg. altissimum posuisti refugium tuum, which, as the LXX, , shews, means, Thou hast made the Most High thy refuge. It is supported by the Targum (see note [52] p. 554), but in view of the use of ‘Most High’ in Psa 91:1 and Psa 92:1 can hardly be right.
[52] The Targum recognises the idea of a plurality of speakers, explaining the Ps. as a dialogue between David and Solomon. Psa 91:2-3, “David said, ‘I will say to Jehovah,’ &c. ‘For He shall deliver thee, Solomon my son,’ &c.” Psa 91:9, “Solomon answered and said thus, ‘For thou Jehovah art my refuge, in a lofty dwelling hast Thou placed the abode of Thy Majesty’ ( Shechinah).” Psa 91:10, “The Lord of the world answered and said thus, ‘There shall no evil befall thee,’ &c.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
9 16. Renewed assurances of Divine protection, ratified by a Divine promise.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge – literally, For thou, O Jehovah, (art) my refuge. The Chaldee Paraphrase regards this as the language of Solomon, who, according to that version, is one of the speakers in the psalm: Solomon answered and said, Since thou, O Lord, art my refuge, etc. Tholuck regards this as the response of the choir. But this is unnecessary. The idea is, that the psalmist himself had made Yahweh his refuge, or his defense. The language is an expression of his own feeling – of his own experience – in having made God his refuge, and is designed here to be a ground of exhortation to others to do the same thing. He could say that he had made God his refuge; he could say that God was now his refuge; and he could appeal to this – to his own experience – when he exhorted others to do the same, and gave them assurance of safety in doing it.
Even the Most High thy habitation – literally, The Most High hast thou made thy habitation; or, thy home. On the word habitation, see the notes at Psa 90:1. The idea is, that he had, as it were, chosen to abide with God, or to dwell with him – to find his home with him as in a fathers house. The consequence of this, or the security which would follow, he states in the following verses.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 9. Because thou hast made the Lord] Seeing thou hast taken Jehovah, the Most High, for thy portion and thy refuge, no evil shall come nigh thy dwelling; thou shalt be safe in thy soul, body, household, and property, Ps 91:10. Every pious man may expect such protection from his God and Father.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Or, as the words lie in the Hebrew, and others render them, Because thou, O Lord, are my refuge, thou, O my soul, (which is easily understood out of the foregoing words, and to which David oft suddenly turneth his speech,) hast made the Most High thine habitation; which is the only ground and reason of that safety last mentioned. As for the variation of persons, that he sometimes speaketh to and of others, and sometimes to and of himself, nothing is more frequent in this book; nor doth it make any alteration in the sense.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9-12. This exemption from evilis the result of trust in God, who employs angels as ministeringspirits (Heb 1:14).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Because thou hast made the Lord which is my refuge,…. So the words, according to Kimchi, also are directed to the good man; giving the reason of his safety, because he trusts in the Lord, and puts himself under his protection: but they should rather be rendered, and the accents require such a reading, “because thou, Lord, art my refuge” t; and so are either the words of the good man that trusts in the Lord; or rather of the psalmist himself, seeing his safety in the midst of danger, and ascribing it to the Lord; whose providence was in a peculiar manner over him, whose power protected him, and he was as an asylum or city of refuge to him; so that nothing could hurt him:
even the most High, thy habitation; it should be rendered, “thou hast made the most High thy habitation”; being an apostrophe of the psalmist to his own soul, observing the ground of his security; the most high God being made and used by him as his habitation, or dwelling place, where he dwelt, as every good man does, safely, quietly, comfortably, pleasantly, and continually: the Targum makes them to be the words of Solomon, paraphrasing them thus,
“Solomon answered, and thus he said, thou thyself, O Lord, art my confidence; in an high habitation thou hast put the house of thy majesty.”
t “quniam tu Domine spes mea”, Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus; “nam tu O Jehova es receptus meus”, Cocceius; so Piscator; “quia tu Domine, es perfugium meum”, De Dieu, Gejerus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The first voice continues this ratification, and goes on weaving these promises still further: thou hast made the Most High thy dwelling-place ( ); there shall not touch thee…. The promises rise ever higher and higher and sound more glorious. The Pual , prop. to be turned towards, is equivalent to “to befall one,” as in Pro 12:21; Aquila well renders: . reminds one of Isa 54:14, where follows; here it is , as in Jdg 19:13. The angel guardianship which is apportioned to him who trusts in God appears in Psa 91:11, Psa 91:12 as a universal fact, not as a solitary fact and occurring only in extraordinary instances. Haec est vera miraculorum ratio , observes Brentius on this passage, quod semel aut iterum manifeste revelent ea quae Deus semper abscondite operatur . In the suffix has been combined with the full form of the future. The lxx correctly renders Psa 91:12: , for everywhere else, and therefore surely here too and in Pro 3:23, has a transitive signification, not an intransitive (Aquila, Jerome, Symmachus), cf. Jer 13:16. Psa 91:13 tells what he who trusts in God has power to do by virtue of this divine succour through the medium of angels. The promise calls to mind Mar 16:18, , they shall take up serpents, but still more Luk 10:19: Behold, I give you power to tread . They are all kinds of destructive powers belonging to nature, and particularly to the spirit-world, that are meant. They are called lions and fierce lions from the side of their open power, which threatens destruction, and adders and dragons from the side of their venomous secret malice. In Psa 91:13 it is promised that the man who trusts in God shall walk on over these monsters, these malignant foes, proud in God and unharmed; in Psa 91:13, that he shall tread them to the ground (cf. Rom 16:20). That which the divine voice of promise now says at the close of the Psalm is, so far as the form is concerned, an echo taken from Ps 50. Psa 50:15, Psa 50:23 of that Psalm sound almost word for word the same. Gen 46:4, and more especially Isa 63:9, are to be compared on Psa 50:15. In B. Taanith 16 a it is inferred from this passage that God compassionates the suffering ones whom He is compelled by reason of His holiness to chasten and prove. The “salvation of Jahve,” as in Psa 50:23, is the full reality of the divine purpose (or counsel) of mercy. To live to see the final glory was the rapturous thought of the Old Testament hope, and in the apostolic age, of the New Testament hope also.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Security of Believers. | |
9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; 10 There shall no evil befal thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. 11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. 13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. 14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath 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 honour him. 16 With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.
