Psalm 91

An in-depth study into Psalm 91, and the Promise of Protection

By: Lara Velez, Founder of Moms of Faith

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Cover Art: Dreamstime.com

Scriptures: Most Scriptures in this ebook are taken from the Amplified Bible stated otherwise. Amplified Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scriptures were also taken from the following versions:

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

King James Version. Scripture quotations marked "KJV" are taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version, Cambridge, 1769.

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Table of Contents

HE WHO DWELLS IN THE SECRET PLACE

HE WILL SAVE US!!

OBEDIENCE ASSURES PROTECTION

HIS LOVE AND MERCY ABOUNDS

CONFIRMATION

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

He who Dwells in the Secret Place

Verses 1 & 2

He whodwellsin thesecretplace of the Most High shallremainstable and fixed under theshadowof the Almighty Whose powerno foe can withstand.

I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, in Him I confidently trust!

Before we begin, let’s look at the original Hebrew meanings of a few of these words.

Dwells – yashab (yaw-shab’): to remain, to settle, to marry, habitation, inhabit.

Secret – cether (say’ther): a cover, hiding place, protection.

Remain – luwn (loon) or liyn (leen): to stay permanently, continue, dwell, endure.

Shadow – tsel (tsale): defense. (dictionary definition of defense is protection)

Fortress – matsuwd (maw-tsood): defense, strong place.

Now let’s read it again,

He who remains under the covering of the Most High shall stay permanently under the protection of the Almighty, Whose power no foe can withstand.

I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge, my Strong Place, my Defense, and my God; on Him I lean and rely, in Him I confidently trust!

These two verses are incredible! If I remain under His covering then I am under the protection of the great I Am!

How do we accomplish this?

That’s where His Word comes in. His Word is a book of instructions, guidelines, and boundaries. If we study the Word, learn His ways, and submit to His Word, we are protected. If we step out of those boundaries (into sin) we are no longer under His protection.

Imagine being in a building during a golf ball size hail storm. You are in no danger of getting hurt while you are under the roof of the building. If you step outside though…OUCH!

Now, the second verse would seem almost a repeat of the first verse, except for three little words…

I will say…

Hmmm. This tells me that not only does His permanent protection require me to abide in Him and His Word, but I am to exercise my faith. You know how the Word also says; “life and death are in the tongue?” Well, this is one of those “life” things we are to speak. We must say and believe to receive.

The next time you feel overwhelmed and attacked by the enemy…Remember Whose you are…and say…

I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge, my Strong Place, my Defense, and my God; on Him I lean and rely, in Him I confidently trust!

He Will Save Us!!

Verses 3 & 4

For He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly pestilence.

Then He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you trust and find refuge; His truth and His faithfulness are a shield and a buckler.

Let’s start with the original Hebrew text again for several of these words. It will help bring out the full impact of these two Scriptures.

Deliver – natsal (naw-tsal’): To snatch away, defend, pluck, rescue, save, surely take out.

Fowler – yaquwsh (yaw-koosh’): To catch, entrap, entangle, or involve by trickery or wile.

Deadly – havvah (hav-vaw’): Rushing upon, ruin, very wicked

Pestilence – deber (deh’-ber): Something that is harmful or destructive.

Cover – cakak (saw-kak’) or sakak (saw-kak’): To fence in, cover over, protect, defend, hedge in.

Shield - tsinnah (tsin-naw’) A large shield full of troublesome points.

Buckler – cocherah (so-khay-raw’): Something surrounding the person, i.e. a shield.

Now that we have all this information, let’s reread these two verses…

For He will surely save you from the snare of the one who tries to entrap you by trickery, and from very wicked destruction.

Then He will protect and defend you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you trust and find refuge; His truth and His faithfulness are a large spiked shield surrounding you.

Not only will He protect us…but He will surely save us! He will save us from the traps that the enemy lays out for us. He will not only surround us…but He will surround us with a large spiked shield. He is ready for war. He is dressed for battle. He knows who we are up against.

We are not dealing with some wimpy little foe. The devil hates us. He is out to get us. That is all he thinks about. He lives and breathes ways to destroy us.

