When we trust Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are joining Him not only in the life that He gives, but also in the life to which He has called us.
As we commit to stepping into that work, there will be times that appear overwhelming.
Not just in terms of evangelism, and communicating the gospel, but also in terms of sanctification, and Him revealing to us our daily and constant need for Him. He truly is our refuge and our fortress.
Let’s read Psalm 91 together.
Psalm 91:1-16
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
5 You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
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 look with your eyes
and see the recompense of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—
the Most High, who is my refuge[b]—
10 no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
no plague come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the adder;
the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
15 When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
Add a note
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
Merriam Webster says dwell means:
1: to remain for a time
dwell in the hallway
2a: to live as a resident
the town in which he dwelled for eight years
the dwelling place of the Lord
b: EXIST, LIE
where the heart of the matter dwells
This dwell according to Strong’s concordance means:
To Sit or to Remain.
The word goes on to say if you Dwell in His Shelter, you will abide in His shadow.
This word Abide takes on a little different nuance in meaning than we see in the word dwell.
To dwell means:
to lodge, to stay, to live, more about location.
To Abide means:
to rest, more related to a posture, or condition of the dwelling.
Hopefully the place where you Dwell, you also abide.
The word here is talking about living in the shelter of the Lord.
This is talking less about a physical place, and more about finding peace and comfort and confidence in His presence.
SO the first thing I think the word is saying to us here is
to Rest in Him.
He does call us to a work, but He also commands us to rest.
This is a healthy cycle that is demonstrated by Him in creation.
Genesis 2:1-3 says:
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
Add a note
So we do recognize that this is the word of the Lord, but notice how there is a transition from verse one (a declaration about the security of a believer as they dwell with the Lord…and transitions to what the believer would say, and lastly to the Words of the Lord from Deuteronomy 7).
So we have seen the security in verse 1.
So what does the believer say of that security?
Verse 2 says:
2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
Last week we went through Psalm 103, and in verse two it says that we are to “forget not all His benefits.”
I am thankful for verses like these, because they communicate to me that there is benefit in finding refuge in the Lord.
And the refuge is real, but often not what I think it is.
Sometimes we take refuge in things that only offer temporary help.
Add a note
I have been reading a book by Paul David Tripp called “Lead: 12 Gospel Principles for Leadership in the Church.”
In this book he says:
Since the fall, people look horizontally for what they were designed to find vertically. They ask people, places, and things to do for them what only identity in the Lord can do. And what people fail to understand is that wherever you look for identity will then exercise rulership over your heart and, in so doing, will direct the way you live your life. Things that were never meant to be sources of human identity become just that, creating endless layers of difficulty and brokenness. A job is a wonderful provision from God, but if it becomes your identity, it will leave you regularly unhappy and will destroy your family. Your marriage is a significant human relationship, but if it becomes your identity, you will ask your spouse to be your personal messiah, placing on your spouse a burden that he or she will never be able to bear. Your body is a significant aspect of who you are, but if you look to it as your primary source of identity, then aging, weakness, or disease will rob you of your sense of self. Depression is a deeply personal and powerful emotional experience, but if you take it on as your identity, it will do you even further spiritual and emotional harm. There is always the temptation this side of eternity to look for identity horizontally, but looking there never delivers what you seek and never results in a harvest of good fruit.” This is why the New Testament works to instill in every believer an identity in Christ and to exegete what that looks like in terms of the way we think about and approach our every day lives.”
Add a note
Eternal Help
He is the only very present and constant help in times of need.
Why do we need refuge?
Verses 3-7 tell us of all those things from which we are protected if we have made Him our refuge.
Verse 3: He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler.
Verse 4: He will cover you with His wings.
Verses 5-7: He will remove our fears.
Jesus Himself talks about the work of the spirit, and how God does some of these things for us.
Jesus talks in John 16 about the work of the Holy Spirit. He tells His disciples that they will be scattered, and have trouble, but that their trouble will turn to Joy.
He uses the analogy of a woman giving birth, and how she laments because her hour to give birth has come, but her pain becomes joy as she sees God bring a human life into this world.
Jesus says to them in John 16:31-33:
31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32 Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Add a note
Are you dwelling/abiding in that truth?
He offers us today the same refuge that He has offered mankind for generations to abide in the shadow of the almighty.
By the way, it is from this passage of Psalms that the enemy tried to tempt Jesus by twisting the Lord’s words.
Psalm 91:11-12 says:
11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
You remember in Matthew 4:5-7:
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
With what did Jesus combat the attacks of the enemy with His words!
So with what do we combat the attacks of the enemy?
With our words…NO.
with His words of the Lord.
Add a note
So let’s look at these last words of this Psalm which instills in us an confidence and peace.
Verses 14-16 say:
14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. 15 When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. 16 With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”
These are the words of the Lord to us!
These are found also in Deuteronomy 7:6-9.
6 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,
From what have we been redeemed?
Do the words of the Lord here today speak to you?
Are you still on the fringes, and have yet to dwell in the house of the Lord, and abide in the shadow of the Almighty?
Today can be your day of salvation, and protection, and peace.
I am thankful for His refuge, aren’t you?
Discussion Questions:
(Intentionally same as Last week)
- For what do you give thanks?
Add a note
- What is your favorite Psalm of Thanksgiving…why?
Add a note
- Think about/Share a season of your life where you thought all was lost, but then God showed up and revealed to you what He was doing.
Add a note
