Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 91:1

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

1. Whoever takes refuge with God will find himself under the protection of an Almighty guardian. “He shall be treated as God’s guest His Almighty Power shall be spread around him during the night of trouble and peril. Loving faith on man’s part shall be met by faithful love on God’s part” (Kay). Such is the sense of the A.V., which is certainly the most natural rendering of the verse. It is however rejected by most modern commentators as tautological. The predicate, it is said, simply repeats the subject, for the verb shall abide, or lodge, does not bear the emphatic meaning of permanent sojourn. But the verb is not used of temporary sojourn only (cp. Psa 25:13), and if the emphasis is on the words in the shelter of the Almighty, the second line is not merely a repetition of the first.

Other renderings which have been suggested are (1) As one that dwelleth in the covert of the Most High, that lodgeth in the shadow of the Almighty, I will say, &c. Cp. R.V. marg. This construction however is harsh and cumbrous. (2) With the insertion of a word at the beginning of Psa 91:1, Happy is the man that dwelleth that lodgeth that saith ; an emendation plausible enough in itself, but without any support from the Ancient Versions. (3) With a slight change of text, He that dwelleth that lodgeth saith of Jehovah. This emendation has much to commend it. It is supported by the LXX ( ), and it gets rid of the supposed tautology, as well as of the somewhat perplexing first person I will say in Psa 91:2.

But it is unnecessary if Psa 91:1 is explained as above; the gain to the sense is doubtful; and the elimination of the first person destroys a feature of the Psalm. Its use here is supported by its recurrence in Psa 91:9.

secret place ] Covert or hiding-place. Cp. Psa 27:5; Psa 31:20; Psa 32:7, &c.

the shadow ] Shelter or protection. The figure is probably (cp. Psa 91:4) derived from the care of the mother-bird for her young (Psa 17:8, &c.), rather than from the hospitable roof (Gen 19:8), or sheltering rock (Isa 32:2).

the Most High the Almighty ] Significant titles, chosen to emphasise the power of the Sovereign Ruler of the world to defend His people.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

1, 2. The theme of the Psalm; Jehovah a secure defence for those who take refuge in Him.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

He that dwelleth – Everyone that so dwells. The proposition is universal, and is designed to embrace all who are in this condition. It is true of one; it is true of all. The word rendered dwelleth here is a participle from the verb to sit, and here means sitting: literally, sitting in the secret place, etc. The idea is that of calm repose; of resting; of sitting down – as one does in his dwelling.

In the secret place – On the meaning of this see the notes at Psa 27:5. Compare Psa 31:20; Psa 32:7. Abiding where God abides. The idea is that of having ones home or residence in the most holy place in the tabernacle or the temple, and of sitting with him in that sacred place.

Of the Most High – Of God, represented as exalted above all; over all the universe.

Shall abide – Margin, as in Hebrew, lodge. That is his home – his resting place – where he lodges, or passes the night. He takes up his lodging there; he makes it his home.

Under the shadow of the Almighty – Under his protection, as if under his wings. Compare the notes at Psa 17:8. This is a general statement, and is designed as an introduction to the whole psalm, or as expressing what the psalm is intended to illustrate, the blessedness of the man who thus dwells with God; who makes him his friend; who makes the home of God his home.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Psa 91:1-16

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

A song of faith

I. The solitary voice of faith. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High–how high up that secret place must be; how deep the silence up there; how pure the air! How far above the poisonous mists that cling to the low-lying swamps; how far out of the reach of the arrows or shots of the foeman, is he that dwelleth with God by communion, by constancy of desire, by aspiration, and by clear recognition of the Divine goal of all his work! He that dwelleth thus, in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty–and since He is Almighty the long shadow that that great rock casts will shelter him who keeps beneath it from the burning rays of the fiery sunshine, in every weary land. Let me keep myself in touch with God, and I keep myself master of all things, and secure from the evil that is in evil.

II. The great assurances which answer to this solitary voice of faith. Now, is it true, as the psalmist goes on to portray under a double figure of battle and pestilence, that the man who thus trusts is saved from widespread calamities which may be devastating the lines of a community? If we look on the surface it is not true. Those that dwell in the secret place of the Most High will die of an epidemic–cholera, or smallpox–like the men beside them that have no such abode. But, for all that, it is true! For suppose two men, one a Christian, another not, both dying from the same epidemic. Yet the difference between the two is such that we may confidently say of the one, He that believeth shall never die, and of the other that he has died. It is irrelevant to talk about vaccination being a better prophylactic than faith. No doubt this psalmist was thinking mainly of physical life. No doubt, also, you and I have better means of interpreting and understanding Providence and its dealings than he had. And for us the belief that they who dwell in the secret place of the Most High are immune from death, is possible and imperative, after a fashion far nobler and better than the psalmist could have dreamed. We must remember Old Testament conditions when we read Old Testament promises, and apply New Testament interpretations to Old Testament assurances. When we read, there shall no evil befall thee, and think of our own harassed, tempest-tossed, often sorrowful lives, and broken, solitary hearts, we must learn that the evil that educates is not evil, and that the chastening of the Fathers hand is good; and that nothing that brings a man nearer to God can be an enemy. The poison is wiped off the arrow, though the arrow may mercifully wound; and the evil in the evil is all dissipated.

III. A deeper voice still coming in, and confirming the enlarging all these promises. God Himself speaks, promising deliverance consequent upon fixed love. Because he hath set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him. As the word in the original suggests, when a poor man presses himself close up against the Divine breast, as a dog might against his masters limbs, or one that loves might clasp close to himself the beloved, then God responds to the desire for close contact, and in union He brings deliverance. Further, He promises elevation consequent on acquaintance with Divine character. I will set him on high–high above all the weltering flood of evil that washes vainly round the base of the cliff–because he hath known My name. Loving acquaintance with the revealed character of God lifts a man above earth and all its ills. Further, there is the promise of Divine companionship consequent on sorrows. I will be with him in trouble. Some of us know what that means, how we never get a glimpse of God until earth was dark, and how when a devastating flood as it seemed came sweeping over the fair gardens of our lives, we found, when it had gone back, that it had left fertility that we knew nothing about before. With long life will I satisfy him, through the ages of eternity, and show him My salvation in the glories of an immortal life. (A. Maclaren, D.D.)

The special providence of God

Rarely, if anywhere, has faith made so complete a shield of God, or planted itself so firmly within the circle of His defence. No wonder we find this psalm called in the Talmud a Song of Accidents, that is, a talisman or prophylactic in times of danger. And no wonder the ancient Church used it as its Invocavit, to rally and encourage the hearts of the faithful in troublous and stormy times. The question is, How are we to understand it? Is it true? Can a man, because he is a Christian, and fears God, count upon such immunity as is here described? Does he lead a sort of charmed life, clothed with impenetrable armour, which no shaft of pestilence can pierce, so that while thousands or tens of thousands may fall at his right hand, he shall never be touched? We know that it is not so. Is there, then, any way in which we can interpret it, so as to use it with intelligence and profit to ourselves?

I. The difficulty we feel in connection with the psalm is not that it assumes a special providence, as we call. It. This is taught everywhere in Scripture. It is difficult, indeed, to see how there can be any providence at all if it does not condescend to particulars, and take the individual, as well as the community or the race, into account. In the Old Testament its primary concern is with Israel as a people, and with the individual only in a subordinate and secondary degree. In the New Testament the individual is more distinctly and definitely an object of Divine regard. He, and the community of which he forms a part, are equally essential to one another, and that because the Church is not moved and governed from without, but from within; and such a government is impossible, except by the indwelling of the Spirit of God in the heart of each individual believer.

II. The difficulty which meets us here, then, is not that of a special providence, but of the manner in which it is said to act.

1. In the Old Testament the Divine providence was specially concerned in so guiding and controlling the history of Israel, that in it as a nation the kingdom of God, or of the Messias, should be realized. He was to judge the world with righteousness, and the poor with judgment. His reign was to be an era of peace and prosperity which should know no end. Those who were to be more immediately about Him, and to occupy the chief places of honour and authority, were to be His own people, to whom in a special sense He belonged. And round them, in ever-widening and more distant circles, were to be the other inhabitants of earth, all under the sway of the same benignant sceptre.

2. In the New Testament the point of view is entirely different. Religion is not embodied in a national history, nor is the kingdom of God an earthly kingdom, as even the disciples believed it would be up to the Day of Pentecost. Its essential characteristics are spiritual–righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. What made the difference? It was the Cross of Christ. On this stone of offence Israel had stumbled, and been broken in pieces. The kingdom of God was henceforth to appear under altered conditions. The old things having passed away, all things became new. And on this new creation was the impress of the Cross. And how had the Cross so transformed the whole spiritual outlook and hopes of men? It had shown that the greatest evil was sin, and that the righteousness which was to characterize the kingdom of the Messias could only be reached by atonement. Henceforward the great evil to be shunned was not poverty, nor hardship, but that which all along had arrayed itself against Him, and finally had nailed Him to the tree. Henceforth the greatest blessing to be gained was to have His spirit of disinterested and generous self-sacrifice. But the Cross of Jesus was more than the altar of expiation, more than the revelation of a love that passeth knowledge. It was also the consummation of His own experience, the perfecting of His humanity. But the sacrifice of the Cross, it may be said, was voluntarily borne. And though Christians must be ready to suffer for the truth, and to lighten the worlds burden, by bearing it as Christ did, may they not expect to be delivered from those evils which are neither imposed by loyalty to the Gospel, nor assumed for the good of others? Have they no right to look for special protection in times of famine or pestilence; or does God send these indiscriminately on the evil and the good, just as He sends the sunshine and the rain? Undoubtedly He does, and Christians have no right to look for immunity from the ills that are the common lot of men. Inasmuch as they are still a part of a sinful humanity, they must share in the judgments which may come upon it. But does a Christian, then, derive no advantage from his Christianity in such visitations? By no means. For he has placed himself under Gods care, who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, and who cannot allow His servant to suffer, simply because He will not take the trouble to save him, or grudges what the effort might cost. Moreover, he is persuaded that God is acquainted with every particular connected with his trial, the very hairs of his head being all numbered, and that if He chose He could secure his absolute safety. And what reconciles him to the fact that God does not choose? What but the conviction that there is thus to come to him a larger blessing than he would otherwise receive? (C. Moinet, M.A.)

Gods secret and shadow

I. The position indicated.

1. The place. We are to enter and to abide in the secret of God.

(1) Gods Word has its secret. There are some who read it through chapter by chapter, who have a large amount of superficial biblical knowledge, but who know comparatively nothing of its grand, glorious, momentous secrets. There are others who so read it that they grasp the real meaning, the grand spiritual realities that underlie its utterances; they so read it that they catch the very spirit of its Divine Author, so that the views formed and the feelings kindled towards the subject of which it treats, are the same as Gods. Such may be said to enter into the secret of God, or into the secret place of the Most High.

(2) Communion with God has its secret. There are some who say their prayers very regularly and very devoutly. So far as outward decorum and forms of speech are concerned, they are faultless. But communion with God there is none. There are others whose communion with Heaven is a sublime reality. The very presence of the Heavenly Father is consciously enjoyed.

(3) The love of God has its secret. There are some, and we fear professing Christians too, whose feelings towards God are those of polite reserve. They know nothing of living in the love of God. But there are others who get into His very heart. They are children.

(4) The purpose of God has its secret. There are some who feel little or no interest in that which lies close to Gods heart, engages His profoundest sympathies, and employs His untiring energies. They have never entered into that purpose, never felt its vital importance, never conceived its glorious design. Never seriously considered whether by their lives and actions they were co-operating with God, or opposing Him. But there are others who have so closely identified themselves with Gods purpose that it is the great centre to which every line of thought, of feeling, of intention, and of sympathy converges.

2. The attitude. He that dwelleth. To dwell means a fixed, settled, habitual mode of life. It must be so with our conduct in reference to Gods Word, Gods friendship, Gods love, and Gods purpose. We must dwell in them, live in them. We must ask for no holiday, no leave of absence, there must be no departure.

3. How attained. How can we reach and take up our abode in this the very heart of God? Christ supplies the answer, I am the way, etc.

II. The blessing enjoyed.

1. We have indicated what it is to dwell in the secret place of Gods Word. With minds thus furnished and filled we are under their protection. The worlds thoughts, and ideas, and principles of things may assail us, but they cannot do much with us; we know better; we have received a higher education, our minds are fortified with Gods thoughts, guarded with Gods ideas, protected with Gods principles.

2. We have indicated what it is to dwell in the secret place of Gods communion. In that position we get our whole nature animated with holy impulses, sympathies, tastes, and dispositions. We get our whole nature magnetized with the nature of God. With our whole nature thus infused, fired, animated, and magnetized with the very impulses and inspirations of Gods nature, we are under their protection. We are lifted into a higher sphere of life.

3. We have indicated what it is to dwell in the secret place of Gods love. In that position we get our best, strongest, and supreme affections impregnated with the love of God. We live under its shadow and protection. By its high and holy and potent influence we are preserved from the love of low, base, temporal, inferior things.

4. We have indicated what it is to dwell in the secret place of Gods purpose. In that position our energies, our sympathies, our interests, our intentions, and our pursuits are all enlisted and engaged in co-operating with God in bringing about the desire of His heart and the great pleasure of His will. In our labours and toils, our efforts and struggles to destroy sin and to establish holiness, whether it be in our own hearts, in the lives and conduct of our children, or in the spirit and practice of the world, we are under the protection and shadow of the Most High, because we are identified with Gods purpose. (B. Pierce.)

The believer safely dwelling in God

I. The place the psalmist has in mind. Intercourse and communion with the God that made us is not, as some represent, a fallacy. You may describe it as an idle thing; and so might the blind man say of the light of this glorious sun, and so might the deaf man say of music. But the thing is real; and your doubts of its reality lie in this–you want the discerning faculty. You want to be brought into contact with your God.

II. The conduct of the believer. Strip the text of metaphor, and this dwelling in God is only another term for trusting God. Try your confidence by these two tests. Is it an habitual, everyday confidence? Did it lead you yesterday, the day before, and the day before that,–has it led you to-day–to cast yourselves on the Lord? Is it a habit of faith? And then–is it grounded on the blood of the Lord Jesus? Is it a confidence in a reconciling, pardoning, redeeming God?

III. The blessing which the believer finds in the habitation he dwells in. This is expressed in almost the same terms in which his conduct is expressed. He dwells in the secret place of the Most High; that is his conduct. He shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty; that is his privilege. Make God your refuge, and He will be your refuge; take Him as your habitation, and He will be your habitation; seek shelter in Him, and He will shelter you; go to Him for refreshment, and He will refresh you; delight thyself in Him, and He will give thee the desires of thy heart. (C. Bradley, M. A.)

A home in Christ

The psalmist has been pierced with the shafts of unkindness, yet he speaks of what he seems perfectly sure when he speaks of his dwelling in the secret place of the Most High, and abiding under the shadow of the Almighty. What is more sweet than this promise?

I. The secret place.

1. Some think the secret here spoken of is that intimacy of fellowship which Gods children enjoy in communion with Him.

2. Others think it has a more definite or special meaning. To my mind it is certain that the secret spoken of contains a promise and an expectation of the coming Messiah. The Wonderful, named in Isa 9:1-21, is in the margin rendered secret. So, in the text, the word rendered secret is connected with the Messiah; then the Christians hiding-place is in Christ.

II. Dwelling in this secret place. He that dwelleth, he who has a home, in Christ shall abide in the shadow of the Almighty. Every congregation might be divided into those who make their home in the world and visit Christ, and those who have their home in Christ and visit the world. A home in Christ. Oh, wondrous thought! The psalmist speaks of God as a refuge, a home, an abiding-place. John says, We dwell in Him and He in us. He is in all we have, all we are, and all we hope to be or hope for. You might as well undertake to describe a sunset to the blind or music to the deaf, as to talk of dwelling in Christ to one who has never tasted of the graciousness of the Lord. No man knows this but he who is already in Christ.

III. The promise. He shall abide, etc. When Gods love makes a promise, His sovereignty secures its fulfilment. He shall abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

1. In that shadow the Christian finds protection. We may live and die in its shadow. It is always the same, yesterday, to-day and for ever.

2. There is also refreshment in this shadow. He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High has a perfect home, complete in all that can contribute to its safety, rest, and perfectness. Oh, make the experiment! (J. A. M. Chapman, D.D.)

God our dwelling, and in our dwelling

Where is the secret place of the Most High? We can find it by two spiritual lines of measurement, as by latitude and longitude at sea. The longitude, we will say, is the omnipresence of God. All do not practically believe that God is everywhere. Many will acknowledge this in words, while they have no realizing sense of it which makes it of practical value. To know the longitude at sea would be of little use without another element in the calculation, the latitude; as to know the latitude without the longitude leaves the mariner bewildered. Frequently a passing ship will set her signals to inquire of another ship, What is your longitude? though the latitude may have been determined by the sun at noon. Hence the other element of measure to find the secret place of the Most High, though we know Him to be everywhere, is a praying heart. It is interesting to know that the place here mentioned is not confined to one spot. A man may always live under the same tent; the place where he eats and sleeps will always be a secret place to him; yet the tents may be movable, sometimes in a valley, then on the side of a hill; then upon the hill top. So the secret place of the Most High is movable. As there is no latitude at the poles, no longitude at Greenwich, because longitude is the distance east or west from Greenwich and latitude is the distance from either pole, this represents that which heaven will be to us, where there are no seeming distances from God; for we shall no more walk by faith but by continual sight. But on earth, in all our journeyings toward heaven, we have constant need to find the secret place of the Most High, that is, a place of communion with God. The promise in the text is to such as make praying their breath; who hold continued communion with God, referring all things to Him as their fixed habit; breathing out love, adoration, confession, supplication, more intimately than they commune with the dearest friend. The promise is that they shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. This may signify–

1. Nearness. A child walking with you abides under your shadow; you are never far from him, you keep him in sight, within reach.

2. Protection. We cannot estimate the benefit of frequent prayer. (N. Adams, D. D.)

The secret of the Most High

We have here two distinct aspects of the one life in their living relations with one another. The first clause furnishes the living reason for the second; while the second is the necessary complement of the first. The luxuriance of the figures which the psalmist employs is due to the exuberance of a profound faith that has mastered all difficulties and contradiction, and dares to assert to the utmost possibilities of language the perfect security of those that dwell in the secret of the Most High. We are here in truth at the very highest point of pre-Christian revelation with regard to mans spiritual relation to God, and it would be difficult even now to express the truth in question more grandly and truly than it is here expressed.

I. The secret of the true life. There is something inspringly grand in the conception here offered, that the secret of mans truest and noblest life is identical with the secret of the Most High. The brute may find its life in the relations of the visible and temporal. But it is precisely in this that man is essentially different from the brute. He is not true man until he occupies the eternal standpoint; he does not begin to live until he has the vision of God. When man finds Gods secret place, he finds the place of eternal calm.

1. Such a life is marked by inwardness. In finding the secret of the Most High, man finds his most inward self. He enters into the inner temple of spirit, and feels the throb of life at its deepest point where it reveals its affinity to the essential life of God.

2. Again, to dwell in the secret of the Most High is to know God and be in fellowship with Him. By knowing God I do not mean an intellectual belief in His existence or a correct conception of His nature and attributes. I mean by it the direct consciousness of His presence. The life enters into the inner realm where God is seen, and gazes upon the glorious vision.

3. Such a life will be actuated and inspired by the highest ideals of service. Those that stand in the presence of God are of necessity ministers of His that do His pleasure. Those that truly walk with God will walk like God.

II. The security of the true life. There are three stages.

1. In the first (Psa 91:1-8), the idea of temporal security predominates. The man of God is immortal until his work is done.

2. In the second stage (Psa 91:9-13), the figures used are more suggestive of spiritual or quasi-spiritual foes.

3. The next and last stage (Psa 91:14-16), leads us from security and victory to honour and glorification. The relation between the victorious man and God grows wondrously near; it is a relation of mutual knowledge and of mutual love. The language grows indefinite, the glory gathers in nebulous suggestion of a dazzling beyond, the godly man becomes transfigured before us, and a cloud receives him out of our sight. (John Thomas, M.A.)

The secret of His presence

There is some thing about the word shadow that always interests, for there never has been a shadow without the light; thus the secret place must be a place of brightness. It is a place where God is, for the nearest of all things to me in the sunlight as I journey is my shadow, and he who walks in my shadow or rests in it must be very near to me, so that when I am in the shadow of God I can reach forth my hand and touch Him; I can lift up mine eyes and see Him face to face. I know there is a sense in which God is always near us; He is in all things and He is everywhere; but there is something about the secret of His presence to which every one is a stranger until he has dwelt there.

I. The typical reference must be to the holy place of the tabernacle, which the priests were privileged to enter; but Peter assures us that we have become in this new dispensation a holy priesthood, so that it is possible for us to enter on that ground. For in the tabernacle just beyond the veil was a glory cloud, and all the magnificence that could be wrought in gold and silver, purple and fine linen; but I am persuaded that even that was as nothing when compared to that which awaits us when we enter the secret place of God.

II. It would be impossible for one to read the verses immediately following the text without being impressed with the fact that the most remarkable results will follow our abiding and dwelling is the secret place.

1. In the secret place there is peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation, our Master said, but in Me ye shall have peace. I have read that a certain insect has the power to surround itself with a film of air, encompassed in which it drops into the midst of muddy, stagnant pools, and remains unhurt. And the believer may be thus surrounded by the atmosphere of God, and while he is in the midst of the turmoils of the world he may be filled to overflowing with the peace of God, because God is with him. This is true whatever your occupation, if it is ever so menial. The Rev. F. B. Meyer tells us of Lawrence, the simple-minded cook, who said that for more than sixty years he had never lost the sense of the presence of God, but was as conscious of it while performing the duties of his humble office as when partaking of the Lords Supper. What peace he must have had.

2. In the secret place there is purity. I suppose we might have been with Jacob when in his dream he saw the heavens opened and beheld the angels going up and coming down and heard the voice of God, and we should only have seen the dreary mountains round about. I doubt not but that we might have been with Paul when he was caught up to the third heaven, and we should have seen nothing but the humble surroundings of his tent; and I doubt not but that if Paul were here he would see God here this morning, and he would have walked on the street with Him yesterday. Is not the trouble with ourselves instead of our surroundings or our times? Every permitted sin encrusts the windows of the soul and blinds our vision. And every victory over evil clears the vision of the soul, and we can see Him a little plainer.

3. In the secret place there is power. There can be no effective service that is not the outcome of communion. Our Lords Day precedes the week of work, and this is always the plan of God. That wonderful fifteenth chapter of John is founded on that idea. We must abide first, and after that we cannot help but bear fruit. Oh that we might be so near to Him that we should be magnetized and charged with a spiritual force that the world can neither gainsay nor resist.

III. How may i enter into this secret place? Cannot something be said that will make the way plain? It can all be summed up in this answer. None can know the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal Him. Jesus Christ said, I am the way, I am the door, by Me, if any man will, he shall enter in. There are some places in the Bible where the way seems plain. He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood dwelleth in Me and I in him. (J. W. Chapman, D. D.)

Abiding in God

Mr. Meyer says, The sun says to the little earth planet, Abide in me. Resist the temptation to fly into space; remain in the solar sphere, and I will abide in the formation of thy rocks, the verdure of thy vegetation, and of all living things, baptizing them in my fire. Abide in me, says the ocean to the alcove, that shows symptoms of division from its waves. Keep thy channel unsilted and open, and I will pour my fulness up to thy furthest shore twice in every twenty-four hours. Abide in me. The vine says it to the branch, that it may impart supplies of life and fruit; the air says it to the lung, that it may minister ozone and oxygen to its cells; the magnet says it to the needle, that it may communicate its own specific quality, and fit it to guide across the ocean the mighty steamer, laden with the freight of human life.

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

PSALM XCI

The safety of the godly man, and his confidence, 1, 2.

How he is defended and preserved, 3-10.

The angels of God are his servants, 11, 12;

and he shall tread on the necks of his adversaries, 13.

What God says of, and promises to, such a person, 14-16.

NOTES ON PSALM XCI

This Psalm has no title in the Hebrew; nor can it be determined on what occasion or by whom it was composed. It is most likely by the author of the preceding; and is written as a part of it, by fifteen of Kennicott’s and De Rossi’s MSS., commencing before the repetition of the four last words of the ninetieth. It is allowed to be one of the finest Psalms in the whole collection. Of it Simon de Muis has said: “It is one of the most excellent works of this kind which has ever appeared. It is impossible to imagine any thing more solid, more beautiful, more profound, or more ornamented. Could the Latin or any modern languages express thoroughly all the beauties and elegancies as well of the words as of the sentences, it would not be difficult to persuade the reader that we have no poem, either in Greek or Latin, comparable to this Hebrew ode.”

Verse 1. He that dwelleth in the secret place] The Targum intimates that this is a dialogue between David, Solomon, and Jehovah. Suppose we admit this, – then

DAVID asserts: “He who dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty,” Ps 91:1.

SOLOMON answers: “I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in him will I trust,” Ps 91:2.

DAVID replies, and tells him what blessings he shall receive from God if he abide faithful, Ps 91:3-13.

Then the SUPREME BEING is introduced, and confirms all that David had spoken concerning Solomon, Ps 91:14-16: and thus this sacred and instructive dialogue ends.

In the secret place of the Most High] Spoken probably in reference to the Holy of holies. He who enters legitimately there shall be covered with the cloud of God’s glory – the protection of the all-sufficient God. This was the privilege of the high priest only, under the law: but under the new covenant all believers in Christ have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus; and those who thus enter are safe from every evil.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

The secret place; or, hiding-place. He that makes God his habitation and refuge, as he is called below, Psa 91:9, resorting to him, and relying upon him in his dangers and difficulties, shall not be disappointed of his hope, but shall find a quiet and safe repose under the Divine protection. A

shadow in Scripture phrase commonly signifies protection. See Gen 19:8; Jdg 9:15; Psa 17:8, &c.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

1. dwelleth in the secret place(Psa 27:5; Psa 31:20)denotes nearness to God. Such as do so abide or lodge secure fromassaults, and can well use the terms of trust in Ps91:2.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High,…. Or the Supreme; a title of God, who is superior to all beings, the Creator and Preserver of them, God over all, higher than the highest of angels or men; see Ge 14:22, “his secret place” is his heart, his bosom, where his only begotten Son lies; and into which he takes his people, where they are set as a seal, and who enjoy intimate communion with him; which is no other than his gracious presence, called “the secret of his presence”,

Ps 31:20, which none but saints are admitted to, when his everlasting love, which was a secret in his heart, is made known unto them, and in which they also dwell, 1Jo 4:16, as they likewise do in the eternal decree of election; which perhaps is meant by “the clefts of the rock, and secret places of the stairs”, where the church is said to dwell, So 2:14, unless rather Christ the Rock, and who may be signified by the cleft of that Moses was put into, when the goodness of the Lord passed before him, is intended; and who is the hiding place from the wind: mention is made of “the secret” of God’s “tabernacle”, Ps 27:5, in which he hides his people; alluding to the tabernacle, or temple, and the most holy place in it, called his secret place, Eze 7:22, and may refer to the ministry of the word and ordinances, where saints dwell, and enjoy much communion with God; and who are particularly under his special providence, protection, and power; which may here be designed:

shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty: who is able to do all things for his people, and is “Shaddai”, all sufficient, as this word is thought to signify; has a sufficiency of happiness in and for himself, and of provisions for all his creatures, and of power and grace for his own children: his “shadow” may be the same with his secret place, his power and protection, often in this book of Psalms called “the shadow of his wings”, Ps 17:8, in allusion to birds that overshadow and protect their young with their wings; though perhaps the allusion here may be to the shadow of a tree, and design the word and ordinances of the Lord’s house, which are a delightful, refreshing, reviving, and fruitful shadow, So 2:3, where gracious souls dwell, and abide with great delight and pleasure. Christ, the Son of God, is sometimes compared to the shadow of a rock, or tree, which screens and shelters from heat; as he preserves his people from the heat of a fiery law, the flaming sword of justice, the wrath of God, the fiery darts of Satan, and the fury of persecutors: under this shadow do they abide or lodge all night, safe and secure, as the word o signifies: the Targum calls this shadow the shadow of the clouds of glory; the Arabic version, “the shadow of the God of heaven.”

m So in Tikkune Zohar, correct. 20. fol. 50. 1. n T. Hieros. Sabbat, fol. 8. 2. o “indesinenter pernoctans”, Junius Tremellius “pernoctat”, Piscator, Gejerus; “pernoctabit”, Michaelis.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

As the concealing One, God is called , the inaccessibly high One; and as the shadowing One , the invincibly almighty One. Faith, however, calls Him by His covenant name ( Heilsname) and, with the suffix of appropriation, ( my God). In connection with Psa 91:1 we are reminded of the expressions of the Book of Job, Job 39:28, concerning the eagle’s building its nest in its eyrie. According to the accentuation, Psa 91:2 ought to be rendered with Geier, “ Dicit: in Domino meo (or Domini) latibulum , etc.” But the combination is more natural, since the language of address follows in both halves of the verse.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

The Security of Believers.

      1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.   2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.   3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.   4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.   5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;   6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.   7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.   8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.

      In these verses we have,

      I. A great truth laid down in general, That all those who live a life of communion with God are constantly safe under his protection, and may therefore preserve a holy serenity and security of mind at all times (v. 1): He that dwells, that sits down, in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty; he that by faith chooses God for his guardian shall find all that in him which he needs or can desire. Note, 1. It is the character of a true believer that he dwells in the secret place of the Most High; he is at home in God, returns to God, and reposes in him as his rest; he acquaints himself with inward religion, and makes heart-work of the service of God, worships within the veil, and loves to be alone with God, to converse with him in solitude. 2. It is the privilege and comfort of those that do so that they abide under the shadow of the Almighty; he shelters them, and comes between them and every thing that would annoy them, whether storm or sunshine. They shall not only have an admittance, but a residence, under God’s protection; he will be their rest and refuge for ever.

      II. The psalmist’s comfortable application of this to himself (v. 2): I will say of the Lord, whatever others say of him, “He is my refuge; I choose him as such, and confide in him. Others make idols their refuge, but I will say of Jehovah, the true and living God, He is my refuge: any other is a refuge of lies. He is a refuge that will not fail me; for he is my fortress and strong-hold.” Idolaters called their idols Mahuzzim, their most strong-hold (Dan. xi. 39), but therein they deceived themselves; those only secure themselves that make the Lord their God, their fortress. There being no reason to question his sufficiency, fitly does it follow, In him will I trust. If Jehovah be our God, our refuge, and our fortress, what can we desire which we may not be sure to find in him? He is neither fickle nor false, neither weak nor mortal; he is God and not man, and therefore there is no danger of being disappointed in him. We know whom we have trusted.

      III. The great encouragement he gives to others to do likewise, not only from his own experience of the comfort of it (for in that there might possibly be a fallacy), but from the truth of God’s promise, in which there neither is nor can be any deceit (Psa 91:3; Psa 91:4, c.): Surely he shall deliver thee. Those who have themselves found the comfort of making God their refuge cannot but desire that others may do so. Now here it is promised,

      1. That believers shall be kept from those mischiefs which they are in imminent danger of, and which would be fatal to them (&lti>v. 3), from the snare of the fowler, which is laid unseen and catches the unwary prey on a sudden, and from the noisome pestilence, which seizes men unawares and against which there is no guard. This promise protects, (1.) The natural life, and is often fulfilled in our preservation from those dangers which are very threatening and very near, while yet we ourselves are not apprehensive of them, any more than the bird is of the snare of the fowler. We owe it, more than we are sensible, to the care of the divine Providence that we have been kept from infectious diseases and out of the hands of the wicked and unreasonable. (2.) The spiritual life, which is protected by divine grace from the temptations of Satan, which are as the snares of the fowler, and from the contagion of sin, which is the noisome pestilence. He that has given grace to be the glory of the soul will create a defence upon all that glory.

      2. That God himself will be their protector; those must needs be safe who have him for their keeper, and successful for whom he undertakes (v. 4): He shall cover thee, shall keep thee secret (Ps. xxxi. 20), and so keep thee safe, Ps. xxvii. 5. God protects believers, (1.) With the greatest tenderness and affection, which is intimated in that, He shall cover thee with his feathers, under his wings, which alludes to the hen gathering her chickens under wings, Matt. xxiii. 37. By natural instinct she not only protects them, but calls them under that protection when she sees them in danger, not only keeps them safe, but cherishes them and keeps them warm. To this the great God is pleased to compare his care of his people, who are helpless as the chickens, and easily made a prey of, but are invited to trust under the shadow of the wings of the divine promise and providence, which is the periphrasis of a proselyte to the true religion, that he has come to trust under the wings of the God of Israel, Ruth ii. 12. (2.) With the greatest power and efficacy. Wings and feathers, though spread with the greatest tenderness, are yet weak, and easily broken through, and therefore it is added, His truth shall be thy shield and buckler, a strong defence. God is willing to guard his people as the hen is to guard the chickens, and as able as a man of war in armour.

      3. That he will not only keep them from evil, but from the fear of evil, Psa 91:5; Psa 91:6. Here is, (1.) Great danger supposed; the mention of it is enough to frighten us; night and day we lie exposed, and those that are apt to be timorous will in neither period think themselves safe. When we are retired into our chambers, our beds, and have made all as safe as we can about us, yet there is terror by night, from thieves and robbers, winds and storms, besides those things that are the creatures of fancy and imagination, which are often most frightful of all. We read of fear in the night, Cant. iii. 8. There is also a pestilence that walketh in darkness, as that was which slew the first-born of the Egyptians, and the army of the Assyrians. No locks nor bars can shut out diseases, while we carry about with us in our bodies the seeds of them. But surely in the day-time, when we can look about us, we are not so much in danger; yes, there is an arrow that flieth by day too, and yet flies unseen; there is a destruction that wasteth at high-noon, when we are awake and have all our friends about us; even then we cannot secure ourselves, nor can they secure us. It was in the day-time that that pestilence wasted which was sent to chastise David for numbering the people, on occasion of which some think this psalm was penned. But, (2.) Here is great security promised to believers in the midst of this danger: “Thou shalt not be afraid. God by his grace will keep thee from disquieting distrustful fear (that fear which hath torment) in the midst of the greatest dangers. Wisdom shall keep thee from being causelessly afraid, and faith shall keep thee from being inordinately afraid. Thou shalt not be afraid of the arrow, as knowing that though it may hit thee it cannot hurt thee; if it take away the natural life, yet it shall be so far from doing any prejudice to the spiritual life that it shall be its perfection.” A believer needs not fear, and therefore should not fear, any arrow, because the point is off, the poison is out. O death! where is thy sting? It is also under divine direction, and will hit where God appoints and not otherwise. Every bullet has its commission. Whatever is done our heavenly Father’s will is done; and we have no reason to be afraid of that.

      4. That they shall be preserved in common calamities, in a distinguishing way (v. 7): “When death rides in triumph, and diseases rage, so that thousands and ten thousands fall, fall by sickness, or fall by the sword in battle, fall at thy side, at thy right hand, and the sight of their fall is enough to frighten thee, and if they fall by the pestilence their falling so near thee may be likely to infect thee, yet it shall not come nigh thee, the death shall not, the fear of death shall not.” Those that preserve their purity in times of general corruption may trust God with their safety in times of general desolation. When multitudes die round about us, though thereby we must be awakened to prepare for our own death, yet we must not be afraid with any amazement, nor make ourselves subject to bondage, as many do all their life-time, through fear of death, Heb. ii. 15. The sprinkling of blood secured the first-born of Israel when thousands fell. Nay, it is promised to God’s people that they shall have the satisfaction of seeing, not only God’s promises fulfilled to them, but his threatenings fulfilled upon those that hate them (v. 8): Only with thy eyes shalt thou behold and see the just reward of the wicked, which perhaps refers to the destruction of the first-born of Egypt by the pestilence, which was both the punishment of the oppressors and the enlargement of the oppressed; this Israel saw when they saw themselves unhurt, untouched. As it will aggravate the damnation of sinners that with their eyes they shall behold and see the reward of the righteous (Luke xiii. 28), so it will magnify the salvation of the saints that with their eyes they shall behold and see the destruction of the wicked, Isa 66:24; Psa 58:10.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

Psalms 91

Security In the Lord

Scripture v. 1-16:

This Psalm Is also attributed to Moses, as was the 90th Psalm. Moses speaks as both teacher, when using “thou,” and as scholar when using “I,” in this Psalm of Divine security.

Verses 1, 2 declare that the one who continually resides in the secret place of the most High (Hob. heljon, the exalted one) shall abide under the shadow, or cover of the Almighty, the all-sufficient God. This alludes to the secure protection of God, Psa 27:5; Psa 31:20; Psa 32:7; Psa 34:7; Psa 17:8. Christ is that security, Isa 32:1. Moses vowed that he would witness that the Lord was his refuge, fortress, and my God, “in him will I trust,” Psa 2:12; Psa 18:2; Pro 3:3-5.

Verses 3, 4 assure the trusting of Israel that He will surely deliver them from: 1) The snare of the fowler, and 2) The noisome pestilence, of Satan and her enemies, Psa 124:7; 2Ti 2;26. Verse 4 adds that He would surely “cover thee,” the people of God, Israel then, and true believers now, “with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust (safely).” It is added “His truth shall be (exist as) thy shield and buckler,” as set forth Rth 2:12; Psa 17:8; Psa 57:8; Psa 61:4; Mat 23:37.

Verses 5, 6 declare that God’s people are not to be afraid (over anxious) about “terror by night,” nor for “the arrow that flieth by day,” nor for the pestilence that walketh (continually) in darkness, nor for the destruction that “wasteth (destroys even) at noon-day.” God is able to shield from or protect and sustain thru all four of these calamitous matters, as repeatedly pledged, Job 5:19; Psa 112:7; Psa 121:7; Pro 3:23-24; Isa 43:2; Heb 13:6.

Verses 8, 9 pledge that only the godly shall “behold thy judgment,” reward, or retribution poured upon the wicked, with their own eyes. This will be because they have made the Lord their refuge and the most High (exalted one) their habitation or companion to abide with them, Joh 15:5; Psa 37:34; Mal 1:5; Psa 71:3; Psa 90:1; Psa 92:11.

Verse 10 asserts that the most High shall not permit any evil judgment to fall upon the godly, nor any kind of plague to come nigh to contaminate their dwellings, as in Egypt, Exo 12:22-30; Pro 12:21; 2Pe 2:9.

Verses 11-13 tell of Divine help given to the godly by the angels of the Lord, to keep or guard them in the way (wherever they went), Psa 34:7; Psalms 71; Psalms 3; Mat 4:6; Luk 4:16; Heb 1:14; Gen 27:12; Joh 1:51.
Verse 12 adds that “they (the angels assigned) shall bear thee up in their hands (of care) lest thou dash thy foot against a stone,” Job 5:23; Psa 37:21.
Verse 13 pledges that the godly, obedient, shall “tread upon (down) the lion and the adder,” or asp, even the young lion and the dragon, under their feet, as such appeared in the wilderness, before Israel and before David and Daniel who were protected, Deu 8:15; Jdg 14:5; 1Sa 17:34-35; Dan 6:25. Even so, lion-like demons may be conquered today by the godly, Exo 4:3-4; 2Ti 2:7.

Verses 14 recounts God’s pledge that because Israel, His Son, and the godly set their love on Him, recognizing His name of honor, Psa 9:10, He will set him (each) on high, exalt him, Luk 18:14; Deu 10:15; Gen 34:8.

Verse 15 declares that God will answer such as call on Him in trouble, be with him in trouble, deliver him from it, and honor him who calls, Psa 145:18-19; Luk 18:14; Rom 10:13. See also Psa 50:15; Isa 43:2.

Verse 16 concludes that the Lord will satisfy the godly with long life, and show him his salvation or deliverance, Exo 20:12; Deu 5:16; Psa 50:23; 1Co 15:58; Rom 8:11; 2Ti 4:8-9.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the High One. Some Hebrew interpreters read the three first verses as one continuous sentence, down to the words, he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler The whole would then run thus — “He who dwells in the covert of the Most High, and abides under his shadow, to him will I say of Jehovah, that he is his hope and defense, and the God in whom he may safely rest, for he shall deliver him from the snare,” etc. This is evidently a forced construction to put upon the verses, and the reason which has led some to adopt it is weak and insufficient. They consider that the first verse repeats the same thing twice, and therefore conveys no proper meaning. But this is a great mistake; for the inspired penman of the psalm, whoever he may have been, states two ideas quite distinct, That he who is hid under the Divine protection occupies a safe and secure position, where no hostile weapon can reach him. Or should the verse be read — He who has God to be the guardian of his safety shall rest under the shadow of God; still the second clause would retain an emphatic meaning, for the power of God would be contrasted with that weak defense which man is able to extend. Those, too, who dwell in the secret place of God are here said by the Psalmist to dwell under his shadow, in the sense that they experience to what a rich extent his protection reaches. Men generally seek out a great-variety of hiding-places, having recourse to one or another, according as the calamities are different which threaten to overtake them; but here we are taught that the only safe and impregnable fortress to which we can betake ourselves is the protection of God. He contrasts the security of those who trust in God with the vanity of all other confidences by which we are apt to delude ourselves.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

INTRODUCTION

There is no title prefixed to this Psalm. We know not who is the author of it. The conjecture, which has been made by some, that it was written by Moses, is very inadequately sustained. Neither do we know the time or occasion of its composition. The Psalm is general in its character, and applies to the whole Church.
A remarkable feature of the Psalm is the frequent change of persons, from which some have inferred that it was composed for singing by alternate choirs. The explanation of Hengstenberg seems to us more reasonable: That the Psalmist speaks at one time from his own person to the soul of the righteous one who is in danger, and revives its courage, while at another time he expresses confidence from the soul of the righteous man; and thus in that pleasant alternation which forms the characteristic peculiarity of the Psalm, he employs at one time the thou in the character of teacher, and at another time the I in the character of scholar. The call of instruction in Scripture (this is the meaning of the alternation), ought always to be responded to by the acknowledgment of the hearer.

For our homiletical purpose we shall divide the Psalm thus:The safe hiding-place of the godly (Psa. 91:1-2), The inviolable security of the godly (Psa. 91:3-10), The angelic ministers of the godly (Psa. 91:11-13), The glorious privileges of the godly (Psa. 91:14-16).