I Peter 5:8 says, …that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring in fierce hunger, seeking someone to seize upon and devour.

I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near a hungry lion--let alone one intent on finding me and destroying me.

Praise God though…

He promises that if we remain in Him; if we will just put Him first in our lives and speak His Truth, He will protect and defend us. If God is for you, who can be against you? He is God Almighty! He a strong Tower! He is the Creator of all things! He is the All Powerful! He is Mighty in battle. He is! He is!

HE IS!

Obedience Assures Protection

Verses 5-8

You shall not be afraid of the terror of the night, nor of the arrow (the evil plots and slanders of the wicked) that flies by day,

Nor of the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the destruction and sudden death that surprise and lay waste at noonday.

A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you.

Only a spectator shall you be as you witness the reward of the wicked.

By now, you know I love looking at the original meanings. So, let’s begin with original Hebrew meanings of some of the words in this text.

Night – layelah (lah’-yel-aw): adversity

Day – yown (yome) or yowmam (yo-mawm’): daily, always, continually

Pestilence (this is the same as used in verses 3 & 4) – deber (deh’-ber): something that is harmful or destructive.

Darkness – ophel (o’-fel): obscurity (In the dictionary obscurity means: not really seen, unnoticeable.)

Waste - shuwd (shood): to devastate – waste

Fall - naphal (naw-fal’): cast down, die, perish, smite out, slay

Reward – shillumah (shil-loo-maw’): retribution

Let’s reread these verses separately…

You shall not be afraid of adversity, nor of the evil plots and slanders of the wicked that come at you continually day by day by day.

As Christian’s we face some kind of adversity just about every day, and sometimes more than once. This verse clearly tells us that we need not fear. Actually it is more of a command than a suggestion. You shall not!

Nor of the destruction that stalks you unnoticed, nor the sudden deadly surprise that lay waiting to destroy you.

In verses 3 & 4, we read about how the devil is no light weight. He is out to get us. Well, this Scripture backs that up even further. We are being stalked and most of the time we do not even notice! We need not worry though…if we are doing what verses 1 & 2 told us, then, we can be sure that God will keep His end of the deal. God never breaks His promises like we do.

A thousand may be cast down at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you.

Obviously, we are not going to have thousands of people falling at our feet. I believe this verse refers to the demonic forces that are being destroyed all around us. They never get a chance to come near us when we are abiding in the secret place of the Most High; when we are living consecrated and obedient lives and speaking His truths and promises out loud over our lives.

Only a spectator shall you be as you witness the retribution of the wicked.

Again, we will not be touched. We will only witness the victory in our lives when we really and truly live for Him and abide in Him.

If we try to figure all this out in our minds we are making it harder than it really is. It’s really quite simple….

Obeying God = Protection, Safety, and No Worries.

His Love and Mercy Abounds

Verses 9-13

Because you have made the Lord your refuge, and the Most High your dwelling place,

There shall no evil befall you, nor any plague or calamity come near your tent.

This is another benefit to putting into practice verses one and two. God keeps evil from our home. When we obey His commands and speak the Word we are automatically able to access the promises that come with this obedience. In these two verses it is our homes that will be protected.

For He will give His angels charge over you to accompany and defend and preserve you in all your ways.

They shall bear you up on their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone.

Not only do we get all the protection that we have discussed thus far, but, He also sends His angels down to protect and defend us. How awesome is that?

You shall tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the serpent shall you trample underfoot.

The word trample in this verse comes from the Hebrew word ramac (raw-mas’) and means; walk abusively: – oppressor, stamp upon.

This verse explains our position of authority over the enemy. It shows the power we have over the devil when we talk the talk and walk the walk. It is not literal. I mean how can you step on a lion? You can’t. A lion and serpent are used in this Scripture to give us a mental picture of who we are dealing with. Remember earlier we talked about satan being compared to a hungry lion? And I’m sure you’ve read in Genesis where he is called a serpent. That is who this verse is referring to.

Why do we have such a hard time laying our lives down for the Lord? Why can’t we just submit to Him? I mean look at what He wants to give us?

