He who 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."
9 If you make the Most High your dwelling—
even the LORD, who is my refuge-
10 then no harm will befall 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 upon 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 upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation."
Psalm 91 has long been popular among soldiers. I can definitely understand why.
It is a reminder of God's love and protection.
When we are in danger, when situations surround us that are far beyond our control, God is present and on our side.
The message really is a simple one: draw close to God, and receive God's protection.
And, throughout history, people of faith have been tempted not to believe in this promise.
If we truly believed it, we would act with more courage. But, we have seen bad things happen to good people, and we have learned to rationalize away this psalm as a nice in theory but dangerous in reality.
But we do have to choose. Either we provide our own protection, or we rely on God. Which will it be?
If we truly think we protect ourselves in this life, we simply haven't been in enough danger to tear away the veil of false reality.
All life is lived in God's hands. We can walk in confidence, not tempting God (we'll talk about that later this week), but sure that he will walk before us every day.
Grace & Peace,
Adam
No comments:
Post a Comment