Here are more promises to the same purport with those in the foregoing verses, and they are exceedingly great and precious, and sure to all the seed.
I. The psalmist assures believers of divine protection, from his own experience; and that which he says is the word of God, and what we may rely upon. Observe, 1. The character of those who shall have the benefit and comfort of these promises; it is much the same with that, v. 1. They are such as make the Most High their habitation (v. 9), as are continually with God and rest in him, as make his name both their temple and their strong tower, as dwell in love and so dwell in God. It is our duty to be at home in God, to make our choice of him, and then to live our life in him as our habitation, to converse with him, and delight in him, and depend upon him; and then it shall be our privilege to be at home in God; we shall be welcome to him as a man to his own habitation, without any let, hindrance, or molestation, from the arrests of the law or the clamours of conscience; then too we shall be safe in him, shall be kept in perfect peace, Isa. xxvi. 3. To encourage us to make the Lord our habitation, and to hope for safety and satisfaction in him, the psalmist intimates the comfort he had had in doing so: “He whom thou makest thy habitation is my refuge; and I have found him firm and faithful, and in him there is room enough, and shelter enough, both for thee and me.” In my father’s house there are many mansions, one needs not crowd another, much less crowd out another. 2. The promises that are sure to all those who have thus made the Most High their habitation. (1.) That, whatever happens to them, nothing shall hurt them (v. 10): “There shall no evil befal thee; though trouble or affliction befal thee, yet there shall be no real evil in it, for it shall come from the love of God and shall be sanctified; it shall come, not for thy hurt, but for thy good; and though, for the present, it be not joyous but grievous, yet, in the end, it shall yield so well that thou thyself shalt own no evil befel thee. It is not an evil, an only evil, but there is a mixture of good in it and a product of good by it. Nay, not thy person only, but thy dwelling, shall be taken under the divine protection: There shall no plague come nigh that, nothing to do thee or thine any damage.” Nihil accidere bono viro mali potest–No evil can befal a good man. Seneca De Providentia. (2.) That the angels of light shall be serviceable to them, Psa 91:11; Psa 91:12. This is a precious promise, and speaks a great deal both of honour and comfort to the saints, nor is it ever the worse for being quoted and abused by the devil in tempting Christ, Matt. iv. 6. Observe, [1.] The charge given to the angels concerning the saints. He who is the Lord of the angels, who gave them their being and gives laws to them, whose they are and whom they were made to serve, he shall give his angels a charge over thee, not only over the church in general, but over every particular believer. The angels keep the charge of the Lord their God; and this is the charge they receive from him. It denotes the great care God takes of the saints, in that the angels themselves shall be charged with them, and employed for them. The charge is to keep thee in all thy ways; here is a limitation of the promise: They shall keep thee in thy ways, that is, “as long as thou keepest in the way of thy duty;” those that go out of that way put themselves out of God’s protection. This word the devil left out when he quoted the promise to enforce a temptation, knowing how much it made against him. But observe the extent of the promise; it is to keep thee in all thy ways: even where there is no apparent danger yet we need it, and where there is the most imminent danger we shall have it. Wherever the saints go the angels are charged with them, as the servants are with the children. [2.] The care which the angels take of the saints, pursuant to this charge: They shall bear thee up in their hands, which denotes both their great ability and their great affection. They are able to bear up the saints out of the reach of danger, and they do it with all the tenderness and affection wherewith the nurse carries the little child about in her arms; it speaks us helpless and them helpful. They are condescending in their ministrations; they keep the feet of the saints, lest they dash them against a stone, lest they stumble and fall into sin and into trouble. [3.] That the powers of darkness shall be triumphed over by them (v. 13): Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder. The devil is called a roaring lion, the old serpent, the red dragon; so that to this promise the apostle seems to refer in that (Rom. xvi. 20), The God of peace shall tread Satan under your feet. Christ has broken the serpent’s head, spoiled our spiritual enemies (Col. ii. 15), and through him we are more than conquerors; for Christ calls us, as Joshua called the captains of Israel, to come and set our feet on the necks of vanquished enemies. Some think that this promise had its full accomplishment in Christ, and the miraculous power which he had over the whole creation, healing the sick, casting out devils, and particularly putting it into his disciples’ commission that they should take up serpents, Mark xvi. 18. It may be applied to that care of the divine Providence by which we are preserved from ravenous noxious creatures (the wild beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee, Job v. 23); nay, and have ways and means of taming them, Jam. iii. 7.
