My mother taught me these verses (11-12) from Psalm 91 as a teenager:
For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
I have relied on them more times than I count. Yet this is just a small part of an amazing Psalm. The whole thing is full of protection and comfort; there is so much more than I knew. He will cover you with his feathers; under his wings you will find refuge. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day.
Notice that the Psalmist is not saying that there won't be terrors at night. In fact, he knows there will be. He is assuming that deadly pestilence and plagues and arrows and terrors are going to fall at your feet. Yet the Psalmist is reminding us that even though we may walk through the hardest things there are, God is there.
Bad things happen. Horrible things happen. People are awful to each other, and natural disasters destroy. But we serve a God who overcomes. A God who listens. A God who answers. A God who stands with us through the horrible and treacherous and miserable places.
Today may you remember that you can choose this day to walk this road with or without the shelter of the Most High. I hope you choose His loving presence.
Psalm 91 (NIV)
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
I have relied on them more times than I count. Yet this is just a small part of an amazing Psalm. The whole thing is full of protection and comfort; there is so much more than I knew. He will cover you with his feathers; under his wings you will find refuge. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day.
Notice that the Psalmist is not saying that there won't be terrors at night. In fact, he knows there will be. He is assuming that deadly pestilence and plagues and arrows and terrors are going to fall at your feet. Yet the Psalmist is reminding us that even though we may walk through the hardest things there are, God is there.
Bad things happen. Horrible things happen. People are awful to each other, and natural disasters destroy. But we serve a God who overcomes. A God who listens. A God who answers. A God who stands with us through the horrible and treacherous and miserable places.
Today may you remember that you can choose this day to walk this road with or without the shelter of the Most High. I hope you choose His loving presence.
Psalm 91 (NIV)
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
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