Making 'Psense' of Psalms--Psalm 91: Protector

Part of a continuing series on selected psalms.
“There’s been a shooting at SPU,” my husband said, standing in front of the television the afternoon of June 5. A camera in a news helicopter kept panning the campus where he, his sisters, and our daughter-in-law had graduated.  It seemed unthinkable that a random crime had shattered a quiet Thursday at Seattle Pacific University, a college founded by devout Free Methodists over a hundred years ago. Finally news came of one death, another severely wounded, others less so. It would have been worse—far worse—if one student hadn’t risked his life to tackle the shooter, who had chosen to follow a bizarre notion to kill.

A few days earlier, I had finished writing a draft of this blog post on Psalm 91, which speaks so clearly as God our protector. When violence like this strikes, people ask, “Where was God?” I remember that question being debated over and over when thousands died as a result of the 9-11 terrorist strikes. And the answer was this: He was there, in ways we do not yet know or understand. And while evil took a terrible toll, the end of the story has not yet been told. The same can be said of this recent  shooting, and other acts of violence that will inevitably come.

My awareness of the message and ministry of Psalm 91 started deepening about 35 years ago when, fresh out of Bible school, I was asked to teach a senior ladies Bible studies. That stretched me, for sure! One of its members, Alice, had gone through a harrowing experience in Rhodesia, where she was visiting relatives who were missionaries.  They’d gone to a nice resort restaurant as a special treat, and just as she walked into the dining hall, the woman ahead of her was gunned down as a terrorist attack began. As Alice huddled under a table, bullets spewing overhead, she realized she, too, might be killed. Alice began praying, affirming the Lord's love even in this. Soon, phrases from Psalm 91 became her prayer: "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."  She rebuked the enemy in the name of Jesus.  She later learned a window frame deflected a grenade that might have harmed her.  Finally, the attackers retreated.

 

I will never forget Alice's real-life connection with Psalm 91. I’d already done some thinking about Psalm 91, especially after reading Shadow of the Almighty, the biography of missionary Jim Elliot. He and four others were killed by isolated Ecuadorian tribes people in 1956. I wondered: if Alice was spared, why weren’t Elliot and the others, who had given everything to reach the lost for Chirst?

Psalm 91 remains one of those “deeper than deep” psalms for me, but I have come to this conclusion of its message: Psalm 91 reminds us that God, our Protector, will carry us in times of danger and fear.

THREE KEY PRONOUNS

If you color-code the pronouns in Psalm 91, you’ll see a pattern that helps outline the psalm.
I/my/He (verses 1-2): A testimony of who God is to me.
You/your/his (verses 3-13): A picture of God’s protection.
He-him/I-me-God (verses 14-16): God’s promises to the believer.

A TESTIMONY (verses 1-2)

The psalm’s author is unnamed, but the writer apparently had some experience with threats and hardship, perhaps even warfare. Like the book of Job, Psalm 91 wrestles with the problem of why bad things to happen to good people. Yet God is able to save His followers from the full blast of evil. A key word in verse 1 is “dwells”:
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
It’s repeated in verse 9: “If you make the Most High your dwelling.” The Hebrew word for “dwell,” yashab, is found some 1,088 times in the Old Testament. It is rendered into English by more than a dozen different words, suggesting that the original word does not translate well across cultures and languages. The word’s primitive root means to sit down, such as in judgment, ambush, or in quiet. More recent versions suggest “live in.” Understanding “dwell” (or “live in”) requires living out verse 2:
I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
The “I-my” pronouns indicate that “dwelling” requires a personal faith in God. A lot of people are like Jesus’ disciple Thomas, who had the dubious nickname of “Doubting Thomas” because he couldn’t quite come to the point of saying Jesus was the Son of God. When he saw the risen Christ, who invited Thomas to inspect the wounds from crucifixion that had killed Him, Thomas finally and truly acknowledged Him as the Son of God. Falling to his feet, Thomas declared, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). Psalm 91 is for those who can declare wholeheartedly, “You are my Lord and my God!”



These "pocket caves" dot a cliff about a half-hour drove from
 my home. They remind me of God' s protective power when
troubles attack from life's flatlands of unbelief.

