PSALM 91

OBSERVATION STAGE

The purpose of the observation stage is to maintain focus on the text at hand within the normative rules of language, context and logic which limits the observer to the content offered by the book of Psalms. This will serve to avoid going on unnecessary tangents elsewhere; and more importantly, it will provide the framework for a proper and objective comparison with passages located elsewhere in Scripture.

Remember that something elsewhere may be true, but in the text at hand it may not be in view.

I) INTRODUCTION

David is the most probable author.

The changes of person allowable in poetry are here frequently made... for Ps. 95 is expressly said to be penned by David and Ps 91 seems to be in a series by the same author. Note Psalm 27 has the same message. Consider Pr 3:5-6.

II) [Ps 91:1-16]:

(Ps 91:1 NKJV) "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High... [abides] under the shadow of the Almighty.

(Ps 91:2 NKJV) I ... say to the LORD, 'My refuge and my fortress, my God, in Whom I trust'

(Ps 91:3 NASB) For it is [He,] He Who delivers you from the snare of the trapper and from the deadly pestilence.

(Ps 91:4 YLT) With His pinion [feathers] He [covers] you over, and under His wings [you do trust], A shield and buckler [is] His truth.

(Ps 91:5 YLT) [You - believers] are not afraid of fear [lit., terror] by night, [nor from] arrow that flies by day.

(Ps 91:6 NKJV) Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

(Ps 91:7 YLT) There fall at [your] side a thousand, and [ten thousand] at [your] right hand, unto [you] it [does not come near].

(Ps 91:8 YLT) But with [your] eyes [you look], and the reward of the wicked [you see].

(Ps 91:9 NKJV) Because you have made the LORD, Who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place,

(Ps 91:10 YLT) Evil [happens] not [to you], and a plague [comes] not near [your] tent.

(Ps 91:11 YLT) For His messengers [angels] He [gives charge] over you, to keep [you] in all [your] ways.

(Ps 91:12 YLT) On [their] hands they bear [you] up, lest [you] smite against a stone [your] foot.

(Ps 91:13 YLT) On lion and asp [you] tread, [you trample upon the young lion and the serpent].

(Ps 91:14 NKJV) Because he has set his love upon Me [the LORD]; therefore I... deliver him; I ... set him on high, because he has known My name.

(Ps 91:15 YLT) He [calls upon] Me, and I answer him, I [am] with him in distress, I deliver him, and [honor] him

(Ps 91:16 NKJV) With long life I... satisfy him, And show him My salvation."

A) [(Ps 91:1-16) Commentary Relative To The Immediate Context Of Ps 91:1-16 - Israel Under The Covenant Of The Mosaic Law - Excluding Those Not Under That Covenant]:

Psalm 91:10 says, “no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.” Does this verse mean that God promises to protect us from plagues? More specifically, does Psalm 91 promise to protect us from present-day pandemics?

No, it does not. Psalm 91 ties its promises directly to the curses and blessings of the Mosaic covenant.

First, Psalm 91 encourages Israel to return to God and so end the curse of the covenant

The context of Psalm 91 indicates that the psalm draws on God’s covenantal relationship with Israel along with the specific curses and blessings of that covenant (e.g., Deut 27–28):

1) [Compare Dt 27:26 Septuagint]:

(Dt 27:26 Septuagint*) "Accursed is every man whoever shall not adhere to all the words of this law [Law of Moses] to do them. [And shall all the people say, 'Amen' "]

(*Note that author Paul quoted from Deuteronomy 27:26 Septuagint in Gal 3:10). 

These words were spoken by Moses to Israel at Abel-Shittim east of the Jordan shortly before his death on Mount Nebo. They were carried out when Israel renewed its covenant with God at Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim (Joshua 8:30-35).

Moses had been instructed that six tribes were to stand on Mount Gerizim, the Mount of Blessing, and six on Mount Ebal, the Mount of Cursing. The Levites were to recite the 12 curses found in Deuteronomy 27:15-26. After each curse the people were to respond with "Amen." The curses emphasized pagan idolatry and gross immorality which God's covenant people were to avoid. Whereas the first 11 curses placed a ban on specific acts of disobedience, the 12th was more comprehensive, especially as found in the Septuagint.

