You Will Not Fear
Back in the early days of 2020, I was taking a class on the Old Testament. One week, we were looking at Psalm 91 for our personal reflection. It struck me in a whole new way that week, and I have been so excited about this psalm since then.
Psalm 91 has always meant a lot to me, especially since reading a little tiny book called In the Secret Place: For God and You Alone by J. Otis Ledbetter, probably about 18 years ago. It's a slim volume that goes through Psalm 91 and talks about how you have a secret place within you, where you can meet with God, just the two of you, and no one and nothing (not even Satan) can intrude there. The Shelter of the Most High. It deeply impacted my prayer life and how I viewed prayer and being in the presence of God. So I was eager to look at this psalm in depth for my class.
First of all, let's read the psalm.
Psalm 91, from the Complete Jewish Bible:
1 You who live in the shelter of ‘Elyon,
who spend your nights in the shadow of Shaddai,
2 who say to Adonai, “My refuge! My fortress!
My God, in whom I trust!” —
3 he will rescue you from the trap of the hunter
and from the plague of calamities;
4 he will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his truth is a shield and protection.
5 You will not fear the terrors of night
or the arrow that flies by day,
6 or the plague that roams in the dark,
or the scourge that wreaks havoc at noon.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand;
but it won’t come near you.
8 Only keep your eyes open,
and you will see how the wicked are punished.
9 For you have made Adonai, the Most High,
who is my refuge, your dwelling-place.
10 No disaster will happen to you,
no calamity will come near your tent;
11 for he will order his angels to care for you
and guard you wherever you go.
12 They will carry you in their hands,
so that you won’t trip on a stone.
13 You will tread down lions and snakes,
young lions and serpents you will trample underfoot.
14 “Because he loves me, I will rescue him;
because he knows my name, I will protect him.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him.
I will be with him when he is in trouble.
I will extricate him and bring him honor.
16 I will satisfy him with long life
and show him my salvation.”
Besides this whole thing just being utter reassurance that God has us and will take care of us, here are some things that struck me right off the bat:
v. 1: "Live in the shelter of Elyon"—I envision a house built at the base of a large, protective mountain that shelters from wind and weather
v. 1: "spend your nights"—this is a constant. Night is the time of greatest vulnerability, when enemies can attack more easily. But with God as our protection, we can dwell and sleep without fear.
v. 4: "his truth is a shield and protection"—LIES WILL NOT WIN!! Also, in the Hebrew here, it literally says "your shield and buckler His truth will be." This links to Eph. 6:14, where Paul tells us to have the "belt of truth" buckled around us.
v. 5: "you will not fear the terrors of the night, or the arrow that flies by day"—no need to fear enemy attacks, day or night!
In v. 5-6, the Psalmist actually lists out the different types of attacks we might fear. I've always read these two verses as just a reiteration of the fact that when we are dwelling in God's protection, we don't have to worry about anything.
BUT LOOK:
"terrors of night"—MENTAL—worry, anxiety, depression, nightmares, fear
"arrow"—PHYSICAL—attacks, war, battle
"plague"—HEALTH issues, illness, disease
"scourge"—DESTRUCTION, disaster, punishment, injustice (the Hebrew word indicates destruction that might come from natural disasters or plagues; "scourge" which is the translated word in the CJB, indicates punishment or criticism)
Literally, God is saying, "None of these things. You don't have to worry about any of them, because I am watching over you. You sleep under my wing while I fight off your attackers. I got this; I got you."
For someone who has battled fear and anxiety for years, especially as pertains to health issues, this new reading is a serious breath of fresh air for my soul. How awesome that we have a God who fights for us and simultaneously protects us the way a mother protects her babies?
"Because he loves me, I will rescue him;
because he knows my name, I will protect him.
He will call on me, and I will answer him.
I will be with him when he is in trouble.
I will extricate him and bring him honor.”
All we have to do is simply call on God. God is ready to answer, God is there waiting, watching, protecting. Keeping us safe. So snuggle up under the shelter of His wings, where it is warm and safe and you can hear God's very heartbeat.
Dwell with this psalm as you go through this week. Journal about what it reveals to you about God's nature and God's relationship with you.