THE SAFE HIDING-PLACE OF THE GODLY

(Psa. 91:1-2)

Into these two verses is condensed the contents of the whole Psalm. The statement of the first verse expresses in brief what is afterwards set forth with some particularity,the safety of him who places his trust in God. And in the second verse the Poet expresses his own firm assurance of his safety in Jehovah his God. We have in the text

I. An implication of danger. That the Psalmist was sensible of danger is clear from the fact that he regarded God as a refuge and a fortress. The godly are in peril by reason of

1. The trials of life. Bodily pains, mental perplexities, spiritual sorrows and struggles, involve danger to those who pass through them. The very nature of trial, i.e., testing, involves the idea of possible failure. Bodily pain may result in petulance or bitterness of spirit, mental perplexities may lead to a paralysing unbelief, spiritual conflicts may issue in loss, and even in defeat. The godly soul is in danger and needs a refuge.

2. Spiritual adversaries. The good man has to contend with foes. His adversary the devil as a roaring lion goeth about, seeking whom he may devour. He is hated by the world. Its spirit and principles, many of its practices, many of its amusements, and much of its literature, are opposed to the interests and even the life of the godly soul. Temptation to evil is a great and sad fact in this world. Moreover, the good man finds that in himself there are fleshly lusts which war against the soul. His life is a great moral battle. Numerous and powerful forces are arrayed against him. Seductive influences also are brought to bear upon him to lead him astray. His life is one of peril. He needs a fortress from which he may hurl defiance at his foes.

II. An assurance of safety. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Notice here:

1. The condition. To realise this safety the godly man must dwell in the secret place of the Most High. , which is here translated the secret place, signifies primarily a veil, a covering, then, what is secret, then, a hiding-place, protection. The latter we take to be the meaning in this place. The godly soul dwells in the hiding-place, i.e., in the protection of the Most High. His trust he reposes in God. He looks to Him for protection from the fiery darts of the wicked, and for support and shelter in the storms of life. To assure his safety the good man must dwell in the hiding-place of the Most High. The literal rendering is, He that sitteth in the, &c. He dwells in quietude, he finds rest there, he is settled there. Gods children should not come to Gods secret place as guests to an inn, but as inhabitants to their own dwellings. Speaking without any figure, the condition of spiritual safety is constant trust in God as our Protector. They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.

2. The promise. Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. The rendering in the margin is shall lodge. Hengstenberg translates: spends the night. The idea is, that that is his home, the place where he passes his nights. Under the shadow is explained by some by the bird who hides her young ones under her wings for their protection. Others explain it as indicating the great nearness of God to His people, and their consequent safety. We must be and continue very close to a person for his shadow to fall constantly upon us. Thus to abide under His shadow is to realise His constant presence, and to be always secure in His protection. The names of God which are here used set forth the ground upon which this assurance of the godly man is based: the Most High, the Almighty. What power can harm the man who is protected by the constant presence of the Supreme and Omnipotent Being? In the time of temptation, affliction, and darkness, we shall pass the night under His shadow. And in the toil and battle of the day, with its heat and burden, we shall rest secure beneath the Almightys shade. In His nearness to us our safety lies. While we are under His shadow no evil can befall us. Distance from Him means danger. Closeness to Him means entire security.

III. An expression of confidence. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God; in Him will I trust. Consider here

1. The aspects in which God is regarded. He is spoken of as a Refuge. God is the refuge of His people from the storms of life. In times of suffering and trial they find safety and comfort in Him. He is also a fortress. The idea of this word is different from that of a refuge. The refuge was a quiet and secure hiding-place; the fortress is a place of defence against foes, which is strong to resist the attacks of opposing forces. In lifes warfare God is the stronghold of His people; He is their shield. O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation, Thou hast covered my head in the day of battle. Having His protection we are invulnerable. In lifes storms He is the safe and quiet shelter of His people. My soul trusteth in Thee: yea, in the shadow of Thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast. The Psalmist also speaks of the Lord as his God the object of His worship; One who is worthy of all obedience and affection, all reverence and confidence, all praise and glory. Jehovah was to the Psalmist all that a man expects in his God.

2. The confidence which is expressed in Him. The Psalmists confidence in God is manifest

(1) In his resolve to trust Him. In Him will I trust. The Psalmist confidently leaves His interests in the hands of God. Believing in His power, goodness, and faithfulness, he trusts Himconfides in Him.

(2) In the appropriating nature of his faith. He says, My refuge, my fortress, my God. There is little or no strength or encouragement to be drawn from believing in the Lord as a refuge and a fortress unless we realise our interest in Him. But when faith is in vigorous exercise and we claim God as our own, then are we inspirited and strengthened. Can we look to God and say, My refuge, my fortress, my God?

(3) In the declaration of his confidence. I will say of the Lord, &c. He was determined to proclaim his confidence in God. He believes, and, therefore, he speaks. Men are ready enough now-a-days to speak of their doubts. But he is the noble man and the useful man who can intelligently and reverently speak of his faith; who says, I know whom I have believed, &c.; and who is ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh him a reason for the hope that is in him with meekness and fear. Great was the confidence of the Psalmist in God, and his great confidence he declares unto others.

CONCLUSION.We also are exposed to trials and dangers, and need a refuge and a defence. Our safety is in God alone. Having Him for our God we are beyond the reach of any real harm. We secure His protection by trusting in Him. By faith we dwell in the secret place of the Most High, and are ever secure under His shadow. Do not fear or hesitate to trust God fully and for ever. Commit yourself with confidence into His hands, and you shall dwell safely by Him for ever.

THE INVIOLABLE SECURITY OF THE GODLY

(Psa. 91:3-10)

In these verses the Poet sets forth with a measure of particularity what he has already expressed briefly and generally. He expresses in joyous song his strong confidence that he is safe from dangers of every kind, because he is protected by God. The inviolable security of the godly is here represented

I. As effected by God. Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. The Psalmist felt that he had for protector no less a being than God Himself. Two features of the Divine protection are here brought into view.

1. Its tenderness. He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust. The young birds under the wing of their mother are tenderly guarded. (See our notes on Psa. 57:1; Psa. 63:7.) Gotthold tells how that during a fire at Delft, in Holland, certain storks, finding it impossible to preserve their brood, placed themselves upon the nest, spread over them their wings, and so perished with them in the flames. Under these wings, says Bernard, four blessings are conferred upon us. For under these wings we are concealed: under these we are protected from the attacks of the hawks and kites, which are the powers of the air: under these a salubrious shade refreshes us, and wards off the overpowering heat of the sun: under these also we are nourished and cherished.

2. Its effectiveness. Wings and feathers indicate the tender and loving character of the Divine protection. Yet wings and feathers are weak and may be easily broken. But the Divine protection is as strong as it is tender, as efficient as it is gracious. His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Gods word, and His faithfulness to His word, are as armour to His people, preserving them from the onslaughts of their enemies. In such a protector we do well to trust and rejoice. He is wise to baffle the crafty designs of the cunning fowler; tender to shelter us from the storm and tempest; and strong to defend us in the day of battle.

II. As gloriously complete. The Psalmist labours to set forth the completeness of the safety of the godly man. He represents him as being

1. Safe from all perils. It is perhaps impossible to assert with certainty what the Psalmist meant by each of the phrases and figures he employed. The snare of the fowler indicates danger arising from the craft and cunning of enemies. The great enemy of God and man is especially signified. The Lord delivers His people from the wiles of the devil. The noisome pestilence. There is a difference in both the translations and the interpretations of this clause. Perowne translatesThe devouring pestilence. BarnesThe fatal pestilence; the pestilence that spreads death in its march. HengstenbergThe pestilence of wickedness. And Matthew Henry saysThe contagion of sin is the noisome pestilence. We think the latter view the correct one. The first clause of the verse (Psa. 91:3) we regard as representing the subtle temptations of Satan, and the second the ruinous contagion of sin. God delivers from both all who trust in Him. Hengstenberg, as we think with great probability, interprets Psa. 91:5 as setting forth the safety of the godly from the attacks of men, and Psa. 91:6 as setting forth their safety from sickness. Perowne, on Psa. 91:5, saysTerror by night (comp. Son. 3:8; Pro. 3:23-26), in allusion, probably, to night attacks like those of Gideon (Judges 7), a favourite artifice of Oriental warfare; or perhaps to a destruction like that of Sennacherib. And it has been pointed out on Psa. 91:6, that the diseases of all hot climates, and especially where vegetation is highly luxuriant, and marshes and miry swamps are abundant, proceed from the accumulating vapours of the night, or from the violence of the suns rays at mid-day. The beriberi of Ceylon, the spasmodic cholera and jungle-fever of India, and the greater part of the fevers of intertropical climates, especially that called the yellow-fever, chiefly originate from the first of thesethe pestilence that walketh in darkness; while sunstrokes, apoplexies, inflammations of the brain, and liver complaints of most kinds, proceed from the second, the destruction that wasteth at noonday. And it is in allusion to this double source of mischief that the Psalmist exclaims most beautifully on another occasion (Psa. 121:6), The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.The seventh verse seems to refer to warlike relations, and to express the security of the godly in battle. And in Psa. 91:10, where the plague is mentioned as not coming nigh the dwelling of the righteous, there is, perhaps, an allusion to the exemption of the Israelites from the plagues of Egypt. But, leaving the examination of details, let us take hold of the main idea of the Poet, that the godly are safe from perils of all kinds and from all perils. The variety of figures employed shows that the Psalmist is thinking of peril of every kind, coming from whatever source, and that he paints all dangers and fears vividly to the eye of his mind, in order to express the more joyfully his confidence that none of these things can move him, that over all he is more than conqueror. It is St. Pauls fervid exclamation, If God be for us, who can be against us? expressed in rich poetry. From all the assaults of Satan, from the fatal contagion of moral evil, from the attacks of enemies both by night and by day, from hurtful diseases, from every plague, from all evil, the godly man is preserved.

2. Safe at all times. By night, by day; in darkness, and at noonday the Divine protection is alike exercised. He that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. The guardianship of God is unremitting, constant, and unchangeable. They who trust in Him are at all times safe in His keeping.

3. Raised above the fear of danger. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A stout heart may well be excused if it were afraid of perils such as these, and especially when they approach us in darkness and at night. In the darkness of night evil is apt to assume an exaggerated character. Imagination increases its terrors. If we could clearly see the perils which threaten us they would lose much of their terror-inspiring power. But the godly man, trusting in the Lord, shall not be afraid of the terrors of the night or the perils of the day. In the midst of dangers he shall walk calmly because of his trust in the all-sufficient protection of God.

But is all this true? Is it not a fact that pestilence seizes the saint as well as the sinner? Does not the plague enter the dwelling of the good man as well as that of the evil? It is unquestionable that the godly are not exempt from the ills that flesh is heir to. Loss, sickness, suffering, death, fall to their lot even as to others. What, then, does the Psalmist mean in these verses? How are we to understand them?
We must bear in mind that we are interpreting poetry, not prose. The sacred poets of the Hebrews, like all other poets, used figurative and rhetorical language. And to interpret their poems in the same way as we interpret an historical document, or a logical treatise, or an apostolic letter, would be utterly misleading. The plain truth expressed in these verses is, that God is the Protector of His people, and that they are secure who put their trust in Him. Nor is it difficult to show that in times of pestilence and peril the position of the godly man is far superior to that of the ungodly. We may mention at least three things in which this is clearly manifest.

(1) Faith in God is a great safeguard against disease and danger. Stier states that some years ago a distinguished physician in St. Petersburg recommended this Psalm as the best defence against the cholera. And Tholuck admirably saysAs the general who carries within him the conviction that he is called to a great work, whilst the bullets fall thick as hail about him, stands with calm eye and firm foot, and says: I know that the bullet is not yet cast which can strike me, so stands the man of prophetic faith in the hour of danger, with the conviction that the thunderbolt will turn aside from his head, and the torrent dry up at his feet, and the arrows fall blunted from his breast, because the Lord wills it. Faith in God is the great condition of calmness and courage in time of danger.

(2) The godly man observes the laws of health. Pestilence and disease find their victims chiefly amongst the intemperate and licentious, who by their sinful habits are predisposed to their attacks, and unable to resist their power. But the godly man, by reason of his life of virtue, temperance, and cleanliness, often escapes the most deadly diseases without any attack, or if attacked frequently recovers.

(3) Suffering and death wear a different aspect to the godly man from that which they present to the wicked. He knows that suffering is educational; that tribulation worketh patience; that out of affliction and conflict the saints often bring great spoil of spiritual treasures; that these light afflictions, which are but for a moment, are working for him a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. He has gracious support in all his trials and afflictions; and, being sanctified by God, great blessings accrue to him by means of them. And to the godly men of this Christian age death is not an evil; it signifies not loss, but gain; it is the gate of life; it is birth into a higher and diviner form of life. It is true, then, that no real evil can befall the godly soul who is trusting in the Lord. And if suffering and sorrow and loss should be his portion, God will educe from them blessings of transcendent and perpetual value. We know that all things work together for good to them that love God.

III. As conditionated by trust in God. The godly man is thus secure because he has made the Lord his refuge, and the Most High his habitation. (See notes on the condition of safety in the preceding homily.) This verse (the 9th) is in substance a repetition of the first verse. If we would secure the protection of God we must trust Him fully and constantly.

CONCLUSION.

1. Let the godly ever trust and rejoice in their Protector.

2. Sinner, seek and secure this protection while you may. Let the wicked forsake his way, &c.

THE REWARD OF THE WICKED

(Psa. 91:8)

These words suggest

I. That there is a difference between the sufferings of the righteous and the wicked. The same external afflictions and trials may befall them; but to the righteous they are educational, to the wicked they are punitivethe reward, &c.

II. That the Divine rule in this world is righteous. Under it the godly are protected by God, while the wicked are punished.

III. That the righteousness of the Divine rule is not always manifest in this world. If the present were our only state of being, there are many things which we could not reconcile with the fact that God reigns in righteousness.

IV. That the righteousness of the Divine rule will ultimately be clearly manifest to all. The godly with their eyes shall see the reward of the wicked. There is a state where all the apparent inequalities of the moral government of our world will be clearly rectified. Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him; for the reward of his hands shall be given him.

V. The weak and fearful believer, notwithstanding his fears, shall not perish with the wicked. Only with his eyes shall he see the reward of the wicked, while he himself shall enjoy the glorious inheritance of the good.

THE ANGELIC MINISTERS OF THE GODLY

(Psa. 91:11-13)

In pursuance of the main topic the Poet here speaks of angels as charged by God to help and defend His people. Literally the word angel signifies a messenger, and may be used personally or impersonally. It is used in the Scriptures to designate ordinary messengers, prophets, Christian ministers, &c. In this place it denotes superhuman spiritsangels, as the word is commonly understood at present. From the representations of the holy Word it is clear that the angels rank high in the scale of being. They are said to possess great power. Angels that excel in strength. Mighty angels. And most astonishing achievements of power are attributed to them. They also possess great intelligence. This is plainly implied in the words of the LordBut of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but My Father only. It is also implied in the statement that they are full of eyes before and behind, and full of eyes within. The amazing power that they wield is chiefly the power of intelligence and wisdom. They also possess complete moral purity. They are spoken of in the Bible as saints, holy ones, and holy angels. Dwelling in that world where not even the shadow of moral defilement can enter, and standing in the immediate presence of God, they must be entirely free from even the smallest moral stain or imperfection. Their power, intelligence, purity, differ from ours in this, that they are perfect in kind. They differ from those of God in this, that they are imperfect in degree. There is before the angels a career of constant progress, both moral and intellectual, through all eternity. Moreover, they are represented as interested in the affairs of this world, and as actively employed by God in connection with those affairs. They are represented as being, in the widest sense, agents of Gods providence, natural and supernatural, to the body and to the soul. Thus the operations of nature are spoken of as under angelic guidance fulfilling the will of God. More particularly, however, angels are spoken of as ministers of what is commonly called the supernatural, or perhaps more correctly the spiritual Providence of God; as agents in the great scheme of the spiritual redemption and sanctification of man. The angel of the Lord is said to encamp round about them that fear Him, and to deliver them. They are represented as watching over Christs little ones; as rejoicing over a penitent sinner; as bearing the spirits of the redeemed into Paradise; and as ministering spirits for the spiritual guidance and help of the heirs of salvation. And in the text they are said to be charged by God to uphold and aid His people. That they should thus minister to the godly is in the highest degree reasonable.

(1) From the interest which they take in man (Luk. 15:10; 1Pe. 1:12).

(2) Inasmuch as a fallen angel led man to his ruin, and still by malign influences seeks our destruction, does it not seem appropriate and reasonable that holy angels should aid us in every virtuous and worthy effort?
(3) It is the law of Gods universe that His creatures should minister to each other. All things and all beings are made for service. The higher order of beings are made to minister to the lowerthe strong to help the weak, the enlightened to instruct the ignorant, &c. Our Lord came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. I am among you, He said, as He that serveth. God is the Great Minister of all His creatures. How reasonable then that angels should minister to men! If we are asked in what way angels minister to men? or, how they serve us? we may with strict fairness decline to reply. We may accept a fact without being able to explain its mode. All men, indeed, do so in many things. So we accept as true the statement that angelic beings aid men, though we are unable to explain by what method they do so. But may it not be that they aid us by suggesting to our mind thoughts, reasons, and motives to action, and by awakening emotions in our souls? &c. Any way, we thankfully accept and rejoice in their ministry as a precious reality.

Oh! th exceeding grace

Of highest God that loves His creatures so,
And all His works with mercy doth embrace,
That blessed angels He sends to and fro,
To serve to wicked men, to serve His wicked foe.
How oft do they their silver bowers leave,
To come to succour us that succour want!
How oft do they with golden pinions cleave
The flitting skies, like flying pursuivant,
Against foul fiends to aid us militant!
They for us fight, they watch and duly ward,
And their bright squadrons round about us plant;
And all for love, and nothing for reward.
Oh! why should heavenly God to men have such regard!Spenser.

In the text the angelic ministers of the good are said to be

I. Commissioned by God. He shall give His angels charge over thee.

1. They are His angels. He called them into being. He sustains them. The most mighty and glorious of their number is dependent upon Him. He is sovereign over them all. Loyally and reverently they acknowledge His sovereign right over them.

2. They are commissioned by Him. He allots to them their respective duties. They do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His word. They are His hosts, ministers of His that do His pleasure. The charge which in the text they are said to receive is more than a mere direction or order; it is a solemn command. All the angelic ministers of the godly obey His behests; they serve under Him,they are carrying out His purposes.

This angelic ministry is

II. Exercised for the godly as individuals. He shall give His angels charge over thee. God is profoundly solicitous for the well-being of each one of His people. He does not overlook the individual in the multitude. He cares for every godly soul with a care as complete and constant as though He had no other soul to care for. So in the ministry of His angels unto men He gives them charge not simply of His Church or of the communities which compose it, but of every individual member who trusts in Him. So that every true believer may say, In my lonely labour, and sorrow, and conflict, when far removed from human help and fellowship, my angelic helpers still have me in their charge, and are still near to help me. Thus an angel ministered to Elijah (1Ki. 19:4-8); to Daniel (Dan. 6:22); to Peter (Act. 12:7-10).

This angelic ministry is

III. Exercised for the godly only when they are in their true path. To keep thee in all thy ways. It is significant that when Satan quoted this verse in the temptation of our Lord, he omitted this clause. Had he quoted the whole verse, his temptation would have refuted itself. The ways spoken of in the Psalm are the ways of obedience and duty, not the ways of presumption or self-seeking. In the ways which God has prescribed for us to walk in we shall find safety and support even when the way is roughest and we are feeblest. But if we step out of the way, we forfeit the help of the angel ministers. If we are out of the way, their business is not to help us but to oppose us, if haply their opposition may lead us to retrace our steps and re-enter our true path. So long as we are in our way we are sure of the Divine help and protection, for His angels will not fail in their charge; but if we are out of our way, we are exposed to dangers from every quarter. The path of duty is the path of safety.

The angelic ministry is

IV. Exercised for the godly always when they are in their true path. To keep thee in all thy ways. God calls men to tread different ways. He also calls the same person to tread different ways at different times. There are the ways of arduous duty, and of severe trial, and of peaceful progress, &c. Gods way for one man is the way of patient endurance, He calls him to suffer; His way for another man is the way of constant and perhaps difficult service, He calls him to work; His way for vast numbers is that of quietly and faithfully discharging the daily round and common tasks of life, He calls them to diligence and faithfulness. In all the paths of life which He calls us to tread our angelic ministers are near for our help. When our path lies by the rippling waters of gentle streams, beneath azure skies, amid beauteous scenes and with genial breezes, they keep us in our way. And when we travel the steep and rugged way, beneath heavy clouds and amid furious storms, they bear us up on their hands lest we dash our foot against a stone. In the thronged and dusty way of lifes busy scenes, and in the retired and peaceful paths of quiet service, they keep us. To keep thee in all thy ways.

V. By means of the exercise of this angelic ministry the godly are enabled to surmount all the hindrances and conquer all the foes that beset their way. They shall bear thee up on their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under foot. By the lion and adder, says Perowne, there is no need to understand exclusively, or chiefly, the powers of darkness, the evil spirits. As by a stone all hindrances, so by the lion and dragon all hostile powers are denoted. By means of this angelic ministry the godly are

1. Preserved from falling. They shall bear thee up on their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. One great object of the ministry of angels is to guard the good lest they stumble and fall into sin. They aid us to overcome the hindrances of life. If we cannot have the way smoothed, it answers every purpose if we have angels to bear us up on their hands.

2. Enabled to conquer the most powerful foes. The lion and the young lion represent enemies of great strength and violence. Satan is said to go about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. The most powerful enemies of the good cannot cope with one of the angels of God. One angel of the Lord in one night smote one hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrians. The man who trusts in the Lord, looking upon the most numerous and most powerful enemies, in full assurance of victory may say, Fear not; for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. Our helpers are more numerous and more powerful than our enemies.

3. Enabled to conquer the most cunning foes. The adder and the dragon represent enemies of great secrecy and cunning. Satan is designated a serpent and a dragon. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. St. Paul speaks of the wiles of the devil. Many of the foes against which the godly have to contend in society to-day seek to gain their victory not by strength but by subtlety, not by force but by fraud. But our angelic helpers aid us in this respect also. We have assurance of complete victory over both the roaring lion and the old serpent. Triumphantly we shall tread our foes under our feet. Over both the might of opposition and the cunning of temptation we shall be more than conquerors.

CONCLUSION.

1. Our subject affords encouragement to trust in God. How numerous and efficient are the agencies He employs to save us!

2. Our subject reveals the dignity of the godly man. Angels, the highest beings in creation, the holy, the glorious, the powerful, are employed by God to serve him. Child of God, realise thy dignity, walk worthily of it.

3. Our subject calls us to the service of others. Angels serve us, Christ serves us now in heaven, the Holy Ghost serves, the Heavenly Father serves, God is the great servant of all. To serve God by ministering to our fellow-creatures is our duty and privilege. Let us secure the blessedness of unselfish and hearty service.

THE FOES AND VICTORY OF THE GOOD

(Psa. 91:13)

I. The foes of the good. These are

1. Numerous. The lion and adder, the young lion and the dragon.

Angels your march oppose,

Who still in strength excel,

Your secret, sworn, eternal foes,

Countless, invisible.

C. Wesley.

The enemies of the good in human society, in commerce, in amusements, in literature, are very many. And to these and the countless evil spirits must be added the fleshly lusts which war against the soul.

2. Various. The lion, whose strength, courage, and ferocity are proverbial. The word which is translated adder signifies a poisonous snake. The young lion is mentioned as particularly fierce and violent. And the word which is translated the dragon, signifies here a land serpent of a powerful and deadly kind. Thus varied are the foes of the godly man. The world, the flesh, and the devil are all arrayed against him. He has to battle with the syren enticements of temptation and the fierce attacks of persecution, &c.

3. Terrible. The lion, adder, young lion, and dragon are very terrible foes to the traveller. If once they have him in their power, they will destroy him. The foes of the godly soul are to be dreaded for their malignity, subtlety, and power. He is a fool who thinks lightly of the forces of evil which are working and fighting in this world.

II. The victory of the good. This is

1. Complete.

(1) Over all foes. The lion and adder, the young lion and the dragon shall all be vanquished. The world, the flesh, and the devil, persecutions and seductions, inward foes and outward, shall all be overcome by the man who trusts in God.

(2) Over all foes completely. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder, the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. His meaning is, thou shalt intentionally tread upon them like a conqueror, thou shalt tread upon them to testify thy dominion over them. You shall have power to overcome whatsoever may annoy you. The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The Christian will come out of lifes conflicts more than a conqueror through Christ.

2. Certain.

(1) Because angels aid us against our foes. They are intelligent, powerful, swift, glorious allies.

(2) Because God guarantees it. Thou shalt tread, &c. Here is no perhaps, but a certain promise from Him who is the truth. Take courage then, brother, in lifes battles. Trust and fight, and a glorious victory will be yours.

THE GLORIOUS PRIVILEGES OF THE GODLY

(Psa. 91:14; Psa. 91:16)

The inspired poet in these verses represents God Himself as declaring the high privileges of His servants. We have here

I. Some features in the character of the godly.

1. Love to God. Because he hath set his love upon me. The good man loves God with the love of gratitudeloves Him because of what He has done and is still doing for him. We love Him because He first loved us. When we reflect upon the evils from which He delivers us, and the blessings He bestows upon us, and the glory which awaits us in the future, our heart glows with gratitude and affection to Him. The good man loves God with the love of esteem also,loves Him because of what He is in Himself. The love which springs from gratitude is first in order of time in the spiritual history of most men; but the love which springs from esteem is first in order of excellence. To love Him because of the divine beauty of His character and life, is a far higher thing than to love Him because of the benefits which we have received from Him, or which He has promised to bestow upon us.

My God, I love Thee, not because

I hope for heaven thereby;

Nor because they who love Thee not

Are lost eternally.

Not with the hope of gaining aught,

Nor seeking a reward,

But, as Thyself hast loved me,

O ever-loving Lord.

So would I love Thee, blessed Lord,

And in Thy praise will sing,

Because Thou art my loving God,

And my redeeming King.

Xavier.

The expression, Set His love upon me, indicates fixedness of affection. God requires from us an intense single-hearted love. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind. Our supreme love must be fixed upon God. There is encouragement for us in this verse. It is not because of perfect love that God will deliver. It is to the will to love and serveit is to the setting the heart that the promise is madeto the full purpose of heart, that is set to cleave unto the Lord. Do we love God supremely?

2. Knowledge of God. He hath known my name. Knowledge of God and love to God are closely connected. We must have some knowledge of God before we can love Him. A true knowledge of God leads to trust in Him. They that know Thy name will put their trust in Thee. To know Gods name is to know Himself. Proficiency in this knowledge is attainable only to the man who loves God. As we must have some knowledge of God before we can love Him, so we must love Him before we can know much of Him. Every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. We can know the heart of God only as we love Him. Where the keen intellect fails to discover any trace of God, He is clearly and preciously manifest to the pure and loving heart.

3. Prayer to God. He shall call upon Me. The godly soul cannot live without prayer. In times of need he calls upon God for grace to help him. In the enjoyment of blessing He calls upon God in grateful praise. At all times he acknowledges his dependence upon God. And there are seasons when prayer grows into holy and blessed communion, in which there are no petitions, but an intense and blessed realisation of the presence of God, and adoration of Him, which humbles and purifies and strengthens the spirit.

II. Some of the glorious privileges of the godly.

1. Deliverance from danger. The assurance is twice given, I will deliver him. The good man has enemies to contend with, but God will deliver him out of their hands, and give him the victory over them. The good man is exposed to dangers, but God delivers him safely out of them all.

2. Exaltation and consequent safety. I will set him on high. I will place him out of the reach of danger. God raises those who trust Him above the stormy sea of this life, places them on an immovable rock, where the threatening and thundering waves cannot reach them. He shall dwell on high; his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks. God thus exalts His people above the perils of life, because they know His name and confide in Him.

3. Answers to prayer. I will answer him. The answer to prayer is not necessarily the granting of our requests. It may be a refusal, an explanation, a promise, a conditional grant. Excellently says Matthew Henry, I will answer by promises (Psa. 85:8), answer by providences, bringing in seasonable relief, and answer by graces, strengthening them with strength in their souls; thus He answered Paul with grace sufficient. True prayer is always answered by God, and answered in infinite wisdom and love.

4. The presence of God in trouble. I will be with him in trouble. The good man is not exempted from trouble, but supported in the midst of trouble. The celebrated William Dawson says, At other times God will leave them in the hands of angels: He shall give His angels charge over thee to keep thee, &c. But when they are in trouble, I will say to the angels, Stand aside, I will take care of them Myself. I will be with them in trouble. So He speaks to His people: When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, &c. When languishing in sickness, He will make His bed and his pillow; when travelling through the valley of the shadow of death, the Lord will be with him, and enable him to sing, I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me, &c. Thus He is with them as their physician and nurse, in pain and sickness; as their strength in weakness; as their guide in difficulty; their ease in pain; and their life in death.

5. The conference of distinguished honour. I will honour him. God honours His people in this life by delivering them from danger and trial, by sustaining them in suffering and sorrow, and by raising them into the most exalted relationships. Now are we the sons of God. In the life that is to come God will honour them by raising them to the highest dignities, the most delightful fellowships, the most glorious service, and to His own immediate presence. To him that overcometh I will give to sit with Me in My throne, &c. We know that when He shall appear we shall be like Him, &c.

6. Satisfaction with the duration of their life upon earth. With long life will I satisfy him. The special promise of long life at the close, says Perowne, as a temporal blessing, is in accordance with the general character of the Old Testament. Still it is possible that men like the Psalmist, full of faith in God, attached a deeper and more spiritual meaning to promises and hopes like these, than was attached to them by the majority of their countrymen. Matthew Henrys exposition seems to us admirable.

(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 dierumsatisfied 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. The good mans life upon earth is a completed thing, whether he die young or live to become a centenarian. He knows that his life is ordered by infinite Wisdom, and whenever it ends he is satisfied.

7. Full salvation. And show him My salvation. When the good mans life upon earth is ended, God will admit him to the enjoyment of His complete, glorious, and everlasting salvation in heaven. Here we catch glimpses of His salvation; there we shall see it fully and clearly revealed. Here we know its power and blessedness in part; hereafter we shall know them in their completeness. Here we conquer and have to battle again; there the warfare is all over, and the victory is glorious and endless. Here we partake of His salvation in the kingdom of grace; there in the kingdom of glory.

CONCLUSION.

1. Have we these distinguishing characteristics of the godly? Do we love, know, and pray to God?

2. Do you who have them, value and rejoice in your exalted privileges?

3. And you who do not bear the marks of the godly man, what is your hope? Through Jesus Christ every man may attain to this supreme love to God, this blessed knowledge of Him, and this hallowed communion with Him.

LONG LIFE

(Psa. 91:16)

With long life will I satisfy him. The present life is not a vain thing, but a thing of solemn reality; not a trifling thing, but a thing of stupendous importance; it ought not to be a mean thing, but a thing of sublimity and honour.

I. Long life is desirable.

1. Because of the obedience which, we may render to God. In this world we obey God in the face of many difficulties and much temptation. In heaven all influences combine to aid its inhabitants in their joyous obedience and service. But here, alas! it is very different. Yet obedience in a state like the present develops some of the noblest elements of character, and is specially well-pleasing to God.

2. Because of the service we may render to our race. In heaven holiness is universal and supreme. In hell evil holds undisputed sway. Upon earth good and evil are present, and in conflict. Here we may labour for the cause of righteousness and truth as we cannot in any other state of being.

Awake, my zeal; awake, my love,
To serve my Saviour here below,
In works which perfect saints above,
And holy angels cannot do.
Awake, my charity, to feed
The hungry soul, and clothe the poor;
In heaven are found no sons of need;
There all these duties are no more.

Watts.

3. Because of the reward which we may obtain. Obedience and service rendered in this life will be appropriately and proportionately rewarded in the life to come. Therefore it is natural and right to desire to live long that we may obey long, and serve long, and reap a rich reward.

II. The tendency of true religion is to promote long life. Keep My commandments; for length of days, and long life, and peace shall they add to thee. Length of days is in her (Wisdoms) right hand. The truly religious man lives virtuously, temperately, cultivates cleanliness, and avoids all violent passions, and such a life contributes incalculably to the prolongation of life.

III. A true estimate of the length of life is not formed by simply numbering its months and years. They only, said Sheridan, have lived long who have lived virtuously. He lives long, said Fuller, that lives well; and time misspent is not lived, but lost.

We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths;
In feelings, not in figures on a dial.
We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives
Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best.Bailey.

He liveth long who liveth well!

All other life is short and vain;

He liveth longest who can tell

Of living most for heavenly gain.

He liveth long who liveth well!

All else is being flung away;

He liveth longest who can tell

Of true things truly done each day.

Bonar.

IV. A truly godly man at the close of life will be satisfied with its length as determined by God, whatever that length may be. My times are in Thy hand. Our days are determined, the number of our months is with Him; and He orders all things well. In short measures life may perfect be.

Conclusion.Let us see to it that, by the help of God, we live well and earnestly; and thankfully leave the length of our life with Him.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Psalms 91

DESCRIPTIVE TITLE

A Personal Application of the Foregoing Psalm.

ANALYSIS

Prelude, Commending the Initial Sentiment of Moses Prayer. Stanza I., Psa. 91:2-8, Exhortation to Make this Sentiment Ones Own; sustained by Expanding its Implied Promises. Stanza II., Psa. 91:9-13, To One who has Obeyed the Exhortation, a Further Expansion of the Promises is made. Stanza III., Psa. 91:14-16, Jehovah, in Love, Responds to the Love Set Upon Him.

(Lm.None.)[278]

[278] N.B. according to rule this psalm should immediately follow the foregoing, without break.

1

How happy[279] is he that abideth in the hiding-place of the Most High,

[279] So Gt.Gn.

in the shadow of the Almighty he tarrieth!

2

Say thou[280] to JehovahMy refuge and my fastness,

[280] According to change of vowel points advised by Dr., thereby preparing for second person in Psa. 91:3.

my God in whom I trust.

3

For he will rescue thee from the trap of the fowler,

from the pestilence that engulfeth:

4

With his pinion will he cover thee,

and under his wings shalt thou take refuge,
a large shield and buckler is his truth.

5

Thou shalt not be afraid of the dread of the night,

of the arrow that flieth by day.

6

Of the pestilence that in darkness doth walk,

of the destruction that despoileth at noon.

7

There may fall at thy side a thousand,

Yea a myriad at thy right hand,
Unto thee shall it not draw near:

8

Only with thine own eyes shalt thou look on,

and the recompense of lawless ones shalt thou see.

9

Because thou hast said[281]Jehovah is my refuge,

[281] So Gt.

hast made the Most High thy dwelling-place[282]

[282] As in Psa. 90:1.

10

There shall not be suffered to meet thee misfortune,

and plague[283] shall not draw near in thy tent.[284]

[283] Or: stroke. Heb. nega. Cp. Psa. 38:11 note.

[284] Some cod. (w. 1 ear. pr. ed., and Aram.): tents (pl.)Gn.

11

For his messengers will he charge concerning thee,

to keep thee in all thy ways:

12

On their palms will they bear thee up,

lest thou strike against a stone thy foot:

13

On reptile[285] and cobra shalt thou tread,

[285] So Br., reading z-h-l for sh-h-l. M.T.: lion.

shalt trample on young lion and serpent.[286]

[286] Or: dragon (as devourer), or (sea)- or (river)-monsterO.G.

14

Because on me he hath set his love[287] I will deliver him,

[287] Or: to me hath become attached. Cp. Psa. 18:1 and Expn.

I will set him on high because he hath come to know my name:

15

He shall cry unto me and I will answer him,

with him will I myself be in distress:

I will rescue him and will glorify him.

16

With length of days will I satisfy him,

and will content[288] him with my salvation.

[288] Or (ml.) saturate. So (r-w-h) Gt. M.T.: let him gaze upon my s.

(Nm.)

PARAPHRASE

Psalms 91

We live within the shadow of the Almighty, sheltered by the God who is above all gods.
2 This I declare, that He atone is my refuge, my place of safety; He is my God, and I am trusting Him.

3 For He rescues you from every trap, and protects you from the fatal plague.
4 He will shield you with His wings! They will shelter you. His faithful promises are your armor.
5 Now you dont need to be afraid of the dark any more, nor fear the dangers of the day;
6 Nor dread the plagues of darkness, nor disasters in the morning.[289]

[289] Literally, at noonday.

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7 Though a thousand fall at my side, though ten thousand are dying around me, the evil will not touch me.
8 I will see how the wicked are punished but I will not share it.
9 For Jehovah is my refuge! I choose the God above all gods to shelter me.
10 How then can evil overtake me or any plague come near?

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11 For He orders His angels to protect you wherever you go.
12 They will steady you with their hands to keep you from stumbling against the rocks on the trail.
13 You can safely meet a lion or step on poisonous snakes; yes, even trample them beneath your feet!
14 For the Lord says, Because he loves Me, I will rescue him; I will make him great because he trusts in My name.
15 When he calls on Me I will answer; I will be with him in trouble, and rescue him and honor him.
16 I will satisfy him with a full life[290] and give him My salvation.

[290] Literally, with long life.

EXPOSITION

Two things are clear. This psalm is no part of the Prayer of Moses; and yet it was occasioned thereby. All the evidence that confirms the Mosaic authorship of Psalms 90, turns round and rebuts the assumption that Psalms 91 also was written by him. The lonely grandeur is gone. The large outlook has closed. The sweeping comprehensiveness is at an end. And yet a very close relationship is evident. The first verse of this psalm might have been written as a label on the previous one; and for a time left in that form; tautological,probably because incomplete; a mere suggestion to be expanded at a more convenient season. It is as though Samuel, or David, or Hezekiah had just perused afresh his precious treasure, handed down from the great Lawgiver; and, impressed with its sublime beauty and power and its fitness to be turned to practical use, had penned on it just the two lines which now open it: which lines, by himself or some other prophetic singer, were afterwards taken up, in hortatory mood, not improbably addressed to the fortunate royal possessor himself: Say thou (O my master; or, Say thou, O my soul)! We thus reach the idea that Psalms 91 is strictly an Appendix to Psalms 90; which hypothesis at once accounts for the fact that it has no inscription above or below. It is quite easy, and not altogether vain, to thinkhow aptly Nathan may have addressed Stanza I. (Psa. 91:2-8) to his royal master David, or how readily David himself may thus have addressed his own soulin either case naturally introducing large shield and (smaller) buckler. It is equally feasible to think of some such poet as Isaiah adding another stanza or two to this Appendix; and, if we could imagine him as striking in at Psa. 91:9 with Hezekiah in view,that would quite well account for the otherwise unaccountable emphasis on the pronoun thou! As much as to say: My royal Master! thine ancestor David full well knew what it was to be preserved from dread and arrow and pestilence and destructionto be saved alone while thousands were falling by his side; and he did indeed live to see recompense falling upon lawless ones. But thou, too, even as he did, hast said, Jehovah is my refuge. Nor shalt THOU be disappointed. Not necessarily vain, are such imaginings, if they hover over the realm of actuality, and rebuke the dry dogmatism that is so very sure that things hinted at could never have happened.

There is probably a further and deeper reason why it cannot be vain to seek to actualise such poetic writings as these; and that is, to check the easy assumption that there can be no fulfilment at all of such promises as these, unless, without break, fulfilment runs steadily on and up to the climax of complete accomplishment. A moment ago, we suddenly pulled up in sight of the word plague, remembering that, literally, and for the time, the plague did draw near in the tent of Hezekiah. Was this Appendix-writerthereforedishonored? Surely we have need to follow our Lords own example, by saying It is written again! Yea, it is written again, in this same Appendix, He shall cry unto me; and truly Hezekiah did cry (2Ki. 20:3, Isa. 38:2); and I will answer him; and truly Jehovah did answer (2Ki. 20:5-6, Isa. 38:4-8): in short, was with him in distressdid rescuedid glorify. Whether the restored monarch was actually satisfied with his fifteen additional years and content with the remainder of his life, history informeth us not. Possibly he was not; because nearly all such promises as these have in them an element of extension and expansion ever ready to require more than this life to fill to the full their accomplishment. In other words, the length of days of these ancient Hebrew songs is ever crying outdumbly but reallyfor Resurrection and Incorruption!

In now taking a retrospect of this psalm, it is extremely important to remarkthat its promises are essentially conditional: they all depend on actually making the Most High a refugea habitation. The opening inscription of Psa. 91:1 calls for this. So does the injunction of Psa. 91:2. So also does the emphatic and extended reason given in Psa. 91:9. And this condition, be it carefully noted, consists of a living experience: of an intention, carried out; of a believing recognition of the all-encompassing and protecting presence of the Most High. And this goes far beyond the heathenish employment of this psalm, or any other formula of words, as a protection from evil. It is not: He that carries in his pocket a piece of paper or parchment containing these words, or any such words. It is not: He that carries these words in his memory: which may be nothing more than a clever feat of formalism. But: He that does the thing described; which cannot mean less than an habitual and believing walk with God. Moreover: He who is walking with God, can neither knowingly step aside from the path of duty; nor, uninvited, make experiments with God. If God really commands his servants to prove him, then doubtless they may obediently respond. Otherwise, they cannot go along that path; because, in the absence of any such Divine challenge, the prohibition comes in:Thou shalt not put the Lord thy God to the proof. Neither Satan nor the Scientific Doubter has authority to suspend this Divine Prohibition. The Almighty does not put his power into commission, to be used at any creatures pleasure. It is well he does not. This is not to deny that there is a charm in the promises of God, but it is to protest that their true charm comes from treating them not as mere charms, but as the living words of a living God.

But this psalm furnishes another lesson: it puts before us, with all the vividness of an object-lesson, the importance of setting the various commands and promises of Scripture side by side, that we may gather their true sense and make of them a legitimate application. The final stanza of this psalm comes before us with an especial appealing force, because it purports to give us Jehovahs own direct words, revealing the response of his love to his servants love: Because on me he hath set his love. Being at the same time the close of the psalm, it is in every way fitting that this stanza should be invested with any explaining and harmonising power needed for practical guidance. From this point of view, note especially, that Jehovah himself prepares his loving servants for the possibility thatafter all the promises which have gone beforethey may yet come into distress. for such a temporary non-fulfilment of his promises, Jehovah holds himself responsiblewith him will I myself be, in distress. He makes our distresses his own. He bears the burden of his unfulfilled promises. He says: Wait! and I will more than fulfil them all. And then to Grace he adds Glory!