II. He brings in God himself speaking words of comfort to the saints, and declaring the mercy he had in store for them, v. 14-16. Some make this to be spoken to the angels as the reason of the charge given them concerning the saints, as if he had said, “Take care of them, for they are dear to me, and I have a tender concern for them.” And now, as before, we must observe,
1. To whom these promises do belong; they are described by three characters:– (1.) They are such as know God’s name. His nature we cannot fully know; but by his name he has made himself known, and with that we must acquaint ourselves. (2.) They are such as have set their love upon him; and those who rightly know him will love him, will place their love upon him as the only adequate object of it, will let out their love towards him with pleasure and enlargement, and will fix their love upon him with a resolution never to remove it to any rival. (3.) They are such as call upon him, as by prayer keep up a constant correspondence with him, and in every difficult case refer themselves to him.
2. What the promises are which God makes to the saints. (1.) That he will, in due time, deliver them out of trouble: I will deliver him (v. 14 and again v. 15), denoting a double deliverance, living and dying, a deliverance in trouble and a deliverance out of trouble. If God proportions the degree and continuance of our troubles to our strength, if he keeps us from offending him in our troubles, and makes our death our discharge, at length, from all our troubles, then this promise is fulfilled. See Psa 34:19; 2Ti 3:11; 2Ti 4:18. (2.) That he will, in the mean time, be with them in trouble, v. 15. If he does not immediately put a period to their afflictions, yet they shall have his gracious presence with them in their troubles; he will take notice of their sorrows, and know their souls in adversity, will visit them graciously by his word and Spirit, and converse with them, will take their part, will support and comfort them, and sanctify their afflictions to them, which will be the surest token of his presence with them in their troubles. (3.) That herein he will answer their prayers: He shall call upon me; I will pour upon him the spirit of prayer, and then I will answer, answer by promises (Ps. lxxxv. 8), answer by providences, bringing in seasonable relief, and answer by graces, strengthening them with strength in their souls (Ps. cxxxviii. 3); thus he answered Paul with grace sufficient, 2 Cor. xii. 9. (4.) That he will exalt and dignify them: I will set him on high, out of the reach of trouble, above the stormy region, on a rock above the waves, Isa. xxxiii. 16. They shall be enabled, by the grace of God, to look down upon the things of this world with a holy contempt and indifference, to look up to the things of the other world with a holy ambition and concern; and then they are set on high. I will honour him; those are truly honourable whom God puts honour upon by taking them into covenant and communion with himself and designing them for his kingdom and glory, John xii. 26. (5.) That they shall have a sufficiency of life in this world (v. 16): With length of days will I satisfy him; that is, [1.] They shall live long enough: they shall be continued in this world till they have done the work they were sent into this world for and are ready for heaven, and that is long enough. Who would wish to live a day longer than God has some work to do, either by him or upon him? [2.] They shall think it long enough; for God by his grace shall wean them from the world and make them willing to leave it. A man may die young, and yet die full of days, satur dierum–satisfied with living. A wicked worldly man is not satisfied, no, not with long life; he still cries, Give, give. But he that has his treasure and heart in another world has soon enough of this; he would not live always. (6.) That they shall have an eternal life in the other world. This crowns the blessedness: I will show him my salvation, show him the Messiah (so some); good old Simeon was then satisfied with long life when he could say, My eyes have seen thy salvation, nor was there any greater joy to the Old-Testament saints than to see Christ’s day, though at a distance. It is more probably that the word refers to the better country, that is, the heavenly, which the patriarchs desired and sought: he will show him that, bring him to that blessed state, the felicity of which consists so much in seeing that face to face which we here see through a glass darkly; and, in the mean time, he will give him a prospect of it. All these promises, some think, point primarily at Christ, and had their accomplishment in his resurrection and exaltation.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
9 Because thou, Jehovah, art my protection. He dwells at this length in commendation of the providence of God, as knowing how slow men naturally are to resort to God in a right manner; and how much they need to be stimulated to this duty, and to be driven from those false and worldly refuges in which they confide. There is a change of person frequently throughout this psalm: thus, in the first verse, he addresses God, and afterwards addresses himself. God he styles his protection, — in this manner, by his own example, recommending others to have recourse to God as their help. So, afterwards, he addresses himself, that he may be the better persuaded of the sincerity of his inward affection. The true method of testing our faith is to turn our thoughts inward upon ourselves, and, when no human eye sees us, to search our own spirits. If, not content with having to do with God only, we turn our eyes to men, it is almost impossible to prevent pride from insinuating itself into the room of faith. He speaks of accounting God to be his house or refuge, because he defends us from every evil, as in Psa 90:1. This verse may be considered as connected with that which follows, and as stating the cause or reason of what is there asserted; for it is added, There shall no evil befall thee. And how are coming evils averted, but just by our resting with confidence in the protection of God? Troubles, it is true, of various kinds assail the believer as well as others, but the Psalmist means that God stands between him and the violence of every assault, so as to preserve him from being overwhelmed. The Divine guardianship is represented as extending to the whole household of the righteous; and we know that God comprehends under his love the children of such as he has adopted into his fatherly favor. Or, perhaps, the term may be taken in its simpler sense, and nothing more be intended than that those who choose God for their refuge will dwell safely in their houses.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(9) Thou . . . my.The difficulty of the change of person is avoided by the Authorised Version, but only with violence to the text, which runs, For thou, Jehovah, my refuge; thou hast made the Most High thy habitation. It is best to take the first line as a kind of under-soliloquy. The poet is assuring himself of the protection which will be afforded one who trusts in God; and he interrupts his soliloquy, as it were, with a comment upon it: Yes, this is true of myself, for Thou Jehovah art indeed my refuge. (For the Most High as a dwelling place, see Psa. 90:1.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. The Lord my refuge On the person speaking here see note on Psa 91:2-3
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
DISCOURSE: 655
THE SECURITY OF THOSE WHO DWELL IN GOD
Psa 91:9-10. Because thou hast made the Lord which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation, there shall no evil befall thee.