The Law of Moses meets the standard of God's perfect Righteousness by which standard all men will be judged no matter what legal system they choose to attempt to obey. It demanded perfection and the breaking of only one command even once brings a person under the curse of God. Since everybody fails at some point, all mankind - Jew and Gentile alike are under the curse of God. The proposition that a person can be justified by God through human effort is thus completely destroyed. So if a man will not come to God on the basis of faith alone in the atonement made by Christ alone, he must be judged by his works measured against the Mosaic Law's perfect standard and thereby inevitably be condemned.

Book III of the Psalter ends in Psalm 89. Ethan the Ezrahite wrote Psalm 89, and it highlights the dismal failure of the Monarchy (Ps 89:38). Psalm 90 begins book IV of the Psalter, and title attributes Moses as the author of the psalm.

In fact, many psalms in Book IV highlight Moses (Pss 90–106). Psalm 106 ends this portion of the Psalter by trusting in God to return the people from exile (Ps 106:47).

So Book IV of the Psalter highlights Moses and the covenant with Israel possibly because Book IV of the Psalter aims to encourage Jewish persons in exile to return to the promises of God, the covenant of God.

In particular, the covenantal promises of God entail the physical flourishing of the nation of Israel and the land of dwelling place. For example, if Israel breaks the covenant of God, “The Lord will make the pestilence stick to you until he has consumed you off the land that you are entering to take possession of it” (Deut 28:21). Yet if they obey God, then God’s covenantal promise is to bless them (Deut 28:1–14).

Hence, when Psalm 91 claims that abiding in God leads to rescue from “the deadly pestilence” (Ps 91:3), this signals a reversal of the curse of the covenant. A key and final curse of the covenant was exile.

Second, Psalm 91 offers hope to those in exile

So for exilic readers of Psalm 91, these promises would lead to renewed hope that the curse of the covenant would soon end. The promise that God would make Israel his refuge under his wings and spread his pinions over them reminds us of how God rescued Israel in the wilderness like an eagle “spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions” (Deut 32:11 with Ps 91:4).

The repeated refrain that God is Israel’s refuge (Ps 91:2, 4, 9) reminds of God’s affirmation that he is “the rock in which they took refuge” (Deut 32:37). The thousands falling before Israel in Psalm 91:7 allude to Deuteronomy 32:30, “How could one have chased a thousand, and two have put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had given them up.”
I am sure one could read almost every line of this psalm and see how it alludes to Deuteronomy. Israel suffered the curse of exile, but Deuteronomy promises rescue from exile and reversal of the curse through that rescue.

That is the context of Psalm 91. It does not refer to God’s unconditional promise from any and all harm. Pointedly, God sent a plague to Israel in the past for disobedience (e.g., Num 31:16).
The promises of rescue from plagues among other things point to God fulfilling his covenant with Israel because they fulfilled their side of the bargain: namely, they took refuge in God and listened to his voice.

Third, Satan tempted Jesus with this psalm, and Jesus said “no”

As others have noted, Satan uses Psalm 91 to tempt Jesus while he was in the wilderness (Ps 91:11–12 with Luke 4:10–11). Yet Jesus rebuffed Satan’s ploy to apply to the promises of Psalm 91. Instead, he resisted temptation by not calling out to angelic protectors.

In fact, Jesus came to live in our weakness as a representative of all humanity. Luke makes this point, in part, by tracing Jesus’s genealogy to Adam (Luke 3:38). And in the very next verse, Jesus goes into the wilderness to confront Satan. There, he defeats the devil by accepting regular, human limitations.

We should follow Jesus here. He accepted human frailty, and we live in him. He came to fulfill not just the Mosaic covenant but every good promise of God (2 Cor 1:20). He became like us in every way (but without sin) in order to heal us every way.

Jesus sent the Spirit to indwell us and renew us day by day. And the fullness of Christ’s salvation happens at the resurrection when our mortal and corruptible bodies become immortal and incorrupt (1 Cor 15:53).

So we live today with human frailty under the Spirit’s guidance as we follow Christ who lived in frailty before dying and rising from the dead. We too live in frailty until we die and rise unto glory as he did.

As the harbinger of a new and better covenant for Israel which will benefit all mankind, Jesus no longer proclaims the covenantal curses and blessings of Sinai (Deut 27–28). Rather, he inaugurates the new covenant in His own body - His propitiation for the sins of all mankind. He is both the recipient (as a human being) and the covenant maker (as the divine being).

