As the little chicks bury their tiny heads in the feathers of the hen, and seem happy, and warm, and comfortable under their mothers wings, so shall it be with thee if thou dwellest with thy God: He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust.. I am old, and expect to die within a few years. Psalm 91 Commentary - Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979-1988), Brown, Francis; Driver, S.R. Under his wings you will take refuge. Psalms 91:1. ), which the WEB has updated. They shall be the special favourites of God himself, ver 14-16. Psalms 91:4. Naught shall strike thee with dismay, Fear by night, nor shaft by day." Verse 7. (2.) I will say to the Lord, My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust. In the Psalms you can identify with the psalmist as he expresses his deepest distress, and learn along with him as God teaches him how to view things from His perspective. He that has given grace to be the glory of the soul will create a defence upon all that glory. But in these words, the psalmist is quoting Yahweh, who would help his people to develop a strong belief in eternal life. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. The Almighty (Hebrew: sadday). The MacArthur Bible Commentary. As it will aggravate the damnation of sinners that with their eyes they shall behold and see the reward of the righteous (Luke 13 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; Ps 58 10. For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence." Psalm 91, Jack Wellman is a father and grandfather and a Christian author and pastor of Heritage Evangelical Free Church in Udall, KS [https://modelchrist.org/] & also a Prison Minister. They are mighty (Psalm 78:25), and serve by doing Gods will (Psalm 103:1). They shall be enabled, by the grace of God, to look down upon the things of this world with a holy contempt and indifference, to look up to the things of the other world with a holy ambition and concern; and then they are set on high. 9 Because you have made Yahweh your refuge, Even if he should have but few years, yet he shall have a long life; for life is to be measured by the life that is in it, not by the length along which it drags. 7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. 11 For he will put his angels in charge of you, The large shield offers protection over a larger areaand a line of soldiers can put their rectangular shields together to form a nearly impenetrable wall against enemy arrows. 1. You will tread on the lion and cobra. Under his wings you will take refuge (v. 4ab). A believer needs not fear, and therefore should not fear, any arrow, because the point is off, the poison is out. What does the phrase "gnashing of teeth" mean? 5. Jesus countered, Again, it is written, You shall not test the Lord, your God.'. GOD IS MY REFUGE AND MY FORTRESS. We need 2 cookies to store this setting. B. Lightfoot, Consummation of the pre-Messianic Age and the Parousia, Destruction of Jerusalem vs. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. I will say to the Lord, My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust. I saw newspaper pictures of children confined to iron lungs that helped them to breath. 2. The word For connects this verse with verse 2. - Richard A. Wiedenheft, Immortality - The Gift Of God Through Faith In Jesus The Christ, Immortality or Resurrection of the Dead? ), The New Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible, 5 vol. - Curtis Dickinson, Do we have an immortal soul? Therefore the psalmist is probably saying more than he understooddeliverance from trouble and salvation to eternal life. Some think that this promise had its full accomplishment in Christ, and the miraculous power which he had over the whole creation, healing the sick, casting out devils, and particularly putting it into his disciples' commission that they should take up serpents, Mark 16 18. In that culture, as today, a persons name referred to the essential character of the personin this case, Yahweh. If we are to keep our equilibrium in such circumstances, we need assurance that God is with usthat God loves us and is committed to helping usthat God will redeem even our darkest day. Why is the church losing its young people? When the child is in perfect health she can leave it in the hands of the nurse; but when it is sick she will attend it herself; she will say to the nurse, You may attend a while to some other business, I will watch over the child myself. (Dawson, cited in Spurgeon), (c) 2020 The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik ewm@enduringword.com. In Vietnam, our soldiers had to watch for punji sticks and trip wires. To worship angels is to run afoul of the First Commandment, You shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 2:3; see also Matthew 4:10). 15 He will call on me, and I will answer him. ), Mounces Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006), Renn, Stephen D., Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words: Word Studies for Key English Bible Words Based on the Hebrew and Greek Texts (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 2005), Richards, Lawrence O., Encyclopedia of Bible Words (Zondervan, 1985, 1991), Sakenfeld, Katharine Doob (ed. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Psalms 91:1. Angels are not appropriate objects of our worship. 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. The word emet is usually translated truth. El sadday, then, means Almighty God. . The psalmist's own resolution to take God for his keeper ( Ps. Psalm 91: Charles Spurgeon Exposition | Titus Institute Verse 1 "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty" "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High." The blessings here promised are not for all believers, but for those who live in close fellowship with God. Psalms 91:5. The pestilence is something that you cannot see. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. No locks nor bars can shut out diseases, while we carry about with us in our bodies the seeds of them. 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. My God: Elohay. (3.) You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.. Psalm 91 appears to be a psalm in the setting of warfare with threats of an imminent battle that is about to, has or is currently taking place between solders that may be facing impossible odds. Psalms 91:3. He is my refuge and my fortress: The one who lives intimately with God knows the greatness of His protection. However, we must guard against angel worship and the trivialization of angels popular in some circles today. It also means preparing, to include equipping for war. Yahweh is his mesudah (hiding place, stronghold, fortress). there is no doubt about this great truth, Surely, he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.. You have probably been the victim of some sort of trap, possibly in quite recent memory. See the comments on verse 3b (above) for an explanation of deber (pestilence). The Life-Giving Shepherd (John 10:1-11) Pastor John MacArthur. "Here, after the carefree delight of Psalm 98, we recollect how exalted and holy he is, and how profound is the reverence we owe him." (Derek Kidner) A. For example, in Psalm 1, we are not to spend all our time just meditating on the Word, but become busily involved as Jesus was in the lives of others, p. 3. Life and Immortality - Basil Atkinson, M.A., PhD. Psalms 91:15. The MacArthur Bible Commentary treats every passage of the Old and New Testaments phrase by phrase, with hundreds of word studies as sidebars throughout. Towns across the country closed their swimming pools. Enduring Word Bible Commentary Psalm 91 That is a message that we need to hear in good times so that it will bring us strength during bad times. This, however, is not a book that helps in grappling with problem verses; it simply helps a preacher or teacher come down to earth. The way of the righteous. Bible commentary, (2.) That he will, in the mean time, be with them in trouble, v. 15. It may be applied to that care of the divine Providence by which we are preserved from ravenous noxious creatures (the wild beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee, Job 5 23); nay, and have ways and means of taming them, Jam 3 7. That he will not only keep them from evil, but from the fear of evil, v. 5, 6. The Immortality of the Soul: Psalms 91:14. Or be unhurt by such savage and poisonous creatures; as the Israelites, when they travelled through the wilderness, in which were serpents and scorpions; and many of the servants of God have been delivered from them, or have slain them, as Samson, David, and Daniel; and so Christ was among the wild beasts in the wilderness, and yet not touched or It is not every man who dwells there; no, not even every Christian man. and the Most High your dwelling place, quotation, for he left out the words in all thy ways. God will help us in our ways if we keep in his ways. A soldier would be equipped with one shield or the other, but the psalmist perceives Yahwehs truth as embodying the advantages of both. Psalms: Worshipping the One True God by John F. MacArthur Jr We know that God gives His angels charge over us but only at His command and they are ministering spirits assigned to minister to His own children (Heb1:14) but as Jesus said, we should not tempt the Lord by taking advantage of the heavenly host that ministers to us. God by his grace will keep thee from disquieting distrustful fear (that fear which hath torment) in the midst of the greatest dangers. Every bullet has its commission. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. How about eternity? . Ought the Church to Pray for Revival?