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1.

Two things are clear. What are they?

2.

Who is the possible author or writer?

3.

Why say Psalms 91 is an appendix to 90?

4.

How was Psa. 91:7 made to apply to David? Who applied it?

5.

The verses Satan applied to our Lord (Mat. 4:5-7) Rotherham applies to someone else. Who? Why?

6.

Rotherham has some good words on the superstitious use of this psalm. What is said? Discuss.

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(1, 2) He . . . I.The especial difficulty of this psalm, its abrupt changes of person, meets us at the outset. The text literally rendered, runs: He sitting in the hiding place of the Most High; In the shadow of the Almighty he lodgeth, I say to Jehovah, My refuge and my fortress, My God, I trust in Him. The change in the last clause presents no particular difficulty, as many similar instances occur; but that from the third person, in the first verse, to the first, in the second, is very awkward, and many shifts have been adopted to get out of it. The best is to supply the word blessed: Blessed is he that, &c[16] The different names for God employed here should be noticed. By their accumulation the poet makes the sum of assurance doubly sure.

[16] The omission of this word by a copyist would be very natural, from its confusion with the numerical heading of the psalm and the initial letter of the word that now begins it.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

1. Dwelleth Sitteth, or waiteth.

Secret place The allusion is to the holy of holies in the tabernacle.

Shadow of the Almighty Referring to the wings of the cherubim that “shadowed the mercy seat.” See Exo 25:18-20; Heb 9:5. But this could be taken only in the spiritual sense, as in Mat 6:6; Heb 10:19-22. To abide under the shadow of the Almighty is to abide under his immediate protection. The “secret place” is also an oriental phrase for the interior room or rooms of the house or tent, reserved for the master or chief. See on Psa 27:5; Psa 31:20; Psa 61:4

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Psalms 91

Psa 91:1  He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

Psa 91:1 Word Study on “He that dwelleth” Strong says the Hebrew word “dwelleth” “ yasab ” ( ) (H3427) is a primitive root meaning, “to sit down, dwell, remain.” The Enhanced Strong says it is used 1088 times in the Old Testament, being translated in the KJV as, “dwell 437, inhabitant 221, sit 172, abide 70, inhabit 39, down 26, remain 23, in 22, tarry 19, set 14, continue 5, place 7, still 5, taken 5, misc 23.”

Psa 91:1 Word Study on “in the secret place” Strong says the Hebrew word “secret place” “ cether ” ( ) (H5643) literally means, “a cover, hiding place, protection, secret.” The Enhanced Strong says it is used 36 times in the Old Testament, being translated in the KJV as, “secret 12, secretly 9, covert 5, secret place 3, hiding place 2, backbiting 1, covering 1, disguiseth 1, privily 1, protection 1.”

Psa 91:1 “of the most High” Comments – Joseph Prince suggests that the author gives God the title of “the most High” in Psa 91:1 as a foreshadowing of Christ’s resurrection and exaltation, which then gives the Church its place of rest. [99]

[99] Joseph Prince, “Sermon,” on Destined to Reign (New Creations Chuch, Singapore), television program.

Psa 91:1 “shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty” – Comments – Note that in the tabernacle, the mercy seat of God’s abiding place in the Holy of Holies was overshadowed by the wings of two cherubim. Note:

Psa 36:7, “How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.”

Psa 91:2  I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

Psa 91:2 Word Study on “will I trust” Strong says the Hebrew word “trust” “batach” ( ) (H982) is a primitive root that literally means, “to hide for refuge,” and figuratively, “to trust, be confident, be sure.” The Enhanced Strong says this word is used 120 times in the Old Testament, being translated in the KJV as, “trust 103, confidence 4, secure 4, confident 2, bold 1, careless 1, hope 1, hoped 1, ones 1, sure 1, women 1.”

Psa 91:3  Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

Psa 91:3 Word Study on “the fowler” Strong says the Hebrew word “fowler” “yaquwsh” ( ) (H3353) literally means, “entangled,” and figuratively, “a snarer, fowler, snare.” It is the passive participle of ( ) (3369), which means, “to ensnare.” He says this participle form implies a snare (intransitive) or a snarer (transitive). The Enhanced Strong says this word is used 3 times in the Old Testament, being translated in the KJV as “fowler 2, snare 1.” Although the KJV chose to use the more specific term “fowler,” which is someone who hunts wild birds, some scholars regard the Hebrew word to have more general meaning of “one who ensnares.” The LXX uses the more general term “hunters.”

Psa 91:4  He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Psa 91:4 “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust” Comments – We have owned chickens and watched how each night the baby chicks hid under their mother’s wings and in the feathers on her chest.

Psa 91:4 Comments On the curtains of the Tabernacle were embroideries of heavenly cheribum (Exo 26:1). As the priest entered the Holy Place, he could look up at the draped ceiling and see the embroidery of the cheribum with their wings spreading across the Tabernacle.

Exo 26:1, “Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work shalt thou make them.”

Psa 91:5  Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

Psa 91:6  Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

Psa 91:7  A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

Psa 91:8  Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.

Psa 91:8 Comments – We see people dying of sickness, full of financial difficulties and problems on jobs, with families and marriages, even terrible accidents. Psa 91:8 says that we will only see them with our eyes. That is, we do not have to experience these types of calamities of all those around us. We do not have to fear these things coming into our lives as children of God. Calamities are not a matter of fate, nor of chance, but it is the product of not following after Godliness and abiding under His wing of protection.

Abraham did not fear these things (Gen 15:1).

Gen 15:1, “After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.”

Psa 91:9  Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;

Psa 91:10  There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

Psa 91:11  For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

Psa 91:10-11 Comments – God will protect his children by placing a hedge about them (Job 1:10).

Job 1:10, “Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.”

This hedge of protection will be a group of angels that are assigned to accompany us to protect us from the demonic forces of Satan.

Psa 91:12  They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Psa 91:11-12 Comments God’s Angels Watch Over Us – God does watch over us using His angels (Heb 1:14).

Heb 1:14, “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?”

Satan quoted these verses to Jesus Christ, using them out of context, in an attempt to cause Him to tempt God.

Mat 4:6-7, “And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”

Psa 91:13  Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

Psa 91:13 Comments – The lion and adder and dragon are figurative of demonic forces that we have been given authority over through the name of Jesus.

Psa 91:14-16 Comments – The Lord is speaking in the first person singular in Psa 91:14-16.

Psa 91:14  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.

Psa 91:15  He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

Psa 91:16  With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

Psa 91:16 “and shew him My salvation” – Comments – God will not only give us a long life to live, seventy to eighty years (Psa 90:10), but also will daily bring His children divine salvation or deliverance from calamities and problems and destruction of the devil in every area of our lives, Hallelujah!

Psa 90:10, “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

The Safety of the Believers in Every Emergency.

The author of this psalm is not mentioned in the Bible, but the contents and the spirit of the hymn suggest the name of David, the pestilence referred to probably being that described 2 Samuel 24.

v. 1. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, sheltered in the fellowship of God by faith, abiding secure from all assaults, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty, safe under the protection of His almighty wings.

v. 2. I will say of the Lord, that is the boast of the believer, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, Jehovah, the God of grace, shielding him against the counsels and attacks of all enemies; my God, with the emphasis on the pronoun; in Him will I trust, every believer confidently and cheerfully yielding his life to the guiding hand of God.

v. 3. Surely He shall deliver thee, so the psalmist assures every believer, from the snare of the fowler, from Satan, who, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he might devour, and from the noisome pestilence, from the plague of destruction, the afflictions and temptations of Satan and his host.

v. 4. He, Jehovah, the God of salvation, shall cover thee with His feathers, His wings forming a protecting wall about the believers, and under His wings shalt thou trust, knowing that the enemy cannot penetrate to the asylum of God’s protection; His truth, the faithfulness of His promises of salvation, shall be thy shield and buckler, an unfailing protection against each and every danger.

v. 5. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, of affliction and tribulation which is intensified by darkness, nor for the arrow that flieth by day, those with which the Evil One tries to wound the hearts and consciences of the believers,

v. 6. nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, the destruction threatened by the various temptations assailing the believers, nor for the destruction, the severe plague, that wasteth at noonday, chiefly by the threats of the enemies of the Lord in the world. Against all such dangers the faithful are secure in the protection of their God and heavenly Father.

v. 7. A thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy right hand, overcome by the attacks of the enemies, submitting to the various secret and open attacks of the devil and the children of this world; but it shall not come nigh thee, not be able to harm those who cling to the protection of the Lord in firm faith.

v. 8. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked, for the unbelievers will be taken by the enemy and will have to suffer for their wickedness.

v. 9. Because thou, every believer, hast made the Lord, which is my Refuge, rather the psalmist speaks for himself, “For Thou, Jehovah, art my Refuge,” even the Most High, thy Habitation, literally, “the Most High hast thou made thy Habitation. ”

v. 10. there shall no evil befall thee, coming upon the believer with sudden destruction, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling, no stroke of misfortune and enmity which can bring us real harm, diminish our salvation, and the blessings of God’s grace.

v. 11. For He, Jehovah, the God of salvation, shall give His angels charge over thee, placing the believers in their special care, as a guard against all evil, to keep thee in all thy ways, as long as the believers walk on the ways of God’s will and good pleasure.

v. 12. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone, carefully carrying the believers over all obstructions of their faith and spiritual life, so that their salvation will never be really endangered. Every Christian lives the life and performs the work which God has intended for him. If death takes him away, it means that the goal set by God has been reached, so far as he is concerned, that all the difficulties and obstructions and afflictions of life are behind him. In the mean time, it is true,

v. 13. thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet, overcome all the attacks of the powers of hell, no matter how fierce and insidious they are. The Lord now Himself takes up the strain of the psalm, substantiating what His servant has said.

v. 14. Because he hath set his love upon Me, clinging to the Lord with the assurance of complete trust, therefore will I deliver him, from all afflictions and from the attacks of Satan and his host; I will set him on high, exalt him out of the enemy’s reach, because he hath known My name, set his faith upon God, accepted His grace, mercy, and salvation.

v. 15. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him, coming to the believer’s assistance no matter what difficulty he may find himself in; I will be with him in trouble, standing at his side even in the hour of death; I will deliver him and honor him, bringing him up to the glories of heaven.

v. 16. With long life, that of eternity in and with God, will I satisfy him, in an everlasting enjoyment, and show him My salvation; for in heaven we shall see God face to face and know Him and all His wonderful blessings upon us, even as we are known.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

THIS psalm, like the majority in the present Book, is without a title. Jewish tradition, however, ascribed it to Mosesa conclusion which Dr. Kay and others accept as borne out by the facts, especially by the many close resemblances between it and Deu 32:1-52; Deu 33:1-29. Other critics, and they are the majority, trace in it a different hand, but regard it as suggested by Psa 90:1-17.

The subject is the security of the man who thoroughly trusts in God. This subject is worked out by an “antiphonal arrangement” (Cheyne)the first speaker delivering Psa 90:1, Psa 90:2; the second, Psa 90:3, Psa 90:4; then the first responding with Psa 90:5-8; and again the second with Psa 90:9-13. In conclusion, a third speaker, making himself the mouthpiece of Jehovah, crowns all by declaring the blessings which God himself will bestow upon his faithful ones (Psa 90:14-16).

This psalm is, apparently, liturgical, and is “the most vivid of the liturgical psalms” (Cheyne). It has a certain resemblance to the speech of Eliphaz the Temanite in Job 5:17-23, but stands at a higher elevation.

Psa 91:1

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High (comp. Psa 90:1). He who has his thoughts always on God is said to “dwell in him”to “make his abode with him”to “sit down in his secret place.” He has the Almighty, as it were, for his constant companion. Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. This is not “tautology.” What is meant is that “loving faith on man’s part shall be met by faithful love on God’s part” (Kay). God will extend his “shadow” over the man who places himself under his protection.

Psa 91:2

I will say of the Lord. The general sentiment is followed by a personal application. “I, at any rate,” says the first speaker, “will place myself under this powerful protection.” He is my Refuge and my Fortress (comp. Psa 18:2; Psa 144:2). My God; in him will I trust (comp. Psa 29:2; Psa 31:6; Psa 55:23; Psa 56:3; Psa 61:4, etc.).

Psa 91:3

Surely he shall deliver thee. The second speaker takes up the word, and naturally changes the person. Addressing the first speaker, he saysYes, assuredly, God shall deliver thee from whatever dangers beset thee: as, first, from the snare of the fowler (comp. Psa 124:7; Pro 6:5); and, secondly, from the noisome pestilence (comp. Psa 91:6), i.e. from all dangers whatsoevernot more from these than from others.

Psa 91:4

He shall cover thee with his feathers; rather, with his pinions (see the Revised Version; comp. Psa 91:1; and see Exo 19:4; Deu 32:11). And under his wings shalt thou trust; rather, shalt thou take refuge. His truthi.e. “his faithfulness, his fidelity”shall be thy shield and buckler; i.e. “thy protection.”

Psa 91:5

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night. Robbers constituted the chief “terror by night” (see Job 24:14-16; Jer 49:9; Oba 1:5); but night attacks on the part of a foreign enemy were not uncommon (So Psa 3:8; Isa 15:1). Nor for the arrow that fleth by day. Open war is probably intended, not sirocco, or pestilence, or “the arrows of the Almighty” (Job 6:4). The man who trusts in God will be specially protected in the peril of battle.

Psa 91:6

Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness. The plague god is personified and represented as stalking through the land in the hours of darkness. Parallels have been found in the literature of the Babylonians and elsewhere. Nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. The rare word, , translated “destruction” here and in Deu 32:24, is rendered by the LXX. , and the entire phrase, “for the destruction that wasteth at noonday” becomes “from ruin and the demon of the midday”by which sunstroke would seem to be meant (comp. Psa 121:6, “The sun shall not smite thee by day”).

Psa 91:7

A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand. The meaning is, “Though a thousand, or even ten thousand, should fall beside thee, in battle, or through pestilence, or sunstroke,” yetIt shall not come nigh theethe danger, whatever it be, shall not touch thy person; thou shalt be protected from it.

Psa 91:8

Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward (or, “the recompense”) of the wicked; i.e. without suffering anything thyself, thou shalt look on, and see the punishment of the ungodly. So Israel in the land of Goshen “looked on,” and saw the calamities of the Egyptians.

Psa 91:9

Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my Refuge, even the Most High, thy Habitation; literally, for thou, O Lord, art my Refuge; thou hast made the Most High thy Dwelling place, which can scarcely be made to yield a tolerable sense. It is supposed that a wordhas dropped out, and that the verse originally ran thus: “Because thou hast said, Jehovah is my Refuge, and hast made the Most High thy Dwelling place” (comp. verses l, 2). The second speaker for a second time addresses the first.

Psa 91:10

There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. The faithful man is to be preserved from evil of every kind. His very “dwelling” is to be protected so that his family may suffer no hurt.

Psa 91:11

For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways (comp. Psa 34:7). The faithful are under the constant care of angels (Heb 1:14), who guide them and direct them perpetually. Satan made a crafty use of this promise when he tempted our Lord (Mat 4:6; Luk 4:10, Luk 4:11). No doubt it applies to him pre-eminently, as the specially “Faithful One.”

Psa 91:12

They shall bear thee up in their hands; rather, upon their handslifting thee over difficulties and stumbling blocks. Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone (comp. Pro 3:23, Pro 3:24). Moral impediments are, no doubt, chiefly meant.

Psa 91:13

Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder. Conquered enemies prostrated themselves before their conquerors, who, to mark the completeness of the subjection, placed a foot upon the prostrate form. From this practice the metaphor of “treading under foot” for conquering became a commonplace (see Psa 7:5; Psa 44:5; Psa 55:12, etc.). The “lion” here represents all open and violent foes; the “adder,” all secret and malignant ones. The young lion (kephir, the lion in the height of his strength) and the dragon (tannin, the most dreadful form of serpent) shalt thou trample under feet. An emphatic repetition, with a certain heightening of the colour.

Psa 91:14

Because he hath set his love upon me (see Deu 7:7; Deu 10:15). “By a sudden and effective transition,” as Professor Cheyne remarks, “Jehovah becomes the speaker” of the concluding strophe. It is not enough that the faithful should encourage each other by their anticipations of God’s coming mercies, God himself now speaks by the mouth of his prophet, and makes promises in his own Person. I will deliver him. A ratification of Psa 91:3, Psa 91:7, Psa 91:10-15. I will set him on high; i.e. “exalt him above his fellows””bring him to honour.” Because he hath known my Name. “Knowing God’s Name” is nearly equivalent to knowing him. It implies, besides knowledge, faith and trust in the Almighty.

Psa 91:15

He shall call upon me, and I will answer him. This is equivalent to, “Whenever he calls upon me, I will answer him,” or “I will grant all his prayers.” I will be with him in trouble (comp. Psa 46:1). I will deliver him (see above, Psa 91:14). And honour him; or, “bring him to honour” (compare “I will set him on high,” in the preceding verse).

Psa 91:16

With long life (or, length of days) will I satisfy him. Length of days is always viewed in the Old Testament as a blessing, and a special reward for obedience (Exo 20:12; Deu 5:16; 2Ki 20:6; 2Ch 1:11; Psa 21:4; Pro 3:2, Pro 3:16, etc.). It is only in the New Testament that we learn how much “better” it is “to depart, and be with Christ” (Php 1:23). And show him my salvation (comp. Psa 50:23); i.e. “make him experience what salvation is.” “Salvation,” as Professor Cheyne observes, “is both an act and a state”an act on God’s part, a state on man’s.

HOMILETICS

Psa 91:11

The angels.

“He shall give his angels charge,” etc. The restful spirit of absolute trust in God rises in this psalm to its loftiest height. It is a glorious commentary on Isa 26:3. The Divine answer at the close (Isa 26:14-16) shows how near the Lord is to the soul that trusts him. Compare, as an equally glorious New Testament parallel, Rom 8:31-39. St. Paul defies “angels and principalities” of evil to harm God’s children. Here holy angels are declared to be their watchful helpers and guardians.

I. HIS ANGELS. Angels sustain a most close, happy, exalted relation to God, of nearness, love, service (Psa 103:20; Luk 1:19; Rev 5:11).

II. THEY ARE OUR FELLOW SUBJECTS AND FELLOW SERVANTS IN THE HEAVENLY KINGDOM OF OUR RISEN LORD. (1Pe 3:22; Rev 22:8, Rev 22:9.) Jesus, who received their ministry on earth (Mat 4:11; Luk 22:43), commands it now (Rev 22:16).

III. THEIR MIGHTY POWERS ARE WILLINGLY AND OBEDIENTLY EXERCISED IN MINISTERING TO THE WELFARE OF GOD‘S CHILDREN. (Heb 1:14.) Note: They minister to God for his children. Their power is inconceivably great. One angel was able to destroy Sodom and the other guilty cities. The same angel gently, though firmly, led Lot out. One angel smote the firstborn (comp. Mat 28:2, Mat 28:5; Act 11:7, etc.; Mat 26:53).

IV. ANGELS ARE TO BE OUR FELLOW WORSHIPPERS AND ASSOCIATES IN THE ETERNAL HOME. (Luk 20:36; Heb 12:22.)

REMARKS.

1. This case is minute as well as mighty (Rom 8:12). One false step may be fatal. Angels are examples of that thorough obedience which is “faithful in that which is least.”

2. It is our Father’s care we are to recognize. “He shall give his angels charge.” All their power, wisdom, care, love, flow from him as their Source. His care and love are over each one of his children every moment. “Over thee to keep thee.“

Psa 91:15

True prayer.

“He shall call,” etc. This is the simplest view of prayer. And in our present weakness, sin, need, that which comes most home, suits us most. Prayer may extend far beyond the range of our own need, as in the first three petitions of the Lord’s Prayer. It may rise above petition into converse with God, adoration, thanksgiving, consecration. But this is the alphabet of those loftier lessons, “Ask and receive” (Luk 11:9, etc.; Psa 50:15).

I. PRAYER IS A LAW OF GOD‘S GOVERNMENT. He has ordained it among the conditions of the blessings he is ready to bestow, as surely as he has ordained sowing as the condition of reaping, or the dependence of the child on the parent (Mat 7:11). We hear much in our day of laws; and no wonder, for the progress of science depends on the discovery of the laws which regulate nature. Rightly understood, they are the glorious witness of which Psa 19:1 speaks. The mischief and folly come in when men erect “laws” into an imaginary self-existence, and worship them as a sort of fetish, just as in old times people worshipped imaginary powers in nature. A strange idolatry! Laws can have no existence but in mind. In our minds they are truths which we discover as constant amid the infinite, ever-changing variety of nature. In the Divine mind they are the principles and rules according to which the Creator has made, upholds, and rules the universe. Now, if prayer be one of the great laws which God has ordained for human life, it must needs be in perfect harmony with all nature’s laws. God’s laws cannot contradict one another. The so called “scientific” objection against prayer (which has really nothing scientific in it) amounts to thisthat if God is influenced by prayer, so that he causes events which would not have happened had prayer not been offered, nature must be irregular, and God irresolute. The answer isIt is God’s will that “men pray everywhere,” as much as that the sun shall shine and rain fall. He has built this universe as a temple. All nature is so under his eye, hand, will, that it is no more deranged by his granting our petitions than by a parent granting a child’s request (1Jn 5:14, 1Jn 5:15). Men can disobey, disbelieve, despise, this great law of prayer. The difference between natural laws and laws for intelligent beings is just thisthings cannot disobey God. Men can; but they must take the consequences.

II. THAT GOD ANSWERS PRAYER IS A FACT OF EXPERIENCE. The truth of any law is verified by experience. So God says, “Prove me” The law of prayer is established by the teaching of the whole Bible, by abundant express promises, by our Saviour’s example as well as teaching. It has been tested constantly for thousands of years; is being tested hourlynay, every minute. And the immense witness of experience is, “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him.” If experience can establish any fact, it is this. But here is a difficulty. All prayers are not answered.

HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY

Psa 91:1-16

The man that trusts in God.

I. WE HAVE HIS DESCRIPTION.

1. He dwells in the secret place, etc.

2. He abides under the shadow of the Almighty.

II. HIS CONFESSION OF FAITH (Psa 91:2.) The Lord is his Refuge, Fortress, the Joy of his soul, his God, his constant Confidence.

III. HIS COMMENDATION OF GOD TO OTHERS. (Psa 91:3-13.)

1. As a sure Deliverer from the hidden foe and from the devouring pestilence.

2. As Protector; like that of the mother bird over her young; like that of shield and buckler to the soldier.

3. As the Inspirer of confidence. (Psa 91:5.) Against the midnight attackthe terror by night (cf. Jdg 7:1-25.). Against open war, when the flight of arrows almost darkened the sky. Against secret disease (Psa 91:6) and sudden deaththe sickness that wasteth at noonday.

4. As rescuing from the very jaws of death. Thousands falling all around, but God’s servant kept unharmed (Psa 91:7). Seeing only, but never experiencing, the awful recompense of the wicked (Psa 91:8).

5. He gives the reason of this. (Psa 91:9.) He made the Lord his Refuge and his Habitation; there no evil could come, nor any plague.

6. He tells of the angelic ministries through which God thus guards his people; they keep and they upbear, so that no hurt shall come. Still more, they render the man invulnerable (Psa 91:13). Forces terrible as the lion and subtle like the adder cannot harm. Thus, from his own experience, the man that trusts in God commends him to his fellow man. And next

IV. THE DIVINE APPROVAL AND DELIGHT IN BOTH THE MAN AND HIS TESTIMONY. At Psa 91:14 God begins to speak.

1. Declaring his mind towards his faithful servant. We may regard these verses (14-16) as a Divine soliloquy, in which God, well pleased, meditates what he will do, and why, for his servant. He will deliver, exalt, answer, keep near to, honour, satisfy with long life, and reveal to him the fulness of his love.

2. Endorsing the testimony in the mind of him to whom it has been given. Making him feel that it is all true, and that much more is true. Thus does God deal with his faithfully witnessing servants, and for and through them to others. This psalm is as true for today as for the day when it was written. Let us but thus trust in God, confess, and commend him.S.C.

Psa 91:1-3

Abiding under God’s shadow.

In order to understand this most precious promise, inquire

I. WHAT IS THE SECRET PLACE OF THE MOST HIGH? The idea of this “secret place” is frequently met with.

1. Sometimes it tells of some secret hiding place, such as David often resorted to when a fugitive;. and the sure protection of God is likened to such safe shelter.

2. At other times, the central tent of the commander of an army seems to be meant, as in Psa 27:5, “He shall hide me in his pavilion,” etc. The enemy would have to break through rank after rank of the encamped army ere he could reach the well guarded central tent of the leader. So inaccessible to the foe, so strongly placed was it, that it is taken as an emblem of our security in God.

3. But it is to the most holy place of the tabernacle and temple that we think allusion is here made. That sacred chamber was emphatically the secret place of the Most High. It was entered but once a year, and then only by one person, the high priest, bearing the blood of atonement. For all the rest of the year no footfall was heard in that secret place, no eye looked upon the glory of God that shone forth there. That loneliness told of the sad alienation that had sprung up between God and man through man’s sin. But that secret place was the earthly dwelling place of God. There, between the cherubim, his glory shone forth, and there he was said to dwell.

II. BUT WHAT IS IT TO DWELL THERE? Literally, no man ever dwelt there. We are driven, therefore, to seek the spiritual meaning of this word. And we note that:

1. Israel entered there in the person of the high priest, when he bore in his hand the atoning blood, which he was about to sprinkle upon the mercy seat. All Israel found entrance there in their high priest, their representative. And whilst they continued in the faith of God, obeying and trusting him, they spiritually dwelt in that secret place, and, as a fact, were under the shadowthe high priest was so literallyof the Most High. No evil befell them, no plague came nigh their dwelling. It was well with them indeed.

2. And we enter and dwell there when, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we come to God, pleading his all-sufficient sacrifice and atonement, of which the blood berne by the high priest told. And we dwell there as we continue in that precious faith. Then we, too, are under the shadow of the Almighty. The Law’s condemnation, sin’s power, earthly care, death, and the grave, can do us no harm; we are under the sure and blessed shelter of our God. Next let us note

III. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS INDWELLING.

1. The Lord is to us our Refuge. The Law’s condemnation would fasten upon us but for this. And he is our Fortressthe place of vantage whence we fight successfully the spiritual warfare. And he is our God, in whom we trust; he is the confidence, the delight, the joy of our souls; so that we say of him, “He is my God.”

2. And all this we take personally, each of us individually appropriating it. The Lord is not merely “a Refuge,” but “my Refuge,” “my Fortress,” etc.

3. And we confess it. “I will say of the Lord,” etc.; “With the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

IV. THE SURE FRUIT OF SUCH DWELLING IN THE SECRET PLACE OF THE MOST HIGH. We shall commend God to others. The rest of the psalm is one prolonged testimony to the blessedness of thus dwelling in God. “Surely he shall deliver thee,” etc. Are we, then, thus individually and avowedly dwelling in God?S.C.

Psa 91:2

A sacred resolve.

“I will say of the Lord.” Consider

I. SUCH RESOLVES GENERALLY. It is good to make them; for:

1. They are really prayers. Underlying them there is the desire of the heart that God may give the help needed to fulfil such resolve.

2. They are a blessed stirring up of the grace of God that is in us. The will summons the soul to energy by means of such holy resolves.

3. They are well pleasing to God, for they are an actual endeavour to do his will.

II. THIS RESOLVE.

1. See its nature. He would take the Lord as his “Refuge.” It is a confession of need and of trust. And as his “Fortress.” He would need help in his warfare; he would rely on the Lord for it. As his God, his soul’s Centre, Strength, and Joy.

2. He would do this now.

3. Openly.

4. Personally.

5. Habitually.

III. WHAT LED TO THIS RESOLVE. The experience of God’s sheltering love of which he tells in the first verse. He was dwelling in the secret place, was abiding in Christ, and he found, as a fact of his experience, that he was sheltered from all evil.

IV. HOW THIS RESOLVE WAS SUSTAINED. By going and telling others of what God had done for him, and would do for them.S.C.

Psa 91:2

My God.

These words come as a climax to all that profession of faith which the former part of the verse contains. It is good to say of the Lord, “He is my Refuge”to have gone to him, and found in him deliverance from all the guilt and condemnation due to our sin, which otherwise would have overwhelmed us. But it is better to have him as “our Fortress,” so that, strong in his strength, we may fight successfully the great battle against all the might of the wicked one. But it is best of all, because a yet higher attainment, to be able to say of God, “He is my God,” as the psalmist does here. All that is contained in the former declarations is included in this, and much besides. Blessed, indeed, is he who can say of the Lord, “He is my God.” We all know what a charm belongs to that which we can call our own. Even a child delights in any gift far more if it can call what is given its very own. And it is the same with men. Possession enhances preciousness, and causes what is our own to be clung to with a tenacity that would be wanting were it not “our own.” We know the poet’s challenge to our patriotic pride when speaking of “my own, my native land.” And the man who will delight in God and cleave to him at all times is he who most of all is able to say of him, “He is my God.”

I. Let us EXPLAIN THE MEANING Of such saying.

1. It does not mean that any man can have a monopoly of God so as to exclude all others. It is so with many of our earthly possessions, but not at all so in our possession of God. On the contrary, he who says of the Lord, “He is my God,” is generally one who has learnt to say this by the blessed influence of some other who himself has been able to say it. And he is always one who desires that all others should be able to say it likewise.

2. But it means that he has such conscious possession of and delight in God that he could not have more were God his God only, and not the God of any one else. As with the eye, it could not enjoy more of the light of the sun even if no other eye rejoiced in its light. The joy of the light is not lessened, but greatly increased by, yea, is largely dependent on, others enjoying it also.

II. OBSERVE SOME OF THOSE WHO HAVE SAID THIS.

1. Jacob. At Bethel he had been made to feel his deep need of God, and hence he vows that if God would bring him back in peace, “then God shall be my God,” etc. And this is the deep longing of every convinced soul.

2. Miriam and Israel at the Red Sea. They sang, “He is my God, and I will prepare him a habitation,” etc. They knew of his redemption, and in the joy of it claimed God as “my God.” It is the spontaneous utterance of the redeemed soul.

3. Nehemiah, and many others, who thus continually speak of God. They show how God is the abiding Trust of the believer.

4. Our Lord on the cross cried, “My God, my God,” etc.! And in him we learn how this precious truth is the solid rock on which, in times of extremest distress, the soul rests itself.

5. And it is the seal of salvation. In the Apocalypse we read amongst the promises “to him that overcometh,” there shall be written on him “the name of my God,” as if the fact that he had so regarded and rejoiced in God were, as it is, the sure token of his belonging to the city of God. Thus from the dawn of the Divine life in man to its consummation in glory, the people of God have ever said of the Lord, “He is my God.”

III. WHAT IS INVOLVED IN SUCH SAYING.

1. The man feels it; he has the witness of the Spirit to the fact that God is his God.

2. He asserts itopenly confesses and professes this truth.

3. He delights in it. It is no mere abstract proposition, but a perennial spring to him of peace, purity, and power.

4. And others recognize it. When no one but ourselves believes that that which we call ours is so, our possession of it is doubtful and insecure; but when all acknowledge our possession, then it is ours. And so with him who rightly says of the Lord, “He is my God.”

IV. HOW MAY ANY MAN COME TO SAY THIS? The steps are:

1. Conviction of your need, leading to fervent desire.

2. Consecration. This includes the renunciation of all that would displease God, and the prompt obedience to all his will so far as you know it.

3. Confession of this to God first, and then to man, that God is your God.

4. Confidence. You are to keep believing that God accepts the surrender you have made. And then comes:

5. Consciousness that it is so. The Spirit testifies to you. May we all make this blessed ascent!S.C.

Psa 91:3

The fowler’s snare.

It is a frequent usage of the psalmist’s to compare the soul of man to a bird (cf. Psa 11:1-7; Psa 84:1-12; etc.). In the next verse God himself is likened to the mother bird that shelters her young under her wings. And, like a bird, the soul of man is exposed to many dangers. Not alone such as are open and known, but such as are bidden, secret, and subtle; not alone from the hovering hawk, but also from the crafty snare of the fowler. And with such souls as are contemplated in this psalm, it is this latter peril which is the true image of that against which they need to guard, and from which God alone can deliver them. The snare of the fowlerit is a very suggestive similitude. Consider, therefore

I. THE DANGER THAT THREATENS THE BELIEVER. It is as a snare.

1. A concealed peril. For the fowler to show himself, or to spread his snare in the sight of any bird, would be to defeat the very object he has in view. Hence he conceals himself and his snare both. And so also doth that crafty hunter who seeks for souls that he may destroy them

“Satan, the fowler, who betrays
Unguarded souls a thousand ways”

he does not venture to display openly the evil which he intends by the suggestions be plies us with and the temptations which he puts in our way. Rather he transforms himself into an angel of light (2Co 11:14). Thus craftily does he hide away from us the real nature of the sin into which he would betray us.

2. Adapted to our nature. The fowler does not seek to snare all birds in the same way, but he studies their nature and likings and haunts, and so sets his snare. And is it not just thus with our great adversary? He knows our weak points, where the chink in our armour is through which his darts may enter. He knows where we are vulnerable, how we may be best ensnared. That which would tempt one man would have no attraction, or but little, for another. And Satan knows that. Ah! where should we be were it not for the safe keeping of God?

3. Attractively baited. How the devil lured Saul to persecute the Church, by persuading him that he was “doing God service”! How Christian people are often led to mingle in strange scenes, and to associate with those who are no friends to Christ in their amusements and ways, on the pretext that so they may bring these ungodly ones under good influence, and thus lead them on to something better! The result is generally the reverse of what was expected. Satan has a vast variety of these baits, and the souls are not a few that he has snared by means of them. “It is only for once;” “Don’t listen to narrow, prejudiced people;” “You can’t help your nature and disposition;” “You can repent, and get forgiveness;”these are some of the fowler’s baits with which he tempts us into his snare.

4. Sometimes he uses decoys. “Religious people do such things: why shouldn’t you?”

5. Sometimes he employs several of them together. Old Master Quarles says

“The close pursuers’ busy hands do plant
Snares in thy substance; snares attend thy want
Snares in thy credit; snares in thy disgrace;
Snares in thy high estate; snares in thy base;
Snares tuck thy bed, and snares surround thy board;
Snares watch thy thoughts; snares attack thy word;
Snares in thy quiet; snares in thy commotion;
Snares in thy diet; snares in thy devotion;
Snares lurk in thy resolves, snares in thy doubts;
Snares lie within thy heart, and snares without;
Snares are above thy head, and snares beneath;
Snares in thy sickness; snares are in thy death.”

There is not a place in which a believer walks that is free from them. Therefore let us watch and pray.

II. OUR RICH CONSOLATION IN VIEW OF THESE DANGERS. God will “surely” deliver us from them.

1. He has promised to do so.

2. He has done so for his people in all ages who have sought such deliverance.

3. Christ came to destroy the works of the devil; therefore, certainly, these snares.

III. THE NATURE OF HIS DELIVERANCE. How does the Lord fulfil this word?

1. By not letting us fall into them. He keeps us from the evil, that it shall not touch us. This is very blessedmore blessed than to be delivered out of the snare when we have fallen therein. The eider brother was, after all, more to be envied than the restored prodigal. We too much forget this. God has many means of holding us back from sin. Chief of all, by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, giving us, as to Joseph, a holy fear and an abiding love of God.

2. By rescuing us out of the snare. Yes, he stands ready to do this. You fallen ones, he will do this for you.S.C.

Psa 91:4

Just as a hen protects her brood.

This is undoubtedly the image here. Not the outspread wings of the cherubim, which overshadowed the ark of the covenant. Nor the mighty pinions of the eagle, whose home was on the lofty crag, and her path through the sunlit sky. But it is the homely image taken from the familiar scenes of the farmyard and the barn. It is in keeping with the gracious condescension of God to employ such an emblem; it is like the Lord himself, “full of grace and truth.” We would not have dared to make such a comparison; but he has done so, likening himself to the mother bird, which fosters, cherishes, and protects her young. Let us note

I. THE SPECIAL BLESSING HERE PROMISED. It is the gracious protection of God. In the closing sentence of this verse it is likened to “shield and buckler.” To Israel it meant protection from outward calamity, such as pestilence and the destruction caused by war; but to us it tells of all that spiritual guardianship we enjoy. From all the guilt of former sin; from the power of sin now; from the might of temptation; from the crushing power of sorrow; from the misery of a useless and, still more, a harmful life; from the fear of death; from all these, and, when it will be well for us, from outward ill as well.

II. THE MANNER OF ITS BESTOWMENT. It comes through:

1. The all-availing atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. When this is pleaded and trusted in by the sinner, his guilt is all taken away.

2. From the power of sin, by the regenerating grace of the Holy Spirit, cleansing the heart and sanctifying our whole nature.

3. From sorrow, by his providence keeping it away; or giving, as to Paul, grace sufficient to sustain it; or by removing its cause.

4. From the misery of a useless life, by inspiring the soul with a desire for others‘ good, and by his Spirit, fitting for service.

5. From fear of death, by the revelation of the far better life with Christ, to be entered on at once when this life is done.

III. OTHER BLESSINGS THAT COME ALONG WITH THIS ONE. For the emblem employed suggests not only protection from enemies, but much more than that. Picture to yourself what the shelter of the wing of the mother bird is to her young, and it will tell of what the precious promise of our text means to the believing soul.

1. It means happy content and comfort. “My soul shall be satisfied,” and that richlyso Psa 63:1-11. declares. And the emblem of our text suggests it, even as the experience of God’s saints confirms it. The soul is happy in God. Dungeons as at Philippi and Rome, deathbeds, and desolations of all kinds have been irradiated with the blessed content of those whom God has covered with his feathers, and who have put their trust under his wings.

2. A life hidden with God. See how the young brood are hidden away under their mother’s wing! A life hidden from strife and malice and the world.

3. Nearness to the heart of God. The young birds can feel the beat of their mother’s

heart. So the soul of the sheltered one beholds and feels the love of God.

4. Perfect peace.

IV. TO WHOM ALL THIS IS PROMISED. Not to any and everybody, but to those only who dwell in the secret place of the Most High; that is, who abide, ever trusting, in the Lord Jesus Christ.S.C.

Psa 91:11-13

His angels.

The mention of them is introduced here in order to show how the blessed promise of Psa 91:10 is fulfilled. The angels are continually spoken of in Scripture. First of all, we read of them in connection with the story of Hagar, and from thence onward the pages of Holy Scripture make perpetual references to them. It, therefore, cannot but be important to us that we should understand, so far as we may, what is written concerning them. For we cannot think that their work and ministry are finished, and that now they have nothing to do with us, nor we with them. We feel sure that the reverse is the truth. True, there has been much of mere imagination in the representations that have been given of angels by poets, painters, and preachers alike. They have been the makers of men’s common ideas concerning the angels, and have caused not a little misunderstanding and loss thereby. But a careful study of the Scriptures will show that truth on this confessedly mysterious and difficult theme is both attainable and full of profit. Consider

I. THE REALITY OF THE ANGELIC WORLD.

1. This the Scriptures plainly assert. They are spoken of there in clear and positive manner, as to their high dignity, their sanctity, power, blessedness, their heavenly home, their employments, vast numbers, and immortality. All this is told of the holy angels. But there are evil ones likewise, who are represented as serving under their prince, Satan, as the holy angels under God. They are evil, wretched, full of malignity, and reserved foreverlasting punishment.

2. And this teaching is to be regarded as literally true. It is not, as some have said, an accommodation to the popular beliefs of the day.

3. Analogy also confirms this. Is not all life, from the lowest zoophyte up to the most gifted of the sons of men, one continual ascent? But why should the progression halt with man? Why should there not be an ascent beyond, as there is up to, ourselves? All analogy leads us to think there is, and to be on the look out and expectation for orders of beings that may span the vast distance that separates man from God. And the Bible confirms this.

II. THEIR NATURE.

1. Who and what are they? Much has been assumed concerning them; as that they existed long before the creation of man; that they are altogether different in nature from man; that some of them kept not their first estate, etc.

2. But may it not be that angels are perfected men? The poet Young thus writes

“Why doubt we, then, the glorious truth to sing?
Angels are men of a superior kind;
Angels are men in lighter habit clad,
High o’er celestial mountains winged in flight,
And men are angels loaded for an hour,
Who wade this miry vale, and climb with pain
And slippery step the bottom of the steep.”

Why may not this be true? For there is no being higher in nature than man, except God himself. If angels be different from men, why, then, were men created at all? If, without all man’s toil and pain, beings existed who could render to God the love, worship, and service he desired, wherefore man’s much sorrow and misery? But if, on the other hand, it be true that there is no other entrance on the angelic state than by this weary life of ours, the mournful mystery of life has some light shed upon it. And angels are often called men, and appeared as such. And our Lord said that in the resurrection we shall be as angels; and in the Epistle to the Hebrews (12) we are said to have come to myriads of angels, and the following sentence shows that they are the same as “the Church of the Firstborn, and the spirits of just men made perfect.” And the quotation by the writers of 2 Peter and Jude, from the same passage in the apocryphal and unauthoritative Book of Enoch, need not stand in the way of the reasonable and helpful belief we have been maintaining. Miltonthat mighty manufacturer of so much mischievous mistakeis the real author of men’s common beliefs about the angelic world. And they who hold such beliefs lose much.

III. THEIR OFFICE. They are said, in these verses:

1. To have charge of the people of God. “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth,” etc.?

2. They keep God‘s servants in all their ways. Perhaps by suggesting thoughts, purposes, and resolves. But we do not certainly know. If we could see them at their work, we should be in peril of worshipping them, as St. John was.

3. They sustain them, upbear them, so that not alone by great ills, but by little ones, they shall be unhurt.

4. They give victorious power over all kinds of spiritual foes (verse 13).

IV. THE HELP THAT THESE TRUTHS RENDER.

1. The heavenly world and its employments become more real to us. We know that our work shall not be perpetual singing, but high, holy, blessed service.

2. The mystery of life is lightened. We see whither we are going, and wherefore here we have to suffer.

3. One chief pain of death is lessened. For we are not debarred from rendering service to those we leave behind. The thought that we can no more help our loved ones is one of the pains of death. But by this blessed teaching it is taken away.S.C.

Psa 91:12

The angels’ charge of little things.