IT is scarcely possible to conceive any terms more strong, or any images more lively, than those in which the Scripture represents the privileges of believers. We need look no further than to the psalm before us for a confirmation of this truth. Indeed, according to the view given of this psalm by a learned prelate, there is, in the first verses of it, an emphasis which cannot be surpassed [Note: Bishop Horne reads the two first verses thus: He that dwelleth &c. who abideth under &c, who saith of the Lord, &c. Then at the end of ver. 2, he supposes the Psalmist to break off abruptly, and, instead of continuing his description, to address himself to the person before described; Surely he shall deliver thee.]. And the whole may be considered as the believers charter, in which all his privileges are contained, from his first acceptance with God to the consummation of his happiness in glory.
We have in the words of our text a just description of the believer:
I.
His experience
The true Christian is one who has been turned from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God. Being once brought to God, he makes the Most High his habitation. He regards God, not merely as reconciled to him, but as affording him (what a dwelling-house affords to its possessor),
1.
Free access
[A person goes familiarly to his house at all times, not doubting but that he shall gain a ready admission into it. He considers it as his own, and feels that it exists only for his accommodation. It is thus that the believer goes to God as his God: he has access to him with boldness and confidence: he is certain that, when he calls, he shall receive an answer; and when he knocks, the door will be opened to him. In this precise view the Psalmist speaks of God; Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort [Note: Psa 71:3.].]
2.
Necessary provision
[Every man, whatever be his situation in life, expects to find in his own house the things suited to his necessities. He does not seek his meals at the houses of his neighbours, but in his own; and he returns home at stated seasons to partake of them. And whither does the believer go for daily supplies of bread for his soul? It is in Christ Jesus that his fulness is treasured up; and in him the believer expects to find the grace that is sufficient for him. God invites him to come to him for the express purpose, that he may be filled and satisfied with good things: Wherefore do ye spend your money for that which is not bread? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness [Note: Isa 55:2.].]
3.
Sure protection
[If storms descend, or dangers menac, we take refuge in our house, and find it a place of safety. Thus The name of God also is a strong tower, into which the righteous runneth and is safe [Note: Pro 18:10.]. It is to himself that God invites us, when he says, Come my people, enter thou into thy chambers, shut the door about thee, and hide thyself for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast [Note: Isa 26:20.]. And that this was a primary idea in the mind of the Psalmist, appears from the very words of the text, wherein he calls God his Refuge, and from the whole scope of the psalm, from the beginning to the end. With this also agrees the beautiful description given of Jesus by the Prophet, as an hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest [Note: Isa 32:2.].]
4.
Sweet repose
[To his house a man retires from the noise and bustle of the world; and there he lays himself down to rest after the fatigues of the day. Home, though inferior in many respects to places of temporary residence, is to almost all persons the most agreeable, because they are most at ease. And such is God to the believer. In every place, God is to him as a little sanctuary [Note: Eze 11:16.], where he finds himself at rest. He carries his wants to God, and casts all his care on him, and enjoys that peace which passeth all understanding. In this sense he says for his own encouragement, Return unto thy Rest, O my soul: and attests for the glory of his God, Lord thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations [Note: Psa 90:1.].]
In connexion with this experience of the believer, let us consider,
II.
His privilege
The expression in the text seems to exceed the bounds of truth: but the more it is examined, the more will it be found to be strictly true. The man who makes God his habitation shall have no evil befall him:
1.
None here
[No casual evil shall befall him. There is no such thing as chance; every thing, even to the falling of a sparrow, is ordered of the Lord. As for the children of God, their heavenly Father hath given his angels charge over them, to keep them in all their ways [Note: ver. 11, 12.]; and if any thing were to happen to them, they (the angels) would contract a fearful responsibility for their neglect. We must not however imagine that Believers are at liberty to rush into needless dangers; for our Lord, when tempted by Satan to cast himself from a pinnacle of the Temple in expectation that the angels would preserve him from injury, replied, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God: but nothing can happen to them except by the Divine appointment: they are hid in the shadow of their Fathers hand, and their very hairs are all numbered.