By accepting all that humans have and are, whether that be weakness to disease or physical tiredness, he healed all that we are. He lived for our sake, on our behalf. Then he died, rose from the dead, and thereby conquered death.

We follow Christ as we pass through this life into the next. He promises to always be with us (Matt 28:20). Christ is always with us. He comforts us. He helps us in our need. And the Spirit daily grows us until the time of our perfection when our bodies will no longer be frail and weak (See 1 Cor 15).

God does not promise to protect us from every plague nor every pandemic during our sojourn in the flesh. But he does promise to be with us unto the end of the age, to do us good and not harm, and despite all circumstances to leave us with an unshakeable hope. And he does promise that one day we will no longer deal with disease, plagues, and pestilence.

He has promised us glory and immortality. It is no longer death to die. Instead, death means entering into glorious immortality (e.g., 2 Thes 2:14; 1 Cor 15:53). And that is better than any promise in the old covenant.

B) [(Ps 91:1-16) Commentary Relative To The Applicability Of This Passage To The Present Age - Believers In The Church Age]:

1) (Ps 91:1-16) HE WHO DWELLS IN THE SECRET PLACE OF THE MOST HIGH ABIDES IN THE PROTECTIVE SHADOW OF ALMIGHTY GOD - THE LORD IS HIS REFUGE AND FORTRESS. FOR IT IS GOD IN WHOM HE CONTINUES TO TRUST; HENCE IT IS THE LORD WHO CONTINUES TO DELIVER HIM FROM EVER PRESENT DIFFICULTIES. GOD IS HIS PROTECTOR, HE SHIELDS HIM WITH HIS TRUTH SO THAT HE IS NOT AFRAID OF WHAT MIGHT BEFALL HIM. HE SEES THE EVIL AND PLAGUES AND THE RECOMPENSE THAT THE WICKED RECEIVE ALL AROUND HIM; BUT SUCH DOES NOT BEFALL HIM. THE LORD GIVES CHARGE TO HIS MESSENGERS - HIS ANGELS - OVER THOSE THAT CONTINUE TO TRUST IN HIM. THEY PROTECT AND KEEP HIM IN ALL HIS WAYS. GOD TELLS HIM, 'BECAUSE HE HAS SET HIS LOVE UPON ME, THEREFORE I DELIVER HIM. I SET HIM ON HIGH, BECAUSE HE HAS KNOWN MY NAME. HE CALLS UPON ME AND I ANSWER HIM - FOR I AM WITH HIM IN DISTRESS. I DELIVER HIM AND HONOR HIM WITH LONG LIFE. I SATISFY HIM AND SHOW HIM MY SALVATION.'

(Ps 91:1 NKJV) "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High... [abides] under the shadow of the Almighty. (Ps 91:2 NKJV) I ... say to the LORD, 'My refuge and my fortress, my God, in Whom I trust' (Ps 91:3 NASB) For it is [He,] He Who delivers you from the snare of the trapper and from the deadly pestilence. (Ps 91:4 YLT) With His pinion [feathers] He [covers] you over, and under His wings [you do trust], A shield and buckler [is] His truth. (Ps 91:5 YLT) [You - believers] are not afraid of fear [lit., terror] by night, [nor from] arrow that flies by day. (Ps 91:6 NKJV) Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. (Ps 91:7 YLT) There fall at [your] side a thousand, and [ten thousand] at [your] right hand, unto [you] it [does not come near]. (Ps 91:8 YLT) But with [your] eyes [you look], and the reward of the wicked [you see]. (Ps 91:9 NKJV) Because you have made the LORD, Who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, (Ps 91:10 YLT) Evil [happens] not [to you], and a plague [comes] not near [your] tent. (Ps 91:11 YLT) For His messengers [angels] He [gives charge] over you, to keep [you] in all [your] ways. (Ps 91:12 YLT) On [their] hands they bear [you] up, lest [you] smite against a stone [your] foot. (Ps 91:13 YLT) On lion and asp [you] tread, [you trample upon the young lion and the serpent]. (Ps 91:14 NKJV) Because he has set his love upon Me [the LORD]; therefore I... deliver him; I ... set him on high, because he has known My name. (Ps 91:15 YLT) He [calls upon] Me, and I answer him, I [am] with him in distress, I deliver him, and [honor] him (Ps 91:16 NKJV) With long life I... satisfy him, And show him My salvation." =