GOD’S NAME

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower,” says Proverbs 18:10, “the righteous run to it and are safe” (Proverbs 18:10). Psalm 91 includes many “strong names” of God:
“The most High” (‘elyôn)—the absolute highest, even higher than any threat.
“The Almighty” (El Shaddai)—the God of greatest power.
“The LORD”—the holiest One, from the Hebrew “abbreviation” for God’s holiest, unspeakable name.
“My refuge” (maḥseh) and “my fortress” (m^eṣûdâ—notice the similarity to the “Masada,” the Holy Land hilltop fortress)—both strong words of protective places, enhanced by the personal pronoun “my.”
God is not a fickle deity who says He will advocate for us when He feels like it. He is high and lifted up, a strong refuge for those who trust in Him in the midst of trouble.

FEAR

By using metaphors for problems (vv. 2-6), the author helped Psalm 91 speak to all times and situations:
“Fowler’s snare”—Like a trap grabbing the feet of birds, Satan is subtle. He knows one misstep can bring physical, emotional or spiritual harm. His traps can include abuse, gambling, alcoholism, pornography, or infidelity as well as more subtle sins of discontentment, gossip, complaint, and apathy. But as we stay in God’s presence through scripture, prayer, and fellowship with other believers, He will help us from being ensnared.
“Deadly pestilence” and “destruction”—We’re also vulnerable to things beyond our control, like disease, crime, unemployment, or a natural disaster. When these come, God says He will be our protector, like a hen who gathers her chicks beneath her warm, sheltering body. Jesus likened Himself to that hen when He lamented Jerusalem’s state of unbelief (Matt. 23:37). But under His shelter, we’ll be secure within, as God sends strengthening Scriptures, affirming friends, or timely help to remind us of His power.
Fear—It stalks us, night and day. In Bible times, the pilgrimage to Jerusalem by foot or animal meant trekking through hot scrublands and hills on a route infested with bandits. Today, we have terrorism, snipers, reckless drivers, and “pestilence” beyond the healing of modern medicine. Yet God still tells us to trust, not fear: “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you” (Isaiah 26:3).

POWER

“His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart,” the psalmist declared (v. 4). The first was a large, body-covering piece of equipment. As for “rampart” (“buckler” in KJV), this is the word’s only use in the Bible, but it’s believed to be a smaller, more mobile protection, perhaps even armor. The New Testament, describing a Christian's spiritual protection, says the shield is faith, with which we can “extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16). God’s faithfulness is related to our faith in Him.

Verses 7-8 sadden me, as they describe “ten thousand” who perish as the wicked are punished. I believe this pictures the end-times judgment of all those who rejected Christ. That includes friends and people in my family trees. Could I really just “observe” or will I ache for their eternal destiny? What could I do, now, before it’s too late?

 PROTECTION

As the psalm winds to a close, it revisits the word “dwell” (v. 9). These promises are for those who “dwell” in the Lord, not for those who casually “check in” with God when things get rough.  God wants whole hearts, not half-hearted spirituality.

Then the psalmist reminds us that angels protect us, probably more than we realize. In 1997, my family was involved in a wreck caused by a drinking driver. Law enforcement personnel who examined the accident scene and our totaled car said it was a miracle that we survived. I’ve often thought how that “miracle” was angels who intervened such that we were spared a fatal, head-on collision.

The other thing to note is how Satan used this section in tempting Christ in the wilderness.  Satan misquoted or “underquoted” the passages to make it seem Christ should acquiesce to him. But Jesus, despite being weak from His fast, countered the falsehoods of Satan, who is elsewhere called the “lion” and “cobra” (1 Peter 5:8, Rev. 12:9, 20:2).

 PROMISES

The final section overflows with hope, as we’re told that God will rescue us, protect us, answer us, be with us in trouble, deliver us, and honor us. As for verse 16, “long life” is literally “length of days.” God doesn’t necessarily promise we will live to old age, but that in the portion of our days on earth, if lived fully to Him, He will satisfy us. He is enough for those who dwell in Him!  Finally, the closing phrase: “I will…show him my salvation.” And what is the end result of salvation, but Heaven and seeing the Lord Jesus, who purchased that salvation?  That will be truly where we “dwell” in the shelter of the Most High, which will be glorious beyond words.  It’s where we’ll rest in His shadow, and worship and enjoy Him forever!

Next: Psalm 95.