But it may be thought that penal evil may come to them. This however we utterly deny. That they may be visited with the rod, we readily acknowledge: but there is a great difference between the vindictive arm of an incensed judge, and the gentle chastisements of an indulgent parent. The cup that may at any time be put into their hands may be bitter; but it has not in it one drop of wrath: it is altogether mixed by love; and not an ingredient can be found in it, which they themselves shall not one day confess to have been salutary and beneficial.
In short, no real evil shall befall them. That they may have troubles, is certain: that their troubles may be heavy and accumulated, is also certain. But who accounts even the amputation of a limb evil, if it be the only and infallible method of preserving life? Much less then are any sufferings to be accounted evil, which the Believer can ever be called to sustain: for he shall never endure any, which shall not work for good to him in this life, and be the means of increasing his weight of glory in the next [Note: Rom 8:28 and 2Co 4:17.].]
2.
None hereafter
[It is in this life only that the Believer can meet with even the semblance of evil: when he goes hence, he is instantly placed beyond the reach of harm. No sin, no sorrow, no pain, no temptation, no weariness, no want, can ever be felt by him in the mansions of bliss. He will there enjoy for ever one unclouded day! and his happiness will be without alloy, without intermission, without end [Note: Rev 21:4.].]
To render this subject more instructive, we shall add a word,
1.
Of direction
[Christ, in reference to the sheepfold of his church, says, I am the door; if any man enter in by me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture [Note: Joh 10:9.]. The same figure we may apply to the subject before us: Christ is the door; he is the way to the Father; and no man cometh unto the Father, but by him. To those who come to God in any other way, he is not a Refuge, or Habitation, but a consuming fire [Note: Heb 12:29.]. But if we believe in Christ, then will he dwell in us, and we shall dwell in him [Note: Joh 6:56.]: yea, he will be our house of defence, to save us for ever [Note: Psa 31:2.].]
2.
Of warning
[Who, except the believer, can apply to himself the promise in the text? As for the unbelieving and disobedient, they are in danger every hour: they know not but that Gods wrath may break forth against them the very next moment to their destruction. Of this they are certain, (whether they will believe it or not,) that in a little time his judgments shall overtake them, and the greatest of all evils shall befall them, unless they repent. O that they would be prevailed upon to flee for refuge to the hope that is set before them! O that they would now seek to be found in Christ! Then should the destroying angel pass over them, and they should dwell safely, and be quiet from the fear of evil [Note: Pro 1:33.].]
3.
Of encouragement
[The weakness of mens faith often robs them of the comfort which it is their privilege to enjoy. Why should a believer be afraid of thunder and lightning? Were he but sensible what a Protector he has, he would feel assured that no evil could come unto him. How varied are Gods promises to him in the psalm before us! How diversified also are the assurances given him by Eliphaz in the book of Job [Note: Job 5:19-24.]! Let him only commit himself to God, and he has nothing to fear. Let us then, beloved, have faith in God; and let those words of David be our song in this land of our pilgrimage; God is our refuge, &c.; therefore will we not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the waters be carried into the midst of the sea [Note: Psa 46:1-4.]: &c.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Here is the ground of the believer’s confidence. Jesus, as the sinner’s Surety, made God his hope, and rested his salvation upon him and his covenant-engagements.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 91:9 Because thou hast made the LORD, [which is] my refuge, [even] the most High, thy habitation;
Ver. 9. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, &c. ] Because thou hast done as I do, thou shalt speed as I have sped; for God is rich in mercy to all his.
Even the Most High thy habitation
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psalms
THE HABITATION OF THE SOUL
Psa 91:9 – Psa 91:10
It requires a good deal of piecing to make out from the Hebrew the translation of our Authorised Version here. The simple, literal rendering of the first words of these verses is, ‘Surely, Thou, O Lord! art my Refuge’; and I do not suppose that any of the expedients which have been adopted to modify that translation would have been adopted, but that these words seem to cut in two the long series of rich promises and blessings which occupy the rest of the psalm. But it is precisely this interruption of the flow of the promises which puts us on the right track for understanding the words in question, because it leads us to take them as the voice of the devout man, to whom the promises are addressed, responding to them by the expression of his own faith.
The Revised Version is much better here than our Authorised Version, for it has recognised this breach of continuity of sequence in the promises, and translated as I have suggested; making the first words of my text, ‘Thou, O Lord! art my Refuge,’ the voice of one singer, and ‘Because thou hast made the Most High thy habitation, there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any evil come nigh thy dwelling,’ the voice of another.
Whether or no it be that in the Liturgical service of the Temple this psalm was sung by two choirs which answered one another, does not matter for our purpose. Whether or no we regard the first clause as the voice of the Psalmist speaking to God, and the other as the same man speaking to himself, does not matter. The point is that, first, there is an exclamation of personal faith, and that then that is followed and answered, as it were, by the further promise of continual blessings. One voice says, ‘Thou, Lord! art my Refuge,’ and then another voice-not God’s, because that speaks in majesty at the end of the psalm-replies to that burst of confidence, ‘Thou hast made the Lord thy habitation’ as thou hast done by this confession of faith, ‘there shall no evil come nigh thy dwelling.’