Psalm 91:1, rendered "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High... [abides] under the shadow of the Almighty," is in the third person, singular. The phrase rendered "[abides] under the shadow of the Almighty" conveys an image of the protective wings of a mother bird under the shadow of which her baby birds find safety, (Ps 91:1). It conveys that while anyone is the dwelling one (participle) in the "secret place," a place of intimacy and close personal relationship with the Most High God; he is abiding (imperfect = indefinite action) in the comfort, protection and blessings of the Almighty. The words "Most High," (Elyon), and "The Almighty," (sadday), in Psalm 91:1 refer to God's unsurpassed, superlative and sovereign power and majesty, as Creator-God. The writer of Psalm 91 declared in verse 2 in the first person singular that "the Most High," "the Almighty" of verse one, was "the LORD, [Yahweh], 'My refuge and my fortress, my God [elohay], in Whom I trust.' " The words rendered "the LORD" and "my God" in that verse refer to the personal covenant-God Whose love blesses and protects those who trust in Him. The writer included himself in the group of individuals who were dwelling in the secret place of a close personal relationship with the Most High referred to in verse one. This implies a godly kind of righteousness in order to have such a relationship with God, (Ps 91:1-2).

Since God is righteous;

a) [Compare Ps 11:7a]:

(Ps 11:7a NKJV) "For the LORD is righteous,"

and since no man is righteous;

b) [Compare Ps 14:1-3]:

(Ps 14:1 NKJV) "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good.

(Ps 14:2 NKJV) The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God.

(Ps 14:3 NKJV) They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one;"

and since individuals who are trusting in the LORD for comfort, blessing and protection are declared to dwell in the secret place of intimate fellowship with the LORD, the Most High, Almighty God which implies a godly righteousness in order to have that relationship with God in the first place;

c) [Compare Ps 91:1-2]:

(Ps 91:1 NKJV) "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High... [abides] under the shadow of the Almighty.

(Ps 91:2 NKJV) I ... say to the LORD, 'My refuge and my fortress, my God, in Whom I trust' "

and since Psalm 4:1 declares that God is the source of man's righteousness;

d) [Compare Ps 4:1a]:

(Ps 4:1a NKJV) "Hear me [David] when I call, O God of my righteousness!"

then it is implied in Ps 91 that God must impute His righteousness to the ones trusting in Him - trusting in His righteousness, not ones own. For no individual can measure up to the righteousnesss of God required to dwell in the secret place of the Most High, no matter how relatively faithful they are. Their transgressions have to be forgiven, and their sin covered;

e) [Compare Ps 32:1-2]:

(Ps 32:1 NKJV) "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

(Ps 32:2 NKJV) Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit."

This further implies that there must be an atoning sacrifice for the unrighteousness of all mankind, in order for a righteous God to provide His righteousness to men who trust in Him.

Ps 91:14-16 corroborates Almighty God's protection, comfort and blessing for those who trust in Him. The verses stipulate that "Because he has known My [the LORD's] name..." i.e., was trusting in Who God is - His Righteous Character and Almighty Capacity - the LORD will be "with him in distress... deliver him, and honor him with long life... satisfy him, and show him [His] salvation, [i.e., deliverance from temporal difficulties]:"

f) [Compare Ps 91:14-16]:

(Ps 91:14 NKJV) Because he has set his love upon Me [the LORD]; therefore I... deliver him; I ... set him on high, because he has known My name.

(Ps 91:15 YLT) He [calls upon] Me, and I answer him, I [am] with him in distress, I deliver him, and [honor] him

(Ps 91:16 NKJV) With long life I... satisfy him, And show him My salvation."

The verbs in Psalm 91 which convey being protected, comforted and blessed by the LORD in the secret place of the Most High through trusting in Him are all in the imperfect tense - an action which is incomplete, i.e., ongoing for an indefinite period of time - conditioned upon the continuation of trusting in the LORD. Therefore, it is implied that one who is not trusting in the LORD is not dwelling in the shelter of the Most High, i.e., he is estranged from a personal relationship with the LORD which would have afforded him comfort, blessing and protection in the secret place of close personal fellowship with the Most High, (Ps 91:1-2).