To whom is this promise addressed? Not to any and everybody indiscriminately, but only to those who dwell “in the secret place of,” etc. (Psa 91:1). Therefore it was especially applicable to our Lord. Some have concluded, that, as this verse was made use of by Satan when he tempted our Lord, the psalm is to be limited in its application to him only. But this is an error. Satan quoted it; but, as he always does when he quotes Scripturea not uncommon custom of hishe alters it; he left out the qualifying clause, “in all thy ways.” It is not in any ways that we can have the angels’ care, but only in those that are right. The promise is for all God’s people, as they go about their own proper and appointed ways. Next, let us ask, what is the meaning of the text? Our word “dash” is not a true rendering; the Hebrew word used is generally rendered as in Joh 11:1-57; where our Lord speaks of a man not stumbling if he walks by day, but as sure to do so if he walks at night in the dark. It means that then he would be likely to strike against some stone in the way, and so be tripped up. There is no idea of violence in the word. When Satan used it, he meant to suggest to our Lord that if the promise was that he should not even stumble over a stone, how much more might he be sure of protection were he to cast himself down from the pinnacle of the temple! The word, therefore, points to a very small and ordinary matterthe being kept from falling over a stone, as a mother would hold up her child from such mishap. Now, the text teaches us

I. ANGELS CONCERN THEMSELVES ABOUT SUCH LITTLE THINGS AS THESE. This is very wonderful. For think of who and what the angels are; how great, glorious, holy, blessed; how high and august the office they fill, and the employments in which they engage. And then think of their stooping to such work as thisthe preventing of a man stumbling against a stone. We know they concern themselves about the salvation of the soul, for that is a great matter; the soul so precious, that Christ was content to die to redeem it. But that our feet may not even come in hurtful contact with a stonesurely that seems beneath and unworthy of them. But this same truth is told of in many other Scriptures; cf. “The very hairs of your head are all numbered;” “Not a sparrow falls to the ground without your Father,” etc. Therefore it is true the holy angels have charge over the minute details of our lives, as well as over great events. The Lord’s loving providence reaches down to all these little things, of which our life is mainly made up. How blessed this truth is! All our life cared for by the Lord!

II. BUT WHAT IS LITTLE IN ITSELF MAY NOT BE SO IN ITS CONSEQUENCES. How mighty are little things in the results that often flow from them! For the body, a slight stumble may have lifelong consequences. For the soul, men fall little by little, not by great crimes, but by a series of little sins. And so, too, for the rise of the soul. We do not leap into heaven; but we “grow in grace”ever slight increase and advance.

III. OUR REAL DIFFICULTIES ARE IN CONNECTION WITH THEM. Otherwise angels would not be put in charge over us. Many can keep from great sins who allow themselves in little ones. “Take me the little foxes,” etc. We either think we can manage the little affairs of life, or we neglect them.

IV. OUR STRENGTH AGAINST BOTH LITTLE AND GREAT PERILS IS IN CHRIST. (Adapted from the late Canon Melville.)S.C.

Psa 91:14-16

The beloved of the Lord.

The marks and tokens of these are set forth here.

I. THEY HAVE SET THEIR LOVE UPON THE LORD. Their hearts have turned to him, away from sin, and now are “set,” firmly fixed, upon him. Numbers of people feel a passing affection for Christ; their hearts burn within them for a while; but the fire soon dies down and out. But these have set their love, not their mere thought or approval, upon him.

II. THEY HAVE KNOWN HIS NAME. This is a higher degree. Their love has led to their keeping near to him, and to constant intercourse with him; and so now they have come to know him, as we say we know a dear and honoured friend, whom we have tested and tried and never found wanting. So these have come to know God; and, of course, they are “set on high.” Such knowledge lifts the soul above the cares and trials, the temptations and sorrows, of life. As the small birds, whom the hawk seeks to prey upon, avoid their foe by keeping high above him, so do these, the Lord’s beloved, live above where the sins, snares, and sorrows of this world can do them harm.

III. THEY PRAY EFFECTUALLY. “He shall call upon me, and I will answer.” The life of prayer, the walk with God, ever characterizes these people. And they have power in prayertheir prayers are answered. This cannot be said of all or most prayers, of which, so often, nothing seems to come. But it is otherwise here.

IV. IN THEIR TROUBLES THE LORD IS WITH THEM. “I will be with them,” etc. They will have trouble. They are God’s jewels; but as the jewel needs to be put on the lapidary’s wheel and ground ere it will reveal its brilliancy and worth, so do God’s jewels. Therefore trouble cannot be escaped. But bearing it alone may be, and is, by these people. See Paul and Silas in the dungeon at Philippi, and the experience of all the saints in all the ages all along.

V. AND BECAUSE THEY ARE THE LORD‘S BELOVED, THERE COMES TO THEM

1. Deliverance. How could it be otherwise? deliverance real, though not always visible to our eye.

2. Honour. See the golden cross on the top of St. Paul’s Cathedral: how that tolls of what this nation thinks of the Crucified One! All the nations praise him.

3. Eternal life. Long life indeed!

4. Satisfaction. “Thou, O Christ, art all I want.”

5. The vision of the salvation of God. For himself; for those dear to him; for the world.S.C.

Psa 91:15

The response of God to his people.

I. WHAT THIS RESPONSE IS.

1. That God will answer prayer. But on this, note:

(1) That it is not the prayer of every man, but only of those who have set their love upon God, and who dwell in the secret place of the Most High.

(2) That to them prayer is answered, but often in ways other than they have expected. God will always give to them what is best; but that may be far different from what they have thought.

2. He will be with them in trouble. God is always with us; but in our trouble he is more especially with us. This is shown sometimes by his providential help, or by his grace sustaining us.

3. He will deliver and honour. See this in such histories as that of Joseph.

II. WHAT FOLLOWS FROM IT. That to the man of God the following things are impossible:

1. Disappointment; because God will answer.

2. Loneliness; for God is ever with him, and especially in trouble.

3. Disgrace; for how can that be to those whom he honours?

4. Defeat; for God will deliver.S.C.

HOMILIES BY R. TUCK

Psa 91:1

Our place of safety.

The construction of this psalm is peculiar (see exegetical notes). Ewald gives the best suggestion concerning its structure. Partly the poet expresses his own feelings as from himself, and partly as if they were uttered by another. He seems to listen to the thoughts of his own spirit till they become clear and distinct, like some prophetic words, or some Divine oracle speaking to him from without, and giving him thus the assurance and the consolation afresh which had already sprung up in his heart. The associations of the psalm, and the authorship, cannot with any certainty be traced, but the Jewish idea that it belongs to the age of

Moses deserves consideration. Certainly the experiences of the wilderness life give the most effective illustration of both the figures and the sentiments of the psalm. Bishop Wordsworth says confidently, “The scenery of the psalm is derived from the circumstances of the sojourn of Israel in the wilderness.” Dean Plumptre says, “The psalm is an echo, verse by verse almost, of the words in which Eliphaz the Temanite describes the good man’s life (Job 5:17-23).” Perhaps the two sentences of Psa 91:1 would be better read as a repetition, according to the customary construction of Hebrew poets. “He that dwelleth he that abideth shall say unto the Lord.” Working out the Mosaic association, show

I. THE WILDERNESS PERILS. As Moses would be impressed by them. Limited food. Dangers of pestilence by remaining too long in a place. Active enemies. Local difficulties, as from serpents. Temper of the people. Influence of mixed multitudes. Wearying effect of constant changes, etc. We seldom fully realize the persistent and exhausting anxieties of Moses. Sometimes even his life seemed to be in danger.

II. THE WILDERNESS SAFETIES. Moses could not help contrasting the holy quiet of those forty days he had spent in the “secret place” with God, and the forty years of strain and stress he had spent with the stiff-necked and rebellious people. He must often have yearned for a renewal of those restful hours. And yet the spiritual fact and truth for him was that he did still “dwell in the secret place,” he did still “abide under the shadow of the Almighty;” for this, in very truth, is a mood of soul experience, and not a mere bodily relationship. Moses with God in the mount does but illustrate Moses with God always, resting and safe in his “shadow.” R.T.

Psa 91:2

Many names for God.

Finding various names is a common device of love. The names seem to express the many sidedness of our relationship. It must be specially true of God that we stand in various relations to him, and are helped by a variety of terms and names, which express those relations. There are four names given to God in Psa 91:1, Psa 91:2. God the Concealer is the “inaccessibly High One.” God the Shadower is the “invincibly Almighty One.” God the Covenant maker is “Jehovah, the Lord.” And God personally appropriated is “my God.” Or it has been put in this way:

1. We commune with him reverently, for he is the Most High.

2. We rest in him as the Almighty.

3. We rejoice in him as Jehovah, or Lord.

4. We trust in him as El, the mighty God.

Perowne’s suggestion is more directly in harmony with the psalm. “God is ‘Most High,’ far above all the rage and malice of enemies; ‘Almighty,’ so that none can stand before his power; ‘Jehovah,’ the God of covenant and grace, who has revealed himself to his people; and it is of such a God that the psalmist says, in holy confidence, ‘He is “my God,” in whom I trust.'” Trying to find the thoughts which one so circumstanced as Moses would attach to the terms, we may say

I. THE “MOST HIGH” IS ABOVE ALL EARTHLY CHANGES. Unaffected by them in such sense as can weaken his relations to them. We cannot interfere in disputes and difficulties without prejudice. Often we cannot keep calm to form good judgment. God can.

II. THE “ALMIGHTY” IS ABLE TO DEAL WITH ALL EARTHLY CONDITIONS. They can never be so complicated that he cannot unravel them; never so desperate that he cannot master them. “With God all things are possible.” If God does not interfere in a case, the reason must be that he will not, because he can if he please.

III. THE “LORD, JEHOVAH” IS UNDER PLEDGE TO INTERFERE FOR HIS PEOPLE‘S GOOD. The name “Jehovah” was taken as the sign and seal of the covenant, as the rainbow was taken as the sign of the nature covenant. God, as Jehovah, may be thought of as the “Faithful Promiser.”

IV. THE TERM “MY GOD” IMPLIES THAT GOD HAS BEEN, IN ACTUAL EXPERIENCE, WHAT THE PSALMIST FELT CONFIDENT THAT HE WAS. It is an important advance to be able to say, “I know not only what God is, I know also what he has been to me.”R.T.

Psa 91:3

Limitations of temporal protection.

The fact is patent. It demands consideration. God does not always give protection from bodily evils to his saints. On a house at Chester, that was spared in the time of plague, is the inscription, “God’s providence is mine inheritance.” But the man who lived there was not the only good man in Chester at the time. Other good men were not thus protected. Evidently the psalmist “accepts in all simplicity the belief in that which, but for sin and its consequences, would be the law of human lifethat visible blessing, and obedience to the Supreme Ruler of the world, must always go together. To us the faith is rather that whatever betides us of outward fortune cannot touch the true life which is hid in God.” What we need to see is that the psalmist asserts the ever working law, and leaves us to find the limitations and exceptions that arise in its practical working.

I. THE EVER WORKING LAW. Temporal good attends upon piety. The world is constructed and arranged to give this law a sphere. Just so far as natural relations are kept simple, the law does work. “Honesty is the best policy.” Goodness does bring reward. Chastity does secure health. The fear of God does prove to he practical wisdom. The man of wise and restrained habits does stand the best chance in time of epidemic disease. The diligent in business do succeed. “Right is right.” Right comes right. “Godliness has the promise of the life that now is.”

II. THE EVER MANIFEST EXCEPTIONS. These occasion the distress of men like Asaph, who are too keen to detect the dark side of things. Righteous Job suffers. The wicked are in great power. The exceptions come through the disturbance of Divine arrangements by man’s wilfulness and sin. He makes his law cross the Divine law. Then arises the necessity for modifications in the working of the Divine law.

1. The allegiance of the good must be tested.

2. The results of that testing must be used as persuasive example to others. The Book of Job really wrestles with this difficulty. The man who is “upright, fears God, and eschews evil” does not find himself protected from all harm. And yet it is still true, Job in trouble was abiding in “the shadow of the Almighty.”R.T.

Psa 91:4

The shielding of God’s faithfulness.

“His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.” God’s truth here is the certainty that he will keep to his word; the psalmist’s conviction of his “truthfulness,” “faithfulness.” The “shield and buckler” represent the defensive weapons of the older day of hand-to-hand fighting. Both a large shield covering the whole body, and a light, quickly-moved shield, fastened to the left arm, are included; suggesting that the defendings of God are various, and in precise adaptation to his people’s need. He is their Defence, both in little perils and in great ones. Get at the thought suggested by this expression of the text, by realizing what our absolute confidence in the integrity of an earthly friend and fellow worker does for us. Take the case of a trusted servant in a house of business. That man’s unquestionable uprightness is his master’s shield. It shields him from anxiety and care. It shields him from over pressure of toil. It shields him from all robbery and wrong. So, too, with the faithful and honoured wife. Her “truth” shields her husband from home worries, and all home disabilities. “The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her;” and so he can be shielded and at peace. Apply this to God. It is not possible to think he can ever be below himself, or forgetful of his word, “on which he has permitted us” to hope. We may get beyond all mere promises, and assure our hearts in what God is. Illustrate by Luther’s time of despondency. On returning home, he found the house shut up, as if some one was dead in it, and his wife dressed in mourning. He inquired what had happened, and she quietly and solemnly replied that “God was dead.” It was an object lesson for the desponding Reformer, which he promptly learned. Long as God livesand he lives foreverhe surely is the Hiding place and Shield of his people. To remove God, to bring down our high thought of him, our absolute confidence in his eternal truthfulness and integrity, would be to take away our shield, and leave us helplessly exposed to the assaults of all our foes.R.T.

Psa 91:11

Angel agencies.

For associations of “angels” with Moses and his times, we may recall the New Testament saying, that the “Law was given by the disposition of angels.” Moses had associated angels with Abraham and Jacob; and when God proposed to withdraw his personal guidance of Israel, he offered Moses to send “an angel” before them. It was a common belief, even among the heathen, that human beings have each their guardian genius; but the psalmist here does not appear to refer to any such belief. We should obtain a worthier idea of the Bible representations of angels, if we regarded their sensible appearances as designed to illustrate God’s abiding, unseen spiritual agencies in the blessing of men. The term “angel” is properly applied to any and every agency God uses to do his work of keeping, guiding, comforting, or correcting men. God has redeeming angels, afflicting angels, destroying angels. “He maketh winds his angels, flaming fire his ministers.”

I. THE ANGEL CHARGE. Illustrate from the time of the destruction of the Egyptian firstborn. Then Israel in Goshen was in the charge of God’s angel. Or refer to the preservation of Moses, Aaron, Caleb, and Joshua in the times of sudden pestilence in the desert. These were in the angel charge. Or take the case of Elisha at Dothan, when, seemingly in the power of the Syrians, he was really safe in the angel charge. Or see Peter in prison, likely enough to follow James to his fate. He really was in the angel care and deliverance. Or take the case of the Covenanter, who, escaping from his foes, climbed into the hollow of an old tree, over the hole of which a spider at once spun a great web, which made the pursuers feel sure no one could have crept inside. That spider was God’s angel.

II. THE CONDITIONS OF THE ANGEL CHARGE. These the tempter kept back when he urged Jesus to rely on, or rather presume on, the angel charge. He repressed the words, “Keep thee in all thy ways,” which distinctly mean “a good man’s ways,” “the ways a good man ought to be taking.” “Only in the ways of God’s vocation, and with a view to progress in those ways, have we a right to the promise.” If we want to do right, we may be sure of God’s angel help. We have no claim if we want to do wrong.R.T.

Psa 91:12, Psa 91:13

Typical perils of the saints.

(See also Psa 91:5, Psa 91:6, Psa 91:10.) Those dealt with may be read in the light of wilderness experiences. Then we have:

1. The common Eastern terror of the night, both as time of insecurity and time of spread of disease. Thieves work at night; sudden attacks of enemies are made at night; the angel of pestilence strikes at night; wild beasts roam at night; fires mostly break out at night.

2. The dangers of sunstroke and lightning flash, which are the “arrows that fly by day.”

3. The diseases that breed in unsanitary conditions, and gain force to sweep thousands away.

4. The open and subtle attacks of the animals of the desert. The lion that attacks in front; the adder that bites the heel. Bonar tells us that “the putrid plague fever often comes on in the night, while the patient is asleep; the solstitial disease seizes in heat of harvest upon a man in open air, and cuts him off, perhaps, ere evening.” Now what of spiritual peril may these typify?

I. THE PERILS THAT CONNECT WITH THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF HELPLESSNESS. At night we can do nothing to ward off evils. So there are times in life when we feel to be in circumstances which we cannot even try to control. The good man would be hopelessly distressed if he were compelled to think he was at the mercy of circumstances. The psalmist knows that darkness and light are both alike to his protecting God.

II. THE PERILS THAT COME THROUGH THE OVERMASTERING OF OUR EFFORTS. In the day we can watch, we can resist, we can order our conduct wisely, we can act promptly; and yet we are constantly finding the forces round us are bigger than we. Sunstroke and lightning typify the things that will not be “according to our mind.” But the psalmist knows nothing is beyond the Divine restraint. That which happens is permitted.

III. THE PERILS THAT COME TO US VICARIOUSLY. We are constantly suffering from the sins and neglects of others. If we do right and our neighbour does wrong, both may have to suffer the consequences that result. As in case of infectious diseases. So national troubles reach the evil and the good alike.

IV. THE PERILS THAT COME THROUGH WILFUL WRONG DOERS. Represented by the violent “lion,” and the insidious, treacherous “adder.” The psalmist believes in God as Restrainer of the wrath of men.R.T.

Psa 91:14

Reasons in man for the Divine favour.

“Because he hath set his love upon me.” This verse begins what may be regarded as a poetical setting of the answer which God gives to the fully trusting soul. “God himself comes forward to establish the faith of his servant, writes deeper in the soul so great a consolation, and confirms the testimony of his servant. ‘He hath set his love upon me; he knoweth my name; he calleth upon me.’ These are the marks of a true servant of God.” It has been noticed that the words, “I will,” are repeated six times in the last three verses of this psalm: “I will deliver;” “I will set him on high;” “I will answer;” “I will be with him in trouble;” “With long life I will satisfy him;” “I will show him my salvation.”

I. THE POSSIBILITIES OF OUR FEELING TOWARD GOD. We may feel toward God all we can feel towards our fellow menfaith, admiration, devotion, etc. We may even go so far as to “set our love upon him”make him to be our chosen one, our specially loved one. What we do to help ourselves, in the effort to “set our love” on our fellow men, we may do to help in setting our love on God. Such things as

(1) cherish the thought of them;

(2) seek their company;

(3) try in every way to please them.

II. THE RESPONSE GOD MAKES TO MEN‘S RIGHT FEELING TOWARDS HIM. This response is found indicated in the assurances of this passage.

1. He gives to them an answering affection.

2. He guards them with an ever-watchful defence.

3. He accomplishes for them mighty deliverances.

4. He grants them gracious exaltations.

The Divine favour comes on men because:

1. They make him their choice.

2. Because they seek intimacy with him (implied in “knowing his Name”).

3. Because they are ever making signs of their dependence on him. The signs being their daily and their special prayers.R.T.

Psa 91:15, Psa 91:16

God’s presence in time of trouble.

“I will be with him in trouble.” Illustrate by presence of a friend in the time of sickness and distress. That friend may be unable to help, and yet the best of help comes from that friendly presence. If God is with us in trouble, we are sure he can help and deliver. If he does not, it can only be because he is doing kinder things for us, by letting the trouble stay. The strain of feeling alone in time of trouble may be illustrated by a lonely walk through a strange and dangerous country. “Have you ever walked on, mile after mile, until it grew very dark, and there were no stars overhead, and no friendly voice or guide anywhere; and, as you grew very tired and faint and footsore, did it not seem as if the way became more rough and stony at every step? You can remember each time you stumbled in the weary darkness against a stone, how the pain seemed to shoot hotly through every nerve; and the lack of light, and the uncertainty lest each step might bear you over the precipice,all this unnerved you. But how different if a loved friend had been with you! and especially if it so happened that he knew the road and the country well!” God’s presence is the summum bonum. All we can need is included and involved in it. He really need not tell us what he will do for us; it is enough if he will be there. And so the Lord Jesus wrapped up everything for his disciples in this one assurance, “Lo, I am with you all the days.”

I. GOD‘S PRESENCE WITH US MEANS THE BEST POSSIBLE LIMITATION OF OUR TROUBLE.

II. GOD‘S PRESENCE WITH US MEANS ABUNDANT COMFORTING UNDER OUR TROUBLE.

III. GOD‘S PRESENCE WITH US MEANS THE FULFILMENT OF THE MISSION OF OUR TROUBLE.

IV. GOD‘S PRESENCE WITH US ASSURES OF A “HAPPY ISSUE OUT OF ALL OUR AFFLICTIONS.”

God with us in trouble is the fact; but everything for us depends on our sensible realization of the fact.R.T.

HOMILIES BY C. SHORT

Psa 91:9, Psa 91:10, Psa 91:11

The security of the saints.

I. THE DWELLING PLACE OF THE GOOD MANGOD. In such an abode we find:

1. Shelter, protection. (Joh 14:23.)

2. Nutriment.

3. Rest.

4. Companionship.

II. THE SAFETY OF THIS ABODE.

1. Omnipotent love encompasses him.

2. The power of the good man to convert all things to his welfare. “All things are yours.”

III. THE GUARDS AND SERVANTS OF THE GOOD MAN. The angels are God’s messengers and ministers.

1. God employs innumerable invisible ministries to serve us. Angels and unseen powers “that walk the earth both when we wake and when we sleep.”

2. Innumerable visible ministries. “More servants wait on man than he’ll take notice of” (see George Herbert’s poem).S.

Psa 91:14, Psa 91:15

The reward of trust in God.

“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. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.”

I. WHAT ARE THE QUALITIES THAT GOD VALUES MOST IN CHARACTER?

1. The knowledge of his Name; i.e. of his nature and character, now revealed to us more fully than then, in the Person and work of Jesus Christ.

2. The setting our love upon him. Because he is what he is, and because our love is the surest pledge of obedience to his will.

3. Dependence upon God. Expressed by the habit of prayercalling upon him.

II. IN WHAT WAY GOD HONOURS AND REWARDS THOSE QUALITIES,

1. He will deliver him in trouble. By giving him strength superior to all his trials. We cannot escape trouble, but we can conquer it by the aid of the Spirit of God.

2. He will exalt him to the possession of high honours. Give him a position of great securityhigh above all danger. And of great influence and usefulness. This is high honour.

3. He will answer his prayers. In the only ways in which a supremely good and wise Being will answer the prayers of the erring and sinfulby giving them what they need, and not always what they ask for.S.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

Psalms 91.

The state of the godly: their safety: their habitation: their servants: their friend; with the effects of them all.

THIS psalm has no title, and therefore is likely to be by the same author with the foregoing; but this is still more probable from the subject of it: for as the 90th psalm appears calculated for the use of those who were to die in the wilderness, so the present seems evidently designed for those who were to survive this threatened devastation, and whom therefore he arms against the fear of death, by a religious trust in God; with the promise of a miraculous protection to such as trusted in him. Both psalms seem to have been composed soon after the irrevocable decree was passed, Numbers 14 which condemned one part of them, all who were numbered from twenty years old and upwards, to a lingering death in the wilderness, and their little ones to a forty years wandering for their father’s sins; but with a gracious promise, however, that they should at length obtain an entrance into the land of Canaan. Both sorts, therefore, stood in need of support and consolation, though of a different kind; and we find it given them in these two psalms. The younger sort are thus instructed and encouraged: He that dwelleth, &c. Psa 91:1-4. Peters.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Psalms 91

1He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

2I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress:

My God; in him will I trust.

3Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler

And from the noisome pestilence.

4He shall cover thee with his feathers,

And under his wings shalt thou trust:
His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

5Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night;

Nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

6Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness;

Nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

7A thousand shall fall at thy side,

And ten thousand at thy right hand:

But it shall not come nigh thee.

8Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold

And see the reward of the wicked.

9Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge,

Even the Most High, thy habitation;

10There shall no evil befall thee,

Neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

11For he shall give his angels charge over thee,

To keep thee in all thy ways.

12They shall bear thee up in their hands,

Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

13Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder:

The young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

14Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him:

I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

15He shall call upon me, and I will answer him:

I will be with him in trouble;

I will deliver him, and honor him.

16With long life will I satisfy him,

And shew him my salvation.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Contents and Division. The idea of the Psalm is contained in the thought, that he, who commits himself with full confidence to the protection of the Almighty, shall share that protection; that he will receive this the more fully, the more he makes his dwelling with Him, that thus deliverance will be afforded him from the greatest dangers, and that he will receive, besides, positive blessings. These comforting and elevating reflections are couched in expressions both lively and impressive. The true division, however, has become a matter of dispute, from the fact that a change of person appears on many occasions, which is quite unprovided for. And yet the supposition of different persons or a chorus (Van Till, J. D. Michaelis, Stier, Maurer, Olshausen, Delitzsch), is to be viewed with suspicion, especially as this change occurs on one occasion even in the same verse (Psa 91:9), and as in the concluding strophe (Psa 91:14-16) God is undoubtedly to be regarded as the speaker. This Psalm is significantly employed in the Church-service as an Invocavit for Sunday, and, together with Psalms 3, has been designated by the Talmudists as the Poem of Accidents, that is, a song of protection in the midst of impending dangers (Del.). It may perhaps be divided as follows. There is first presented a declaration made (Psa 91:1-2) by the psalmist with regard to himself. Then he utters words of encouragement of a lyrico-prophetical character, in which he holds up to view the promises of miraculous aid from God, for his own consolation (Psa 91:3-4), encouragement (Psa 91:5-6), and the assurance (Psa 91:7-8), of safety with God (9, 10). And, finally, Gods acceptance of his confession and ratification of His own promises are announced in the form of an oracle (Psa 91:14-16). Those assumptions which fix the time of composition shortly after the desecration of the Second Temple (Ewald) or before the Passover of the year 162 B. C. (Hitzig), are mere guesses; and yet they are entitled to rather more respect than is the superscription: A song of praise of David, (Sept.), or the supposition that the Psalm was addressed by Moses to Joshua (Venema). [Alexander: An amplification of the theme that God is the dwelling-place and refuge of His people. This and other points of contact with the prayer of Moses seem to mark it as an imitation of that Psalm, and account for its position in the Psalter.J. F. M.]

Psa 91:1-2. Dwelling [E.V.: He that dwelleth]. The supposition that has fallen out from the beginning of the Psalm (Olshausen, Hupfeld) is untenable, especially as it necessitates the change of Psa 91:2 into , and proceeds from the unnatural assumption that the Church both speaks and is addressed (Olshausen). Now if we consider the psalmist as occupying this double place, we have a confession recorded, which in the first verse is described as an individual one, springing from a sense of a personal relation to God, while in the second the substance of that confession is given. That the punctuators so intended is clear from the fact that they have not, in the second sentence, allowed a participle pointed to follow the which begins the psalm. This would give the following connection: He who dwells . is speaking (Jerome, Luther and most). But they have pointed the 1st imperfect , which shows that they not only viewed the person dwelling and the person speaking as one and the same, but also regarded the Psalmist as that person. It was also not without an object but with good reason, that they separated, by the accentuation, from the following word, although the fact has been either overlooked or misunderstood by most expositors. It was just the usual connection of the words that was to be avoided. For, beside a direct address to Jehovah, an address by the speaker to himself would be much more unexpected and harsh, than the mention of what the Psalmist had confessed to God and experienced in communion with Him. Since the two members of the first verse are connected by and, and a finite verb occurs in the second member, the idea might be suggested, that they stand in the relation of protasis and apodosis (Sept., Isaaki, Calvin, Geier, J. H. Michaelis, De Wette). But this would result in an insupportable tautology, which could only be concealed, by foisting, against usage, upon the idea of passing the night, that of resting. In view of the parallelism between the members of the sentence and the thoughts, the resolving of the part. into the corresponding finite verb is seen to form a suitable transition to the conclusion of the sentence. By this mode of viewing the passage the change of persons in Psa 91:9, appearing suddenly and then entirely vanishing, may also be explained. The psalmist interrupts his confession by addressing to himself words of encouragement. We need not, therefore, supply before (Theodoret, Isaaki, Clericus, Hupfeld) or after (Hitzig), or expand the latter into the former. [Dr. Moll therefore renders Psa 91:1-2 :

Dwelling in the protection of the Highest,
(As he who) passes the night under the shadow of the Almighty,
I say: In Jehovah is my refuge and fortress,
My God, in whom I trust.
Dr. Alexander translates: Sitting in the secret place of the Most High, in the shadow of the Almighty he is lodged. This verse he supposes to be descriptive of an ideal person with whom the speaker is tacitly identified.J. F. M.].

Psa 91:3, etc.Terror by night (Psa 91:5). The best view is that which supposes attacks of enemies to be referred to, (Sol. Son 3:8; Pro 3:23-26). The psalmist does not here enter an incorporeal, unearthly realm (Stier); and does not relate to demons (Shedim) or ghosts (the ancient translators). Nor is the devil and his brood; as a contrast to the angels, denoted either directly or indirectly by the lions, adders and dragons (Stier and Schegg, and Delitzsch in part). The dangers, especially those which threaten travellers, are represented here by illustrations readily suggested. But the nature of these dangers and the mode of overcoming them, are set forth in such a way as that they may be applied to all the powers, either of nature or of the spirit-world, which threaten destruction (Luk 10:19; Mar 16:18; Rom 16:20). So the snare of the fowler, in Psa 91:3, is not identical with the snare of the devil (2Ti 2:26), but at most an emblem of death (Ewald, Hitzig), though probably only a representation of dangerous snares generally (Ecc 9:12). For in Psa 91:3, pestilence does not yet appear as a disease, but represents the plague-like attack of ruin or evil (Hos 13:14). The picture is still a general one. It is only in Psa 91:5, that the dangers of war by night and by day are added to it. In Psa 91:6 pestilence and sickness [E. V.: destruction] are introduced as diseases. In Psa 91:11 ff., after a description of Gods protection of the righteous dwelling in his tent, the dangers of the traveller are brought into view. The concluding sentence enlarges the view after Psa 50:23.The emperor Alexander I. is said to have been awakened by means of this Psalm. The Countess Tolstoj gave it to him in writing on the evening before his march against Napoleon in the year 1812.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. He who knows God, knows also what he has in Him, and what he knows of God he will declare under different circumstances and at different times. But to call upon, pray to, thank, and praise Him in all times of need is not an easy thing for even pious men to do. For the dangers which threaten men, the enemies which lurk around them, their menacing conduct, are innumerable and of many forms; visible and invisible, foreseen and unsuspected, concealed and openly displayed, by day and by night, in the house and by the way, at home and abroad, with violence, cunning, and malice, planned and executed for the ruin of many.
2. But if our path of life is full of obstructions, over which we are walking in constant danger of death, we have not merely to do with attacks from without, but also to contend with temptations which arise within ourselves, from timidity, want of faith, and weakness. For this we need, in equal measure, divine encouragement to our soul, which holds up to view and confirms the promises of Gods help, as well as that help itself in actual experience.

3. We must therefore take refuge in Gods Truth as well as in His Omnipotence and Love. Then will we in all dangers not only trust in the protection of God; we will also be guided by His word, and learn to distinguish between the fearless and confident resort to God in the true paths of our calling, and the presumptuous courting of danger so as to tempt God (Mat 4:6). Then, since we not merely hide ourselves under the wings of the Almighty (Psa 17:8; Mat 23:37), or refresh ourselves under the shadow of His house (Num 14:9; Hos 14:8; Jer 48:45), but take up our abode in God as our Dwelling-place, we can raise our contemplation above the conditions of time, to a life whose duration none can declare, and wait for the coming deliverance.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

No man can do without Gods assistance, but it is only believers who acknowledge it, and derive consolation from that assistance in conformity with the Divine promises. Many experience the protection of God, but it is only those who trust Him, that gain lasting profit therefrom.He who has taken refuge in God, will not leave Him again, but remain ever with Him.Men must be guided by Gods word, if they would learn to rely upon His will.We know most assuredly that God is for us, because we can be with Him and He with us.Whether life be long or short, the main thing is that we gain during it the gracious presence of God, and experience the saving help of the Highest.God does not merely send His servants and messengers; He comes also Himself to help and deliver the righteous.

Starke: He who has God for his dwelling-place is raised so high, that the devil, the world, and all temptations cannot harm him.True hope in God is naturally a token of a state of grace, for none can have a true living hope in Him, who have not true faith in and sincere love for Him.The chief ground of the assurance of the righteous that they will obtain Gods protection, is His truth and faithfulness in graciously fulfilling His promises.What to others is a poison and rod of anger, must to believers be a wholesome medicine: God even knows how to direct everything by His wisdom and goodness for the highest good of His children.Beware of rejecting anything, which God graciously sends to thee.The hut of the believer is a surer defence against all the afflictions and punishments which come from God, than the grandest palaces of the ungodly.God is indeed very willing to protect us and to do us good, but we must do our part too, and with humility and faith seek with Him these blessings.It is not our merit and worthiness that make us partakers of the defence and help of God, but true faith, by which we know His name.Six times in succession does God say: I will. How great is such love! Call thou out to Him in reply: I will. I will accept the order in which Thou dost promise to prove Thy readiness to help.Arndt: It is a comforting word, that God, the chief captain of the guard, Himself keeps watch and guard over His children.How men by sincere trust in God are so well assisted, is proved, partly by what God does for them, and partly by the words of comfort they address to themselves.Tholuck: Gods covering extends everywhere, and thou needest not seek any other.Vaihinger: Vital union with God is the ground of help.Umbreit: Enjoyment in a long earthly life does in no way exclude a striving after immortal glory and the hope of eternity, but supposes only a peaceful contentment with the present, and a child-like pleasure in the glad light of the sun.Diedrich: Let God rule outside with His thunder: but keep thyself completely shielded in Him.Schaubach: The Christian should exult in the victory of Jesus Christ, not with vain and harmful delight, but as a living witness to the Divine truth and righteousness, to the honor of God and the comfort and strengthening of his own soul.Taube: It is not merely a safe progress through this world of sorrow that is here kept in view, but satisfaction in and from the God of salvation and life; and only then can we be satisfied.

[Barnes: Religion blesses a man in this life and blesses him for ever. In possession of this it is a great thing for him to live long: and then it is a great thing for him to dieto go to be for ever with God.J. F. M.]

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

DISCOURSE: 654
THE BLESSEDNESS OF GODS PEOPLE

Psa 91:1-4. He that dwelleth 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 will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and, under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

TO unfold the doctrines and duties of our holy religion is a matter of indispensable necessity to every one who would discharge the ministerial office with acceptance. Yet it is not necessary that a minister should always be laying the foundation of repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ: there are times and seasons when he should go on unto perfection [Note: Heb 6:1.], and exhibit Christianity in its highest stages of practical efficiency. The psalm before us will afford us ample scope for this. The words which we have just read are somewhat disconnected: but a slight alteration in the translation, whilst it will not affect the sense of the passage, will cast a light and beauty over it, and render it doubly interesting to us all. Two prelates of our Church agree in reading the passage thus: He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, that abideth under the shadow of the Almighty; that saith of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I will trust. Then the Psalmist, instead of proceeding regularly with his speech, breaks off, and in an apostrophe addresses the person whom he has been describing; Surely he shall deliver thee [Note: Bishop Lowth and Bishop Horne, See Bishop Home on the place.], &c. &c. According to this rendering, we have a clear exposition of the character and blessedness of every true believer. Let us consider, then,

I.

His character

He is not described either by his religious creed or by his moral conduct. We are led to view him rather in his secret walk with God: and in this view his character is portrayed,

1.

Figuratively

[It will be remembered that God dwelt by a visible symbol of his presence in the tabernacle; and that the high-priest on the great day of annual atonement went within the veil, and abode there till he had sprinkled the blood of his sacrifices upon the mercy-seat, and covered the mercy-seat with his incense. Now, what he did corporeally once in the year, the true Christian does spiritually every day in the year; for through Christ we all are made kings and priests unto our God. Paint to yourselves, then, the high-priest in his occasional access to God; and there you see the Christian going continually within the veil, or rather habitually dwelling there, and making God himself his habitation [Note: ver. 9.]. And truly this is a secret place, of which an unconverted man has no conception: it is the secret of Gods pavilion, the secret of his tabernacle [Note: Psa 27:5.]. But we must divest ourselves of the notion of locality: for this place is wherever God manifests his more immediate presence: and therefore David beautifully calls it, the secret of his presence [Note: Psa 31:20.]. There the Believer dwells: and, O! who can conceive the fellowship which he there enjoys with God the Father and with the Lord Jesus Christ [Note: 1Jn 1:3.]; whilst they, with condescending and affectionate endearment, come to him, and abidingly feast with him [Note: Joh 14:21; Joh 14:23. Rev 3:20.]. In truth, the communion between God and the soul is such as no language can cunvey: it is nothing less than a mutual in-dwelling, resembling that which subsists between the Father and the Son; they being in God, and God in them; yea, and being one with God, and God with them [Note: Compare Joh 6:56 and 1Jn 4:15-16. with Joh 17:21-23.] This is a mercy which the Believer alone enjoys. But some little idea of it may be formed from the favour conferred upon the camp of Israel in the wilderness. The cloudy pillar led them in all their way, affording them shade by day from the heat of the burning sun, and light throughout the night season. To no other people under heaven was this ever vouchsafed. And so it is with the camp of the true Israelites at this day: they, and they only, behold the light of Gods countenance in the nightseason of adversity; and they alone are sheltered from every thing that would oppress and overwhelm their souls; as it is written, The Lord will create upon every dwelling-place of Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming file by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence [Note: Isa 4:5.].]

2.

In plain terms

[The workings of his mind, under all the trials and difficulties which he has to encounter, are here set forth. He is convinced that no created arm can be sufficient for him. Hence he directs his eyes towards the Creator himself, and saith of him, He is my refuge from every trouble: He is my fortress against every assailant: He is my God, all whose powers and perfections shall be employed for me. In Him will I trust, in Him only and exclusively; in Him always, under all circumstances; in Him, with perfect confidence and unshaken affiance. The man is not like the ungodly world, who know not what to do, and are at their wit s end when trouble comes: he is in the secret place of the Most High; and, where others can see nothing, he beholds chariots of fire and horses of fire all around him [Note: 2Ki 6:17.], or, rather, he beholds God himself as a wall of fire round about him [Note: Zec 2:5.], and has the very glory of God resting on him [Note: 1Pe 4:14.]. Thus is the true Believer distinguished from all others: he beholds Him who is invisible [Note: Heb 11:27.]; and walks us in his immediate presence, saying, If God be for me, who can be against me?

Shall this be thought an exaggerated description? I do not say that the Divine presence is equally realized by all, or by any equally at all times: there are seasons when a Peter may be of little faith [Note: Mat 14:31.]; and a Paul may need a special revelation for his support, saying to him, Be not afraid; but speak, and hold not thy peace; for I am with thee; and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee [Note: Act 18:9-10,]. Nevertheless, in the general habit of their mind, their language is like that of David; I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies [Note: Psa 18:1-3.].]

With such views of the believers character, you can have no doubt of,

II.

His blessedness

Here let the abruptness of the address be borne in mind. The Psalmist, instead of proceeding, as might have been expected, to declare the blessings which a person of this description should receive, addresses himself to that person in these animated terms: Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence; he shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. now, in these terms, he, in the very name of God himself, and in the most assured manner, pledges to him the protection,

1.

Of Gods power

[If war were raging in our country; or pestilence, like that which desolated Judea after David had numbered the people, and which probably gave occasion to this psalm, were carrying off multitudes all around us; we should enter more fully into the subject before us, and see more forcibly the exalted privileges of the true Believer. But we must remember that there is a moral pestilence raging all around us, and sweeping myriads into the pit of destruction. We should remember, too, that there is a spiritual fowler, who entangles, in his net, millions, unwary as the silly bird, and leads them captive at his will [Note: 2Ti 2:26. .]. What is the example of men in every walk of life, but one deadly contagion, from which it is almost impossible to escape? And what are those lusts and temptations with which we are continually beset, but baits, whereby the devil seeketh to ensnare us to our everlasting ruin? And who can preserve us from these snares, but God himself? Little will human wisdom or power avail against such potent enemies. Peter imagined himself secure enough from denying his Lord, when he formed so steadfast a resolution respecting it: but, as our Lord had forewarned him, the cock did not crow twice, till he had denied him thrice. And whomsoever Satan should get into his sieve, he would prove us all to be chaff, if we should be left without timely succour from on high [Note: Luk 22:31.], But God will keep the feet of his saints [Note: 1Sa 2:9.], and not suffer them to fall a prey to the destroyer. The care of a hen over her brood is well known. When a bird of prey is hovering over them, she calls them under her wings, and there preserves them in perfect safety. The bird of prey, when searching for them, can behold nothing but the dam. Thus will God preserve his people from all their enemies: He will cover them with his feathers, and under his wings shall they trust: yea, their lives shall be hid with Christ in God, beyond the reach of harm: and because Christ himself is their life, when he shall appear, they also shall appear with him in glory [Note: Col 3:3-4.]. What was done by God for Israel in the wilderness, shall be done by him for every soul that puts its trust in him [Note: Deu 32:9-12.] ]

2.

Of his faithfulness

[For every believer the very truth of God is pledged; and life is promised to him by a God who cannot lie [Note: Tit 1:2.]. It is not said that the believer shall not be tempted, or be in heaviness through manifold temptations: but that he shall not be finally overcome, God docs engage; as the Apostle says: God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it [Note: 1Co 10:13.]. Here, I say, the very faithfulness of God is pledged; and we may be sure, that of all the good things which he has promised to his people, not one shall ever fail [Note: Jos 23:14.]. No doubt they may through weakness be overcome for a season, as the lives of the most eminent saints but too clearly prove. But in such a case God has told us how he will act towards them: If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless, my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail; my covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips: for once have I sworn by my holiness, that I will not lie unto David [Note: Psa 89:30-35.]. Of course, we are not to understand this of one who sins wilfully and habitually: for, whatever he may profess, he is no child of God, but a downright hypocrite: but of the weakest of real saints it is spoken (and to him it shall assuredly be fulfilled: for it is not the will of our Father that one of his little ones should perish [Note: Mat 18:14.].]

For a just improvement of this passage, let it be remembered,
1.