I. We have here the cry of the devout soul.
Now, notice that this cry of the soul, recognising God as its Asylum and Home, comes in response to a revelation of God’s blessing, and to large words of promise. There is no true refuge nor any peace and rest for a man unless in grasping the articulate word of God, and building his assurance upon that. Anything else is not confidence, but folly; anything else is building upon sand, and not upon the Rock. If I trust my own or my brother’s conception of the divine nature, if I build upon any thoughts of my own, I am building upon what will yield and give. For all peaceful casting of my soul into the arms of God there must be, first, a plain stretching out of the hands of God to catch me when I drop. So the words of my text, ‘Thou art my Refuge,’ are the best answer of the devout soul to the plain words of divine promise. How abundant these are we all know, how full of manifold insight and adaptation to our circumstances and our nature we may all experience, if we care to prove them.
But let us be sure that we are hearkening to the voice with which He speaks through our daily circumstances as well as by the unmistakable revelation of His will and heart in Jesus Christ. And then let us be sure that no word of His, that comes fluttering down from the heavens, meaning a benediction and enclosing a promise, falls at our feet ungathered and unregarded, or is trodden into the dust by our careless heels. The manna lies all about us; let us see that we gather it. ‘When Thou saidst, Seek ye My Face, my heart said unto Thee, Thy Face, Lord, will I seek.’ When Thou saidst, ‘I will be thy Strength and thy Righteousness,’ have I said, ‘Surely, O Jehovah! Thou art my Refuge’? Turn His promises into your creed, and whatever He has declared in the sweet thunder of His voice, loud as the voice of many waters, and melodious as ‘harpers harping with their harps,’ do you take for your profession of faith in the faithful promises of your God.
Still further, this cry of the devout soul suggests to me that our response ought to be the establishment of a close personal relation between us and God. ‘Thou, O Lord! art my Refuge.’ The Psalmist did not content himself with saying ‘Lord! Thou hast been our Dwelling-place in all generations,’ or as one of the other psalmists has it, ‘God is our Refuge and our Strength.’ That thought was blessed, but it was not enough for the Psalmist’s present need, and it is never enough for the deepest necessities of any soul. We must isolate ourselves and stand, God and we, alone together-at heart-grips-we grasping His hand, and He giving Himself to us-if the promises which are sent down into the world for all who will make them theirs can become ours. They are made payable to your order; you must put your name on the back before you get the proceeds. There must be what our good old Puritan forefathers used to call, in somewhat hard language, ‘the appropriating act of faith,’ in order that God’s richest blessings may be of any use to us. Put out your hand to grasp them, and say, ‘Mine,’ not ‘Ours.’ The thought of others as sharing in them will come afterwards, for he who has once realised the absolute isolation of the soul and has been alone with God, and in solitude has taken God’s gifts as his very own, is he who will feel fellowship and brotherhood with all who are partakers of like precious faith and blessings. The ‘ours’ will come; but you must begin with the ‘mine’-’ my Lord and my God.’ ‘He loved me , and gave Himself for me .’
Just as when the Israelites gathered on the banks of the Red Sea, and Miriam and the maidens came out with songs and timbrels, though their hearts throbbed with joy, and music rang from their lips for national deliverance, their hymn made the whole deliverance the property of each, and each of the chorus sang, ‘The Lord is my Strength and my Song, He also is become my Salvation,’ so we must individualise the common blessing. Every poor soul has a right to the whole of God, and unless a man claims all the divine nature as his, he has little chance of possessing the promised blessings. The response of the individual to the worldwide promises and revelations of the Father is, ‘Thou, O Lord! art my Refuge.’
Further, note how this cry of the devout soul recognises God as He to whom we must go because we need a refuge. The word ‘refuge’ here gives the picture of some stronghold, or fortified place, in which men may find security from all sorts of dangers, invasions by surrounding foes, storm and tempest, rising flood, or anything else that threatens. Only he who knows himself to be in danger bethinks himself of a refuge. It is only when we know our danger and defencelessness that God, as the Refuge of our souls, becomes precious to us. So, underlying, and an essential part of, all our confidence in God, is the clear recognition of our own necessity. The sense of our own emptiness must precede our grasp of His fulness. The conviction of our own insufficiency and sinfulness must precede our casting ourselves on His mercy and righteousness. In all regions the consciousness of human want must go before the recognition of the divine supply.
II. Now, note the still more abundant answer which that cry evokes.
But now notice the remarkable language in which this answer is couched. ‘Thou hast made the Most High thy Habitation, there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.’
Did you ever notice that there are two dwelling-places spoken of in this verse? ‘Thou hast made the Most High thy Habitation’; ‘There shall no plague come nigh thy dwelling.’ The reference of the latter word to the former one is even more striking if you observe that, literally translated, as in the Revised Version, it means a particular kind of abode-namely, a tent. ‘Thou hast made the Most High thy habitation.’ The same word is employed in the 90th Psalm: ‘Lord, Thou hast been our Dwelling-place in all generations.’ Beside that venerable and ancient abode, that has stood fresh, strong, incorruptible, and unaffected by the lapse of millenniums, there stands the little transitory canvas tent in which our earthly lives are spent. We have two dwelling-places. By the body we are brought into connection with this frail, evanescent, illusory outer world, and we try to make our homes out of shifting cloud-wrack, and dream that we can compel mutability to become immutable, that we may dwell secure. But fate is too strong for us, and although we say that we will make our nest in the rocks, and shall never be moved, the home that is visible and linked with the material passes and melts as a cloud. We need a better dwelling-place than earth and that which holds to earth. We have God Himself for our true Home. Never mind what becomes of the tent, as long as the mansion stands firm. Do not let us be saddened, though we know that it is canvas, and that the walls will soon rot and must some day be folded up and borne away, if we have the Rock of Ages for our dwelling-place.
