Today I wanted to focus on Psalm 91. Because Halloween is often filled with images of fear, death, and evil I wanted to focus on how God is our refuge. He is our Protector. No matter what we are facing, no matter what forces may come against us, God has promised to protect us.

God is Our Shelter

When you really look at Psalm 91, you will find that God will protect us from every kind or evil or disease that exists in this world. However, that protection is conditional upon us believing in Him and taking hold of His promises. He doesn’t want us to just think about our faith but to verbalize it as well.

“He who dwells in the shelter 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 whom I trust.” 

Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the hunter and from the deadly pestilence.

He shall cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you shall find protection: His faithfulness shall be your shield and wall. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor the arrow that flies by day; nor the pestilence that pursues in darkness, nor of the destruction that strikes at noonday.

A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you behold and see the reward of the wicked.

Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling, there shall be no evil befall you, neither shall any plague come near your tent; for He shall give His angels charge over you to guard you in all your ways.  They shall bear you up in their hands lest you strike your foot against a stone.

You shall tread upon the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because  he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, and I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation.

Psalm 91:1-16 MEV

God Will Protect Us

God has promised to protect us from every kind of evil that could befall us in Psalm 91.

He promised to protect us from:

• Satan
• Disease and Pestilence
• Evil that comes from Mankind
• Destruction (aka Acts of God)

4 Categories

Satan

The hunter in verse 3 is actually Satan. He lays strategic traps that are designed to snare us-just like that of a hunter trying to catch his prey in the woods. Satan wants to defeat us. He doesn’t lay his traps by accident, but on purpose. He tries to catch us unaware.

Additionally, if you look at verse 5, it mentions “the arrow that flies by day”. These are arrows that the enemy sends our way to defeat us. They can attack us either physically, spiritually, emotionally, or mentally. Also, they are targeted specifically to you and me.

Disease and Pestilence

God also promised to protect us from all kinds of disease and pestilence as mentioned in verse 3 and verse 6.

If you look at Webster’s dictionary, pestilence is defined as:

“any virulent or fatal disease; an epidemic that hits the masses of people- any deadly disease that attaches itself to one’s body with the intent to destroy”

Webster’s Dictionary

These days we have COVID-19, respiratory illnesses, plagues, famines, AIDS, STD’s and the list goes on. If we believe God and His promises and take hold of them, He promises to protect us. We have no need to fear

Evil that comes from mankind

If you look at verse 5a, it says “you shall not be afraid of the terror by night.” This refers to all kinds of evil that man can do. This could include rape, kidnapping, murder, abuse, terrorism, wars and more.

However, there is no need to be afraid of any of it, when you have God as your shelter and your protector.

Destruction

Verse 6b mentions the “destruction that strikes at noonday”. This is describing what we would typically refer to as “acts of God” and includes hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and other kinds of natural disasters.

There is no place on earth where you can go and be totally safe from some kind of natural disaster- except to God’s arms.

God Is Your Shelter

If you imagine an Eagle protecting it’s young under it’s wings, that what God wants to do for us. He wants to protect us from every kind of evil that exists as described above.

His faithfulness is our shield. It also says in Ephesians 6:16 to “take up our shield of faith with which we can extinguish all the fiery arrows of the evil one.” We have to stand in faith, trusting in His faithfulness.

God sends His Angels to Guard Us

Can you imagine that God actually sends His angels to guard us and protect us “in all our ways” “lest you strike your foot against a stone.” I wonder how many things God’s angels have protected me from? It will be interesting to find out one day in heaven.

God Gives Us Authority

In verse 13, God gives us authority over the “lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent”. If you think about lions, they are bold and in your face. This is referring to problems that are right in your face. They are right out in the open. Serpent problems are hidden, they sneak up on you just like a snake does. They may not be recognized immediately.

No matter the source of the problem, though. God gives us the authority over them.

God’s Promises

In the last three verses of Psalm 91, God talks to us directly and promises us seven different things if we “set our love upon Him”, “know His name” and “call to Him”. This is all about having an intimate, personal relationship with Him- not an impersonal, legalistic one.

He promises:

• To deliver us
• To set us on high- bring us up to where He is
• To answer our prayers
• Rescue us from trouble
• To Honor us
• Satisfy us with long life
• Salvation

Conclusion

Psalm 91 is so full of God’s promises, it’s hard to fully comprehend. Can you imagine, God raising us up to where He is? What would that do for our perspective? To see what He sees? Or to deliver us and rescue us from troubles, pestilences, and all kinds of evil? What about God wanting to honor us? Have you ever received an award of some kind? Imagine what it would be like to for God Almighty to honor you. Then, to want to satisfy us with long life and salvation. The greatest gift of all.

I want to use my life as must as possible to bring Him glory. How about you? When I read this Psalm, it just makes me so very thankful of all that He has already done for me. He’s just waiting for me to turn to Him and abide in Him and take hold of His promises.

I know I just barely touched the surface of this Psalm, there is so much in here that I wasn’t able to cover in one post. But, I encourage you to take some time and read it for yourself and let God speak to your heart.

You also may want to check out my recent post Immanuel- God With Us.

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