In what way alone we can have access to God

[We have spoken of the believer as dwelling in God: but how came he into that sanctuary? and where did he find a door of entrance? This is a point that should be well understood. There is but one way to the Father; and that is by Christ. Our blessed Lord himself tells us this, when he says, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me. It must never be forgotten, that in ourselves we are altogether departed from God; and that we can be brought nigh only by the blood of Jesus. It was by the blood of his sacrifice alone, that the High Priest, of whom we have before spoken, could come into the holy place of the Most High [Note: Heb 9:7.]: and it is by the blood of Jesus alone that we can venture into the holiest [Note: Heb 10:19.], or presume to ask any thing at the hands of God [Note: Heb 10:20-22.]. I beseech you, therefore, to bear this in remembrance, and never to call God yours, until you have come to him in his appointed way ]

2.

What is that kind of confidence which we ought to maintain

[It must not be presumptuous confidence, that overlooks the use of means or supersedes the necessity of holy fear. Satan could not be better served than by such confidence as that. And hence it was, that, in tempting our blessed Lord, he cited this very psalm, and urged a part of it as a warrant for him to cast himself down from a pinnacle of the temple; saying, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone [Note: ver. 11, 12. with Mat 4:6.]. Our Lords reply to him shews us our duty in relation to this matter; Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. We are not needlessly to expose ourselves to dangers, in the expectation that God will preserve us: nor are we to neglect the use of means, as though God were engaged to work miracles in our behalf. We must be humble, watchful, diligent; as it is written, Give all diligence to make your calling and election sure. God has, indeed, engaged to give us both to will and to do: but, whilst we depend on him for his effectual aid, we must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling [Note: Php 2:12-13.]. In every step of our way to Zion, we must cry, Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe.]

3.

What should be the frame of our minds after we have come to him

[I have said, We should fear; for blessed is the man that feareth always. But this fear should temper, not weaken, our confidence in God. Hear what the Prophet Isaiah says: Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord for. ever; for with the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength [Note: Isa 26:3-4.]. St. Paul maintained to the uttermost the fear of which we have been speaking; for he kept under his body, and brought it into subjection; lest that by any means, after he had preached to others, he himself should be a cast-away [Note: 1Co 9:27.]. But his confidence in God was entire. He defied all the powers in the universe to separate him from the love of God [Note: Rom 8:33-39.] And you, also, may possess the same blessed hope, knowing in whom you have believed [Note: 2Ti 1:12.], and assured that none shall ever pluck you out of the Saviours hands [Note: Joh 10:28.].]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

CONTENTS

Under several very striking similitudes, the Person of Christ and his redemption work are pointed out. This Psalm is the more remarkable in that the accursed enemy himself, in his temptations of Christ, hesitated not to make quotations from it, as referring to Christ.

Psa 91:1

I venture to believe that the Holy Ghost had no other object in view, in dictating this Psalm, than to refer the whole of what is here said to the person of Christ, as the great Head and Surety of his people; and, under this idea, it opens with one of the most sublime subjects the church can possibly contemplate; namely, Jehovah’s love to the person of Christ, as the Mediator of his church and people!

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

God’s Inner Circle

Psa 91:1

This wonderful Psalm has always been a favourite with the mystic and quietist. For it expresses what we may call the Beatitude of the Inner Circle. Most religions have distinguished carefully between the rank and file of the faithful, and that select company of initiates who taste the hidden wisdom and have access to the secret shrine. From the nature of the case some such distinction exists even in the kingdom of heaven. Christ Himself allowed a difference between ‘His own friends’ and those many disciples who are servants still. Only we must never forget on what this difference depends…. The Father who is Lord of heaven and earth has seen good to hide His secrets from the wise and prudent, and to reveal them unto babes.

I. As we recognize the reality of this Inner Circle of souls enlightened and initiated, these verses suggest some signs and tokens which characterize those who not merely wear their Lord’s livery, but are actual courtiers in the palace of the Great King. We may say that they are more at home with God than other Christians, and they are also more alone with God. These dwellers in the secret place of the Most High are like children at home there, who have received the Spirit whereby they say always, ‘Abba that is, Father’.

II. Such spiritual intimacy requires a spiritual privacy as well. To come close to God means not merely to be withdrawn from the noise and glare of the world, but also to be embraced in that shadow with which the uncreated height softens His glory to our eyes. For those who are thus brought near to their Father in heaven, there rises a strange delight in remembering the Divine Omnipotence. They exult in His power and might, His majesty and dominion.

III. And thus it comes to pass that the self-same attributes of God which daunt and repel us at a distance, are transformed into our very shelter and joy when once He covers us with His feathers. ‘Thou shalt not be afraid.’ No promise is oftener repeated and ratified to the childlike soul. Those who belong to God’s Inner Circle bear on their countenances the seal that they are quiet from fear of evil, that they have gained the victory over terror and dismay.

IV. In God’s Inner Circle the childlike spirit is made one with the will and the love of the Almighty Father. And herein lies our security and refuge against whatsoever may await us in this world or in any other.

T. H. Darlow, The Upward Galling, p. 38.

References. XCI. 1. J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons (9th Series), p. 134. W. L. Watkinson, The Ashes of Roses, p. 114. XCI. 1, 2. R. S. Candlish, The Gospel of Forgiveness, p. 227. XCI. 1, 16. E. H. Bickersteth, Thoughts in Past Years, p. 247. XCI. 2. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxii. No. 1297. XCI. 3. Ibid. vol. iii. No. 124. XCI. 3. Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 24. XCI. 4. C. Bosanquet, Tender Grass for the Lambs, p. 16. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xv. No. 902. XCI. 5. Ibid. Evening by Evening, p. 113. XCI. International Critical Commentary, vol. ii. p. 278.

The Perils of the Middle-aged

Psa 91:6

The noonday of life is the time of middle age, when the morning freshness of youth has passed away. And so the destruction that wasteth at the noonday may be referred to the peculiar temptations of the period.

I. One of the features of middle age is this that by that time a man has found his life-work. Now with this settlement into a single task there generally comes a certain happiness. But just here arises one danger of that period it lies in the contraction of the manhood to the one groove in which the life-work runs. Absorbed in the business on which his living hangs a man contracts into a business man. No matter how successful a man be, if he is impoverished and contracted by success, then in the sight of God he is in peril of the destruction that wasteth at noonday. Faced then by that peril how may we hope to overcome it? One way is to have some lively interest out of the single line of the career. But there is something better. It is the thought that there once moved on earth a man who was perfect in the whole range of manhood. That is the value of fellowship with Christ in an age when specialism is inevitable.

II. One of the perils of the noonday is the deadening of faith. In middle age there is neither the stimulus of youth nor of age to lead a man to trust in the unseen. Youth has its dangers, but the sins of the middle age, though not so patent, may be more deadly, for they lead to that encrustation of the spirit which the Bible calls the hardening of the heart.

III. But not only is middle age the time when we are in peril of losing faith in God. It is also very notably the time when we are in danger of losing faith in man. We see how different men are from our dreams. The vision we had of them is rudely shattered, and with the shattering there goes our faith. Some men it makes utterly hard-hearted; others it makes tolerantly cynical. There is but one help in that temptation it is to remember that though He knew the worst, Christ never for one hour lost faith in man.

G. H. Morrison, The Wings of the Morning, p. 131.

The Refuge of the Devout Soul

Psa 91:9-10

I. We have here the cry of the devout soul. This cry of the soul recognizing God as its asylum and home comes in response to a revelation of God’s blessing and to large words of promise. 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. This cry of the devout soul suggests to me that our response ought to be the establishment of a clear personal relation between us and God. We must isolate ourselves and stand, God and we alone together at heart grips, we grasping His hand and He giving Himself to us.

II. Note how this cry of the devout soul recognizes God as He to Whom we must go because we need refuge. It is only when we know our dangers 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. In all regions the consciousness of human want must go before the recognition of the Divine supply.

III. Note the still more abundant answer which that cry evokes. There may be observed a certain distinction of tone between those promises which precede and those which follow the cry. Those which follow have a certain elevation and completeness and fullness beyond those that precede. They who store in patient and thankful hearts the faithful promises of God, have taken a sure way to make the gifts still larger and His promise still sweeter, and their fulfilment more faithful and precious. By the body we are brought into connexion with this frail outer world, and we try to make our homes out of shifting cloud-wrack, and dream that we may dwell secure. But we need a better dwelling-place than earth and that which holds to earth. We have God Himself for our true home. The secret of exemption from every evil lies in no peculiar providence, ordering in some especial 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.

A. Maclaren, The God of the Amen, p. 158.

Reference. XCI. 9. Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 58.

The Ministry of Angels

Psa 91:11

The ministry of angels is too clearly written in Holy Scripture for any of us to doubt it, even if we had not the evidence of our own experience. The work of the angels is

I. To Guide us. It is a great mystery, yet who can question that we may be led by them? The Gospel for today’s service tells us of the angels of little children always beholding the face of the Father in heaven. It is impossible to suppose that their work ceases when we pass from childhood’s state; and it is a comfort to think that our angels, receiving their inspiration in heaven, will lead us in the right way, if only we will submit ourselves to them.

II. To Guard us; or, as the text has it, ‘to keep’ us. Years ago, when one, who is now a bishop, was curate in a rural parish, he was sent for after midnight to visit a distant house where there was said to be serious illness. He went there, passing through a lonely road, only to find that he had been hoaxed. Years passed, and the incident was never explained until the bishop was sent for to visit in prison a man condemned to death. The prisoner recalled the incident, and explained that it was he who had sought to lure the curate out that he might rob him. ‘And why did you not do so?’ asked the bishop. ‘Because,’ came the reply, ‘another man joined you just when I was going to attack you.’ There had been no man; who can doubt but that it was the bishop’s guardian angel?

III. But Notice the Limitation. ‘To keep thee,’ but only in all thy ways, and the story of our Lord’s temptation shows us that the guidance and guardianship is given only when we are in the right way.

Reference. XCI. 11. J. Keble, Sermons for the Saints’ Days, p. 372.

Let Nothing You Dismay

Psa 91:13

The whole of this Psalm is an unfolding of the certain outcome of fellowship with God. The man who dwells in the secret place of the Most High finds there a Divine power of protection and defence which lifts him into a place of safety in all the assaults of the enemy. As a hen covers her brood with her feathers, so is he covered by the Lord. He is defended as with a shield; he is upheld by angel ministrants so that his unwary footsteps do not slip. It is indeed a Psalm of the joy-bells which ring over the union of weakness with strength, of human need with Divine fullness. It tells with clear simplicity of the completeness of the provisions of grace for the life of the believer, and rings out, as though in defiance of the adversary, the clear note of certain victory in the inevitable conflicts of life.

I. The lion strongest and fiercest of beasts may well stand for a man’s besetting sin, the temptation which is always nearest to him and from which there seems no available way of escape. And just as lions do not frequent the haunts of mankind, but are met in lonely and desert lands, so is this temptation met in the unshared solitudes of life. As in the days of Nero, Christians are always antagonizing lions, but the arena of their conflict is not open to the public. The struggle is waged without human spectators, and the victory when realized is unapplauded save in the courts of conscience and of heaven. Or, again, the lion may stand for the open opposition which every man meets as he pursues the pathway of God’s revealed will.

II. The adder hidden in the grass or rocky crevices of the pathway, ready to dart out upon the unsuspecting pilgrim, with the power of death in its sting, well expresses the swiftness and unexpectedness with which temptation often assails men. The lion roars and gives warning of his approach, but the adder is most frequently encountered without any warning whatever of its presence. Suddenly the attack is delivered, and only he whose feet are Divinely shod can tread down the unlooked-for enemy. Who has not known temptation of this sort? It is of such that most defeat is recorded. Paradoxical though it sounds, such temptation usually finds its point of least resistance in a man’s strongest part.

III. The dragon stands for temptation of an entirely different order, for no such beast is known to man, except as the creation of his own imaginations. The dragon is but the fierce creature of mythical story, the terror of earlier ages, and the dread of childhood. As such it stands here for those temptations which are largely the result of uncontrolled thought, those creatures whose existence is the projection of a disordered mind on the soul’s vision. Though but imaginary, they are none the less strong to destroy those who do not in the courage of faith resolutely ‘trample them underfoot,’ and no Gospel promise of victory would be adequate which took no account of them. A man’s strongest foes are not only of his own household but frequently of his own heart where the dragon has its birth. Evil desires, enmities, ambitions, jealousies, hot passions, are all the product of an unchecked imagination, and going forth from out the heart they assume mysterious strength to leap upon and overcome their own parent. Of the same origin, though of different form, is the dragon of dark pessimism, most frequently concerning the future.

J. Stuart Holden, The Pre-Eminent Lord, p. 29.

God’s Answer to Man’s Trust

Psa 91:14

These words seem to me to carry two thoughts: the first what God delights to find in a man; and the second what God delights to give to the man in whom He finds it.

I. There are two things that the great Father’s heart seeks, and wheresoever it finds them He is glad and lavishes upon such a one the most precious things in His possession. Now the word rendered ‘set his love’ includes more than is suggested by that rendering, beautiful as it is. It is not my love only that I am to fasten upon God, but my whole self that I am to bind to Him. God delights in us when we cling to Him. Let us cling to Him in our thoughts, hour by hour, moment by moment, amidst all the distractions of daily life. Let us cleave to Him still further by the obedient contact of our wills with His, receiving all our instructions from our Father in heaven. There is another thing in the text which, as I take it, is a consequence of that close union between man in his whole nature and God. You have to become acquainted with Him and be very familiar with Him that is to say, to fix your whole self on Him before you ‘know’ Him; and it is only the knowledge which is born of love and familiarity that is worth calling knowledge at all. Only he knows God to whom the commonplaces of religion have turned into facts which he verifies by his own experiences.

II. Note secondly what God gives to the man in whom He finds such things. ‘I will deliver him,’ says the promise. God’s promise is not that no evil shall come to the man who trusts him, but that he shall be delivered out of the evil that does come, and that it will not be truly evil. Still further we have another great promise: ‘I will set him on high because he hath known My name’. That is more than lifting a man up above the reach of the storm of life by means of external deliverance. There is a better thing than that namely, that our whole inward life be lived loftily. Then perhaps there is a hint in the words, on an elevation even higher than that, when, life ended and earth done, He shall receive into His glory those whom He hath guided by His counsel.

A. Maclaren, The God of the Amen, p. 167.

What God Will Do for Us

Psa 91:15-16

The words which we have now to consider cover the whole range of human life and need, and may be regarded as being a picture of the sure and blessed consequence of keeping our hearts fixed upon our Father, God. The verses of the text fall into three portions: there are promises for the suppliant, promises for the troubled, promises for mortals. Now let us look at these three.

I. The promise to the suppliant. If a man’s heart is set upon God, his very life-breath will be a cry to His Father. Any man who has learned to love God will live in the exercise and habit of prayer, and it will be his instinct to cry to God in all changing circumstances. True prayer is the cry of the soul for the living God in Whom is all that it needs, and out of Whom is nothing that will do it good.

II. ( a ) Further, here we have a promise for suppliants, ‘I will be with him in time of trouble’. The promise is not only that, when trials fall upon us, we shall become more conscious, if we take them rightly, of God’s presence, but that all which is meant by God’s presence shall really be more fully ours, and that He is actually nearer us. ( b ) Then there follows the next stage, deliverance from trouble, ‘I will deliver him’. He will deliver us not only by taking the burden off our backs, but by making us strong to carry it, and the sorrow which has changed into calm submission is sorrow from which we have been delivered. ( c ) Lastly, there is the third of these promises for the troubled, ‘I will honour him’. Is not that the end of a trouble which has been borne in company with Him; and from which, because it has been so borne, a man may be delivered even whilst it lasts? Is that not God’s way of glorifying us before heaven’s glory?

III. Last of all we have the promise for mortals, ‘With long life will I satisfy him, and show him My salvation’. The idea contained in this promise may be fully illustrated by the expression which is used in reference to a select few of the Old Testament saints, of whom it is recorded that they died ‘full of days’. They had got all out of the world which it could give, and were contented to have done with it all. The heart that lives near God will find in life all that life is capable of giving, but will be satisfied to have lived, and be contented to die.

A. Maclaren, The God of the Amen, p. 177.

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson

PSALMS

XI

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS

According to my usual custom, when taking up the study of a book of the Bible I give at the beginning a list of books as helps to the study of that book. The following books I heartily commend on the Psalms:

1. Sampey’s Syllabus for Old Testament Study . This is especially good on the grouping and outlining of some selected psalms. There are also some valuable suggestions on other features of the book.

2. Kirkpatrick’g commentary, in “Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges,” is an excellent aid in the study of the Psalter.

3. Perowne’s Book of Psalms is a good, scholarly treatise on the Psalms. A special feature of this commentary is the author’s “New Translation” and his notes are very helpful.

4. Spurgeon’s Treasury of David. This is just what the title implies. It is a voluminous, devotional interpretation of the Psalms and helpful to those who have the time for such extensive study of the Psalter.

5. Hengstenburg on the Psalms. This is a fine, scholarly work by one of the greatest of the conservative German scholars.

6. Maclaren on the Psalms, in “The Expositor’s Bible,” is the work of the world’s safest, sanest, and best of all works that have ever been written on the Psalms.

7. Thirtle on the Titles of the Psalms. This is the best on the subject and well worth a careful study.

At this point some definitions are in order. The Hebrew word for psalm means praise. The word in English comes from psalmos , a song of lyrical character, or a song to be sung and accompanied with a lyre. The Psalter is a collection of sacred and inspired songs, composed at different times and by different authors.

The range of time in composition was more than 1,000 years, or from the time of Moses to the time of Ezra. The collection in its present form was arranged probably by Ezra in the fifth century, B.C.

The Jewish classification of Old Testament books was The Law, the Prophets, and the Holy Writings. The Psalms was given the first place in the last group.

They had several names, or titles, of the Psalms. In Hebrew they are called “The Book of Prayers,” or “The Book of Praises.” The Hebrew word thus used means praises. The title of the first two books is found in Psa 72:20 : “The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.” The title of the whole collection of Psalms in the Septuagint is Biblos Psalman which means the “Book of Psalms.” The title in the Alexandrian Codex is Psalterion which is the name of a stringed instrument, and means “The Psalter.”

The derivation of our English words, “psalms,” “psalter,” and “psaltery,” respectively, is as follows:

1. “Psalms” comes from the Greek word, psalmoi, which is also from psallein , which means to play upon a stringed instrument. Therefore the Psalms are songs played upon stringed instruments, and the word here is used to apply to the whole collection.

2. “Psalter” is of the same origin and means the Book of Psalms and refers also to the whole collection.

3. “Psaltery” is from the word psalterion, which means “a harp,” an instrument, supposed to be in the shape of a triangle or like the delta of the Greek alphabet. See Psa 33:2 ; Psa 71:22 ; Psa 81:2 ; Psa 144:9 .

In our collection there are 150 psalms. In the Septuagint there is one extra. It is regarded as being outside the sacred collection and not inspired. The subject of this extra psalm is “David’s victory over Goliath.” The following is a copy of it: I was small among my brethren, And youngest in my father’s house, I used to feed my father’s sheep. My hands made a harp, My fingers fashioned a Psaltery. And who will declare unto my Lord? He is Lord, he it is who heareth. He it was who sent his angel And took me from my father’s sheep, And anointed me with the oil of his anointing. My brethren were goodly and tall, But the Lord took no pleasure in them. I went forth to meet the Philistine. And he cursed me by his idols But I drew the sword from beside him; I beheaded him and removed reproach from the children of Israel.

It will be noted that this psalm does not have the earmarks of an inspired production. There is not found in it the modesty so characteristic of David, but there is here an evident spirit of boasting and self-praise which is foreign to the Spirit of inspiration.

There is a difference in the numbering of the psalms in our version which follows the Hebrew, and the numbering in the Septuagint. Omitting the extra one in the Septuagint, there is no difference as to the total number. Both have 150 and the same subject matter, but they are not divided alike.

The following scheme shows the division according to our version and also the Septuagint: Psalms 1-8 in the Hebrew equal 1-8 in the Septuagint; 9-10 in the Hebrew combine into 9 in the Septuagint; 11-113 in the Hebrew equal 10-112 in the Septuagint; 114-115 in the Hebrew combine into 113 in the Septuagint; 116 in the Hebrew divides into 114-115 in the Septuagint; 117-146 in the Hebrew equal 116-145 in the Septuagint; 147 in the Hebrew divides into 146-147 in the Septuagint; 148-150 in the Hebrew equal 148-150 in the Septuagint.

The arrangement in the Vulgate is the same as the Septuagint. Also some of the older English versions have this arangement. Another difficulty in numbering perplexes an inexperienced student in turning from one version to another, viz: In the Hebrew often the title is verse I, and sometimes the title embraces verses 1-2.

The book divisions of the Psalter are five books, as follows:

Book I, Psalms 1-41 (41 chapters)

Book II, Psalms 42-72 (31 chapters)

Book III, Psalms 73-89 (17 chapters)

Book IV, Psalms 90-106 (17 chapters)

Book V, Psalms 107-150 (44 chapters)

They are marked by an introduction and a doxology. Psalm I forms an introduction to the whole book; Psa 150 is the doxology for the whole book. The introduction and doxology of each book are the first and last psalms of each division, respectively.

There were smaller collections before the final one, as follows:

Books I and II were by David; Book III, by Hezekiah, and Books IV and V, by Ezra.

Certain principles determined the arrangement of the several psalms in the present collection:

1. David is honored with first place, Book I and II, including Psalms 1-72.

2. They are grouped according to the use of the name of God:

(1) Psalms 1-41 are Jehovah psalms;

(2) Psalms 42-83 are Elohim-psalms;

(3) Psalms 84-150 are Jehovah psalms.

3. Book IV is introduced by the psalm of Moses, which is the first psalm written.

4. Some are arranged as companion psalms, for instance, sometimes two, sometimes three, and sometimes more. Examples: Psa 2 and 3; 22, 23, and 24; 113-118.

5. They were arranged for liturgical purposes, which furnished the psalms for special occasions, such as feasts, etc. We may be sure this arrangement was not accidental. An intelligent study of each case is convincing that it was determined upon rational grounds.

All the psalms have titles but thirty-three, as follows:

In Book I, Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 10 ; Psa 33 , (4 are without titles).

In Book II, Psa 43 ; Psa 71 , (2 are without titles).

In Book IV, Psa 91 ; Psa 93 ; Psa 94 ; Psa 95 ; Psa 96 ; Psa 97 ; Psa 104 ; Psa 105 ; Psa 106 , (9 are without titles).

In Book V, Psa 107 ; III; 112; 113; 114; 115; 116; 117; 118; 119; 135; 136; 137; 146; 147; 148; 149; 150, (18 are without titles).

The Talmud calls these psalms that have no title, “Orphan Psalms.” The later Jews supply these titles by taking the nearest preceding author. The lack of titles in Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; and 10 may be accounted for as follows: Psa 1 is a general introduction to the whole collection and Psa 2 was, perhaps, a part of Psa 1 . Psalms 9-10 were formerly combined into one, therefore Psa 10 has the same title as Psa 9 .

QUESTIONS

1. What books are commended on the Psalms?

2. What is a psalm?

3. What is the Psalter?

4. What is the range of time in composition?

5. When and by whom was the collection in its present form arranged?

6. What the Jewish classification of Old Testament books, and what the position of the Psalter in this classification?

7. What is the Hebrew title of the Psalms?

8. Find the title of the first two books from the books themselves.

9. What is the title of the whole collection of psalms in the Septuagint?

10. What is the title in the Alexandrian Codex?

11. What is the derivation of our English word, “Psalms”, “Psalter”, and “Psaltery,” respectively?

12. How many psalms in our collection?

13. How many psalms in the Septuagint?

14. What about the extra one in the Septuagint?

15. What is the subject of this extra psalm?

16. How does it compare with the Canonical Psalms?

17. What is the difference in the numbering of the psalms in our version which follows the Hebrew, and the numbering in the Septuagint?

18. What is the arrangement in the Vulgate?

19. What other difficulty in numbering which perplexes an inexperienced student in turning from one version to another?

20. What are the book divisions of the Psalter and how are these divisions marked?

21. Were there smaller collections before the final one? If so, what were they?

22. What principles determined the arrangement of the several psalms in the present collection?

23. In what conclusion may we rest concerning this arrangement?

24. How many of the psalms have no titles?

25. What does the Talmud call these psalms that have no titles?

26. How do later Jews supply these titles?

27. How do you account for the lack of titles in Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 10 ?

XII

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS (CONTINUED)

The following is a list of the items of information gathered from the titles of the psalms:

1. The author: “A Psalm of David” (Psa 37 ).

2. The occasion: “When he fled from Absalom, his son” (Psa 3 ).

3. The nature, or character, of the poem:

(1) Maschil, meaning “instruction,” a didactic poem (Psa 42 ).

(2) Michtam, meaning “gold,” “A Golden Psalm”; this means excellence or mystery (Psa 16 ; 56-60).

4. The occasion of its use: “A Psalm of David for the dedication of the house” (Psa 30 ).

5. Its purpose: “A Psalm of David to bring remembrance” (Psa 38 ; Psa 70 ).

6. Direction for its use: “A Psalm of David for the chief musician” (Psa 4 ).

7. The kind of musical instrument:

(1) Neginoth, meaning to strike a chord, as on stringed instruments (Psa 4 ; Psa 61 ).

(2) Nehiloth, meaning to perforate, as a pipe or flute (Psa 5 ).

(3) Shoshannim, Lilies, which refers probably to cymbals (Psa 45 ; Psa 69 ).

8. A special choir:

(1) Sheminith, the “eighth,” or octave below, as a male choir (Psa 6 ; Psa 12 ).

(2) Alamoth, female choir (Psa 46 ).

(3) Muth-labben, music with virgin voice, to be sung by a choir of boys in the treble (Psa 9 ).

9. The keynote, or tune:

(1) Aijeleth-sharar, “Hind of the morning,” a song to the melody of which this is sung (Psa 22 ).

(2) Al-tashheth, “Destroy thou not,” the beginning of a song the tune of which is sung (Psa 57 ; Psa 58 ; Psa 59 ; Psa 75 ).

(3) Gittith, set to the tune of Gath, perhaps a tune which David brought from Gath (Psa 8 ; Psa 81 ; Psa 84 ).

(4) Jonath-elim-rehokim, “The dove of the distant terebinths,” the commencement of an ode to the air of which this song was to be sung (Psa 56 ).

(5) Leannoth, the name of a tune (Psa 88 ).

(6) Mahalath, an instrument (Psa 53 ); Leonnoth-Mahaloth, to chant to a tune called Mahaloth.

(7) Shiggaion, a song or a hymn.

(8) Shushan-Eduth, “Lily of testimony,” a tune (Psa 60 ). Note some examples: (1) “America,” “Shiloh,” “Auld Lang Syne.” These are the names of songs such as we are familiar with; (2) “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” and “There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood,” are examples of sacred hymns.

10. The liturgical use, those noted for the feasts, e.g., the Hallels and Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 146-150).

11. The destination, as “Song of Ascents” (Psalms 120-134)

12. The direction for the music, such as Selah, which means “Singers, pause”; Higgaion-Selah, to strike a symphony with selah, which means an instrumental interlude (Psa 9:16 ).

The longest and fullest title to any of the psalms is the title to Psa 60 . The items of information from this title are as follows: (1) the author; (2) the chief musician; (3) the historical occasion; (4) the use, or design; (5) the style of poetry; (6) the instrument or style of music.

The parts of these superscriptions which most concern us now are those indicating author, occasion, and date. As to the historic value or trustworthiness of these titles most modern scholars deny that they are a part of the Hebrew text, but the oldest Hebrew text of which we know anything had all of them. This is the text from which the Septuagint was translated. It is much more probable that the author affixed them than later writers. There is no internal evidence in any of the psalms that disproves the correctness of them, but much to confirm. The critics disagree among themselves altogether as to these titles. Hence their testimony cannot consistently be received. Nor can it ever be received until they have at least agreed upon a common ground of opposition.

David is the author of more than half the entire collection, the arrangement of which is as follows:

1. Seventy-three are ascribed to him in the superscriptions.

2. Some of these are but continuations of the preceding ones of a pair, trio, or larger group.

3. Some of the Korahite Psalms are manifestly Davidic.

4. Some not ascribed to him in the titles are attributed to him expressly by New Testament writers.

5. It is not possible to account for some parts of the Psalter without David. The history of his early life as found in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1and 2 Chronicles, not only shows his remarkable genius for patriotic and sacred songs and music, but also shows his cultivation of that gift in the schools of the prophets. Some of these psalms of the history appear in the Psalter itself. It is plain to all who read these that they are founded on experience, and the experience of no other Hebrew fits the case. These experiences are found in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles.

As to the attempt of the destructive critics to rob David of his glory in relation to the Psalter by assigning the Maccabean era as the date of composition, I have this to say:

1. This theory has no historical support whatever, and therefore is not to be accepted at all.

2. It has no support in tradition, which weakens the contention of the critics greatly.

3. It has no support from finding any one with the necessary experience for their basis.

4. They can give no reasonable account as to how the titles ever got there.

5. It is psychologically impossible for anyone to have written these 150 psalms in the Maccabean times.

6. Their position is expressly contrary to the testimony of Christ and the apostles. Some of the psalms which they ascribe to the Maccabean Age are attributed to David by Christ himself, who said that David wrote them in the Spirit.

The obvious aim of this criticism and the necessary result if it be Just, is a positive denial of the inspiration of both Testaments.

Other authors are named in the titles, as follows: (1) Asaph, to whom twelve psalms have been assigned: (2) Mosee, Psa 90 ; (3) Solomon, Psa 72 ; Psa 127 ; (4) Heman, Psa 80 ; (5) Ethem, Psa 89 ; (6) A number of the psalms are ascribed to the sons of Korah.

Not all the psalms ascribed to Asaph were composed by one person. History indicates that Asaph’s family presided over the song service for several generations. Some of them were composed by his descendants by the game name. The five general outlines of the whole collection are as follows:

I. By books

1. Psalms 1-41 (41)

2. Psalms 42-72 (31)

3. Psalms 73-89 (17)

4. Psalms 90-106 (17)

5. Psalms 107-150 (44)

II. According to date and authorship

1. The psalm of Moses (Psa 90 )

2. Psalms of David:

(1) The shepherd boy (Psa 8 ; Psa 19 ; Psa 29 ; Psa 23 ).

(2) David when persecuted by Saul (Psa 59 ; Psa 56 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 52 ; Psa 54 ; Psa 57 ; Psa 142 ).

(3) David the King (Psa 101 ; Psa 18 ; Psa 24 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 110 ; Psa 20 ; Psa 20 ; Psa 21 ; Psa 60 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 41 ; Psa 55 ; Psa 3:4 ; Psa 64 ; Psa 62 ; Psa 61 ; Psa 27 ).

3. The Asaph Psalms (Psa 50 ; Psa 73 ; Psa 83 ).

4. The Korahite Psalms (Psa 42 ; Psa 43 ; Psa 84 ).

5. The psalms of Solomon (Psa 72 ; Psa 127 ).

6. The psalms of the era of Hezekiah and Isaiah (Psa 46 ; Psa 47 ; Psa 48 )

7. The psalms of the Exile (Psa 74 ; Psa 79 ; Psa 137 ; Psa 102 )

8. The psalms of the Restoration (Psa 85 ; Psa 126 ; Psa 118 ; 146-150)

III. By groups

1. The Jehovistic and Elohistic Psalms:

(1) Psalms 1-41 are Jehovistic;

(2) Psalms 42-83 are Elohistic Psalms;

(3) Psalms 84-150 are Jehovistic.

2. The Penitential Psalms (Psa 6 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 130 ; Psa 143 )

3. The Pilgrim Psalms (Psalms 120-134)

4. The Alphabetical Psalms (Psa 9 ; Psa 10 ; Psa 25 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 37 ; 111:112; Psa 119 ; Psa 145 )

5. The Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 11-113; 115-117; 146-150; to which may be added Psa 135 ) Psalms 113-118 are called “the Egyptian Hallel”

IV. Doctrines of the Psalms

1. The throne of grace and how to approach it by sacrifice, prayer, and praise.

2. The covenant, the basis of worship.

3. The paradoxical assertions of both innocence & guilt.

4. The pardon of sin and justification.

5. The Messiah.

6. The future life, pro and con.

7. The imprecations.

8. Other doctrines.

V. The New Testament use of the Psalms

1. Direct references and quotations in the New Testament.

2. The allusions to the psalms in the New Testament. Certain experiences of David’s life made very deep impressions on his heart, such as: (1) his peaceful early life; (2) his persecution by Saul; (3) his being crowned king of the people; (4) the bringing up of the ark; (5) his first great sin; (6) Absalom’s rebellion; (7) his second great sin; (8) the great promise made to him in 2Sa 7 ; (9) the feelings of his old age.

We may classify the Davidic Psalms according to these experiences following the order of time, thus:

1. His peaceful early life (Psa 8 ; Psa 19 ; Psa 29 ; Psa 23 )

2. His persecution by Saul (Psa 59 ; Psa 56 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 7 ; Psa 52 ; Psa 120 ; Psa 140 ; Psa 54 ; Psa 57 ; Psa 142 ; Psa 17 ; Psa 18 )

3. Making David King (Psa 27 ; Psa 133 ; Psa 101 )

4. Bringing up the ark (Psa 68 ; Psa 24 ; Psa 132 ; Psa 15 ; Psa 78 ; Psa 96 )

5. His first great sin (Psa 51 ; Psa 32 )

6. Absalom’s rebellion (Psa 41 ; Psa 6 ; Psa 55 ; Psa 109 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 39 ; Psa 3 ; Psa 4 ; Psa 63 ; Psa 42 ; Psa 43 ; Psa 5 ; Psa 62 ; Psa 61 ; Psa 27 )

7. His second great sin (Psa 69 ; Psa 71 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 103 )

8. The great promise made to him in 2Sa 7 (Psa 2 )

9. Feelings of old age (Psa 37 )

The great doctrines of the psalms may be noted as follows: (1) the being and attributes of God; (3) sin, both original and individual; (3) both covenants; (4) the doctrine of justification; (5) concerning the Messiah.

There is a striking analogy between the Pentateuch and the Psalms. The Pentateuch contains five books of law; the Psalms contain five books of heart responses to the law.

It is interesting to note the historic controversies concerning the singing of psalms. These were controversies about singing uninspired songs, in the Middle Ages. The church would not allow anything to be used but psalms.

The history in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles, and in Ezra and Nehemiah is very valuable toward a proper interpretation of the psalms. These books furnish the historical setting for a great many of the psalms which is very indispensable to their proper interpretation.

Professor James Robertson, in the Poetry and Religion of the Psalms constructs a broad and strong argument in favor of the Davidic Psalms, as follows:

1. The age of David furnished promising soil for the growth of poetry.

2. David’s qualifications for composing the psalms make it highly probable that David is the author of the psalms ascribed to him.

3. The arguments against the possibility of ascribing to David any of the hymns in the Hebrew Psalter rests upon assumptions that are thoroughly antibiblical.

The New Testament makes large use of the psalms and we learn much as to their importance in teaching. There are seventy direct quotations in the New Testament from this book, from which we learn that the Scriptures were used extensively in accord with 2Ti 3:16-17 . There are also eleven references to the psalms in the New Testament from which we learn that the New Testament writers were thoroughly imbued with the spirit and teaching of the psalms. Then there are eight allusions ‘to this book in the New Testament from which we gather that the Psalms was one of the divisions of the Old Testament and that they were used in the early church.

QUESTIONS

1. Give a list of the items of information gathered from the titles of the psalms.

2. What is the longest title to any of the psalms and what the items of this title?

3. What parts of these superscriptions most concern us now?

4. What is the historic value, or trustworthiness of these titles?

5. State the argument showing David’s relation to the psalms.

6. What have you to say of the attempt of the destructive critics to rob David of his glory in relation to the Psalter by assigning the Maccabean era as the date of composition?

7. What the obvious aim of this criticism and the necessary result, if it be just?

8. What other authors are named in the titles?

9. Were all the psalms ascribed to Asaph composed by one person?

10. Give the five general outlines of the whole collection, as follows: I. The outline by books II. The outline according to date and authorship III. The outline by groups IV. The outline of doctrines V. The outline by New Testament quotations or allusions.

11. What experiences of David’s life made very deep impressions on his heart?

12. Classify the Davidic Psalms according to these experiences following the order of time.

13. What the great doctrines of the psalms?

14. What analogy between the Pentateuch and the Psalms?

15. What historic controversies concerning the singing of psalms?

16. Of what value is the history in Samuel, 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles, and in Ezra and Nehemiah toward a proper interpretation of the psalms?

17. Give Professor James Robertson’s argument in favor of the Davidic authorship of the psalms.

18. What can you say of the New Testament use of the psalms and what do we learn as to their importance in teaching?

19. What can you say of the New Testament references to the psalms, and from the New Testament references what the impression on the New Testament writers?

20. What can you say of the allusions to the psalms in the New Testament?

XVII

THE MESSIAH IN THE PSALMS

A fine text for this chapter is as follows: “All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Psalms concerning me,” Luk 24:44 . I know of no better way to close my brief treatise on the Psalms than to discuss the subject of the Messiah as revealed in this book.

Attention has been called to the threefold division of the Old Testament cited by our Lord, namely, the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms (Luk 24:44 ), in all of which were the prophecies relating to himself that “must be fulfilled.” It has been shown just what Old Testament books belong to each of these several divisions. The division called the Psalms included many books, styled Holy Writings, and because the Psalms proper was the first book of the division it gave the name to the whole division.

The object of this discussion is to sketch the psalmist’s outline of the Messiah, or rather, to show how nearly a complete picture of our Lord is foredrawn in this one book. Let us understand however with Paul, that all prophecy is but in part (1Co 13:9 ), and that when we fill in on one canvas all the prophecies concerning the Messiah of all the Old Testament divisions, we are far from having a perfect portrait of our Lord. The present purpose is limited to three things:

1. What the book of the Psalms teaches concerning the Messiah.

2. That the New Testament shall authoritatively specify and expound this teaching.

3. That the many messianic predictions scattered over the book and the specifications thereof over the New Testament may be grouped into an orderly analysis, so that by the adjustment of the scattered parts we may have before us a picture of our Lord as foreseen by the psalmists.

In allowing the New Testament to authoritatively specify and expound the predictive features of the book, I am not unmindful of what the so-called “higher critics” urge against the New Testament quotations from the Old Testament and the use made of them. In this discussion, however, these objections are not considered, for sufficient reasons. There is not space for it. Even at the risk of being misjudged I must just now summarily pass all these objections, dismissing them with a single statement upon which the reader may place his own estimate of value. That statement is that in the days of my own infidelity, before this old method of criticism had its new name, I was quite familiar with the most and certainly the strongest of the objections now classified as higher criticism, and have since patiently re-examined them in their widely conflicting restatements under their modern name, and find my faith in the New Testament method of dealing with the Old Testament in no way shattered, but in every way confirmed. God is his own interpreter. The Old Testament as we now have it was in the hands of our Lord. I understand his apostle to declare, substantially, that “every one of these sacred scriptures is God-inspired and is profitable for teaching us what is right to believe and to do, for convincing us what is wrong in faith or practice, for rectifying the wrong when done, that we may be ready at every point, furnished completely, to do every good work, at the right time, in the right manner, and from the proper motive” (2Ti 3:16-17 ).

This New Testament declares that David was a prophet (Act 2:30 ), that he spake by the Holy Spirit (Act 1:16 ), that when the book speaks the Holy Spirit speaks (Heb 3:7 ), and that all its predictive utterances, as sacred Scripture, “must be fulfilled” (Joh 13:18 ; Act 1:16 ). It is not claimed that David wrote all the psalms, but that all are inspired, and that as he was the chief author, the book goes by his name.

It would be a fine thing to make out two lists, as follows:

1. All of the 150 psalms in order from which the New Testament quotes with messianic application.

2. The New Testament quotations, book by book, i.e., Matthew so many, and then the other books in their order.

We would find in neither of these any order as to time, that is, Psa 1 which forecasts an incident in the coming Messiah’s life does not forecast the first incident of his life. And even the New Testament citations are not in exact order as to time and incident of his life. To get the messianic picture before us, therefore, we must put the scattered parts together in their due relation and order, and so construct our own analysis. That is the prime object of this discussion. It is not claimed that the analysis now presented is perfect. It is too much the result of hasty, offhand work by an exceedingly busy man. It will serve, however, as a temporary working model, which any one may subsequently improve. We come at once to the psalmist’s outline of the Messiah.

1. The necessity for a Saviour. This foreseen necessity is a background of the psalmists’ portrait of the Messiah. The necessity consists in (1) man’s sinfulness; (2) his sin; (3) his inability of wisdom and power to recover himself; (4) the insufficiency of legal, typical sacrifices in securing atonement.

The predicate of Paul’s great argument on justification by faith is the universal depravity and guilt of man. He is everywhere corrupt in nature; everywhere an actual transgressor; everywhere under condemnation. But the scriptural proofs of this depravity and sin the apostle draws mainly from the book of the Psalms. In one paragraph of the letter to the Romans (Rom 3:4-18 ), he cites and groups six passages from six divisions of the Psalms (Psa 5:9 ; Psa 10:7 ; Psa 14:1-3 ; Psa 36:1 ; Psa 51:4-6 ; Psa 140:3 ). These passages abundantly prove man’s sinfulness, or natural depravity, and his universal practice of sin.

The predicate also of the same apostle’s great argument for revelation and salvation by a Redeemer is man’s inability of wisdom and power to re-establish communion with God. In one of his letters to the Corinthians he thus commences his argument: “For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? -For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preach-ing to save them that believe.” He closes this discussion with the broad proposition: “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God,” and proves it by a citation from Psa 94:11 : “The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.”

In like manner our Lord himself pours scorn on human wisdom and strength by twice citing Psa 8 : “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight” (Mat 11:25-26 ). “And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children that were crying in the temple and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, and said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?” (Mat 21:15-16 ).

But the necessity for a Saviour as foreseen by the psalmist did not stop at man’s depravity, sin, and helplessness. The Jews were trusting in the sacrifices of their law offered on the smoking altar. The inherent weakness of these offerings, their lack of intrinsic merit, their ultimate abolition, their complete fulfilment and supercession by a glorious antitype were foreseen and foreshown in this wonderful prophetic book: I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices; And thy burnt offerings are continually before me. I will take no bullock out of thy house, Nor he-goat out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, And the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all of the birds of the mountains; And the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, Or drink the blood of goats? Psa 50:8-13 .

