SUPREME SECURITY
Opening Prayer
Lord, thank You for supernatural protection.
Read PSALM 91
Psalm 91
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.[a]
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[b] 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.”
Footnotes:
a Psalm 91:1 Hebrew Shaddai
b Psalm 91:14 That is, probably the king
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt 28:20). Rest in the assurance of Jesus’ presence with you today.
Think Further
There are times when we feel supremely confident; there are times when we are wracked with doubt. For either mood there is a psalm. Today’s psalm is one of supreme confidence, but we must remember that this is not the whole story, not in our experience nor in the Bible. That does not make it any less real, for in God there is ultimate security. In many ways this is what the writer of Hebrews is saying, except that with the benefit of the supreme revelation of God in Christ, he would say – and, as Christians, we would agree – that our security is in God as we meet Him in Jesus. Like the writer of Hebrews, the psalmist sees no alternative to trusting God. He alone has the power to see us through and to make sense of the complexities of life.
He describes a God who undertakes for His people. He provides safety (refuge) and protection (fortress, wings) from varied dangers conjured up by the images of verses 3–13: the poachers’ trap, the epidemic (3, 6), the predator (4), the heat of battle (5), the dangerous path (11, 12) and wild animals (13). All this stems from His character and faithfulness (4). The psalmist knows full well that bad things happen to good people, but equally he has no doubt that trust (2) and living close to God (1) bring benefits to the believer. We can be confident of our ultimate security in Christ if we continue to trust and remain in Him (John 15:1–8), a security that transcends the dangers and difficulties that come our way. We should not simply see these assurances as future benefits; they are, despite the challenges and problems we face, present realities in the lives of those who trust a faithful God. Whatever comes, we can experience the power of His protecting presence.
Apply
Review the coming week, asking for God’s presence and protection in every situation you will face.
Closing prayer
Lord, we dwell in the secret place of the Most High, therefore we abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
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