Let us abide in the Eternal God by the devotion of our hearts, by the affiance of our faith, by the submission of our wills, by the aspiration of our yearnings, by the conformity of our conduct to His will. Let us abide in the Eternal God, that ‘when the earthly house of this tabernacle is dissolved,’ we may enter into two buildings ‘eternal in the heavens’-the one the spiritual body which knows no corruption, and the other the bosom of the Eternal God Himself. ‘Because thou hast made Him thy Habitation,’ that Dwelling shall suffer no evil to come near it or its tenant.
Still further, notice the scope of this great promise. I suppose there is some reference in the form of it to the old story of Israel’s exemption from the Egyptian plagues, and a hint that that might be taken as a parable and prophetic picture of what will be true about every man who puts his trust in God. But the wide scope and the paradoxical completeness of the promise itself, instead of being a difficulty, point the way to its true interpretation. ‘There shall no plague come nigh thy dwelling’-and yet we are smitten down by all the woes that afflict humanity. ‘No evil shall befall thee’-and yet ‘all the ills that flesh is heir to’ are dealt out sometimes with a more liberal hand to them who abide in God than to them who dwell only in the tent upon earth. What then? Is God true, or is He not? Did this psalmist mean to promise the very questionable blessing of escape from all the good of the discipline of sorrow? Is it true, in the unconditional sense in which it is often asserted, that ‘prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament, and adversity of the New’? I think not, and I am sure that this psalmist, when he said, ‘there shall no evil befall thee, nor any plague come nigh thy dwelling,’ was thinking exactly the same thing which Paul had in his mind when he said, ‘All things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to His purpose.’ If I make God my Refuge, I shall get something a great deal better than escape from outward sorrow-namely, an amulet which will turn the outward sorrow into joy. The bitter water will still be given me to drink, but it will be filtered water, out of which God will strain all the poison, though He leaves plenty of the bitterness in it; for bitterness is a tonic. The evil that is in the evil will be taken out of it, in the measure in which we make God our Refuge, and ‘all will be right that seems most wrong’ when we recognise it to be ‘His sweet will.’
Dear brother! the secret of exemption from every evil lies in no peculiar Providence, ordering in some special manner our outward circumstances, but in the submission of our wills to that which the good hand of the Lord our God sends us for our good; and in cleaving close to Him as our Refuge. Nothing can be ‘evil’ which knits me more closely to God; and whatever tempest drives me to His breast, though all the four winds of the heavens strive on the surface of the sea, it will be better for me than calm weather that entices me to stray farther away from Him.
We shall know that some day. Let us be sure of it now, and explain by it our earthly experience, even as we shall know it when we get up yonder and ‘see all the way by which the Lord our God has led us.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
Because Thou, &c. Hebrew reads “For thou, O LORD, [art] my refuge. “The change of person marks the Structure, and is not due to “textual corruption”.
Which is. Omit these italics.
Even, &c. Hebrew reads “The MOST HIGH [thou hast made] thy habitation”, supplying the Ellipsis from the preceding line.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 91:9-13
Psa 91:9-13
A MESSIANIC NOTE
“For thou, O Jehovah, art my refuge!
Thou hast made the Most High thy habitation.
There shall no evil befall thee,
Neither shall any plague come nigh thy tent.
For he will give his angels charge over thee,
To keep thee in all thy ways.
They shall bear thee up in their hands,
Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder:
The young lion and the serpent shalt thou trample under foot.”
Briggs stated that there is a Messianic significance in this passage; and certainly Satan himself thought it applied to Christ, for he quoted Psa 91:11-12 to Jesus Christ in the temptation recorded in Mat 4:4 and Luk 4:10-11.
Christ, of course refused the Devil’s suggestion that he cast himself from the pinnacle of the temple, noting that such an action would tempt God. For our full comments on that episode, see in my New Testament series of commentaries under those references.
“There shall no evil befall thee” (Psa 91:10). Promises just as glorious as these are provided for the Christians in the New Testament, as for example, in Rom 8:35-39; but as Kidner cautioned, “The assurance here is that nothing can touch God’s servant except by God’s permission, and that no rebel (Psa 91:8) can escape God’s punishment. Kidner also quoted Luk 21:19 in this connection, indicating that there actually is no exemption whatever to Christians regarding the common dangers and disasters of all men, the great difference for the child of God being that, “The Lord will preserve him through every experience, even death itself.”
“He will give his angels charge over thee” (Psa 91:11). This promise has its New Testament echo in Heb 1:13-14, where it is stated that “all,” the entire host of the heavenly angels, are charged with the duty of ministering unto them that shall be the heirs of salvation.