The writer elaborated in verse three on the comfort, blessing and protection of the LORD afforded those who were trusting in Him: "For it is [He,] He Who delivers you from the snare of the trapper and from the deadly pestilence." The extra third person singular pronoun rendered "He," was used in this verse to amplify that it is solely and exclusively the LORD Who delivers those who dwell "in the secret place of the Most High" from all kinds of destruction. The phrase "snare of the trapper" refers to the adversity perpetrated by evil men. The phrase "deadly pestilence" refers to the deadly plagues which come upon individuals in their mortal lives. But the one who is trusting in God will "dwell in the shelter of the Most High and be delivered / saved from the consequences of these things by the LORD, (Ps 91:3).

Verse 4 continues this message: "With His pinion [feathers] He [covers] you over, and under His wings [you do trust], A shield and buckler [is] His truth." In the first part of this verse, God is pictured as a mother hen under whose feathers and wings is a refuge of blessing, comfort and protection for her young. This implies that there is a potential harm at hand all the time for mortal individuals. Hence all men constantly require God's protection. The word rendered "buckler" is a small protective shield of which multiples were used to cover a warrior all over his body for protection. The words rendered "shield" and "buckler" are stipulated as the truth of God which constitute the protection, blessing and comfort provided by God to the ones trusting in it - this includes God's commands and the truths of Scripture, (Ps 91:4).

The next three verses corroborate that God provides His almighty, supernatural protection without limit for the faithful - for He is the Most High, Almighty God: "[You - who trust in Him] are not afraid of fear [lit., terror] by night, [nor from] arrow that flies by day. Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. There fall at [your] side a thousand, and [ten thousand] at [your] right hand, unto [you] it [does not come near]." The phrases rendered "terror by night," "arrow that flies by day," "pestilence (disease) that walks in darkness," and "destruction that lays waste at noonday," portray security from fear of every kind of evil - natural and supernatural - for those that trust in the LORD. The phrase rendered "There fall at [your] side a thousand, and [ten thousand] at [your] right hand, unto [you] it [does not come near]," emphasizes God's supreme protection of those that are trusting in Him. Individuals trusting in the LORD will see the calamity all around them; but they will not suffer the consequences of it, (Ps 91:5-7).

And according to verses 8-11, God's justice will always be meted out in an absolutely righteous and gracious manner. The one trusting in the LORD will see that the wicked get their reward. The phrase rendered "and the reward of the wicked you see" in verse 8 implies that those who dwell in the secret place of the Most High, (vv. 1-2) are not wicked, hence righteous. In view of the fact that no one is righteous, (Ps 14:1-3), then this can only come about if this righteousness is imputed by God to the believer when he trusts in the LORD for it. The writer goes on to say, that because one has made the LORD - the Most High ones refuge - ones dwelling place, evil happens not to one, nor does a plague come near to ones tent. For His messengers - God's angels are given charge over one who trusts in Him, to keep one in all his ways, i.e., throughout his day. This is further portrayed in verse 11, "On their hands they [the angels] bear you up, lest you smite against a stone your foot." The extent to which the angels of God went to protect those trusting in the LORD was furthered pictured in verse 13 with the imagery of protection from wild lions and deadly snakes, (Ps 91:8-13).

Verses 14-16 summarize the passage: If an individual set his love upon the LORD, God would deliver him from trouble. Because an individual has known His name in the sense of acknowledging Who the LORD was by the meaning of His names: His Holy and Righteous and Almighty Character, the LORD would set him on high in the sense of putting him on safe / high ground. As an individual calls upon the LORD, in the sense of relying upon Him for comfort, blessing and protection because of Who He is, the LORD answers him in his distress, i.e., delivers him from that distress, and honors him with long life - he will live out the length of his years - and the LORD shows him His salvation in the sense of temporal salvation / deliverance from tribulations in his mortal life. All of this corroborates the beginning of the passage which portrays those who are trusting in the LORD for comfort, blessing and protection make the Most High ones secret dwelling place. This suggests an ongoing close relationship with the LORD. The word salvation in this context is salvation from the temporal difficulties as stipulated in all 16 verses. Salvation unto eternal life is not in view as the context does not mention this available meaning of salvation, (Ps 91:1-2, 14-16).