Previous passage: A Song for the Afflicted (Psalm 90:1-17)
Theme: How to trust God in impossible and dangerous circumstances.
God intends for every Christian to experience a measure of safety and security in an unsafe and insecure world. If we do not know the security that comes from God and His gospel, it leads to all kinds of problems in the Christian life--relationship distance, an inability to forgive, an inability to repent, or the fear of man (Pro 29:25). Then we look to change our circumstances, which is never the ultimate cause of any of our problems. Not knowing where our safety comes from cripples our Christian life.
Intro: The Psalms in large measure answer the question of what a true believer experiences in his/her life with God in this fallen world, what a healthy Christian experience feels like that can even lead to singing! Psalm 91, a beloved song, a beautiful song, is a song for danger. It’s a psalm for those who are surrounded on all sides by danger – real danger, intense danger, comprehensive danger, immediate danger – and it tells us how to react as believers to that danger. One of the great themes of Psalm 91 is how believers learn to trust in God in the midst of the most real and intense danger. This is absolutely vital. Believers need to believe down to their socks that they are shadowed by God, that they are under the care of God the Almighty (Rom 8:28). The Psalmist presses this theme of absolute trust in God in the midst of grave danger in 3 stanzas:
- The Psalmist's testimony (1-2)
- The Psalmist's exhortation to us (3-13).
- God's promises are security only for His people (14-16).
No shelter in the world. The only truly safe and secure person is the one who finds their shelter and refuge in God (Ps 90:1-2, 32:7). Many in the world, self-confident in their own autonomy and ability, seem to be quite safe and secure (Ps 73:2-16). But any adversity can throw them into a tailspin. Their most dreaded day would be the day of their death. As much as they "eat and drink" (1 Cor 15:32; Isa 22:13), awaiting that inevitable dreaded day of death, yet when it comes, it is never a welcomed day, though they await it all the days of their life.
Real security. David was a great and powerful king. Yet when he thought of the day of his death, he shuddered. But he found shelter, safety and security when God revealed to him the path of life, and that he would not be abandoned to the grave (Acts 2:25-28; Ps 16:8-11). What or where is your source of security?
II. The Psalmist's Exhortation to Us (Ps 91:3-13)
What does God protecting us mean? The exhortation of the Psalmist in Ps 91:3-13 is this: "You, believer…you, Christian, can be safe in all times and in all circumstances because of God’s providence over you." This does not at all mean that God will spare us from all unbearable agonizing difficulties. It is not that God will spare us hard circumstances in life, or that He will get us out of hard circumstances in life – even though He often does. The ultimate reason the Psalmist wants us to feel safe and secure is because God’s providence is comprehensive and minute, stretching all the way to the smallest detail of our life. Not a hair on our head can be touched apart from the sovereign discretion and will of your heavenly Father (Mt 10:30; Lk 12:7). Our God, because of His faithfulness, always delivers us or covers us (Ps 91:3-4). He may not deliver us out of a situation, but He will cover us in a situation. Most often He does both. He both delivers and covers us.
Did God protect Jesus? Amazingly, Satan used this Psalm to tempt Jesus (Ps 91:11-12). Did God send his angels to guard, keep and protect Jesus? God didn’t do it to spare Him from the cross. Where did He do it? He sent angels to minister to Him in the garden, to prepare Him for the cross. God did not deliver Him from His troubles, but He covered Him in His troubles, and God enabled Him to do for us what we could not do for ourselves.
How to feel safe and secure? God always delivers or covers His people, one way or another. Jesus said, “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him" (Lk 12:4-5). Jesus says that if you fear God, there’s nothing else to fear in this world, there is no un-safety in this world that can match His strength and power. If you trust in God, believe in Him, He will always deliver and cover you, no matter what your circumstance.
III. God's Promises are Security Only for His People (Ps 91:14-16)
What is the requirement for safety and security? The promise of safety and security is not for everyone. The promise is made only for those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation as He is offered in the gospel. In Ps 91:14-16, God says that we are safe, not in being rescued from every evil circumstance in life, but that we are safe by faith in Him – a faith that is evidenced and manifested by our love for God, our personal knowledge of God, our prayer to God, and our communion with Him in prayer. What is the requirement for safety and security? Faith in God (Ps 91:14).
What does God promise Christians? Simone Weil was an anarchist, soldier, factory worker, labor organizer, school teacher, mystic, resistance fighter, philosopher. She was born in 1909, in Paris, France. Towards the end of her very short life, she began to be very interested in Christianity, and she wrote: “The extreme greatness of Christianity lies in the fact that it does not seek a supernatural remedy for suffering, but a supernatural use for it.” She understood that Christianity does not promise us that we will escape from suffering, but it does promise us that God will use the suffering which He has appointed for His own purposes and that He will cover us, even though He may not deliver us in the way we expect.
References: Psalm 91 “Shadowed.” Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III, June 22, 2008
ESV Study Bible
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