Yet again it speaks in that more striking passage cited in the letter to the Hebrews: “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers, once purged should have no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance made of sins year by year. For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, But a body didst thou prepare for me; In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hadst no pleasure: Then said I, Lo, I am come (In the roll of the book it is written of me) To do thy will, O God. Saying above, Sacrifice and offering and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou wouldst not, neither hadst pleasure therein, (the which are offered according to the law), then hath he said, Lo, I am come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second” (Heb 10:1-9 ).

This keen foresight of the temporary character and intrinsic worthlessness of animal sacrifices anticipated similar utterances by the later prophets (Isa 1:10-17 ; Jer 6:20 ; Jer 7:21-23 ; Hos 6:6 ; Amo 5:21 ; Mic 6:6-8 ). Indeed, I may as well state in passing that when the apostle declares, “It is impossible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins,” he lays down a broad principle, just as applicable to baptism and the Lord’s Supper. With reverence I state the principle: Not even God himself by mere appointment can vest in any ordinance, itself lacking intrinsic merit, the power to take away sin. There can be, therefore, in the nature of the case, no sacramental salvation. This would destroy the justice of God in order to exalt his mercy. Clearly the psalmist foresaw that “truth and mercy must meet together” before “righteousness and peace could kiss each other” (Psa 85:10 ). Thus we find as the dark background of the psalmists’ luminous portrait of the Messiah, the necessity for a Saviour.

2. The nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation to be wrought by the coming Messiah. In no other prophetic book are the nature, fullness, and blessedness of salvation so clearly seen and so vividly portrayed. Besides others not now enumerated, certainly the psalmists clearly forecast four great elements of salvation:

(1) An atoning sacrifice of intrinsic merit offered once for all (Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:4-10 ).

(2) Regeneration itself consisting of cleansing, renewal, and justification. We hear his impassioned statement of the necessity of regeneration: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts,” followed by his earnest prayer: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me,” and his equally fervent petition: “Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psa 51 ). And we hear him again as Paul describes the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputes righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, And whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not reckon sin Psa 32:1 ; Rom 4:6-8 .

(3) Introduction into the heavenly rest (Psa 95:7-11 ; Heb 3:7-19 ; Heb 4:1-11 ). Here is the antitypical Joshua leading spiritual Israel across the Jordan of death into the heavenly Canaan, the eternal rest that remaineth for the people of God. Here we find creation’s original sabbath eclipsed by redemption’s greater sabbath when the Redeemer “entered his rest, ceasing from his own works as God did from his.”

(4) The recovery of all the universal dominion lost by the first Adam and the securement of all possible dominion which the first Adam never attained (Psa 8:5-6 ; Eph 1:20-22 ; Heb 2:7-9 ; 1Co 15:24-28 ).

What vast extent then and what blessedness in the salvation foreseen by the psalmists, and to be wrought by the Messiah. Atoning sacrifice of intrinsic merit; regeneration by the Holy Spirit; heavenly rest as an eternal inheritance; and universal dominion shared with Christ!

3. The wondrous person of the Messiah in his dual nature, divine and human.

(1) His divinity,

(a) as God: “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever” (Psa 45:6 and Heb 1:8 ) ;

(b) as creator of the heavens and earth, immutable and eternal: Of old didst thou lay the foundation of the earth; And the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure; Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; As a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed. But thou art the same, And thy years shall have no end Psa 102:25-27 quoted with slight changes in Heb 1:10-12 .

(c) As owner of the earth: The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein, Psa 24:1 quoted in 1Co 10:26 .

(d) As the Son of God: “Thou art my Son; This day have I begotten thee” Psa 2:7 ; Heb 1:5 .

(e) As David’s Lord: The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool, Psa 110:1 ; Mat 22:41-46 .

(f) As the object of angelic worship: “And let all the angels of God worship him” Psa 97:7 ; Heb 1:6 .

(g) As the Bread of life: And he rained down manna upon them to eat, And gave them food from heaven Psa 78:24 ; interpreted in Joh 6:31-58 . These are but samples which ascribe deity to the Messiah of the psalmists.

(2) His humanity, (a) As the Son of man, or Son of Adam: Psa 8:4-6 , cited in 1Co 15:24-28 ; Eph 1:20-22 ; Heb 2:7-9 . Compare Luke’s genealogy, Luk 3:23-38 . This is the ideal man, or Second Adam, who regains Paradise Lost, who recovers race dominion, in whose image all his spiritual lineage is begotten. 1Co 15:45-49 . (b) As the Son of David: Psa 18:50 ; Psa 89:4 ; Psa 89:29 ; Psa 89:36 ; Psa 132:11 , cited in Luk 1:32 ; Act 13:22-23 ; Rom 1:3 ; 2Ti 2:8 . Perhaps a better statement of the psalmists’ vision of the wonderful person of the Messiah would be: He saw the uncreated Son, the second person of the trinity, in counsel and compact with the Father, arranging in eternity for the salvation of men: Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:5-7 . Then he saw this Holy One stoop to be the Son of man: Psa 8:4-6 ; Heb 2:7-9 . Then he was the son of David, and then he saw him rise again to be the Son of God: Psa 2:7 ; Rom 1:3-4 .

4. His offices.

(1) As the one atoning sacrifice (Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:5-7 ).

(2) As the great Prophet, or Preacher (Psa 40:9-10 ; Psa 22:22 ; Heb 2:12 ). Even the method of his teaching by parable was foreseen (Psa 78:2 ; Mat 13:35 ). Equally also the grace, wisdom, and power of his teaching. When the psalmist declares that “Grace is poured into thy lips” (Psa 45:2 ), we need not be startled when we read that all the doctors in the Temple who heard him when only a boy “were astonished at his understanding and answers” (Luk 2:47 ); nor that his home people at Nazareth “all bear him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth” (Luk 4:22 ); nor that those of his own country were astonished, and said, “Whence hath this man this wisdom?” (Mat 13:54 ); nor that the Jews in the Temple marveled, saying, “How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” (Joh 7:15 ) ; nor that the stern officers of the law found their justification in failure to arrest him in the declaration, “Never man spake like this man” (Joh 7:46 ).

(3) As the king (Psa 2:6 ; Psa 24:7-10 ; Psa 45:1-17 ; Psa 110:1 ; Mat 22:42-46 ; Act 2:33-36 ; 1Co 15:25 ; Eph 1:20 ; Heb 1:13 ).

(4) As the priest (Psa 110:4 ; Heb 5:5-10 ; Heb 7:1-21 ; Heb 10:12-14 ).

(5) As the final judge. The very sentence of expulsion pronounced upon the finally impenitent by the great judge (Mat 25:41 ) is borrowed from the psalmist’s prophetic words (Psa 6:8 ).

5. Incidents of life. The psalmists not only foresaw the necessity for a Saviour; the nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation; the wonderful human-divine person of the Saviour; the offices to be filled by him in the work of salvation, but also many thrilling details of his work in life, death, resurrection, and exaltation. It is not assumed to cite all these details, but some of the most important are enumerated in order, thus:

(1) The visit, adoration, and gifts of the Magi recorded in Mat 2 are but partial fulfilment of Psa 72:9-10 .

(2) The scripture employed by Satan in the temptation of our Lord (Luk 4:10-11 ) was cited from Psa 91:11-12 and its pertinency not denied.

(3) In accounting for his intense earnestness and the apparently extreme measures adopted by our Lord in his first purification of the Temple (Joh 2:17 ), he cites the messianic zeal predicted in Psa 69:9 .

(4) Alienation from his own family was one of the saddest trials of our Lord’s earthly life. They are slow to understand his mission and to enter into sympathy with him. His self-abnegation and exhaustive toil were regarded by them as evidences of mental aberration, and it seems at one time they were ready to resort to forcible restraint of his freedom) virtually what in our time would be called arrest under a writ of lunacy. While at the last his half-brothers became distinguished preachers of his gospel, for a long while they do not believe on him. And the evidence forces us to the conclusion that his own mother shared with her other sons, in kind though not in degree, the misunderstanding of the supremacy of his mission over family relations. The New Testament record speaks for itself:

Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them. How is it that ye sought me? Knew ye not that I must be in my Father’s house? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them Luk 2:48-51 (R.V.).

And when the wine failed, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. And Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. Joh 2:3-5 (R.V.).

And there come his mother and his brethren; and standing without; they sent unto him, calling him. And a multitude was sitting about him; and they say unto him. Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. And he answereth them, and saith, Who is my mother and my brethren? And looking round on them that sat round about him, he saith, Behold, my mother and my brethren) For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother Mar 3:31-35 (R.V.).

Now the feast of the Jews, the feast of tabernacles, was at hand. His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judea, that thy disciples also may behold thy works which thou doest. For no man doeth anything in secret, and himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou doest these things, manifest thyself to the world. For even his brethren did not believe on him. Jesus therefore saith unto them, My time is not yet come; but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that its works are evil. Go ye up unto the feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; because my time is not fulfilled. Joh 7:2-9 (R.V.).

These citations from the Revised Version tell their own story. But all that sad story is foreshown in the prophetic psalms. For example: I am become a stranger unto my brethren, And an alien unto my mother’s children. Psa 69:8 .

(5) The triumphal entry into Jerusalem was welcomed by a joyous people shouting a benediction from Psa 118:26 : “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Mat 21:9 ); and the Lord’s lamentation over Jerusalem predicts continued desolation and banishment from his sight until the Jews are ready to repeat that benediction (Mat 23:39 ).

(6) The children’s hosanna in the Temple after its second purgation is declared by our Lord to be a fulfilment of that perfect praise forecast in Psa 8:2 .

(7) The final rejection of our Lord by his own people was also clear in the psalmist’s vision (Psa 118:22 ; Mat 21:42-44 ).

(8) Gethsemane’s baptism of suffering, with its strong crying and tears and prayers was as clear to the psalmist’s prophetic vision as to the evangelist and apostle after it became history (Psa 69:1-4 ; Psa 69:13-20 ; and Mat 26:36-44 ; Heb 5:7 ).

(9) In life-size also before the psalmist was the betrayer of Christ and his doom (Psa 41:9 ; Psa 69:25 ; Psa 109:6-8 ; Joh 13:18 ; Act 1:20 ).

(10) The rage of the people, Jew and Gentile, and the conspiracy of Pilate and Herod are clearly outlined (Psa 2:1-3 ; Act 4:25-27 ).

(11) All the farce of his trial the false accusation, his own marvelous silence; and the inhuman maltreatment to which he was subjected, is foreshown in the prophecy as dramatically as in the history (Mat 26:57-68 ; Mat 27:26-31 ; Psa 27:12 ; Psa 35:15-16 ; Psa 38:3 ; Psa 69:19 ).

The circumstances of his death, many and clear, are distinctly foreseen. He died in the prime of life (Psa 89:45 ; Psa 102:23-24 ). He died by crucifixion (Psa 22:14-17 ; Luk 23 ; 33; Joh 19:23-37 ; Joh 20:27 ). But yet not a bone of his body was broken (Psa 34:20 ; Joh 19:36 ).

The persecution, hatred without a cause, the mockery and insults, are all vividly and dramatically foretold (Psa 22:6-13 ; Psa 35:7 ; Psa 35:12 ; Psa 35:15 ; Psa 35:21 ; Psa 109:25 ).

The parting of his garments and the gambling for his vesture (Psa 22:18 ; Mat 27:35 ).

His intense thirst and the gall and vinegar offered for his drink (Psa 69:21 ; Mat 27:34 ).

In the psalms, too, we hear his prayers for his enemies so remarkably fulfilled in fact (Psa 109:4 ; Luk 23:34 ).

His spiritual death was also before the eye of the psalmist, and the very words which expressed it the psalmist heard. Separation from the Father is spiritual death. The sinner’s substitute must die the sinner’s death, death physical, i.e., separation of soul from body; death spiritual, i.e., separation of the soul from God. The latter is the real death and must precede the former. This death the substitute died when he cried out: “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me.” (Psa 22:1 ; Mat 27:46 ).

Emerging from the darkness of that death, which was the hour of the prince of darkness, the psalmist heard him commend his spirit to the Father (Psa_31:35; Luk 23:46 ) showing that while he died the spiritual death, his soul was not permanently abandoned unto hell (Psa 16:8-10 ; Act 2:25 ) so that while he “tasted death” for every man it was not permanent death (Heb 2:9 ).

With equal clearness the psalmist foresaw his resurrection, his triumph over death and hell, his glorious ascension into heaven, and his exaltation at the right hand of God as King of kings and Lord of lords, as a high Driest forever, as invested with universal sovereignty (Psa 16:8-11 ; Psa 24:7-10 ; Psa 68:18 ; Psa 2:6 ; Psa 111:1-4 ; Psa 8:4-6 ; Act 2:25-36 ; Eph 1:19-23 ; Eph 4:8-10 ).

We see, therefore, brethren, when the scattered parts are put together and adjusted, how nearly complete a portrait of our Lord is put upon the prophetic canvas by this inspired limner, the sweet singer of Israel.

QUESTIONS

1. What is a good text for this chapter?

2. What is the threefold division of the Old Testament as cited by our Lord?

3. What is the last division called and why?

4. What is the object of the discussion in this chapter?

5. To what three things is the purpose limited?

6. What especially qualifies the author to meet the objections of the higher critics to allowing the New Testament usage of the Old Testament to determine its meaning and application?

7. What is the author’s conviction relative to the Scriptures?

8. What is the New Testament testimony on the question of inspiration?

9. What is the author’s suggested plan of approach to the study of the Messiah in the Psalms?

10. What the background of the Psalmist’s portrait of the Messiah and of what does it consist?

11. Give the substance of Paul’s discussion of man’s sinfulness.

12. What is the teaching of Jesus on this point?

13. What is the teaching relative to sacrifices?

14. What the nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation to be wrought by the coming Messiah and what the four great elements of it as forecast by the psalmist?

15. What is the teaching of the psalms relative to the wondrous person of the Messiah? Discuss.

16. What are the offices of the Messiah according to psalms? Discuss each.

17. Cite the more important events of the Messiah’s life according to the vision of the psalmist.

18. What the circumstances of the Messiah’s death and resurrection as foreseen by the psalmist?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

Psa 91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

Ver. 1. He that dwelleth in the secret place, &c. ] The safety of a saint is in this whole psalm ( Quo nihil neque solidius neque splendidius dici potest ) set forth to the life, Verbis vivis, animatis sententiis et spiritus fervore flagrantissimo.

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty ] Under the pleasant and assured defence of God; he shall lodge under the shadow of Shaddai, and there sing away care and fear.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

This Psalm introduces Messiah owning Jehovah, the God of Israel, as His God, Whose is supreme power and faithfulness; and hence delivered at length and set on high. “Jehovah reigneth.”

The N.T. clearly intimates that Messiah takes this place under the Most High and the Almighty, identifying both with the Jehovah God of Israel in the face of Satan’s evil and power. It is a sort of dialogue in which Messiah in ver. 2 answers the apothegm of ver. 1 and assures Israel of deliverance in vers. 3-8. Then Israel rejoices in vers. 9-13, and Jehovah puts His seal to it in vers. 14-16.

Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 91:1-4

1He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

2I will say to the Lord, My refuge and my fortress,

My God, in whom I trust!

3For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper

And from the deadly pestilence.

4He will cover you with His pinions,

And under His wings you may seek refuge;

His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

Psa 91:1-4 This strophe uses several names/titles for Deity (see Contextual Insights, B) and several metaphors to describe His care and protection.

1. shelter – Psa 27:5; Psa 31:20, which denotes the temple, cf. Psa 27:5; Psa 31:20; Psa 32:7; Psa 61:4

2. shadow – see Special Topic: Shadow as a Metaphor for Protection and Care

3. refuge – see note online at Psa 5:11

4. fortress – Psa 18:2; Psa 31:3; Psa 71:3; Psa 144:2; Jer 16:19

Psa 91:4 alludes to #2, 3,4 above

The One in whom faithful followers trust (BDB 105, KB 120, Qal imperfect; see note online at Psa 4:5).

1. delivers them from the snare of the trapper (cf. Psa 124:7)

2. delivers them from the deadly pestilence (cf. Psa 91:6; possibly demonic, cf. Hab 3:5 and Special Topic: The Demonic in the OT )

3. will cover them with His wings (cf. Psa 36:7; Psa 57:1; Psa 63:7)

4. His faithfulness (see Special Topic: Believe, Trust, Faith and Faithfulness in the OT ) is

a. a shield (cf. Psa 35:2)

b. a bulwark or (RSV) buckler (both military terms, this word [BDB 695, KB 750] is found only here in the OT; NIDOTTE, vol. 3, p. 243)

This is a beautiful and powerful strophe of Deity’s character and actions on behalf of His people.

Psa 91:1 shadow of the Almighty This can refer to

1. the wings of the cherubim over the ark (i.e., covenant protection, cf. Exo 25:17-22)

2. the wings of a protective mother bird (cf. Ps. 17:8; 36:7; 57:1; 61:4; 53:7; 91:4; and Mat 23:27)

3. protection from the burning heat of the sun (cf. Psa 121:5; Isa 25:4; Isa 32:2)

Psa 91:2 in whom I trust This is the key to a covenant relationship with God (cf. Psa 4:5; Psa 25:2; Psa 56:4).

Psa 91:3 pestilence The basic root is (BDB 182-184), which has several usages.

1. word (cf. LXX of Psa 91:3)

2. speaking (cf. Jer 5:13)

3. pestilence (cf. Exo 5:3; Exo 9:15; Num 14:12; Lev 26:25; Deu 28:21; Psa 78:50)

4. pasture (cf. Mic 2:12)

5. bee or bee sting (NIDOTTE, vol. 1, p. 916)

Because of Ps. 91:5-6 #3 fits the context and parallelism best.

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

Without a Title, as are all the Psalms in Book IV, except 90, 101, 103. See notes on p. 809. If by Moses, then the “I” of the members (Psa 91:2), and (Psa 91:9 -), may be Joshua, a type of Messiah. Compare Deu 1:38; Deu 3:28; Deu 31:7, Deu 31:23. If Moses were the author (this Psalm following his), then all the Scriptures quoted in Matthew 4 were from his writings. Note the references to Deu 32:1-14. It is not David’s, for we have no more right to insert the name of “David” where it is not written, than to take it out where it is.

the MOST HIGH. Hebrew. ‘Elyon. App-4.

THE ALMIGHTY. Hebrew Shaddai. App-4.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

So let’s turn to Psa 91:1-16 that we might begin our Bible study this evening.

Psa 91:1-16 brings up the question of just where are you living? There is a place that you might live that is surely the most glorious place to live in all the world.

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty ( Psa 91:1 ).

There’s a place that you and I can live, in Christ Jesus. A place of glorious safety, a place of glorious peace, of joy, where I experience God’s power and God’s protection, God’s goodness.

I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge, my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. For surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence ( Psa 91:2-3 ).

Now in days gone by, bird trapping was quite an art. Without guns to shoot your quail or your dove or your ducks, you’d have to trap them. And so the traps that were set for the birds were called the snares of the fowler. The trap for various game fowl in different types of traps. When you’re bringing this over to a spiritual connotation, Satan has set a lot of traps for us. And in a spiritual connotation here, the fowler is actually Satan and you’re the one that he’s seeking to trap. But surely He will deliver you from every snare that Satan may set for you. “Surely He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence.”

For he shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler ( Psa 91:4 ).

In the New Testament, in the book of Ephesians we are told concerning putting on the full armor of God. Here in the Old Testament, we find the armor of the Lord, His truth, is a shield to us, a buckler.

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Now because ( Psa 91:5-9 )

Going back, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High,”

Because you have made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the Most High, your habitation ( Psa 91:9 );

Or your place of dwelling. If you will but just dwell in Him,

There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall 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 ( Psa 91:10-12 ).

Now when Jesus was being tempted by Satan, Satan quoted this particular passage of scripture to Him, as he took Him up to the pinnacle of the temple and he suggested that He jump off. For Satan said, “It is written, ‘He shall give His angels charge over thee: to keep thee in thy ways, to bear thee up, lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone.’ So why don’t You jump? See if the angels will hold you up.” Jesus said, “It is written again, ‘Thou shalt not tempt, or test, the Lord thy God'” ( Mat 4:6-7 ). You are not to put yourself deliberately in a place of jeopardy just to test the scriptures. It is tragic that every once in a while we read how down in the mountains of Kentucky the cult that is down there that handles rattlesnakes because it says if they take up serpents, they shall not harm them.

Or they test their faith every once in a while by drinking strychnine. But that is not what God means in Mark’s gospel when He said, “If they drink any deadly thing it shall not harm them” ( Mar 16:18 ). God never intended for us to just go around and test our faith by deliberately putting ourselves in jeopardy. If the cultist people down there would only read the full body of scripture, rather than taking isolated verses, they would never follow… they would never fall into those kind of unscriptural practices. God has promised that His angels will have charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways.

In the book of Hebrews, talking of angels, it said, “Are they not all ministering spirits, who have been sent forth to minister unto you who are heirs of salvation?” ( Heb 1:14 ) Now there is a vast number of heavenly hosts that are known as angels. These angels have different rankings, categories. There are cherubim, a special class of angels. There is a mention in the scripture of archangels, which seem to be the highest form of angelic being. Michael being an archangel. It is also thought that Gabriel is an archangel, though I do not know that the scripture gives to him that title. But angels of great authority and power. Then there are angels, it would seem, that rank under them in authority.

The New Testament does rank the heavenly beings as principalities, powers, mights, dominions, thrones and authorities. Various rankings of the angelic beings. It’s more or less like saying, lieutenants and sergeants and corporals and privates, as far as their having rankings in the angelic realm. Just when the angels were created is not specified in the scriptures. But the angels were created as servants of God, and their duty is that of serving the Lord and of serving those who are following after the Lord. “He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy way. To bear thee up lest at any time you would dash your foot against a stone.”

Angels seem to be spirits that are capable of taking on a bodily form. In the Old Testament, many times we find angels taking on a human form. In the New Testament we also found angels taking on human form. When Peter was in prison, the angel came to him and said, “Put your shoes on and follow me.” And Peter tied on his sandals and followed the angels as the prison doors opened of their own accord, until the angel let him out into the street. And then the angel left him. And suddenly Peter woke up to the fact that he was free. He thought he was having a vision. But all of a sudden, he feels the chill night air and he says, “Wow, it’s not a vision. I’m actually out of that place, you know.” And so he headed for the place where the church was meeting and praying for him. Paul the apostle spoke about, “Last night, an angel of the Lord stood by me and he assured me that though the ship is going to be destroyed, there will be no loss of life” ( Act 27:22-24 ). And he spoke about how the angel had visited him and ministered to him. Of course, we read of the angels ministering to Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. And we are told in Hebrews that we ought to be careful to entertain strangers, for it’s very possible that you might be entertaining angels without knowing it.

Now there has been a book written recently concerning angels on assignment. And though I do not doubt that angels do visit, can visit; yet there are certain aspects to that book that I find very troubling. I don’t want to be guilty of limiting God or judging another man’s experiences, except as they measure up to the scriptures. And let the scripture judge. And there are certain things that the angel Gabriel supposedly told Pastor Buck that I do not feel are scriptural. And thus, I have to question in my own mind the validity of the story. I think that Pastor Buck was a very dear man of God, a true servant of the Lord. I do not know but what maybe in his latter years, because of his heart problems that he wasn’t getting enough oxygen to the brain. I do not know, but as I say, I have to question a part of the story of the visitation of the angels.

Now, the angels were created by God; they are a created being of God, and it would seem, well not seem, it is true that they were created with a free will, just as you have been created with a free will. And one of the angels exercised his will against God. And in the fourteenth chapter of Isaiah, we read how that Satan, in exercising his will against God, exalting himself over against God, declaring that he would be like God, was cast forth. A fallen angel. There is a hint in the twelfth chapter of the book of Revelation that one-third of the angels went with Satan when he rebelled against the Lord. “The dragon cast forth out of heaven and with his tail, he drew a third part of the stars” ( Rev 12:3-4 ). And the word stars is a word that is often used for angels.

We do know that there are evil spirits in the world under Satan’s guidance and control, as well as the good spirits, the angels of God that are obedient to their first estate. Yet, there are “angels which kept not their first estate, which are reserved in chains awaiting the day of judgment” ( Jud 1:6 ).

Just what are the full characteristics and all of angels, we do not know. It would appear that before the flood, the angels were coming down and involving themselves in physical relationships with women so that giants were born. And these could be the angels to which the scripture refers, those which kept not their first estate and are now being reserved in the chains awaiting the day of judgment.

I am convinced that there are angels that God has assigned to watch over us. I’ve never seen, to my knowledge, an angel, outside of my wife. I would be less than honest if I would say I wouldn’t like to see an angel. I think it’d be a very exciting experience. I think it’d be quite exciting to meet an angel and to know that they were an angel, and to… well, I’d like to meet the angel that’s supposed to be guarding me. I’d like to know where he was a few times.

Now let me tell you something. There have been some times when I knew he was there. There were times when there was no way I could have gotten out of it unless the angel of the Lord just had his hand upon my life or upon my car and all. And there are times when I know that the only thing that kept me was the angel of the Lord. I’ve had some very interesting experiences where I am sure the angel of the Lord was involved in keeping me from things where I was innocently being drawn into some very dangerous areas. Where the angel of the Lord intervened in a marvelous way to keep me from getting into some real trouble.

When I was in high school here in Santa Ana, I saw my dream car on South Main Street. Smitty mufflers, fog lights, dual spots, Buick skirts, little three-window ’36 Ford Coupe. Oh man, black, was that thing beautiful. I lusted after that car. And I had a buddy that I was running around with at the time and I had half the money and we were going to go into a partnership on a car. It never would have worked, but we were going to… you know, you want something bad enough you dream all ways to get it. And he had a ’36 Ford, but it was, you know, one of those longer kind of things. It just wasn’t a pretty one. So he said, “Well, my dad lives up in Glendale, and I have at my dad’s house some adding machines and typewriters and I can sell them for enough to get my half for the car. Let’s go up to my dad’s house.” So we went by and saw my mom and I said, “We’re going to go up and spend the night in Glendale and at his dad’s house. We’ll be home tomorrow.” And so we took off in his car for Glendale. At that time, Firestone Boulevard was the way into Los Angeles, the three-lane highway. And during the war, gas rationing, and just very few cars on the road at night. You can’t… living here now you can’t believe how it was then.

We were way out in the country near Buena Park when the motor died on his car. And so we pushed, popped the clutch and everything else. Tried to get the thing going. Pushed it for, oh I guess four or five blocks, and there was a little gas station that was there. And so he said, “I think it’s the coil.” I mean, “I think it’s the condenser or something,” and he didn’t know anything about mechanics. But anyhow, we went into this service station. Old man in there, and he had a big mean police dog and he wasn’t very friendly and didn’t have any parts or anything. So we were tired of pushing and so we decided we’d turn the car around, head it back towards Santa Ana. And then we’d wait for a car to come along and we’d flag it and ask him, we’d tell him we’re having a hard time getting it started, would they give us a shove? We figured we’d just leave it in neutral; let them shove till they got tired. And then we wait for the next car to come. And there we were, way out in the country, and there was no way to get home.

So we were sitting there, talking and all, talking about how we’d get this car and all this kind of stuff and all excited about the prospects of buying this hot little Ford, and so after a while, five minutes or so, a car was coming down the road. And so he jumped out so he could flag the car and just out of… I just slipped over to the driver’s side and I hit the starter once more, and the thing fired up. So he ran around and got in on the passenger side, he says, “Well, you got it going, so let’s go.” So we took off for Santa Ana. Got back to Lee’s Drive-In out there on Manchester and stopped and got a Coke and hamburger, saw a bunch of kids from high school.

So we started on then down to my house, and as we turned off on Flower Street, we were getting near Santa Clara, and he said, “Hey, your parents aren’t expecting you home.” I said, “Nope.” He said, “My dad doesn’t know we’re coming.” He said, “So why don’t we just turn around and go back up to Glendale, because it doesn’t matter what time we get to my dad’s house, you know. Your mom’s not expecting you home anyhow.” So I said, “Why not.” So he started to pull a U-turn there on Santa Clara and the car died again, and simultaneously three tires blew out. Just pop, pop, pop. I mean, we were dead.

I lived up on North Broadway at the time, so we just walked down to my house and got on my bike and I rode him on my bike over to his house and got home. And before we could go up to Glendale again, we had sort of parted company and given up on the little Ford idea and just let it pass.

About a year later, there was a knock on our door. I answered it. The guy introduced himself and showed me an ID and he said, “I’m with the FBI. I’d like to talk to you.” I said, “Sure.” He said, “What do you know about some typewriters up in Glendale? Adding machines.” I said, “Well, all I know is that I was headed up there one night to get some with this fellow,” and I said, “but we had car trouble and we never made it.” He said, “You can thank your lucky stars you had car trouble.” He stole them from some government place and felony and so forth. And when he told me the story, I said, “Well, I’m not going to thank my lucky stars, I’m going to thank my angel.” And suddenly I got the picture of that angel holding the coils and getting a shock stopping that stupid car, you know. Then popping the tires as he left just to make sure we wouldn’t go anywhere.

I’m convinced. You can’t you can’t convince me otherwise; I’m convinced the angel of the Lord was watching over me. Interesting thing, when I got back in the house at home, my mom was out in the living room praying. She said, “Oh, son, I’m so glad to see you came home tonight.” She said, “I was really worried about the trip. I just didn’t feel right about it and I’ve just been praying for you.” Of course, I didn’t know at that time. I said, “Well, thanks, Mom,” but I didn’t know at that time the full story. But oh, I’m certain that there… when we get to heaven, we’re going to learn a lot of things that we were spared from. And maybe at the time we looked at it as bad luck or misfortune or, “Oh, man,” you know. And yet, God was watching over. God was keeping us. “He shall give His angels charge over thee. To bear thee up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone.”

For thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet ( Psa 91:13 ).

Now we have a change of voice in verse Psa 91:14 . In the change of voice, we have God’s response now. The psalmist has been declaring the advantages and the blessings of living in a certain place. In the secret place of the Most High. Making God your dwelling place. Now God responds to that whole idea. And God says,

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. 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 will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation ( Psa 91:14-16 ).

God’s glorious response to that person who is dwelling in the secret place of the Most High. Because you’ve set your love upon God, God said, “This is what I’m going to do for you: deliver you, set you on high. I will answer you. I will be with you in trouble. I will deliver and honor you.” Praise the Lord. So let’s turn to Psa 91:1-16 that we might begin our Bible study this evening.

Psa 91:1-16 brings up the question of just where are you living? There is a place that you might live that is surely the most glorious place to live in all the world.

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty ( Psa 91:1 ).

There’s a place that you and I can live, in Christ Jesus. A place of glorious safety, a place of glorious peace, of joy, where I experience God’s power and God’s protection, God’s goodness.

I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge, my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. For surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence ( Psa 91:2-3 ).

Now in days gone by, bird trapping was quite an art. Without guns to shoot your quail or your dove or your ducks, you’d have to trap them. And so the traps that were set for the birds were called the snares of the fowler. The trap for various game fowl in different types of traps. When you’re bringing this over to a spiritual connotation, Satan has set a lot of traps for us. And in a spiritual connotation here, the fowler is actually Satan and you’re the one that he’s seeking to trap. But surely He will deliver you from every snare that Satan may set for you. “Surely He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence.”

For he shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler ( Psa 91:4 ).

In the New Testament, in the book of Ephesians we are told concerning putting on the full armor of God. Here in the Old Testament, we find the armor of the Lord, His truth, is a shield to us, a buckler.

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Now because ( Psa 91:5-9 )

Going back, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High,”

Because you have made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the Most High, your habitation ( Psa 91:9 );

Or your place of dwelling. If you will but just dwell in Him,

There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall 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 ( Psa 91:10-12 ).

Now when Jesus was being tempted by Satan, Satan quoted this particular passage of scripture to Him, as he took Him up to the pinnacle of the temple and he suggested that He jump off. For Satan said, “It is written, ‘He shall give His angels charge over thee: to keep thee in thy ways, to bear thee up, lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone.’ So why don’t You jump? See if the angels will hold you up.” Jesus said, “It is written again, ‘Thou shalt not tempt, or test, the Lord thy God'” ( Mat 4:6-7 ). You are not to put yourself deliberately in a place of jeopardy just to test the scriptures. It is tragic that every once in a while we read how down in the mountains of Kentucky the cult that is down there that handles rattlesnakes because it says if they take up serpents, they shall not harm them.

Or they test their faith every once in a while by drinking strychnine. But that is not what God means in Mark’s gospel when He said, “If they drink any deadly thing it shall not harm them” ( Mar 16:18 ). God never intended for us to just go around and test our faith by deliberately putting ourselves in jeopardy. If the cultist people down there would only read the full body of scripture, rather than taking isolated verses, they would never follow… they would never fall into those kind of unscriptural practices. God has promised that His angels will have charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways.

In the book of Hebrews, talking of angels, it said, “Are they not all ministering spirits, who have been sent forth to minister unto you who are heirs of salvation?” ( Heb 1:14 ) Now there is a vast number of heavenly hosts that are known as angels. These angels have different rankings, categories. There are cherubim, a special class of angels. There is a mention in the scripture of archangels, which seem to be the highest form of angelic being. Michael being an archangel. It is also thought that Gabriel is an archangel, though I do not know that the scripture gives to him that title. But angels of great authority and power. Then there are angels, it would seem, that rank under them in authority.

The New Testament does rank the heavenly beings as principalities, powers, mights, dominions, thrones and authorities. Various rankings of the angelic beings. It’s more or less like saying, lieutenants and sergeants and corporals and privates, as far as their having rankings in the angelic realm. Just when the angels were created is not specified in the scriptures. But the angels were created as servants of God, and their duty is that of serving the Lord and of serving those who are following after the Lord. “He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy way. To bear thee up lest at any time you would dash your foot against a stone.”

Angels seem to be spirits that are capable of taking on a bodily form. In the Old Testament, many times we find angels taking on a human form. In the New Testament we also found angels taking on human form. When Peter was in prison, the angel came to him and said, “Put your shoes on and follow me.” And Peter tied on his sandals and followed the angels as the prison doors opened of their own accord, until the angel let him out into the street. And then the angel left him. And suddenly Peter woke up to the fact that he was free. He thought he was having a vision. But all of a sudden, he feels the chill night air and he says, “Wow, it’s not a vision. I’m actually out of that place, you know.” And so he headed for the place where the church was meeting and praying for him. Paul the apostle spoke about, “Last night, an angel of the Lord stood by me and he assured me that though the ship is going to be destroyed, there will be no loss of life” ( Act 27:22-24 ). And he spoke about how the angel had visited him and ministered to him. Of course, we read of the angels ministering to Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. And we are told in Hebrews that we ought to be careful to entertain strangers, for it’s very possible that you might be entertaining angels without knowing it.

Now there has been a book written recently concerning angels on assignment. And though I do not doubt that angels do visit, can visit; yet there are certain aspects to that book that I find very troubling. I don’t want to be guilty of limiting God or judging another man’s experiences, except as they measure up to the scriptures. And let the scripture judge. And there are certain things that the angel Gabriel supposedly told Pastor Buck that I do not feel are scriptural. And thus, I have to question in my own mind the validity of the story. I think that Pastor Buck was a very dear man of God, a true servant of the Lord. I do not know but what maybe in his latter years, because of his heart problems that he wasn’t getting enough oxygen to the brain. I do not know, but as I say, I have to question a part of the story of the visitation of the angels.

Now, the angels were created by God; they are a created being of God, and it would seem, well not seem, it is true that they were created with a free will, just as you have been created with a free will. And one of the angels exercised his will against God. And in the fourteenth chapter of Isaiah, we read how that Satan, in exercising his will against God, exalting himself over against God, declaring that he would be like God, was cast forth. A fallen angel. There is a hint in the twelfth chapter of the book of Revelation that one-third of the angels went with Satan when he rebelled against the Lord. “The dragon cast forth out of heaven and with his tail, he drew a third part of the stars” ( Rev 12:3-4 ). And the word stars is a word that is often used for angels.

We do know that there are evil spirits in the world under Satan’s guidance and control, as well as the good spirits, the angels of God that are obedient to their first estate. Yet, there are “angels which kept not their first estate, which are reserved in chains awaiting the day of judgment” ( Jud 1:6 ).

Just what are the full characteristics and all of angels, we do not know. It would appear that before the flood, the angels were coming down and involving themselves in physical relationships with women so that giants were born. And these could be the angels to which the scripture refers, those which kept not their first estate and are now being reserved in the chains awaiting the day of judgment.

I am convinced that there are angels that God has assigned to watch over us. I’ve never seen, to my knowledge, an angel, outside of my wife. I would be less than honest if I would say I wouldn’t like to see an angel. I think it’d be a very exciting experience. I think it’d be quite exciting to meet an angel and to know that they were an angel, and to… well, I’d like to meet the angel that’s supposed to be guarding me. I’d like to know where he was a few times.

Now let me tell you something. There have been some times when I knew he was there. There were times when there was no way I could have gotten out of it unless the angel of the Lord just had his hand upon my life or upon my car and all. And there are times when I know that the only thing that kept me was the angel of the Lord. I’ve had some very interesting experiences where I am sure the angel of the Lord was involved in keeping me from things where I was innocently being drawn into some very dangerous areas. Where the angel of the Lord intervened in a marvelous way to keep me from getting into some real trouble.

When I was in high school here in Santa Ana, I saw my dream car on South Main Street. Smitty mufflers, fog lights, dual spots, Buick skirts, little three-window ’36 Ford Coupe. Oh man, black, was that thing beautiful. I lusted after that car. And I had a buddy that I was running around with at the time and I had half the money and we were going to go into a partnership on a car. It never would have worked, but we were going to… you know, you want something bad enough you dream all ways to get it. And he had a ’36 Ford, but it was, you know, one of those longer kind of things. It just wasn’t a pretty one. So he said, “Well, my dad lives up in Glendale, and I have at my dad’s house some adding machines and typewriters and I can sell them for enough to get my half for the car. Let’s go up to my dad’s house.” So we went by and saw my mom and I said, “We’re going to go up and spend the night in Glendale and at his dad’s house. We’ll be home tomorrow.” And so we took off in his car for Glendale. At that time, Firestone Boulevard was the way into Los Angeles, the three-lane highway. And during the war, gas rationing, and just very few cars on the road at night. You can’t… living here now you can’t believe how it was then.

We were way out in the country near Buena Park when the motor died on his car. And so we pushed, popped the clutch and everything else. Tried to get the thing going. Pushed it for, oh I guess four or five blocks, and there was a little gas station that was there. And so he said, “I think it’s the coil.” I mean, “I think it’s the condenser or something,” and he didn’t know anything about mechanics. But anyhow, we went into this service station. Old man in there, and he had a big mean police dog and he wasn’t very friendly and didn’t have any parts or anything. So we were tired of pushing and so we decided we’d turn the car around, head it back towards Santa Ana. And then we’d wait for a car to come along and we’d flag it and ask him, we’d tell him we’re having a hard time getting it started, would they give us a shove? We figured we’d just leave it in neutral; let them shove till they got tired. And then we wait for the next car to come. And there we were, way out in the country, and there was no way to get home.

So we were sitting there, talking and all, talking about how we’d get this car and all this kind of stuff and all excited about the prospects of buying this hot little Ford, and so after a while, five minutes or so, a car was coming down the road. And so he jumped out so he could flag the car and just out of… I just slipped over to the driver’s side and I hit the starter once more, and the thing fired up. So he ran around and got in on the passenger side, he says, “Well, you got it going, so let’s go.” So we took off for Santa Ana. Got back to Lee’s Drive-In out there on Manchester and stopped and got a Coke and hamburger, saw a bunch of kids from high school.

So we started on then down to my house, and as we turned off on Flower Street, we were getting near Santa Clara, and he said, “Hey, your parents aren’t expecting you home.” I said, “Nope.” He said, “My dad doesn’t know we’re coming.” He said, “So why don’t we just turn around and go back up to Glendale, because it doesn’t matter what time we get to my dad’s house, you know. Your mom’s not expecting you home anyhow.” So I said, “Why not.” So he started to pull a U-turn there on Santa Clara and the car died again, and simultaneously three tires blew out. Just pop, pop, pop. I mean, we were dead.

I lived up on North Broadway at the time, so we just walked down to my house and got on my bike and I rode him on my bike over to his house and got home. And before we could go up to Glendale again, we had sort of parted company and given up on the little Ford idea and just let it pass.

About a year later, there was a knock on our door. I answered it. The guy introduced himself and showed me an ID and he said, “I’m with the FBI. I’d like to talk to you.” I said, “Sure.” He said, “What do you know about some typewriters up in Glendale? Adding machines.” I said, “Well, all I know is that I was headed up there one night to get some with this fellow,” and I said, “but we had car trouble and we never made it.” He said, “You can thank your lucky stars you had car trouble.” He stole them from some government place and felony and so forth. And when he told me the story, I said, “Well, I’m not going to thank my lucky stars, I’m going to thank my angel.” And suddenly I got the picture of that angel holding the coils and getting a shock stopping that stupid car, you know. Then popping the tires as he left just to make sure we wouldn’t go anywhere.

I’m convinced. You can’t you can’t convince me otherwise; I’m convinced the angel of the Lord was watching over me. Interesting thing, when I got back in the house at home, my mom was out in the living room praying. She said, “Oh, son, I’m so glad to see you came home tonight.” She said, “I was really worried about the trip. I just didn’t feel right about it and I’ve just been praying for you.” Of course, I didn’t know at that time. I said, “Well, thanks, Mom,” but I didn’t know at that time the full story. But oh, I’m certain that there… when we get to heaven, we’re going to learn a lot of things that we were spared from. And maybe at the time we looked at it as bad luck or misfortune or, “Oh, man,” you know. And yet, God was watching over. God was keeping us. “He shall give His angels charge over thee. To bear thee up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone.”

For thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet ( Psa 91:13 ).

Now we have a change of voice in verse Psa 91:14 . In the change of voice, we have God’s response now. The psalmist has been declaring the advantages and the blessings of living in a certain place. In the secret place of the Most High. Making God your dwelling place. Now God responds to that whole idea. And God says,

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. 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 will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation ( Psa 91:14-16 ).