The following things which angels do for the redeemed are mentioned in the Bible: (1) They bear away the souls of the righteous in death (Luk 16:22). (2) They oppose purposes and designs of Satan, not in their own names, but in the name of the Lord (Jud 1:1-6). (3) They execute God’s judgments upon the incorrigibly wicked (2Ki 19:35; Act 12:23). (4) They exert influence upon rulers and governments (Dan 10:20. (5) They aid providentially in bringing the unsaved to hear the saving gospel of Christ (Act 10:3). (6) They exercise watchful care over little children (Mat 18:10). (7) They maintain perpetually the availability of the Word of God for the human race. The Rainbow Angel stands upon the land and the sea, having in his hand “a little book, OPEN.” That little BOOK is the New Testament (Revelation 10).
“Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder” (Psa 91:13). Briggs translated this line, “Upon reptile and cobra thou wilt tread but the new versions do not honor that rendition. A similar blessing is seen in the life of Paul who shook the poisonous viper off into the fire (Act 28:3-6).
M.E. Zerr:
Psa 91:9. Thou means the person to whom the writer is addressing his assurances. Such a person who makes God his dwelling place will share the same protection as the writer of this verse, and will find shelter in the same refuge.
Psa 91:10. This verse is practically the same in thought as many of the other verses of the chapter. It refers to the complete security of all who trust in God.
Psa 91:11-12. A promise in the form of a prophecy can be so worded as to have more than one application. The general theme of the several verses of this chapter is the securit3 to be had in the Lord. That is true of all men in general, but this paragraph has been given specific application to Christ in Mat 4:6 and Luk 4:10. It is true that Satan is the one who made the application, but Christ did not take any exception to the reference that Satan made to it. Attempts have been made to show that Satan added to the passage. But he did not add any words that would have altered its meaning, neither did Jesus accuse him of it. The perversion of which Satan was guilty was his misapplication of the passage. The proviso on which the protection was given required that the subject be one who is true to God. But a person who would tempt Him would not be true and therefore could not claim the promise.
Psa 91:13. The lion and adder are used figuratively to compare the extent of deliverance that God will give those who trust in him. The dragon means some kind of dangerous monster like a sea-serpent.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Because: Psa 91:2, Psa 142:4, Psa 142:5, Psa 146:5, Psa 146:6
most high: Psa 91:1, Psa 71:3, Psa 90:1
Reciprocal: Gen 7:23 – and Noah Deu 33:27 – refuge 1Sa 30:19 – General Ezr 8:31 – the hand Psa 21:7 – For the Psa 31:2 – an house Psa 57:1 – shadow Psa 91:14 – set Psa 121:7 – preserve Pro 3:26 – Lord Jer 39:16 – before thee Eze 11:16 – as a Joh 6:56 – dwelleth Act 7:48 – the most High
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 91:9-12. Because thou hast made the Most High thy habitation Which is the only ground and reason of that safety here mentioned; there shall no evil befall thee Namely, so as to destroy or really hurt thee. Though affliction befall thee, yet there shall be no real evil in it; for it shall come from the love of God, and shall be sanctified; it shall come, not for thy hurt, but for thy good; and though for the present it be not joyous but grievous, yet, in the end, it shall yield so well that thou thyself shalt own no evil befell thee. Neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling This promise is not made to all that dwell nigh a righteous man, as, suppose, to his children, servants, and neighbours, who may, possibly, be wicked persons, and so strangers from Gods covenant and promises. How far it secures his own person, see on Psa 91:7. For he shall give his angels charge over thee Those blessed, powerful, and watchful spirits, whom God hath appointed to minister to, and take care of, the heirs of salvation. To keep thee in all thy ways In the whole course of thy life, and in all thy lawful undertakings. They shall bear thee up in their hands Sustain or uphold thee in thy goings, as we do a child or a weakly man, especially in uneven or dangerous paths; lest thou dash thy foot against a stone So as to hurt it, or to cause thee to fall. Satan, it is well known, tempted Christ to cast himself from a pinnacle of the temple upon the presumption of this promise, which he quoted, implying, that angels should guard and support him in all dangers whatever. But Christ, in answer, at once detected and exposed the sophistry of the grand deceiver, by showing that the promise belonged only to those who fell unavoidably into danger, in the course of duty; such might hope for the help and protection of Heaven; but that he who should wantonly and absurdly throw himself into peril, merely to try whether Providence would bring him out of it, must expect to perish for his pains. Horne.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Those who trust in the Lord can rely on His protection. He will commission angels to watch over and protect His own. This is one of the passages in Scripture that reveals the existence and activity of "guardian angels" (cf. Mat 18:10; Heb 1:14). The writer was using hyperbole when he wrote that the believer will not even stub his or her toe (Psa 91:12). Psa 91:13 also seems to be hyperbolic. It pictures overcoming dangerous animals. God has given some believers this kind of protection occasionally (e.g., Daniel 6; Act 28:3-6), but the writer’s point was that God will protect His people from all kinds of dangers.
Satan quoted Psa 91:11-12 when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness (Mat 4:6). He urged Him to interpret this promise literally. However, Jesus declined to tempt God by deliberately putting Himself in a dangerous situation to see if God would miraculously deliver Him.
Jesus referred to Psa 91:13 when He sent the disciples out on a preaching mission (Luk 10:19). Again, it seems clear that His intention was to assure the disciples that God would take care of them. He was not encouraging them to put their lives in danger deliberately.