He is our Daddy in Heaven. He loves us so very much. His love and mercy ABOUND! He wants so much to reward our obedience--even more than we want to reward our own children for obedient behavior. He already gave us so much.

Jesus came down from the comforts of Heaven to live a common life. He lived a blameless life. He walked the hill of Calvary for undeserving you and me. He bled and hurt for us simply because He loves us.

Wouldn’t you think that alone would be enough? I do. Yet He goes even further, and offers us so many more benefits--just for giving and living our lives for Him. Including what we have been learning…

Protection, defense and victory over the enemy!

Let’s stop “playing” Christians and be Christians. Let’s start shining for Jesus in this world instead of reflecting this world. Most of the Church looks like the world--not their Savior. Let’s start really living our lives for Jesus. After all, does He deserve any less?

Confirmation

Verses 14-16

Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he knows and understands My Name; has personal knowledge of My mercy, love, and kindness – trusts and relies on Me, knowing I will never forsake him, no, never.

The original Hebrew translation for high is: sagab (saw-gab’) – inaccessible, safe, defend.

Verses 14-16 are God speaking and confirming what we have learned from the entire chapter. The first two verses of this study we learned that if we abide in Him (obey) there is a reward (verses 3-13) If you look at the first part of this verse, “Because he has set his love upon me”, this confirms that love equals obedience.

Jesus tells us in John 14:15 – If you really love Me, you will obey My commands. It is clear that loving God is obeying Him. That is how He knows that we really love Him.

The rest of this verse simply begins His confirmation of reward for obedience. He protects and defends us, and He promises to NEVER leave us.

He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.

Answer – ‘anah (aw-naw’): pay attention, respond, hear

Deliver – (In verse 14 deliver means just that…but in this verse…) chalats (khaw-lats’): equip for fight, strengthen, arm

Now, He tells us that not only will He deliver and protect us, but He will pay attention and listen to us when we call upon Him.

He also promises to be with us when we are in trouble. Notice how He didn’t say that He would take trouble away? That’s because in life we will encounter trouble. We will have trials and disappointments. That is all part of the consequence of the fall. However, we can be assured that He is walking through it with us. Remember, He NEVER leaves.

Finally, He tells us in this verse that He will give us the strength and armor (His Word) that we need for battle.

With long life will I satisfy him and show him My salvation.

Salvation – yeshuw’ah (yesh-oo’-aw): deliverance, aid, victory, prosperity, health, help, save

Whoo Hoo! I love this word.

In this final Scripture from Psalm 91, He promises to give us long life, deliverance, aid, victory, prosperity, health, and help.

WOW!

What more motivation do we need to be obedient? I mean, this is a wonderful promise. He offers us so much. Yes, it requires effort, but, the reward is HUGE!

About the Author

Lara is a wife, mom, homeschooler, published author, ministry leader, speaker, and supreme multi-tasker! She is honest and forthright in her writing, and shares her heart, struggles, joys, pains, and the many lessons she has learned on her journey–in a relatable way that pulls no punches.

Besides all that, she is a chauffeur, friend, maid, chef, business owner, lover, confidant, mentor, teacher, seeker, nurse, boo-boo kisser, cat lover, coffee drinker, Starbucks follower, Mexican food addict, jean loving, sometimes loud mouth, opinionated, outspoken, web designer, iphone carrier, a teensy bit anal retentive, chocoholic, Survivor fan, Bible believing, animal lover, reptile and crawly things hating, speed walking, honest, working her way back to skinny jeans, and… One heck of a strong woman! (Among other things)

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“O God, listen to my cry! Hear my prayer! From the ends of the earth, I cry to You for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety, for You are my safe refuge, a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me. Let me live forever in Your sanctuary, safe beneath the shelter of Your wings!” – Psalm 61:1-4

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Proverbs 31 Wife Handbook

Fruit of the Spirit Series

Proverbs of the New Testament (complete study of the book of James)

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Table of Contents

He who Dwells in the Secret Place

He Will Save Us!!

Obedience Assures Protection

His Love and Mercy Abounds

Confirmation

About the Author