God’s glorious response to that person who is dwelling in the secret place of the Most High. Because you’ve set your love upon God, God said, “This is what I’m going to do for you: deliver you, set you on high. I will answer you. I will be with you in trouble. I will deliver and honor you.” Praise the Lord.

“

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

A Psalm written for comfort, but it is not addressed to all mankind, neither I venture to say, to all believers, but only those who are described in the first verse.

Psa 91:1. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

It is not every worshipper that comes there who shall be thus privileged but those who dwell there, as Simeon and Anna dwelt in the temple. So there are some that abide in Christ and his words abide in them. They live near to God. They receive therefore choicer favours than those who do but come and go. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High. He who has learnt to stand in the holy of holies, near the blood-besprinkled mercy-seat, to whom prayer is a matter of constant privilege and enjoyment-he dwells in the secret place. Such a man, living near to God, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. You know when you walk with a friend, in certain positions of the sun your friends shadow falls upon you; but you cannot expect to have the shadow of your friend unless you are near him. We read in the Song, I sat down under his shadow with great delight. There must be nearness to get under the shadow. So there must be great access to God-great familiarity with him -there must be something of the assurance of faith-before we shall be able to grip such a word as that which follows in this psalm. Read it again, and if you have not attained to it labour after it.

Psa 91:2. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

Observe the sweetness of making a personal application of any passage in the Word. I will say. A general doctrine gives us little consolation till we can make a particular application of it. Oh, for faith-daring, personal faith-to say, I will say of the Lord he is my refuge and my fortress That was saying a great deal, but it was saying a great deal more when the psalmist added, My God. He could not say more than that. God is a refuge and a fortress to me, but he is infinitely more than that. We cannot tell what he is. Rather, we cannot tell what he is not; but we sum it all up when we say, My God. And surely it is but natural to add, In him will I trust. Why, who could help it? If this God is our God, and such a God; such a refuge and such a fortress to his people, surely we must trust him. Come, if you are troubled tonight. If you have got any doubts and fears, may the Spirit of God enable you to make this the blessed resolution of your Spirit. My God, in him will I trust.

Psa 91:3. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler,

You cannot see it. You do not know it to be a snare. The bird does not suspect the fowler. Surely in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird. If the bird knew it was a net it would not fly into it. You do not know your temptation, young man. Nay, and the oldest and most experienced Christian is not aware of the traps which the fowler is setting for him. But surely he shall deliver thee if thou abidest near him-so near that his shadow falls on thee. If thou dwellest in secret with him, surely, he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler.

Psa 91:3. And from the noisome pestilence.

From the noisome pestilence of error which is the worst of pestilences because it preys upon the soul. Foul air which injures the bodily frame is bad enough; but what is that foul teaching which destroys the soul- which would, if it were possible, deceive the very elect? But surely if thou livest near to him he shall deliver thee from the noisome pestilence.

Psa 91:4. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

It is a marvelous verse. I do not think that any devout man would have been daring enough to use such language as this if he had not been led to do so by the Holy Spirit himself. Where the Holy Spirit leads the way we may safely follow; but it would have been unsafe for mere poetrys sake to talk of Gods feathers and wings. Yet see the condescension of God. He likens himself here to the hen that broods her little ones. O child of God, nestle down closely under the warm breast of everlasting love, and hide thyself beneath the mighty wings of the everlasting and eternal God. So shalt thou be secure.

Psa 91:5. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

For if this alludes to temporal dangers,

Not a single shaft shall hit,

Till the God of love sees fit.

And if there be a covert allusion here to spiritual dangers-to the darts of the wicked one and to the alarms which fill the soul when the presence of God is withdrawn-if thou dwellest near to God thou shalt know no fear of these things, for neither death nor hell can injure the man that lives in God.

Psa 91:6-10. Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

And it is very wonderful when men have lived near to God, and have received special faith to grasp such a promise as this, how they have outlived the most deadly pestilences. I collected sometime ago a little list of names of devout men who in the times of pestilence remained in the field to visit the sick and to attend to those who were dying, and it is marvelous that they outlived all, and their names stand now upon the catalogue of fame as benefactors of the race. They had special faith given, and they used that faith in trusting in God. I have already said that I do not believe that this applies to all believers, for good men die as well as bad men in days of pestilence; but there are some who dwell near to God to whom the promise comes with special power, and they have been able to do and dare for God without fear, and their faith has been abundantly rewarded.

Psa 91:11-12. For he shall 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.

They get special commandment to take care of the saints of God-the angels, those unseen but swift and mighty messengers of heaven. When David had the troops paraded before him, when they were going out to fight Absalom, he gave them all a charge that they should not touch the young man Absalom, and yet, you know, he died. But Gods angels keep his commandments, hearkening to the voice of his word; and go when he gives them a charge of what to do he says, O ye angels, this day watch over my people keep them in all their ways. Be to them as a nurse who bears up her child in her hands, and if they are likely to meet with even some minor trial, lest they should skip and sin, bear them up lest they dash their foot against a stone. Now comes a glorious promise.

Psa 91:13. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

God often gives victories like these to his people, so that Satan and all the powers of evil are trampled down by the holy child-take confidence of the man who is resolved to serve his God.

Psa 91:14. 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.

He loves me, and therefore I love him, and I will deliver him because he loves me. Oh, love the Lord all ye saints, love him more and more; for this love of yours shall bring to you a sweet reward.

Psa 91:15. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him:

Were there ever words fuller of consolation than these? He shall call upon me. Grace will take care to give us the spirit of prayer. And I will answer him. Grace will give the answer.

Psa 91:15-16. I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.

Now, it is not a promise to every good man that he shall live for a long period, for some among the best of men die in very early youth, but still they have had a full life, for life must not be measured by years. Oh, how much do some men pack into a little time! How much of life there may be in the man whose course is finished ere he is thirty years of age, and how little may some live who expand their days into 80 or 90 years. Belzonis toad-you remember the piece of poetry into which some imaginative person has cast his diary, how once in a thousand years it crept from under a stone and winked with one eye. Well it did not live much in the course of two or three thousand years: it existed. But a man who is full of holy duties and earnest purposes lives long even though the time is short.

This exposition consisted of readings from PSALMS 91. and 63.

Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

Psa 91:1-4

THE SECURITY OF HIM WHO TRUSTS IN GOD

“Jewish tradition assigns this psalm to Moses, an assignment which Dr. Kay and others accept as borne out by the facts. We fail to be impressed with the current fashion of late-dating many psalms upon considerations which, at best, are very precarious and questionable.

One rather perplexing characteristic of this psalm was mentioned by Maclaren, “There are sudden and bewildering changes of persons, from first person to second person, etc., in which `He,’ `I’ and `thou’ alternate. The context usually affords the clue to what is meant and who is the speaker, or the one spoken to.

The paragraphing that we follow here is that of Briggs.

Security of the True Worshipper of God

Psa 91:1-4

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of Jehovah, He is my refuge and my fortress;

My God, in whom I trust.

For he will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler,

And from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover thee with his pinions,

And under his wings shalt thou take refuge;

His truth is a shield and a buckler.”

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High” (Psa 91:1). “`The secret place’ is here generally understood to mean `the temple’ or `tabernacle,’ but `one’s dwelling there’ is not a reference to persons actually living in the temple. It seems rather to mean those who consistently worship the God who is enshrined there, or to, “Those who make the temple of God their habitual resort.

“He will deliver thee” (Psa 91:3). Two perils are mentioned here, (1) the snare of the fowler, and (2) the deadly pestilence. Both of these indicate the type of peril that is unseen, striking the strong and the weak alike. “The snare of the fowler is a metaphor for evil plots, that might inflict loss or even death. The other danger here is “the deadly pestilence.” The human race is never exempt from the ravages of mortal illnesses that come about from the spread of infectious diseases. The `Black Death’ (the bubonic plague) of the 14th Century wiped out the majority of the population of Europe; and Durant declared that, “One-fourth of the population of the civilized world perished, the deaths in Europe alone reaching 25,000,000.

The great pestilence of 1918 was the swine flu which wiped out more people in the United States than our nation lost in World War I.

The threat of such things, held partially in check by the diligence of the medical profession, is nevertheless perpetual. All kinds of fatal diseases lie submerged within the microscopic life surrounding all men, and any of these may break forth at any time. A recent example is AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). Another example is the Carona Virus.

“He will cover thee” (Psa 91:4). God’s protection of his own is assured in words such as these. From the New Testament, we learn that God’s children are by no means to be protected from death from every threat and at all times. What is meant is that God will protect them even “through death.” Our Lord spoke of Christians who would even be put to death, saying, “But not a hair of your head shall perish” (Luk 21:18).

This does not deny that the Providence of God does indeed provide protection from the most terrible dangers for those who truly love him, doing so now in this present earthly life.

M.E. Zerr:

Psa 91:1. For the authorship of this chapter see “general remarks’ at beginning of ch. 90. Secret place means a place of refuge or safety. He that is content to dwell in the protection of God will abide or always have the benefit of it. It will be like a shadow or relief from the heat of distress.

Psa 91:2. The idea of divine refuge is still the leading one of the writer. He regarded God as the true source of protection and therefore he would trust in Him.

Psa 91:3. A fowler is a trapper who sets a trap or snare for his victims. When used figuratively it refers to men who seek to overcome the innocent by underhanded methods. God will keep his righteous servants and help them to avoid the snares if they will heed the divine instructions. Noisome pestilence means the unpleasant and harmful conditions that the enemy might seek to create for the servants of God.

Psa 91:4. A comparison is made to a parent bird that protects its young under the shelter of its wings. The structure of the wing will furnish a protection like an armor, and the feathers will furnish warmth and nestling comfort. Shield and buckler are articles of protection against attack from an enemy. God will give perfect protection to all who accept His truth and mold their lives thereby.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

This psalm is one of the greatest possessions of the saints. It is a great song of the safety of such as put their trust in Jehovah, and contains the Divine assurance of such faith as fruitful. Very little of exposition is necessary. There is a change in the use of pronouns from first to second to third at the close; which, although it has created some sense of difficulty, is yet a key to the psalm for purposes analysis.

Let us set out the scheme of the psalm round these changes, leaving its familiar words to speak for themselves. Verse Psa 91:1 The statement of truth Verse Psa 91:2 Personal affirmation of realisation Verses Psa 91:3-8 The address of the singer, either to his own soul, or to some other person, or to the nation, in which he affirms the convictions resulting from personal realisation of the truth.

Verse Psa 91:9 a Repetition of personal realisation Verses Psa 91:9 b-13 Same as verses Psa 91:3-8

Verses Psa 91:14-15 Conclusion of psalm, in which the singer with holy boldness expresses as in the words of Jehovah, the safety of the trusting soul, and thus gives the testimony of God as well as that of man to the truth.

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

Security in Trusting the Lord

Psa 91:1-16

In harmony with the new light cast upon it by the Revised Version, this psalm has been divided as follows: Psa 91:1-2, a soliloquy in which the believer states the blessedness of dwelling under Gods sheltering care, and encourages his heart to exercise personal faith; Psa 91:3-8, the assurance of a chorus of voices, which emphasize the safety of those who believe; Psa 91:9 a, an exclamation in which the believer again expresses his resolve to exercise this personal faith; Psa 91:9 b-13, the second assurance of a chorus of reassuring voices; Psa 91:14-16, Gods ratification of the whole attitude and expressions of the psalmist and his friends.

The psalm abounds in metaphors familiar to the East: the lion with its roar and leap in the open; the adder with its stealthy glide through the grass; the nocturnal assault; the devastating plague; the fowlers snare; the eagles wing; the transitory tent. This is the travelers psalm, and may well be read in private or with the family, whenever we are starting on a journey.

But notice the closing, Psa 91:14-16. Our conceptions of Gods care are too narrow. We fail to make enough use of the power, love, and presence of His fatherhood, which is waiting and longing to be called upon. Only we must exercise an appropriating faith.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

Psa 91:1

These are the words of one who had known almost more than any other man of the shafts of unkindness, and the arrows of death, and the cruel torments of life. None, probably, save only David’s Son, ever equalled David in the degree in which he had passed through all the sympathies of our common nature. And this is his testimony, that in the midst of all there is a “place,” a “secret place,” as deep in its secrecy as God is high in His omnipotence, shadowed over by the hand of God.

I. What is meant by the secret place? The secret of the whole of the Old Testament is the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore to the mind of David-i.e., in its first intention-the expression, “the secret place of the Most High,” would certainly connect itself with Christ.

II. The Psalmist designates the man who “dwells” in the secret place. It is a beautiful idea-the man who has his home in Christ. It is to have Jesus all round us-our covering, our beauty, our defence, our rest.

III. Every promise has in it the dignity and the security of prophecy. “He shall abide.” The image assures us of two things: (1) safety; (2) peace. He who refreshes himself in Christ has a refuge to which he can return again and again, and it is always there. It is the same “yesterday, today, and for ever.”

J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 9th series, p. 134.

References: Psa 91:1.- J. N. Norton, Every Sunday, p. 257. Psa 91:1, Psa 91:2.- R. S. Candlish, The Gospel of Forgiveness, p. 227. Psa 91:2.- Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxii., No. 1297. Psa 91:3.- Ibid., vol. iii., No. 124. Psa 91:4.-Ibid., vol. xv., No. 902. Psa 91:11.-Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. xv., p. 143; J. H. Keble, Sermons for Saints’ Days, p. 372.

Psa 91:1-2

Three parties speak in this Psalm: the witness for God, the brother in peril, and God Himself.

I. The witness for God, the sympathising friend of the party exposed to danger, speaking from his own experience, declares generally, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty” (Psa 91:1, and see also Psa 91:9). Three lessons are taught in that inner school: (1) That God is true, true to Himself and true to you. (2) In your new dwelling-place you see the reward of the wicked. (3) You learn that there are members of the family not involved in your peril who yet are deeply and affectionately interested in your safety: “He shall give His angels charge over thee,” etc.

II. The second party in this discourse and dialogue-the brother in peril-says very little. But the little which he does say is very comprehensive: “I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God; in Him will I trust” (Psa 91:2). It is a prompt response to the very first appeal made to him. It is the language not of faith only, but of love.

III. What God Himself is overheard to say at the close of the Psalm is the glorious corner-stone of this edifice of confidence. (1) Mark the cause assigned by the Lord for the warm interest which He feels in His servant thus exposed: “He has set his love upon Me; he has known My name.” (2) Mark how the Lord speaks, connecting His servant’s love to Him and knowledge of His name with His own purpose of deliverance and exaltation, as if His honour were concerned to make it plain that the love is not misplaced: “I will deliver him.” (3) Mark what the Lord expects on the part of His servant: “He shall call upon Me.” (4) Mark the assurance of the Lord’s gracious interposition, answering to His servant’s calling upon Him: “He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him,” etc. (5) Nor is it to be all trouble with the man of God while he is fighting the good fight and finishing his course. Nay, there is so much enjoyment for him as to make him rather wish for its continuance, and welcome the concluding promise which he hears the Lord giving: “With long life will I satisfy him, and show him My salvation.”

R. S. Candlish, The Gospel of Forgiveness, p. 227.

References: Psa 91:3.- Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 24. Psa 91:5.- C. Kingsley, Discipline, and Other Sermons, p. 198; Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 113. Psa 91:5-10.- R. Lee, Sermons, p. 44. Psa 91:9.- Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 58. Psa 91:11.- Ibid., My Sermon Notes: Genesis to Proverbs, p. 157. Psa 91:12.- H. Melvill, Sermons on Less Prominent Facts, vol. ii., p. 170.

Psa 91:13

The definite promise, “Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the dragon,” was a reference not only to reptiles and wild beasts of outward evil, but to evils in which the deadliness of vice is concentrated in our individual hearts: evil thoughts, and deeds, and habits which assail and hurt the soul. The fitness of the metaphor is shown by the fact that we find it also in the heathen mythology. The Greek type of a deliverer of the world was the hero Hercules. They saw, as we see, that he who would indeed conquer evil in the world must first conquer it in his own heart. The moral is finely conveyed in the legend of his conquest of the Nemaean lion. Every man’s Nemaean lion lies in the way for him somewhere. All future victories depend upon that. Kill it, and through all the rest of your lives what was once terrible becomes your armour; you are clothed with the virtue of that conquest.

I. In the first place, this lion is to be fought in the darkness, and in the cavern, and with no earthly weapons. The lion is that inward sin, that special impulse and temptation to evil, which is most directed against your individual heart.

II. Observe the infinite superiority which Christ has granted to us in these days. The Greeks had noble ideals, but their conduct fell as far short of these ideals as ours does. But often these ideals were grievously corrupt. Human strength and knowledge are at the best but perfect weakness. But it is the mercy of God that He has given us in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ an ideal not human, but Divine.

III. Notice that the more early this battle is undertaken, the more surely it is won. He who strangles serpents in his youth slays monsters in his manhood. He who has early had strength to conquer temptations will not be so likely later to lose his self-reverence and his self-control.

F. W. Farrar, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxiii., p. 33.

References: Psa 91:14.-A. Fletcher, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. xvi., p. 233. Psalm 91-M. G. Pearse, Some Aspects of the Blessed Life, pp. 81, 114. Psa 92:2.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xix., No. 1138. Psa 92:4.-Ibid., Morning by Morning, p. 227. Psa 92:5, Psa 92:6.-F. Tholuck, Hours of Devotion, p. 99. Psa 92:10.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xix., No. 1122, and vol. xxviii., No. 1649. Psa 92:12.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ii., p. 188. Psa 92:13-15.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxiii., No. 1365; Homiletic Magazine, vol. xi., p. 7. Psa 93:2.-Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 325. Psa 93:5.-G. W. McCree, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxv., p. 285; A. Watson, Sermons for Sundays, Festivals, and Fasts, 2nd series, vol. iii., p. 9.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

Psalm 91

Christ, the Second Man

1. In dependence (Psa 91:1-2)

2. In security (Psa 91:3-8)

3. His triumph and exaltation (Psa 91:9-16)

This Psalm has no inscription. Its author is unknown, but we know it is the testimony of the Spirit of God concerning the second Man, our Lord. Satan knew this also for he quoted this Psalm to our Lord in Mat 4:1-25, omitting the words in all thy ways (Psa 91:11-12 and Mat 4:6). It is the Psalm Gods people love to read on account of its precious assurances given to those who put their trust in Him. In a larger and prophetic sense we have here the blessings of Gods power in the kingdom age when under the rule of the King His people will be kept from all evil. But let us not forget that we have in it a prophetic picture of our Lord as He walked as the dependent Man on the earth. He dwelled in the secret place of the Most High and trusted in Him, walking in perfect obedience. Death had no claim on His life, for He knew no sin. No evil could come near Him. Angels ministered unto Him. The lion and the adder–Satan in his two-fold character, as the powerful enemy and as the sneaking, hidden serpent–He tramples under His feet. And some day the enemy will also be completely bruised under the feet of His people. Then His exaltation, I will set Him on high.

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

Gods Inner Circle

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.Psa 91:1.

The beauty of the language of this poem fitly corresponds to the grandeur of the thoughts which it conveys. The Psalmist here sings to one clear harp in divers tones; and the central thought which he exhibits in its different aspects is that of Gods response to man. For every advance on mans part there is an immediate and corresponding advance on Gods part. When man goes out to seek God, God meets him more than half-way. When he calls upon God, God will answer him. Loving faith on mans part will be met by faithful love on the part of God. This is in the first verse, of which the whole psalm is an expansion. If man dwells in the secret place of the Most High, he shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. We have here the condition and promise.

In his later years, Calvins colleague at Geneva was Theodore de Beza (15191605), the writer of the metrical version of Psalms 68, which was the battle-song of the Huguenots. Taste for the culture of the Renaissance, passion for poetry, worldly success and fame, had weakened the impression of the religious training of his youth. A dangerous illness revived his former feelings. Escaping from the bondage of Egypt, as he called his previous life, he took refuge with Calvin at Geneva. In 1548, when he for the first time attended the service of the Reformed Assembly, the congregation was singing Psalms 91, Whoso dwelleth under the defence of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. He never forgot the effect of the words. They supported him in all the difficulties of his subsequent life; they conquered his fears, and gave him courage to meet every danger.1 [Note: R. E. Prothero, The Psalms in Human Life, 185.]

The 91st Psalm is a mountain of strength to all believers; so General Gordon wrote from Gravesend in 1869, one of the six quiet years which he used to speak of as the happiest of his life. Again, thirteen years later, in January 1882, he wrote thus from Mauritius: I dwell more or less (I wish it were more) under the shadow of the Almighty.

I

In the Secret Place

1. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High. We get the clearest idea of the meaning of this phrase by an examination of the different passages in the Psalms where the word here translated secret place occurs. Thus in Psa 31:20, we read: Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence; also in Psa 83:3, where another form of the same word occurs, we read of Gods hidden ones. From these and similar passages we find that the word is usually connected with the idea of a fugitive hiding from his pursuers. It calls up before us the picture of a man running away from his enemies. Weary and panting, he knows not where to hide himself, and in his despair he flees to some friend of his and seeks protection, and the friend hides him in a secret place. The fugitive gives his all into the keeping of his friend. He places his life in his friends hands, and he has now power of life and death over him. So, then, the man who dwells in the secret place of the Most High is he who ventures his all upon God. With a sure and steadfast trust, with a simple but unwavering faith, he gives himself, his all, into the keeping of God. He surrenders himself to God, and by that very act he is taken near to God; he is put in the secret place of the Most High and becomes one of Gods hidden ones. By his act of absolute self-surrender he has attained to that state which the Apostle Paul describes in language very similar to that of the Psalmistonly going a little further than the latter with his imperfect light could gowhen he says, Ye died, and your new life is hid with Christ in God.

We are like vessels which are near a lee shore in the night. The darkness of the open sea is safer for the skilled seaman than the line of the shore. Our safety is to stand out in the bosom of the dark; it is to press into the mysteries of God. Why is it that our moral nature, even the religious, is too often shallow and poverty-stricken? It is because we do not pursue the growing knowledge of God on our own account. We are religious, or at least we are always in danger of being religious, without spiritual growth, and spiritual growth surely means spiritual insight. We cease to become sensible of spiritual enrichment. We come to a time of life when we are content to say, I get no secrets from God now. Revelations do not arrive; doors are not opened in Heaven; new vistas of faith do not spread away before the soul. Faith runs on upon the level, and it does not mount, and it does not soar. God becomes by habit a uniform Presence to us. He is not denied. We do not venture to deny Him. I was almost going to say we had not the courage to deny Him. But, at any rate, we do not deny Him. We only disregard Him, like the air and the sky. We do not give our minds seriously and deliberately to realizing Him. We do not pore upon Him until fold after fold removes, and depth after depth opens, and we look into His heart. The secret, the secret of the Most High is not with us.1 [Note: P. T. Forsyth.]

2. While this is the general idea, it is possible that the immediate figure of the secret place may have been borrowed from the arrangements and appointments of the Temple. There was the vast outside world stretching on every side beyond the Temple walls; then the outer courts of the Temple; then the inner chambers and precincts; then the Holy Place with its golden candlestick and table of shewbread; and last of all, the Holy of Holies, the secret place, the mystic abiding-place of the eternal God. And every Jew thought reverently and almost awfully of that secret, silent place where God dwelt between the cherubim. He turned towards it, he worshipped towards it, his desire moved towards it; it was the mysterious centre of his adoration and service. And that arrangement and apportionment of the Temple became to the Psalmist the type and the symbol of human life. Life could be all outside, or it could spend itself in outer courts, on the mere fringe of being, or it could have a secret place where everything found significance and interpretation and value in the mysterious fellowship of God. That seems to be the primary meaning of life in the secret place; it is life abandoning the mere outside of things, refusing to dwell in the outer halls and passages of the stately temple of being, and centralizing itself in that mysterious interior of things where cherubim and seraphim continually do cry, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty.

The necessity of an inward stillness hath appeared clear to my mind. In true silence strength is renewed, and the mind is weaned from all things, save as they may be enjoyed in the Divine will; and a lowliness in outward living, opposite to worldly honour, becomes truly acceptable to us. In the desire after outward gain the mind is prevented from a perfect attention to the voice of Christ; yet being weaned from all things, except as they may be enjoyed in the Divine will, the pure light shines into the soul. Where the fruits of the spirit which is of this world are brought forth by many who profess to be led by the Spirit of truth, and cloudiness is felt to be gathering over the visible church, the sincere in heart, who abide in true stillness, and are exercised therein before the Lord for His names sake, have knowledge of Christ in the fellowship of His sufferings; and inward thankfulness is felt at times, that through Divine love our own wisdom is cast out, and that forward, active part in us is subjected, which would rise and do something without the pure leadings of the spirit of Christ.1 [Note: The Journal of John Woolman, 29.]

Dont be too much taken up with excitements social and intellectual. The depths of life are still and ought not to be ruffled by every wanton breeze, else they lose the capacity which they ought to possess of being that centre of rest, and peace, and content, to which we can withdraw when wearied of the world which is too much with us. Life to be worth anything at all must have a moral basis. After all, it is the root of the matter, unless the universe was made in jest.2 [Note: Memoir of Robert Herbert Story, 401.]

3. The Church is, in Gods idea, a home where we recover from the fatigue of effort, when we take a new hold of high purposes from which our hand had slackened; a place of compensations; a place from which we see our life more truly, for we see more than itself. Here, in this house, we may feel something, some one, even God, in the form and manner of Jesus Christ, coming between us and the things which would dishearten us and work despair. Here we may sit under a shadow, under the shadow of thought and faith. Here we may come under the rebuke and deliverance of high and unworldly considerations; here we may receive the emancipation which comes the moment we adopt the spiritual view and seek not our own will but the will of God. To seek the face of God in worship is the instinct of the soul which has become aware of itself and its surroundings. Life and death are the great preachers. It is they who ring the church bells. That instinct for God, that instinct for the shadow, will never pass away. It may only become perverted and debased. The foundationwhich is mans need for God, for guidance, for cleansing, for support, and that again is but Gods search for man, Gods overtures to manthe foundation standeth sure.

Whatever temple science may build there will always need to be hard by a Gothic chapel for wounded souls.1 [Note: F. Paulsen, Ethics.]

A little chamber built upon the wall,

With stool and table, candlestick and bed,

Where he might sit, or kneel, or lay his head

At night or sultry noontide: this was all

A prophets need: but in that chamber small

What mighty prayers arose, what grace was shed,

What gifts were givenpotent to wake the dead,

And from its viewless flight a soul recall!

And still what miracles of grace are wrought

In many a lonely chamber with shut door,

Where God our Father is in secret sought,

And shows Himself in mercy more and more!

Dim upper rooms with Gods own glory shine,

And souls are lifted to the life Divine.2 [Note: R. Wilton.]

4. The secret place is not to be limited to a particular locality, but means nearness to God, the close fellowship into which the soul enters, the inner circle of communion in which the soul realizes vividly the Divine presence. Some may associate such communion with one locality, and some with another, according to their individual experience. But this matters not. The essential thing is the nearness of the soul to God, its entering into His presence with the full consciousness that He graciously regards it, and will hear its prayer and accept its homage, breathing its feelings and desires into His ear, and spreading all its case before Him. His is not that distant and formal intercourse which one man may hold with another when, in the open and crowded places of the city, they have to restrain themselves because of being exposed to the observation of others; it is that intimate and unrestrained intercourse which friend holds with friend when they meet in privacy, where no other eye sees or ear hears, and each communicates to the other not the things which are open to public observation, but the secret and hidden feelings of the heart. Reverently, although freely and confidently, does the worshipper in the secret place speak to God as a child to its father, giving expression to all his feelings, whatsoever they may be.

Fellowship with the living God, says Andrew Bonar in his graphic little sketch of Samuel Rutherford, is a little distinguishing feature in the holiness given by the Holy Ghost. Rutherford could sometimes say, I have been so near Him, that I have said I take instruments (documents by way of attestation) that this is the Lord, and he could from experience declare, I dare avouch, the saints know not the length and largeness of the sweet earnest, and of the sweet green sheaves before the harvest, that might be had on this side of the water, if we only took more pains. All this, adds Bonar suggestively, is from the pen of a man who was a metaphysician, a controversialist, a leader in the Church, and learned in ancient scholastic lore.

Where is that secret place of the Most High?

And who is He? Where shall we look for Him

That dwelleth there? Between the cherubim,

That oer the seat of grace, with constant eye,

And outspread wing, brood everlastingly?

Or shall we seek that deeper meaning dim,

And as we may, walk, flutter, soar, and swim,

From deep to deep of the void, fathomless sky?

Oh! seek not there the secret of the Lord

In what hath been, or what may never be;

But seek the shadow of the mystic word

The shadow of a truth thou canst not see:

There build thy nest, and, like a nestling bird,

Find all thy safety in thy secrecy.1 [Note: Hartley Coleridge.]

5. How are we to maintain our life of fellowship with God? How are we to dwell in the Secret Place? The Psalmist doubtless would find guidance in the ways and ministries of the Temple.

(1) The spirit of reverence must be cherished. There was to be no tramping in the sacred courts. He was to move quietly, as in the presence of something august and unspeakable. And that is the very first requisite if we would dwell in the secret placethe reverent spirit and the reverent step. The man who strides through life with flippant tramp will never get beyond the outer courts. He may get on, he will never get in; he may find here and there an empty shell, he will never find the pearl of great price. Irreverence can never open the gate into the secret place.

(2) The second thing requisite in the Temple ministry to any one who sought the fellowship of the secret place was the spirit of sacrifice. No man was permitted to come empty-handed in his movements towards the secret place. Bring an offering, and come into his courts. And in that Temple-ministry the Psalmist would recognize another of the essential requisites if he would dwell in the secret place. That offering meant that a man must surrender all that he possesses, of gifts and goods, to his quest of the central things of life. For there is this strange thing about the strait gate which opens into the secret place: it is too strait for the man who brings nothing; it is abundantly wide for the man who brings his all. No man deserves the hallowed intimacies of life, the holy tabernacle of the Most High, who does not bring upon the errand all that he is, and all that he has. Lifes crown demands lifes all.

(3) And other Temple-ministries in which the Psalmist would find principles of guidance would be the requirement of prayer and praise. Sing unto the Lord a new song. Such was to be one of the exercises of those who sought the grace and favour of the holy place. They were to come wearing the garment of praise. And therefore the Psalmist knew that praise was to be one of the means by which he was to possess the intimacies of the secret place. And praise is still one of the ministries by which we reach the central heart of things, the hallowed abode where we come to share the secret of the Lord. And praise is not fawning upon God, flattering Him, piling up words of empty eulogy; it is the hallowed contemplation of the greatness of God, and the grateful appreciation of the goodness of God. And with praise there goes prayerthe recognition of our dependence upon the Highest, the fellowship of desire, the humble speech which cooperates in the reception and distribution of grace.

I passed my time in great peace, content to spend the remainder of my life there, if such should be the will of God. I employed part of my time in writing religious songs. I, and my maid La Gautire, who was with me in prison, committed them to heart as fast as I made them. Together we sang praises to Thee, O our God! It sometimes seemed to me as if I were a little bird whom the Lord had placed in a cage, and that I had nothing to do now but to sing. The joy of my heart gave a brightness to the objects around me. The stones of my prison looked in my eyes like rubies. I esteemed them more than all the gaudy brilliancies of a vain world. My heart was full of that joy which Thou givest to them who love Thee in the midst of their greatest crosses.1 [Note: Madame Guyon, in Life, by T. C. Upham.]

Let praise devote thy work and skill employ

Thy whole mind, and thy heart be lost in joy.

Well-doing bringeth pride, this constant thought

Humility, that thy best done is naught.

Man doeth nothing well, be it great or small,

Save to praise God; but that hath saved all:

For God requires no more than thou hast done,

And takes thy work to bless it for His own.2 [Note: R. Bridges.]

The wise man will act like the bee, and he will fly out in order to settle with care, intelligence, and prudence on all the gifts and on all the sweetness which he has experienced, and on all the good which God has done to him; and through the rays of the sun and his own inward observation he will experience a multitude of consolations and blessings. And he will not rest on any flower of all these gifts, but, laden with gratitude and praise, he will fly back again toward the home in which he longs to dwell and rest for evermore with God.3 [Note: M. Maeterlinck, Ruysbroeck and the Mystics, 130.]

II

Under His Shadow

The man who commits himself to God, and dwells in Him, has this promise, that he will abide under the shadow of the Almighty. There are two names of God used in the text, The Most High and The Almighty; and when we remember the deep religious significance which the different names of God had for the Hebrew, and the careful way in which they are used throughout the whole of the Old Testament, so that in general it is true that that name of God is used which alone serves to indicate the particular aspect of Gods character or government upon which the writer wished to lay stress; when we remember this, we are justified in looking for a meaning in the distinction between the two names of God used here. The man to whom the promise is made seeks to dwell in the secret place of the Most High. He seeks to be near God as the Most High God, the God of surpassing excellence. He desires the company of Him who is Most High because He is most holy. The character which he contemplates in God is not so much His power as His holiness. He desires to be near God, not because of what God can do for him, but because of what God is; it is in the thought of Gods goodness that he rests secure. It is the holiness of Jehovah that attracts him; it is the beauty of the Lord his God that he would behold continually. To the man who thus disinterestedly seeks after Him God will reveal Himself in the character of the Almighty. The power of the Almighty shall be round about him. 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. This man is to abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

This wonderful Psalm has always been a favourite with the Mystic and the Quietist. For it expresses what we may call the Beatitude of the Inner Circle. Most religions have distinguished carefully between the rank and file of the faithful, and that select company of initiates who taste the hidden wisdom and have access to the secret shrine. From the nature of the case some such distinction exists even in the Kingdom of Heaven. Christ Himself allowed a difference between His own friends and those many disciples who are servants still. Only we must never forget on what this difference depends. The Father, who is Lord of heaven and earth, has seen good to hide His secrets from the wise and prudent, and to reveal them unto babes. While from the inmost sanctuary of Christian experience a Voice cries continually, Whosoever will let him come freelyif he be content to come as a little child.1 [Note: T. H. Darlow, The Upward Calling, 38.]

1. What does the Psalmist mean by abiding under the shadow? Does he mean to say that the shadow of the Almighty rests on the secret place? At first sight it would seem so, but such a conclusion would not be in harmony with the trend of thought throughout the Psalm. What he appears really to teach is that, when a man regularly communes with God in secret, then, wherever he goes, the shadow of the Almighty shall rest upon him, and in times of trial and danger shall shelter and protect him. As the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night went before the children of Israel, and was both a guide and a shelter to them, so the shadow of the Almighty shall ever rest upon those who dwell in the secret place of the Most High. A shadow is produced when some object intercepts the light. Here it represents God placing Himself in front of the sun, to screen His people from heat. The sun shall not smite them by day, nor the moon by night.

The last poems of Miss Havergal are published with the title, Under His Shadow, and the preface gives the reason for the name. She said, I should like the title to be, Under His Shadow. I seem to see four pictures by that: under the shadow of a rock in a weary plain; under the shadow of a tree; closer still, under the shadow of His wing; nearest and closest, in the shadow of His hand. Surely that hand must be the pierced hand, that may oftentimes press us sorely, and yet evermore encircling, upholding, and shadowing.1 [Note: C. H. Spurgeon, Till He Come, 23.]

2. Now it is one thing to be touched by the shadow of the Almighty, another to abide within that shadow. One has not lived long, or has lived only on the surface, who has never for a moment been touched by the shadow of God. It may have fallen upon us in one or other of several experiences. It may have come to us in some reverse of fortune, in some change in our prospects. Or it may have come to us in some bodily illness or the threatening of some illness. Or it may have come to us, as so much with regard to the unseen world comes to us all, in the great silence of a bereavement. But there is probably not one of adult years who has not had at least one experience which has touched him to the quick and has brought him for the time being face to face with God. And yet, if we are strict with ourselves, we shall have to confess that as the trouble eased the high seriousness which it brought began to pass away, so that probably not one of us has worked out into our life and character the holy intentions which we proposed to ourselves on a certain day when our heart was sore. We have lost from ourselves a certain dignity, a certain superiority to the world which was ours in days that we can still recall, when some suspense was keeping our heart open, when in some precious concern of our life we were depending utterly upon God for something. To be touchedthat is the work of God, the work of life upon us; whereas to abide requires the consent of our will. In order to abide it needs that the whole man, who knows that in the personal crisis God was singling him out, shall live henceforth by the wisdom and calling of that hour. It needs that he shall depart from all the iniquity which the light of that holy hour revealed to him.

The original meaning of the word here translated abide is to wrap up in a garment for warmth and rest during the cool of the night. The reflexive form of the verb is here used: He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall wrap himself round in the shadow of the God of Might. Nearness to God is to be to him as the garment which the traveller wraps around him as he goes to sleep in the desert, when the chills of night descend. Gods immediate presence is to be wrapped round about him for his protection.1 [Note: A. S. Renton.]

3. Gods protection does not mean exemption from outward calamities. But there is an evil in the calamity that will never come near the man who is sheltered under Gods wing. The physical external event may be entirely the same to him as to another who is not covered with His feathers. Here are two partners in a business; the one is a Christian man, and the other is not. A common disaster overwhelms them. They become bankrupts. Is insolvency the same to the one as it is to the other? Here are two men on board a ship, the one putting his trust in God, the other thinking it all nonsense to trust anything but himself. They are both drowned. Is drowning the same to the two? As their corpses lie side by side, you may say of the one, but only of the one, There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For the protection that is granted to faith is to be understood only by faith.

If you believe in God, wrote Robert Louis Stevenson, where is there any more room for terror? If you are sure that God, in the long-run, means kindness by you, you should be happy. Fighting a losing battle with death, he wrote: The tragedy of things works itself out blacker and blacker. Does it shake my cast-iron faith? I cannot say that it does. I believe in an ultimate decency of things; aye, and if I woke in hell, should still believe it. Let us thank God for the faith of that high and brave soldier of suffering, going up and down the earth in quest of health, and singing as he went:

If to feel in the ink of the slough,

And sink of the mire,

Veins of glory and fire

Run through and transpierce and transpire,

And a secret purpose of glory in every part,

And the answering glory of battle fill my heart;

To thrill with the joy of girded men,

To go on forever and fail and go on again,

And be mauled to the earth and arise,

And contend for the shade of a word and a thing not seen with the eyes:

With the half of a broken hope for a pillow at night;

That somehow the right is the right

And the smooth shall bloom from the rough:

Lord, if that were enough?

4. But the promise is absolutely true in a far higher regionthe region of spiritual defence. For no man who lies under the shadow of God, and has his heart filled with the continual consciousness of that Presence, is likely to fall before the assaults of evil that tempt him away from God; and the defence which He gives in that region is yet more magnificently impregnable than the defence which He gives against external evils. For, as the New Testament teaches us, we are kept from sin, not by any outward breastplate or armour, not even by the Divine wing lying above us to cover us, but by the indwelling Christ in our hearts. His Spirit within us makes us free from the law of sin and death, and conquerors over all temptations. Every step taken into a higher, holier life secures a completer immunity from the power of evil. Virtually there is no temptation to those who climb high enough; they still suffer the trial of their faith and principle, but they have no evil thought, no affinity with evil; it exercises over them no fascination; it is to them as though it were not. Never deal with temptation on low utilitarian grounds of health, reputation, or interest. If you have a vice, convict it at Sinai; arraign it at the bar of the Judgment Day; make it ashamed of itself at the feet of Christ; blind it with heaven; scorch it with hell; take it into the upper air where it cannot get its breath, and choke it.

And chokst thou not him in the upper air

His strength he will still on the earth repair.

Migratory birds invisible to the eye have been detected by the telescope crossing the disc of the sun six miles above the earth. They have found one of the secret places of the Most High; far above the earth, invisible to the human eye, hidden in the light, they were delightfully safe from the fear of evil. Thus it is with the soul that soars into the heavenly places; no arrow can reach it, no fowler betray it, no creature of prey make it afraid: it abides in the shadow of the Almighty.1 [Note: W. L. Watkinson, The Ashes of Roses, 117.]

How good it is, when weaned from all beside,

With God alone the soul is satisfied,

Deep hidden in His heart!

How good it is, redeemed, and washed, and shriven,

To dwell, a cloistered soul, with Christ in heaven,

Joined, never more to part!

How good the hearts still chamber thus to close

On all but God alone

There in the sweetness of His love repose,

His love unknown!

All else for ever lostforgotten all

That else can be;

In rapture undisturbed, O Lord, to fall

And worship Thee.2 [Note: Frances Bevan, Hymns of Ter Steegen, 36.]

Literature

Broughton (L. G.), The Soul-Winning Church, 50.

Butler (H. M.), University and Other Sermons, 254.

Darlow (T. H.), The Upward Calling, 38.

Edmunds (L.), Sunday by Sunday, 193.

Hutton (J. A.), The Fear of Things, 45.

Landels (W.), Until the Day Break, 24.

Maclaren (A.), Last Sheaves, 160.

Norton (J. N.), Every Sunday, 257.

Pearson (A.), The Claims of the Faith, 64.

Pierson (A. T.), The Heights of the Gospel, 63.

Price (A. C), Fifty Sermons, iv. 297; viii. 73.

Raleigh (A.), Rest from Care and Sorrow, 1.

Spurgeon (C. H.), Till He Come, 23.

Watkinson (W. L.), The Ashes of Roses, 114.

Christian World, Nov. 10, 1910 (J. H. Jowett).

Christian World Pulpit, lx. 378 (W. Glover); lxx. 285 (A. S. Renton); lxxi. 219 (G. H. Morgan).

Weekly Pulpit, i. 3 (P. T. Forsyth).

Fuente: The Great Texts of the Bible

– Title This Psalm is supposed by some to have been composed by Moses on the same occasion as the preceding; but others think it was written by David, after his advice to his son Solomon. 1Ch 28:1-21

dwelleth: Psa 27:5,

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

The Psalm of Security

Psa 91:1-16

INTRODUCTORY WORDS

It seems to us that the last 4 verses of the 90th Psalm are a fitting introduction or prelude to the glorious security of the believer in the 91st Psalm. We, therefore, will begin with the fourfold prayer of Psa 90:1-17 in Psa 90:14-17.

1. The first prayer. “O satisfy us early with Thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” Here is a noble and earnest petition. The one who is saved late in life cannot rejoice and be glad all his days, because the bulk of his days has been spent in sin and in sorrow. Some one might read this, “O satisfy us quickly with Thy mercy,” but the latter part of the verse makes us think that the word “early” means early in life. When we are young we need the Lord in His saving grace. We need Him in order that we may be shielded from the sins of youth, from the sowing of seed which must bring the harvest of sorrow,

2. The second prayer. Psa 90:15 gives this prayer,-“Make us glad according to the days wherein Thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.” No matter what may have been the past, the prayer is that the future may be just as much filled with song and singing as the days of old were filled with sorrow and sighing; that the blessings may outweigh the afflictions; that the good years may overbalance the years of evil.

The Psalmist very clearly demonstrates that he anticipated no joy and no peace apart from the mercies of the Lord. He knew that there is fullness of joy only at the right hand of the Father; and in His presence alone there are pleasures forevermore.

3. The third prayer. Psa 90:16 gives us this prayer: “Let Thy work appear unto Thy servants, and Thy glory unto their children.” We remember how God commanded the fathers in the days of yore, saying, “Thou shalt teach [these things] diligently unto thy children.” What things are they which are to be taught? The wonderful works of God; how He sent judgment upon Egypt, and how He led Israel through the Red Sea, and through the wilderness.

4. The fourth prayer. This prayer is passingly beautiful. “And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish Thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish Thou it.”

I believe it was Gipsy Smith who wrote the little song,

“Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me;

All His wonderful passion and purity.”

Something similar to this is found in Eze 16:14, where Israel is described as waxing exceeding beautiful, and where her renown went forth among the nations for her beauty. It is there that we read, “For it was perfect through My comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God.”

Christians need to realize that they are clothed in the righteousness of their Lord, and that He has placed upon them His beauty. Could anyone be clothed with any more delightful a garment than that with which the Spirit clothes us? He robes us in love, joy, peace, longsuffering, goodness, gentleness, and in all those things which glorify His Name.

In the 3d prayer, above, the prayer is, “Let Thy work appear unto Thy servants.” In this 4th prayer the words are, “Establish Thou the work of our hands upon us.” It is what we do toward Him, our work and labor of love in His Name, that is now before us. He wants this work to be an established work. A work that is not effervescent. Indeed the work of the believers, which is wrought in the Spirit, will both outlive and outshine the sun.

I. THE BELIEVER’S DWELLING PLACE (Psa 91:1)

1. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High.” If I ask you the place of your abode, perhaps you would tell me of a certain city in a certain state or country. Here, however, is another place where all believers may and should dwell. It is spoken of as the “secret place,” because it is a place not known, save to the godly. It is the secret place because it is the place where believers cannot be found nor molested by the evil one.

God grant that each one of us may enter into this secret abiding place.

2. He shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. We have heard of the shadow of the great rock in the weary land. That is a delightful place to rest, away from the heat of the sun; but what is it to hide under the shadow of the Almighty! We have read of the shadow of His wings. Even Christ said, “How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens.” There is, however, more than rest when we are under the shadow of the Almighty: there is peace. There is safety. The expression, “shadow” bespeaks comfort and peace and rest and security and safety. All these we have when we dwell with Him.

II. “A PLACE OF REFUGE” (Psa 91:2-3)

1. “He is my refuge and my fortress.” Another Scripture says that He is a Refuge “from the storm. The song, Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me, suggests a refuge, because it says, “I will hide myself in Thee.” In Israel there were seven cities of refuge. To these anyone could fly from the avenger. Thus we thank God that Christ is our Refuge.

When Satan seeks us as a roaring lion, we may flee and hide ourselves in Christ. He will be our Refuge and also our Fortress.

2. “In Him will I trust.” And the Lord is the Refuge, therefore, where we may rest in security, unafraid. No matter just who the enemy may be, nor how great his power, we may trust and be not afraid.

Psa 91:3 says, “Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.” So long as the Lord is our Refuge and our Fortress we have nothing to fear, for He will also be our strong Deliverer. There is no power that can overwhelm us. There is nothing which can be raised against us. In Him we are safe from Satan’s attacks, and from the snares of the enemy. Others may be caught in the enemy’s traps. Others may fall by his subtle temptations; but He will deliver us if we hide under the shadow of His wing.

Let us say just a few words about trust. This is an Old Testament expression. In the New Testament it is faith and belief. Somehow we like the Old Testament word. It sounds so lovely in the 37th Psalm, so expressive, so meaningful, “Trust in the Lord”; “delight thyself also in the Lord”; “commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.”

When we trust in the Lord, we rest in the Lord: we wait patiently for the Lord: we are not afraid of evildoers. We are not afraid of the wicked who plot against us, because the Lord has undertaken for us and in Him we trust.

III. A PLACE FREE FROM FEAR (Psa 91:5)

“Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day.”

1. Here is a trust that is unafraid. Some one showed a little girl a picture of the storm on Galilee and of Christ asleep in the boat. The teacher said, “Would you have been afraid to be in that boat?” Then the little girl said, “No, I wouldn’t be afraid, if Christ were there.” No matter what happens, we need not fear.

David said, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” He also said, “I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.” With the wicked it is altogether different. They are afraid. They may boast their security and satisfaction in the things of earth, but let sickness come upon them and they are afraid to die. They are afraid of the judgment. They are afraid to meet God.

In the Book of Revelation and also in Isaiah we have the description of the fear of the ungodly as they hide themselves in the dens and rocks of the mountains, calling on the mountains and rocks saying, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”

2. Here is a trust that is not afraid of the terror by night. The expression “by night” carries with it the thought of the workings of Satan because he is darkness and he works under cover. The little child who is not afraid in the daytime is easily afraid by night. The Christian who trusts in the Lord need not be afraid of any power of darkness which stalks about in the shades.

He is not afraid of the arrow that flieth by day. He carries with him the shield, the shield of faith, by which he is protected from every fiery dart. The enemy cannot touch him, nor slay him, because he is under the power of the Living God.

God grant that all fear may be taken away from us.

IV. A PLACE OF COMPLETE DELIVERANCE (Psa 91:6-8)

1. There is a deliverance from pestilence. Psa 91:6 says, speaking of not being afraid, “[Thou shalt not be afraid] for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.” There is a scourge that is sweeping down thousands. A thousand are falling at our side, and ten thousand are falling at our right hand; but God says, “It shall not come nigh thee.”

These words have to do particularly with the judgments of God against the wicked. It is in the time when He sends forth destruction and pestilence, but the believer has nothing to fear. The wicked may fall, but he falls not. The wicked may be destroyed, but he lives. There is a wonderful promise in the First Epistle of John. It says, “We have passed from death unto life.” There is another verse in Thessalonians, which says that God has not appointed us unto wrath. Whatever His judgment may be, they are not appointed for us who are hid under the shadow of His wings. We are safe in Him.

2. There is an overthrow of the wicked before our very eyes. Abraham saw the smoke ascending from Sodom and Gomorrah, but the fires never touched Him. The righteous will, with his eyes, see the reward of the wicked, but He will not experience their woes nor their sorrows.

We remember how the Children of Israel passed through the Red Sea on dry land. We remember how Pharoah and his hosts followed after. When, however, the last child of God passed over, then the Children of Israel saw the waters of the Red Sea overflow and carry the armies of Pharaoh to destruction. No wonder that Moses led in the great Psalm of deliverance. No wonder that Miriam and the women also shouted for joy.

We are not teaching that either God or His children will have any pleasure in the death of the wicked-not that. We are teaching that those who are swept away by the judgments of God through their own unbelief, will be swept away apart from any judgment upon the saved. When the Great White Throne judgment is set and the books are opened, the saved may be there as witnesses beholding the judgment of the wicked, but they themselves shall in no wise become partakers in that judgment.

V. THE BASIS OF OUR SECURITY (Psa 92:9-10)

1. The believer’s assurance. We would consider Psa 92:10 first. “There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.” Our minds go back to the days of the Exodus. You remember how ten plagues were sent against the Egyptians, but in each case the Children of Israel were not under the plague. Not one of these plagues came near them.

Let us read one or two of the verses along this line. God said, “And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven: and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: they saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the Children of Israel had light in their dwellings.” God plainly taught that He made a difference between the Egyptians and the Children of Israel. When He sent the tenth and last plague, He said, “All the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill * *. But against any of the Children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue.”

2. The reason for the assurance. The reason God spared the Children of Israel was not because He favored one people more than another, as people were. The reason God delivers His own children from death today is not because He is a respecter of persons. Psa 92:9 gives the Refuge, even the Most High, thy Habitation; there shall no evil befall thee.”

If we are in Christ our Refuge and our Habitation, we are beyond the pale of His judgment. We are safe and secure in Him. God has opened a place of refuge for every man, but only the man who enters in will be saved. If a man is a Christ rejecter and he refuses to trust, he must suffer.

VI. PROTECTING ANGELS (Psa 91:11-12)

The words of these two verses are the words which Satan quoted to Christ when he said “Cast Thyself down: for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning Thee: and in their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest at any time Thou dash Thy foot against a stone.” Let us look at some of the deeper meanings suggested by these words.

1. They suggested the ministry of angels. On this line we might quote a passage in Heb 1:1-14. The verse, speaking of angels, says, “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?”

Study again the messages of the angels in the Book of Revelation. We have no doubt at all but that the angels are still playing a very important part in the lives of God’s children. We often speak of the children and their angels, because Jesus Christ said of the little ones, “In Heaven their angels do always behold the face of My Father.”

2. Let us consider some of the things the angels will do for us.

1.They will have charge over us.

2.They will keep us in all our ways.

3.They will bear us in their hands lest we dash our foot against a stone.

These are words of marvelous instruction and comfort. Do you not think that these blessed angels of God have a very definite place in the lives of His saints? Perhaps there are guardian angels, and there are directing angels. We are sure of one thing: the Scripture is true and, therefore, we are sure that God’s angels do minister to saints.

When Paul was in a storm at sea, he said to the captain and the sailors: “I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship. For there stood by me this night the. angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve.” Then he told what the angel said, and the words of good cheer which he uttered.

We remember how Peter was in jail and how the Church made supplication in his behalf. “And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote. Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly.” Thus the angel led Peter out, and he still leads out those who trust in God.

VII. IN THE TRAIN OF CHRIST’S TRIUMPH (Psa 91:13-16)

1. “Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder.” Satan did not quote these words when he was telling Christ to cast Himself down from the pinnacle of the Temple. He very glibly told Christ about throwing Himself down, but not a word about His treading the lion and adder under His feet. He knew full well that he was the lion, and we know full well that Christ did trample him under His feet.

We know that, at this very moment, Jesus Christ has ascended up far above principalities and powers and is seated at the right hand of the Father. Satan is under His feet, and he is under our feet because Christ’s victory is ours.

2. “I will set him on high.” Psa 91:14 is a wonderful message, “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.” Thank God for such words of assurance. Do we love Him? Then He will deliver us. Do we love Him and set our love on Him? Then He will set us on high. He will set us on high because we have known His Name.

3. “I will answer him.” This is the promise of Psa 91:15. It is concerning prayer. “He shall call upon Me, and I will answer Him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.” What do we want any better than this in our prayer life? No one need tell us that prayer does not get us anywhere.

4. “With long life will I satisfy him.” If we want to live long, we must love the Lord. We must walk in His ways. We must do His will. Then He will not only answer our prayers, but He will satisfy us with long life. He will let us dwell long upon the earth, in order that we may tell others of His goodness and grace.

AN ILLUSTRATION

On 7th March, 1906, Mr. G. F. Bergin, honorary director of Muller’s Homes, received a donation of 3 from Staffordshire, with the following note: “It is 3 laid down at the feet of the Living God on the anniversary of the day when a wicked atheist and lecturer on atheism versus Christianity, was in 1849 turned upside down into a Christian on a small common where he sat down with the intention of committing suicide, when God in His wondrous love revealed Himself as an undeniable reality, without any human instrumentality, illuminating the utter folly of all atheism, so as to enable him to grasp salvation full and free, to believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Covenant from back to back, and afterward to proclaim the Gospel of a crucified, risen, and ascended Christ. Oh, the bliss of true, undefiled Christianity! Its joys are more than tongue can titter.” Fifty-seven years saved and kept, yet some ask about holding on, falling away, etc. (Joh 10:27-29).

Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water

The Second Man.

Thus the ruin of man has been seen; and it is utter. As a being made for a dependent life of immortal blessing, he has failed to maintain this; and death is the seal of condemnation; his taking from the earth in which he was placed. What follows death does not come into view, for it is not in question. It is death itself that is so complete an assurance that God has judged and set aside the creature H has made. Thus he has lost God as his habitation; and, though he take to heart the lesson of his judgment, and look back with desire of heart to the place whence he has fallen; the way is not yet found by which he shall be reinstated in it.

It is this that the ninety-first psalm begins to open up to us. The whole is not by any means told in it; but a commencement is made, and with what is first and central in its relation to it. We learn here of a Second Man -not called so, indeed, but most evidently in opposition to the universal condition of men as shown us in the preceding psalm, and designedly set before us in this character. It is One who has “made Jehovah, even the Most High, His habitation,” and who can claim rightly all the consequences of this. No plague can come near Him; no power of the enemy prevail against him; heaven provides Him with a watchful and powerful escort; all nature is in agreement with Him: thus there is a Man who is entitled indeed to be called a “Second Man,” though but a part of the truth about Him has yet been told.

1. The principle of perpetuity in life and blessing is first of all stated, and in terms which directly refer to the previous psalm. “He that abideth in the secret of the Most High shall lodge under the shadow of the Almighty.” That is, the protection of One all-competent to protect is assured to the man who abides in the secret -or “dwells in the secret place” -of the Most High: the God who is going to take His place as that, in those millennial times which are to come for the earth, -King of kings and Lord of lords.

Manifestly, this is the “Lord” of the previous psalm, who has been a “habitation for us in all generations”; and, as plainly, this “habitation” is that very “secret,” “or secret place” -of the Most High which it has shown us to have become such: man having dropped out of the knowledge of it, and lost the resulting blessing.

When God appeared to the man who was to bring Israel out of Egypt, and gave him his commission to do so, Moses desires to know by what name he is to declare God to them. And the Name of God today is hidden from multitudes by a worse confusion than that which began at Babel. The day is yet to come when in all the earth “there shall be One Jehovah and His Name One” (Zec 14:9). But these many names only reveal the practical estrangement of men from Him whose character His Name reveals. Little hope can there be naturally as to a creature who permits even the name of his God to slip away from him! But who abides in the secret place of the Most High? We have already had the answer.

Yet in the next verse a response is heard, which at first indeed may not seem to be as distinctly indicative of the Speaker as it afterwards is found to be: “I will say of Jehovah,” he replies, “He is my Refuge and Fortress: my God: I trust in Him.” Faith in all times would have answered in similar terms, it might be said: and this is true. The Spirit of Christ in all His people has indeed used the language of Christ, and of course, truly; yet how different after all is the One Voice from the others! That the voice of absolute Truth has spoken here is made known by the echoes it awakens around, and presently by that of God Himself which attests it. That this psalm was written of the Messiah, Satan surely knew when he quoted to Him the eleventh and twelfth verses with the comment, “If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down.” And the whole structure of the book, as we have considered it, and shall do more at large, proves the same thing.

2. The words used are those of absolute dependence; and now another voice, which is that surely of the Spirit of prophesy, answers again with the assurance of how completely this faith is justified and made good. He has made God His refuge, and shall find it a perfect and absolute one: from the snare of the trapper and the pestilence alike He will deliver; and in the tender love of endeared relationship, covering with His feathers and the broad shelter of His outstretched wings, -love pledged to Him who has cast Himself entirely upon it, so that His truth becomes a shield and buckler.

The inward realization answers to this perfect care: no terror of the night, no arrow flying openly by day, alarms. Nature is at peace with Him with whom its God is: pestilence nor destruction touches Him; and the fall of thousands round Him only demonstrates the more the complete protection which the divine government throws round the Man whose sole reliance is in God. Only shall He see with His own eyes the end of the wicked.

3. A new division of the psalm begins here: which seems, at first sight, very much a repetition of what has been said before, but goes beyond it, and opens the heavenly side of blessing. He has made Jehovah, the refuge of His saints, the Supreme, His habitation; and heaven opens towards Him in consequence. Notice the words here for the first time, “my refuge.” It is but a hint indeed, for as yet there can be no more, but a real hint nevertheless, of such refuge opening now to others, through Him who has in fact never known nor sought any but in God. And He has made Him His habitation; not professed to do so, nor labored to do so. but done so -abode in God as a new and perfect Man; for whom no excuse is to be made, and no reduction from the full demand for absolute perfection. Hence evil has no hold on Him; nor opportunity against Him: there shall no evil befall Thee, nor plague come near Thy tent.” “Tent,” mark: so that, with all the perfection of Manhood which is His, He is yet a Sojourner and Pilgrim upon the earth. He is not another man of the earth merely, a mere Adam that has never fallen: and who by virtue of that very unfallen state, could never have been a pilgrim. But here is One whose glory shines out in His very humiliation. He is a Wayfarer, not because a steward turned out of his stewardship; outside paradise, indeed, but not banished from it; One with His home in God, yet in an alien world, and whither should His steps be directed, but towards God His home, and in the place where His home is?

Thus even here heaven opens to Him. He is in a hostile world, and must have an escort; and angels are charged concerning Him, to keep Him in all His ways. Those blessed feet, so traveling through a place which is all in disorder, and might seem even haphazard, must be preserved from casualty.

But there is the power of the enemy also, “the lion and the adder” -force and craft. Both must give way to Him. He turns not aside, but tramples them under His feet. Good is ordained to victory, necessarily, or it would not be God that ruled: and that is, I suppose, why the number here is that of divine government. We do not see things work in this simple manner doubtless, and there is plenty of room left for exercise, and for faith. But the rule itself is absolute, and must be.

And now the voice of God Himself is heard; and He too owns and testifies to the Man in whom He delights. Heart has met heart: “because He has set His love upon Me, I will deliver Him.” And here we find where His path necessarily ends: “I will set Him on high, because He has known My Name.”

But this does not begin a new section, apparently, and therefore must come under the number which speaks of victory; at first sight difficult to understand or recognize as appropriate. Yet in fact this is the time of which it is said: “He has gone up on high; He has led captivity captive; He has received gifts for men.” And this connects readily with the previous verse, -the power of the enemy trampled in the dust. Thus the structure reveals its significance; and again we have a hint, and yet more than a hint of a work accomplished for others: not the cross (for that is not in the line of this psalm; and involves the giving up in grace of what is seen to be proper to Him here) but that which in fact triumphed in the cross itself. For the priest’s white linen robe was that in which he went in to God; and when He cried “with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him

out of death, He was heard for His piety” (Heb 5:7). By the power of His absolute perfection He rose necessarily from all that He endured, into His own sphere: and this was truly the greatest of victories, and is perfectly in the line of the psalm before us.

Accordingly the next verse reminds us of the cross itself, although the peculiar features of the cross are not in it. There is the call that was heard, but no forsaking: “He shall call on Me, and I will answer Him: I will be with Him in strait; I will deliver Him and honor Him:” -a perfect response to personal perfection; while the last verse, with its significant number, overlaps time and stretches through eternity. “With length of days will I satisfy Him; and show Him My salvation.” Compare Psa 21:4 for the interpretation: “He asked life of Thee, -Thou hast given it Him: length of days for ever and aye.” It is the same Person before us in both psalms.

Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary

Psa 91:1. He that dwelleth in the secret place, &c. He that makes God his habitation and refuge, as he is called Psa 91:9, that has recourse to him, and relies on him in his dangers and difficulties; that has access to him, intercourse with him, and worships within the veil, living a life of constant communion with him; shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty He shall not be disappointed of his hope, but shall find a quiet and safe resting- place under the divine care. A shadow, in Scripture, often signifies protection. But there evidently seems to be an allusion to the most holy place in the tabernacle and temple, and to the outstretched wings of the cherubim covering the ark and mercy-seat: see notes on Psa 27:5; Psa 32:7. And it is as if the psalmist had said, He shall dwell like the ark in the holy of holies, under the immediate shadow and protection of the Divine Majesty. It is justly observed here by Dr. Horne, that in all dangers, whether spiritual or corporal, the members of Christs mystical body may reflect, with comfort, that they are under the same almighty Protector.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

This psalm is sent down to us as an ode of praise by David, written when the pestilence was stayed. The Targum considers it as a dialogue between David and Solomon, giving the Almighty the final word. But whoever was the author, the sublime and beautiful are joined in the composition. Like the pectoral of the highpriest, it is studded with gems of logic, and brilliants of rhetoric. The views of a protecting providence are set forth to perfection, and built on facts in the extraordinary preservation of holy men.

Psa 91:1. The secret place of the Most High, where he resides on the mercyseat. There the refugee covers himself with the shield of omnipotence. All the evils of the fowlers snares, of pestilence and war, are set at defiance.

Psa 91:4. He shall cover thee with his feathers, the wings of the cherubim. Eze 1:6.

Psa 91:7. Thousands shall fall in battle. David could say this with confidence, for God had always covered his head in the day of battle. To others, both in war and pestilence, this special favour has been denied.

Psa 91:11. He shall give his angels charge over thee, as illustrated in Psa 34:7. The repetition seems a further proof that David was the author of this psalm.

REFLECTIONS.

This psalm describes the happiness of the man who is in close covenant with God. The numerous perils of the night, and all the dangers of the day, shall not make him afraid; whether the arrow which pierces in a moment, or the pestilence which destroys in an hour, either at noonday or at night. Likewise in the dreadful carnage, when whole columns are cut in pieces, the good man shall be safe, even while a spectator of the Lords tragic work. When he also ventures into the forests, he shall receive no harm from the furious lion, or the subtle serpent; these shall be subject to his power. But the psalm is to be understood of a good man under Gods special protection, of the man whom he loves, and whom he has called to do a great work in the earth. Paul at Corinth had the promise, No man shall set on thee to hurt thee. Likewise when at sea, the Lord said to him, Lo I have given thee all the souls that sail with thee in the ship. God gave his angels charge to keep him; and of His marvellous protection, history abounds with examples. But we should learn from those words which Satan adduced to our Saviour, not to tempt providence; for the wise man and the fool often die together, or fall alike by the same stroke. And in a spiritual view we should be still more confident of safety against ghostly enemies; for the God of peace will shortly bruise Satan under our feet as the adder, and awe the lions of the earth who would devour his flock.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

XCI. God Protects His Own.

Psa 91:1 f. Read perhaps Blessed is he that dwelleth, that abideth, that saith of Yahweh.

Psa 91:3. noisome pestilence: read, from the pit of destruction. The pestilence is mentioned with greater fullness (Psa 91:6).

Psa 91:5. The arrow may be a metaphor for the sun-stroke.

Psa 91:9. Read, For as for thee, Yahweh is thy refuge. We thus avoid an intolerable confusion of persons.

Psa 91:13 a. Read, Thou shalt tread on the creeping thing and adder.

The poet holds the view common among the Jews in the second century B.C. The righteous are rewarded with material prosperity, especially long life. The prosperity of the bad is precarious.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

PSALM 91

The Man who abides in the secret place of the Most High.

The 90th Psalm presents mortal man in contrast to the everlasting God. The 91st Psalm presents Christ as the perfectly dependent Man in contrast to mortal man.

(v. 1) The 90th Psalm opens by announcing the great fact that the Lord has been the dwelling place of His people in all generations. This psalm opens by stating the blessedness of the one who dwells in the dwelling place. He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. If Psalm 90 describes the blessedness of the dwelling place, Psalm 91 presents the blessedness of the dweller.

We gladly own the fact that the one who dwells in the secret place of the Most High must abide under the shadow of the Almighty; but where can we find a man who dwells in this secret place? Adam, the first man, described in the 90th Psalm, failing to abide in the secret place, was driven forth to be a wanderer, to wither in the evening of his life and, at last, be cut off. In this psalm there comes before us another Man, One of whom we read, He that dwelleth…shall abide. Who can this be but Christ, the One who, in His pathway through this world, ever abode in the secret place of the Most High? He could speak of Himself as the Son of Man which is in heaven. He walked on earth but dwelt in heaven.

(v. 2) In this verse we know that Christ is the speaker, for the Spirit of God, in Heb 2:13, uses the statement I will put my trust in him, as the language of Christ. It is the acceptance by Christ of the proposal of verse 1. He responds by saying, I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust, He will make God his refuge in every storm, and his defence from every enemy. The need of a refuge and a fortress proves that Christ is speaking in the circumstances of man. There will be no storms to ruffle the calm of heaven, no enemy to oppose. It is a wilderness psalm, and, in after days is used by the Spirit of God in the wilderness circumstances of our Lord (See Luk 4:10 and Heb 1:14).

The names by which God is referred to in the first two verses have a special significance. The Most High speaks of the absolute supremacy of God (Gen 14:18-20). The Almighty speaks of absolute power (Gen 17:1). Then we learn from the lips of Christ that the One who is supreme in position and absolute in power is the Jehovah of Israel – the Eternal God, the I AM. How safe then – how sure of blessing must be the one who dwells in His secret place.

(vv. 3-8) In these verses the Spirit of God addresses Christ, unfolding the blessings that flow to the one who dwells in the secret place of the Most High. Such will know the power of God delivering from the snares of the enemy, and from the destructive pestilence of evil. Moreover he will enjoy the watchful care of love, for He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou find refuge. In result the one who dwells in the secret place will not be afraid of secret attack – the terror by night, nor of direct and open opposition – the arrow by day. A thousand shall fall at his side, but destruction shall not come nigh the one who confides in Jehovah. He shall have no part in the judgment of the wicked save to behold it with his eyes.

(vv. 9-13) The Spirit of God has spoken: now one of the godly of Israel, with whom Christ has identified Himself, is led by the Spirit to address Christ. This godly soul can speak of Jehovah as his refuge, and thus with confidence can say to Christ, Because Thou hast made the Lord…even the most High, thy habitation, there shall no evil befall thee. The evils and plagues that are common to fallen man shall not come nigh to His tent – for thus it should read, clearly showing that it is His pilgrim journey on earth that is in view. Moreover, the resources of heaven are available for Him throughout His earthly pathway. The angels are charged to keep Him in all His ways. Furthermore, He will triumph over all the power of the devil, whether coming against Him as the lion, the adder, or the dragon. As the lion, the devil wields a destructive power over man; as the adder, he beguiles men (2Co 11:3); as the dragon he persecutes (Rev. 12).

Thus in the pathway of this perfectly dependent Man, earth’s evils cannot come nigh Him, heaven’s hosts wait upon Him, and hell’s forces are subdued beneath Him.

(vv. 14-16) The Spirit by whom He was led has spoken; the voice of the remnant, with whom He associated, has been heard; now we are privileged to hear God Himself, as He testifies to the Man in whom is His delight. God has at last found in Christ a Man in wilderness circumstances of whom He can say, He hath set his love upon me, He hath known my name; and He shall call upon me. Alas! we have set our affections upon anyone but God; we have been indifferent to all the blessedness of God as set forth in His Name; we have done our own wills rather than walk in dependence upon Him. Here at last is a perfect Man who, while walking on earth, has set His love wholly upon Jehovah, who knows and delights in the blessedness of Jehovah’s Name, and ever expressed His absolute dependence upon Jehovah by calling upon His Name. To the personal perfection of this perfect Man, God will give a perfect answer. God can say of Christ

I will deliver Him,

I will set Him on high,

I will answer Him,

I will be with Him,

I will honour Him,

I will satisfy Him with length of days, and

I will show Him My salvation.

Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible

91:1 He that dwelleth in the {a} secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

(a) He who makes God his defence and trust will perceive his protection to be a most sure safeguard.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Psalms 91

This wisdom psalm focuses on security in life, an idea present in Psalms 90. The writer knew that God provides security. It is a psalm for situations involving danger, exposure, or vulnerability.

"This remarkable psalm speaks with great specificity, and yet with a kind of porousness, so that the language is enormously open to each one’s particular experience. Its tone is somewhat instructional, as though reassuring someone else who is unsure. Yet the assurance is not didactic, but confessional. It is a personal testimony of someone whose own experience makes the assurance of faith convincing and authentic." [Note: Brueggemann, p. 156.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

1. The security God provides 91:1-2

God Himself is the One who is the believer’s security. The unknown psalmist described Him as the Most High (Sovereign Ruler) and the Almighty (One having all power). Those who rely on Him find that He is a shelter from the storms of life and a shadowy place of security, much like the area under a bird’s wing. He is a refuge where we can run for safety in times of danger and a fortress that will provide defense against attacking foes.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Psa 91:1-16

THE solemn sadness of Psa 90:1-17 is set in strong relief by the sunny brightness of this song of happy, perfect trust in the Divine protection. The juxtaposition is, however, probably due to the verbal coincidence of the same expression being used in both psalms in reference to God. In Psa 90:1 and in Psa 91:9, the somewhat unusual designation “dwelling place” is applied to Him. and the thought conveyed in it runs through the whole of this psalm.

An outstanding characteristic of it is its sudden changes of persons; “He,” “I,” and “thou” alternate in a bewildering fashion, which has led to many attempts at explanation. One point is clear-that, in Psa 91:14-16, God speaks, and that He speaks of, not to, the person who loves and clings to Him. At Psa 91:14, then, we must suppose a change of speaker, which is unmarked by any introductory formula. Looking back over the remainder of the psalm, we find that the bulk of it is addressed directly to a person who must be the same as is spoken of in the Divine promises. The “him” of the latter is the “thee” of the mass of the psalm. But this mass is broken at two points by clauses alike in meaning, and containing expressions of trust (Psa 91:2, Psa 91:9 a). Obviously the unity of the psalm requires that the “I” of these two verses should be the “thou” of the great portion of the psalm, and the “he” of the last part. Each profession of trust will then be followed by assurances of safety thence resulting. Psa 91:2 having for pendant Psa 91:3-8, and Psa 91:9 a being followed by Psa 91:9-13. The two utterances of personal faith are substantially identical, and the assurances which succeed them are also in effect the same. It is by some supposed that this alternation of persons is due simply to the poet expressing partly “his own feelings as from himself, and partly as if they were uttered by another” (Perowne after Ewald). But that is not an explanation of the structure; it is only a statement of the structure which requires to be explained. No doubt the poet is expressing his own feelings or convictions all through the psalm: but why does he express them in this singular fashion?

The explanation which is given by Delitzsch, Stier, Cheyne and many others takes the psalm to be antiphonal, and distributes the parts among the voices of a choir, with some variations in the allocation.

But Psa 91:1 still remains a difficulty. As it stands it sounds flat and tautological, and hence attempts have been made to amend it, which will presently be referred to. But it will fall into the general antiphonal scheme, if it is regarded as a prelude, sung by the same voice which twice answers the single singer with choral assurances that reward his trust. We, then. have this distribution of parts: Psa 91:1, the broad statement of the blessedness of dwelling with God; Psa 91:2, a solo, the voice of a heart encouraged thereby to exercise personal trust; Psa 91:3-8, answers, setting forth the security of such a refuge; Psa 91:9 a, solo, reiterating with sweet monotony the word of trust; Psa 91:9-13, the first voice or chorus repeating with some variation the assurances of Psa 91:3-8; and Psa 91:14-16, Gods acceptance of the trust and confirmation of the assurances.

There is, no doubt, difficulty in Psa 91:1; for, if it is taken as an independent sentence, it sounds tautological, since there is no well-marked difference between “sitting” and “lodging,” nor much between “secret place” and “shadow.” But possibly the idea of safety is more strongly conveyed by “shadow” than by “secret place,” and the meaning of the apparently identical assertion may be, that he who quietly enters into communion with God thereby passes into His protection; or, as Kay puts it, “Loving faith on mans part shall be met by faithful love on Gods part.” The LXX changes the person of “will say” in Psa 91:2, and connects it with Psa 91:1 as its subject (“He that sits, that lodges shall say”). Ewald, followed by Baethgen and others, regards Psa 91:1 as referring to the “I” of Psa 91:2, and translates “Sitting I say.” Hupfeld, whom Cheyne follows, cuts the knot by assuming that “Blessed is” has dropped out at the beginning of Psa 91:1, and so gets a smooth run of construction and thought (“Happy is he who sits who lodges who says). It is suspiciously smooth, obliterates the characteristic change of persons, of which the psalm has other instances, and has no support except the thought that the psalmist would have saved us a great deal of trouble, if he had only been wise enough to have written so. The existing text is capable of a meaning in accordance with his general drift. A wide declaration like that of Psa 91:1 fittingly preludes the body of the song, and naturally evokes the pathetic profession of faith which follows.

According to the accents, Psa 91:2 is to be read “I will say. To Jehovah [belongs] my refuge,” etc. But it is better to divide as above. Jehovah is the refuge. The psalmist speaks to Him, with the exclamation of yearning trust. He can only call Him by precious names, to use which, in however broken a fashion, is an appeal that goes straight to His heart, as it comes straight from the suppliants. The singer lovingly accumulates the Divine names in these two first verses. He calls God “Most High,” “Almighty,” when he utters the general truth of the safety of souls that enter His secret place; but, when he speaks his own trust, he addresses Jehovah, and adds to the wide designation “God” the little word “my,” which claims personal possession of His fulness of Deity. The solo voice does not say much, but it says enough. There has been much underground work before that clear jet of personal “appropriating faith” could spring into light.

We might have looked for a Selah here, if this psalm had stood in the earlier books, but we can feel the brief pause before the choral answer comes in Psa 91:3-8. It sets forth in lofty poetry the blessings that such a trust secures. Its central idea is that of safety. That safety is guaranteed in regard to two classes of dangers-those from enemies, and those from diseases.

Both are conceived of as divided into secret and open perils. Psa 91:3 proclaims the trustful souls immunity, and Psa 91:4 beautifully describes the Divine protection which secures it. Psa 91:5-6 expand the general notion of safety into defence against secret and open foes and secret and open pestilences; while Psa 91:7-8 sum up the whole, in a vivid contrast between the multitude of victims and the man sheltered in God, and looking out from his refuge on the wide-rolling flood of destruction. As in Psa 18:5, Death is represented as a “fowler” into whose snares men heedlessly flutter, unless held back by Gods delivering hand. The mention of pestilence in Psa 91:3 somewhat anticipates the proper order, as the same idea recurs in its appropriate place in Psa 91:6. Hence the rendering “word,” which requires no consonantal change is adopted from the LXX by several moderns. But that is feeble, and the slight irregularity of a double mention of one form of peril, which is naturally suggested by the previous reference to Death, is not of much moment. The beautiful description of God sheltering the trustful man beneath his pinions recalls Deu 32:11 and Psa 17:8; Psa 63:7. The mother eagle, spreading her dread wingover her eaglets, is a wonderful symbol of the union of power and gentleness. It would be a bold hand which would drag the fledglings from that warm hiding place and dare the terrors of that beak and claws. But this pregnant verse (Psa 91:4) not only tells of the strong defence which God is, but also, in a word, sets in clear light mans way of reaching that asylum. “Thou shalt take refuge.” It is the word which is often vaguely rendered “trust,” but which, if we retain its original signification, becomes illuminative as to what that trust is. The flight of the soul, conscious of nakedness and peril, to the safe shelter of Gods breast is a description of faith which, in practical value, surpasses much learned dissertation. And this verse adds yet another point to its comprehensive statements, when, changing the figure, it calls Gods Troth, or faithful adherence to His promises and obligations, our “shield and target.” We have not to fly to a dumb God for shelter, or to risk anything upon a Peradventure. He has spoken, and His word is inviolable. Therefore, trust is possible. And between ourselves and all evil we may lift the shield of His Troth. His faithfulness is our sure defence, and Faith is our shield only in a secondary sense, its office being but to grasp our true defence, and to keep us well behind that.

The assaults of enemies and the devastations of pestilence are taken in Psa 91:5-6 as types of all perils. These evils speak of a less artificial stage of society than that in which our experience moves, but they serve us as symbols of more complex dangers besetting outward and inward life. “The terror of the night” seems best understood as parallel with the “arrow that flies by day,” in so far as both refer to actual attacks by enemies. Nocturnal surprises were favourite methods of assault in early warfare. Such an explanation is worthier than the supposition that the psalmist means demons that haunt the night. In Psa 91:6 pestilence is personified as stalking, shrouded in darkness, the more terrible because it strikes unseen. Psa 91:6 b has been understood, as by the Targum and LXX, to refer to demons who exercise their power in noonday. But this explanation rests upon a misreading of the word rendered “devastates.” The other translated “sickness” is only found, besides this place, in Deu 32:24 (“destruction”) and Isa 28:2 (“a destroying storm,” lit. a storm of destruction), and in somewhat different form in Hos 13:14. It comes from a root meaning to cut, and seems here to be a synonym for pestilence. Baethgen sees in “the arrow by day” the fierce sunbeams, and in “the heat (as he renders) which rages at noonday” the poisonous simoom. The trustful man, sheltered in God, looks on while thousands fall round him, as Israel looked from their homes on the Passover night, and sees that there is a God that judges and recompenses evil-doers by evil suffered.

Heartened by these great assurances, the single voice once more declares its trust. Psa 91:9 a is best separated from b, though Hupfeld here again assumes that” thou hast said” has fallen out between “For” and “Thou.”

This second utterance of trust is almost identical with the first. Faith has no need to vary its expression. “Thou, Jehovah, art my refuge” is enough for it. Gods mighty name and its personal possession of all which that name means, as its own hiding place, are its treasures which it does not weary of recounting. Love loves to repeat itself. The deepest emotions, like song birds, have but two or three notes, which they sing over and over again all the long day through. He that can use this singers words of trust has a vocabulary rich enough.

The responsive assurances (Psa 91:9-13) are, in like manner, substantially identical with the preceding ones, but differences may be discerned by which these are heightened in comparison with the former. The promise of immunity is more general. Instead of two typical forms of danger, the widest possible exemption from all forms of it is declared in Psa 91:10. No evil shall come near, no scourge approach, the “tent” of the man whose real and permanent “dwelling place” is Jehovah. There are much beauty and significance in that contrast of the two homes in which a godly man lives, housing, as far as his outward life is concerned, in a transitory abode, which tomorrow may be rolled up and moved to another camping place in the desert, but abiding in so far as his true being is concerned, in God, the permanent dwelling place through all generations. The transitory outward life has reflected on it some light of peaceful security from that true home. It is further noteworthy that the second group of assurances is concerned with active life, while the first only represented a passive condition of safety beneath Gods wing. In Psa 91:11-12, His angels take the place of protectors, and the sphere in which they protect is “in all thy ways”-i.e., in the activities of ordinary life. The dangers there are of stumbling, whether that be construed as referring to outward difficulties or to temptations to sin.

The perils, further specified in Psa 91:13, correspond to those of the previous part in being open and secret: the lion with its roar and leap, the adder with its stealthy glide among the herbage and its unlooked-for bite. So, the two sets of assurances, taken together, cover the whole ground of life, both in its moments of hidden communion in the secret place of the Most High, and in its times of diligent discharge of duty on lifes common way. Perils of communion and perils of work are equally real, and equally may we be sheltered from them. God Himself spreads His wing over the trustful man, and sends His messengers to keep him, in all the paths appointed for him by God. The angels have no charge to take stones out of the way. Hinderances are good for us. Smooth paths weary and make presumptuous. Rough ones bring out our best and drive us to look to God. But His messengers have for their task to lift us on their palms over difficulties, not so that we shall not feel them to be difficult, but so that we shall not strike our foot against them. Many a man remembers the elevation and buoyancy of spirit which strangely came to him when most pressed by work or trouble. Gods angels were bearing him up. Active life is full of open and secret foes as well as of difficulties. He that keeps near to God will pass unharmed through them all, and, with a foot made strong and firm by Gods own power infused into it, will be able to crush the life out of the most formidable and the most sly assailants. “The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.”

Finally, God Himself speaks, and confirms and deepens the previous assurances. That He is represented as speaking of, not to, His servant increases the majesty of the utterance, by seeming to call the universe to hear, and converts promises to an individual into promises to everyone who will fulfil the requisite conditions. These are threefold.

God desires that men should cling to Him, know His name, and call on Him. The word rendered “cling” includes more than “setting love upon” one. It means to bind or knit oneself to anything, and so embraces the cleaving of a fixed heart, of a “recollected” mind, and of an obedient will. Such clinging demands effort: for every hand relaxes its grasp, unless ever and again tightened. He who thus clings will come to “know” Gods “name,” with the knowledge which is born of experience, and is loving familiarity, not mere intellectual apprehension. Such clinging and knowledge will find utterance in continual converse with God, not only when needing deliverance, but in perpetual aspiration after Him.

The promises to such a one go very deep and stretch very far. “I will deliver him.” So the previous assurance that no evil shall come nigh him is explained and brought into correspondence with the facts of life. Evil may be experienced. Sorrows will come. But they will not touch the central core of the true life, and from them God wilt deliver, not only by causing them to cease, but by fitting us to bear. Clinging to Him, a man will be “drawn out of many waters,” like Peter on the stormy lake. “I will set him on high” is more than a parallel promise to that of deliverance. It includes that; for a man lifted to a height is safe from the flood that sweeps through the valley, or from the enemies that ravage the plain. But that elevation, which comes from knowing Gods name, brings more than safety, even a life lived in a higher region than that. of things seen. “I will answer him.” How can He fail to hear when they who trust Him cry? Promises, especially for the troubled, follow, which do not conflict with the earlier assurances, rightly understood. “I will be with him in trouble.” Gods presence is the answer to His servants call. God comes nearer to devout and tried souls, as a mother presses herself caressingly closer to a weeping child. So, no man need add solitude to sadness, but may have God sitting with him, like Jobs friends, waiting to comfort him with true comfort. And His presence delivers from, and glorifies after, trouble borne as becomes Gods friend. The bit of dull steel might complain, if it could feel, of the pain of being polished, but the result is to make it a mirror fit to flash back the sunlight.

“With length of days will I satisfy him” is, no doubt, a promise belonging more especially to Old Testament times; but if we put emphasis on “satisfy,” rather than on the extended duration, it may fairly suggest that, to the trustful soul, life is long enough, whatever its duration, and that the guest, who has sat at Gods table here, is not unwilling to rise from it, when his time comes, being “satisfied with favour, and full of the goodness of the Lord.” The vision of Gods salvation, which is set last, seems from its position in the series to point, however dimly, to a vision which comes after earths troubles and length of days. The psalmists language implies not a mere casual beholding, but a fixed gaze. Delitzsch renders “revel in My salvation” (English translation). Cheyne has “feast his eyes with.” Such seeing is possession. The crown of Gods promises to the man who makes God his dwelling place is a full, rapturous experience of a full salvation, which follows on the troubles and deliverances of earth, and brings a more dazzling honour and a more perfect satisfaction.

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary