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![religious trust in God; with the promise of a miraculous protection to such as
trusted in him. Both psalms seem to have been composed soon after the irrevocable
decree was passed, umbers 14 which condemned one part of them, all who were
numbered from twenty years old and upwards, to a lingering death in the
wilderness, and their little ones to a forty years wandering for their father's sins;
but with a gracious promise, however, that they should at length obtain an entrance
into the land of Canaan. Both sorts, therefore, stood in need of support and
consolation, though of a different kind; and we find it given them in these two
psalms. The younger sort are thus instructed and encouraged: He that dwelleth, &c.
Psalms 91:1-4. Peters.
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.[a]
BAR ES, "He that dwelleth - Everyone that so dwells. The proposition is
universal, and is designed to embrace all who are in this condition. It is true of one; it is
true of all. The word rendered “dwelleth” here is a participle from the verb to “sit,” and
here means “sitting:” literally, “sitting in the secret place,” etc. The idea is that of calm
repose; of resting; of sitting down - as one does in his dwelling.
In the secret place - On the meaning of this see the notes at Psa_27:5. Compare
Psa_31:20; Psa_32:7. Abiding where God abides. The idea is that of having one’s home
or residence in the most holy place in the tabernacle or the temple, and of sitting with
him in that sacred place.
Of the Most High - Of God, represented as exalted above all; over all the universe.
Shall abide - Margin, as in Hebrew, “lodge.” That is his home - his resting place -
where he lodges, or passes the night. He takes up his lodging there; he makes it his
home.
Under the shadow of the Almighty - Under his protection, as if under his wings.
Compare the notes at Psa_17:8. This is a general statement, and is designed as an
introduction to the whole psalm, or as expressing what the psalm is intended to
illustrate, “the blessedness” of the man who thus dwells with God; who makes him his
friend; who makes the home of God his home.
CLARKE, "He that dwelleth in the secret place - The Targum intimates that
this is a dialogue between David, Solomon, and Jehovah. Suppose we admit this, - then](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-2-2048.jpg)
![are under the same almighty Protector.”
ELLICOTT, "God’s Inner Circle
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.—Psalms 91:1.
The beauty of the language of this poem fitly corresponds to the grandeur of the
thoughts which it conveys. The Psalmist here sings “to one clear harp in divers
tones”; and the central thought which he exhibits in its different aspects is that of
God’s response to man. For every advance on man’s part there is an immediate and
corresponding advance on God’s part. When man goes out to seek God, God meets
him more than half-way. When he calls upon God, God will answer him. Loving
faith on man’s part will be met by faithful love on the part of God. This is in the
first verse, of which the whole psalm is an expansion. If man dwells “in the secret
place of the Most High,” he shall abide “under the shadow of the Almighty.” We
have here the condition and promise.
In his later years, Calvin’s colleague at Geneva was Theodore de Beza (1519–1605),
the writer of the metrical version of Psalms 68, which was the battle-song of the
Huguenots. Taste for the culture of the Renaissance, passion for poetry, worldly
success and fame, had weakened the impression of the religious training of his
youth. A dangerous illness revived his former feelings. Escaping from the bondage
of Egypt, as he called his previous life, he took refuge with Calvin at Geneva. In
1548, when he for the first time attended the service of the Reformed Assembly, the
congregation was singing Psalms 91, “Whoso dwelleth under the defence of the Most
High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” He never forgot the effect of
the words. They supported him in all the difficulties of his subsequent life; they
conquered his fears, and gave him courage to meet every danger.1 [ ote: R. E.
Prothero, The Psalms in Human Life, 185.]
“The 91st Psalm is a mountain of strength to all believers”; so General Gordon
wrote from Gravesend in 1869, one of the six quiet years which he used to speak of
as the happiest of his life. Again, thirteen years later, in January 1882, he wrote thus
from Mauritius: “I dwell more or less (I wish it were more) under the shadow of the
Almighty.”
I
In the Secret Place
1. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High.” We get the clearest idea
of the meaning of this phrase by an examination of the different passages in the
Psalms where the word here translated “secret place” occurs. Thus in Psalms 31:20,
we read: “Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence”; also in Psalms 83:3,
where another form of the same word occurs, we read of God’s “hidden ones.”
From these and similar passages we find that the word is usually connected with the
idea of a fugitive hiding from his pursuers. It calls up before us the picture of a man
running away from his enemies. Weary and panting, he knows not where to hide
himself, and in his despair he flees to some friend of his and seeks protection, and
the friend hides him in a secret place. The fugitive gives his all into the keeping of](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-11-2048.jpg)
![his friend. He places his life in his friend’s hands, and he has now power of life and
death over him. So, then, the man who dwells in “the secret place of the Most High”
is he who ventures his all upon God. With a sure and steadfast trust, with a simple
but unwavering faith, he gives himself, his all, into the keeping of God. He
surrenders himself to God, and by that very act he is taken near to God; he is put in
the secret place of the Most High and becomes one of “God’s hidden ones.” By his
act of absolute self-surrender he has attained to that state which the Apostle Paul
describes in language very similar to that of the Psalmist—only going a little further
than the latter with his imperfect light could go—when he says, “Ye died, and your
new life is hid with Christ in God.”
We are like vessels which are near a lee shore in the night. The darkness of the open
sea is safer for the skilled seaman than the line of the shore. Our safety is to stand
out in the bosom of the dark; it is to press into the mysteries of God. Why is it that
our moral nature, even the religious, is too often shallow and poverty-stricken? It is
because we do not pursue the growing knowledge of God on our own account. We
are religious, or at least we are always in danger of being religious, without spiritual
growth, and spiritual growth surely means spiritual insight. We cease to become
sensible of spiritual enrichment. We come to a time of life when we are content to
say, “I get no secrets from God now.” Revelations do not arrive; doors are not
opened in Heaven; new vistas of faith do not spread away before the soul. Faith runs
on upon the level, and it does not mount, and it does not soar. God becomes by habit
a uniform Presence to us. He is not denied. We do not venture to deny Him. I was
almost going to say we had not the courage to deny Him. But, at any rate, we do not
deny Him. We only disregard Him, like the air and the sky. We do not give our
minds seriously and deliberately to realizing Him. We do not pore upon Him until
fold after fold removes, and depth after depth opens, and we look into His heart.
The secret, the secret of the Most High is not with us.1 [ ote: P. T. Forsyth.]
2. While this is the general idea, it is possible that the immediate figure of “the secret
place” may have been borrowed from the arrangements and appointments of the
Temple. There was the vast outside world stretching on every side beyond the
Temple walls; then the outer courts of the Temple; then the inner chambers and
precincts; then the Holy Place with its golden candlestick and table of shewbread;
and last of all, the Holy of Holies, the secret place, the mystic abiding-place of the
eternal God. And every Jew thought reverently and almost awfully of that secret,
silent place where God dwelt between the cherubim. He turned towards it, he
worshipped towards it, his desire moved towards it; it was the mysterious centre of
his adoration and service. And that arrangement and apportionment of the Temple
became to the Psalmist the type and the symbol of human life. Life could be all
outside, or it could spend itself in outer courts, on the mere fringe of being, or it
could have a secret place where everything found significance and interpretation
and value in the mysterious fellowship of God. That seems to be the primary
meaning of life “in the secret place”; it is life abandoning the mere outside of things,
refusing to dwell in the outer halls and passages of the stately temple of being, and
centralizing itself in that mysterious interior of things where “cherubim and
seraphim continually do cry, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty.”](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-12-2048.jpg)
![The necessity of an inward stillness hath appeared clear to my mind. In true silence
strength is renewed, and the mind is weaned from all things, save as they may be
enjoyed in the Divine will; and a lowliness in outward living, opposite to worldly
honour, becomes truly acceptable to us. In the desire after outward gain the mind is
prevented from a perfect attention to the voice of Christ; yet being weaned from all
things, except as they may be enjoyed in the Divine will, the pure light shines into
the soul. Where the fruits of the spirit which is of this world are brought forth by
many who profess to be led by the Spirit of truth, and cloudiness is felt to be
gathering over the visible church, the sincere in heart, who abide in true stillness,
and are exercised therein before the Lord for His name’s sake, have knowledge of
Christ in the fellowship of His sufferings; and inward thankfulness is felt at times,
that through Divine love our own wisdom is cast out, and that forward, active part
in us is subjected, which would rise and do something without the pure leadings of
the spirit of Christ.1 [ ote: The Journal of John Woolman, 29.]
Don’t be too much taken up with excitements social and intellectual. The depths of
life are still and ought not to be ruffled by every wanton breeze, else they lose the
capacity which they ought to possess of being that centre of rest, and peace, and
content, to which we can withdraw when wearied of the world which is too much
with us. Life to be worth anything at all must have a moral basis. After all, it is the
root of the matter, unless the universe was made in jest.2 [ ote: Memoir of Robert
Herbert Story, 401.]
3. The Church is, in God’s idea, a home where we recover from the fatigue of effort,
when we take a new hold of high purposes from which our hand had slackened; a
place of compensations; a place from which we see our life more truly, for we see
more than itself. Here, in this house, we may feel something, some one, even God, in
the form and manner of Jesus Christ, coming between us and the things which
would dishearten us and work despair. Here we may sit under a shadow, under the
shadow of thought and faith. Here we may come under the rebuke and deliverance
of high and unworldly considerations; here we may receive the emancipation which
comes the moment we adopt the spiritual view and seek not our own will but the will
of God. To seek the face of God in worship is the instinct of the soul which has
become aware of itself and its surroundings. Life and death are the great preachers.
It is they who ring the church bells. That instinct for God, that instinct for the
shadow, will never pass away. It may only become perverted and debased. The
foundation—which is man’s need for God, for guidance, for cleansing, for support,
and that again is but God’s search for man, God’s overtures to man—the
foundation standeth sure.
Whatever temple science may build there will always need to be hard by a Gothic
chapel for wounded souls.1 [ ote: F. Paulsen, Ethics.]
“A little chamber” built “upon the wall,”
With stool and table, candlestick and bed,
Where he might sit, or kneel, or lay his head](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-13-2048.jpg)
![At night or sultry noontide: this was all
A prophet’s need: but in that chamber small
What mighty prayers arose, what grace was shed,
What gifts were given—potent to wake the dead,
And from its viewless flight a soul recall!
And still what miracles of grace are wrought
In many a lonely chamber with shut door,
Where God our Father is in secret sought,
And shows Himself in mercy more and more!
Dim upper rooms with God’s own glory shine,
And souls are lifted to the life Divine.2 [ ote: R. Wilton.]
4. The secret place is not to be limited to a particular locality, but means nearness to
God, the close fellowship into which the soul enters, the inner circle of communion
in which the soul realizes vividly the Divine presence. Some may associate such
communion with one locality, and some with another, according to their individual
experience. But this matters not. The essential thing is the nearness of the soul to
God, its entering into His presence with the full consciousness that He graciously
regards it, and will hear its prayer and accept its homage, breathing its feelings and
desires into His ear, and spreading all its case before Him. His is not that distant
and formal intercourse which one man may hold with another when, in the open
and crowded places of the city, they have to restrain themselves because of being
exposed to the observation of others; it is that intimate and unrestrained intercourse
which friend holds with friend when they meet in privacy, where no other eye sees
or ear hears, and each communicates to the other not the things which are open to
public observation, but the secret and hidden feelings of the heart. Reverently,
although freely and confidently, does the worshipper in the secret place speak to
God as a child to its father, giving expression to all his feelings, whatsoever they may
be.
“Fellowship with the living God,” says Andrew Bonar in his graphic little sketch of
Samuel Rutherford, “is a little distinguishing feature in the holiness given by the
Holy Ghost.… Rutherford could sometimes say, ‘I have been so near Him, that I
have said I take instruments (documents by way of attestation) that this is the Lord,’
and he could from experience declare, ‘I dare avouch, the saints know not the length
and largeness of the sweet earnest, and of the sweet green sheaves before the
harvest, that might be had on this side of the water, if we only took more pains.’ …
All this,” adds Bonar suggestively, “is from the pen of a man who was a
metaphysician, a controversialist, a leader in the Church, and learned in ancient
scholastic lore.”
Where is that secret place of the Most High?
And who is He? Where shall we look for Him
That dwelleth there? Between the cherubim,
That o’er the seat of grace, with constant eye,
And outspread wing, brood everlastingly?
Or shall we seek that deeper meaning dim,](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-14-2048.jpg)
![And as we may, walk, flutter, soar, and swim,
From deep to deep of the void, fathomless sky?
Oh! seek not there the secret of the Lord
In what hath been, or what may never be;
But seek the shadow of the mystic word—
The shadow of a truth thou canst not see:
There build thy nest, and, like a nestling bird,
Find all thy safety in thy secrecy.1 [ ote: Hartley Coleridge.]
5. How are we to maintain our life of fellowship with God? How are we to dwell in
the Secret Place? The Psalmist doubtless would find guidance in the ways and
ministries of the Temple.
(1) The spirit of reverence must be cherished. There was to be no tramping in the
sacred courts. He was to move quietly, as in the presence of something august and
unspeakable. And that is the very first requisite if we would dwell in the secret
place—the reverent spirit and the reverent step. The man who strides through life
with flippant tramp will never get beyond the outer courts. He may “get on,” he will
never “get in”; he may find here and there an empty shell, he will never find “the
pearl of great price.” Irreverence can never open the gate into the secret place.
(2) The second thing requisite in the Temple ministry to any one who sought the
fellowship of the secret place was the spirit of sacrifice. o man was permitted to
come empty-handed in his movements towards the secret place. “Bring an offering,
and come into his courts.” And in that Temple-ministry the Psalmist would
recognize another of the essential requisites if he would dwell in the secret place.
That offering meant that a man must surrender all that he possesses, of gifts and
goods, to his quest of the central things of life. For there is this strange thing about
the strait gate which opens into the secret place: it is too strait for the man who
brings nothing; it is abundantly wide for the man who brings his all. o man
deserves the hallowed intimacies of life, the holy tabernacle of the Most High, who
does not bring upon the errand all that he is, and all that he has. Life’s crown
demands life’s all.
(3) And other Temple-ministries in which the Psalmist would find principles of
guidance would be the requirement of prayer and praise. “Sing unto the Lord a new
song.” Such was to be one of the exercises of those who sought the grace and favour
of the holy place. They were to come wearing the garment of praise. And therefore
the Psalmist knew that praise was to be one of the means by which he was to possess
the intimacies of the secret place. And praise is still one of the ministries by which
we reach the central heart of things, the hallowed abode where we come to share
“the secret of the Lord.” And praise is not fawning upon God, flattering Him, piling
up words of empty eulogy; it is the hallowed contemplation of the greatness of God,
and the grateful appreciation of the goodness of God. And with praise there goes
prayer—the recognition of our dependence upon the Highest, the fellowship of
desire, the humble speech which cooperates in the reception and distribution of
grace.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-15-2048.jpg)
![“I passed my time in great peace, content to spend the remainder of my life there, if
such should be the will of God. I employed part of my time in writing religious
songs. I, and my maid La Gautière, who was with me in prison, committed them to
heart as fast as I made them. Together we sang praises to Thee, O our God! It
sometimes seemed to me as if I were a little bird whom the Lord had placed in a
cage, and that I had nothing to do now but to sing. The joy of my heart gave a
brightness to the objects around me. The stones of my prison looked in my eyes like
rubies. I esteemed them more than all the gaudy brilliancies of a vain world. My
heart was full of that joy which Thou givest to them who love Thee in the midst of
their greatest crosses.”1 [ ote: Madame Guyon, in Life, by T. C. Upham.]
Let praise devote thy work and skill employ
Thy whole mind, and thy heart be lost in joy.
Well-doing bringeth pride, this constant thought
Humility, that thy best done is naught.
Man doeth nothing well, be it great or small,
Save to praise God; but that hath saved all:
For God requires no more than thou hast done,
And takes thy work to bless it for His own.2 [ ote: R. Bridges.]
The wise man will act like the bee, and he will fly out in order to settle with care,
intelligence, and prudence on all the gifts and on all the sweetness which he has
experienced, and on all the good which God has done to him; and through the rays
of the sun and his own inward observation he will experience a multitude of
consolations and blessings. And he will not rest on any flower of all these gifts, but,
laden with gratitude and praise, he will fly back again toward the home in which he
longs to dwell and rest for evermore with God.3 [ ote: M. Maeterlinck, Ruysbroeck
and the Mystics, 130.]
II
Under His Shadow
The man who commits himself to God, and dwells in Him, has this promise, that he
will abide under the shadow of the Almighty. There are two names of God used in
the text, “The Most High” and “The Almighty”; and when we remember the deep
religious significance which the different names of God had for the Hebrew, and the
careful way in which they are used throughout the whole of the Old Testament, so
that in general it is true that that name of God is used which alone serves to indicate
the particular aspect of God’s character or government upon which the writer
wished to lay stress; when we remember this, we are justified in looking for a
meaning in the distinction between the two names of God used here. The man to
whom the promise is made seeks to dwell in the secret place of “the Most High.” He
seeks to be near God as the “Most High” God, the God of surpassing excellence. He
desires the company of Him who is “Most High” because He is most holy. The
character which he contemplates in God is not so much His power as His holiness.
He desires to be near God, not because of what God can do for him, but because of
what God is; it is in the thought of God’s goodness that he rests secure. It is the
holiness of Jehovah that attracts him; it is the beauty of the Lord his God that he
would behold continually. To the man who thus disinterestedly seeks after Him God](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-16-2048.jpg)
![will reveal Himself in the character of the Almighty. The power of the Almighty
shall be round about him. “Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I
deliver him; I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.” This man is
to “abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”
This wonderful Psalm has always been a favourite with the Mystic and the Quietist.
For it expresses what we may call the Beatitude of the Inner Circle. Most religions
have distinguished carefully between the rank and file of the faithful, and that select
company of initiates who taste the hidden wisdom and have access to the secret
shrine. From the nature of the case some such distinction exists even in the Kingdom
of Heaven. Christ Himself allowed a difference between “His own friends” and
those many disciples who are servants still. Only we must never forget on what this
difference depends. The Father, who is Lord of heaven and earth, has seen good to
hide His secrets from the wise and prudent, and to reveal them unto babes. While
from the inmost sanctuary of Christian experience a Voice cries continually,
“Whosoever will let him come freely—if he be content to come as a little child.”1
[ ote: T. H. Darlow, The Upward Calling, 38.]
1. What does the Psalmist mean by “abiding under the shadow”? Does he mean to
say that the shadow of the Almighty rests on the secret place? At first sight it would
seem so, but such a conclusion would not be in harmony with the trend of thought
throughout the Psalm. What he appears really to teach is that, when a man
regularly communes with God in secret, then, wherever he goes, the shadow of the
Almighty shall rest upon him, and in times of trial and danger shall shelter and
protect him. As the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night went before
the children of Israel, and was both a guide and a shelter to them, so the shadow of
the Almighty shall ever rest upon those who dwell in the secret place of the Most
High. A shadow is produced when some object intercepts the light. Here it
represents God placing Himself in front of the sun, to screen His people from heat.
The sun shall not smite them by day, nor the moon by night.
The last poems of Miss Havergal are published with the title, Under His Shadow,
and the preface gives the reason for the name. She said, “I should like the title to be,
Under His Shadow. I seem to see four pictures by that: under the shadow of a rock
in a weary plain; under the shadow of a tree; closer still, under the shadow of His
wing; nearest and closest, in the shadow of His hand. Surely that hand must be the
pierced hand, that may oftentimes press us sorely, and yet evermore encircling,
upholding, and shadowing.”1 [ ote: C. H. Spurgeon, Till He Come, 23.]
2. ow it is one thing to be touched by the shadow of the Almighty, another to abide
within that shadow. One has not lived long, or has lived only on the surface, who has
never for a moment been touched by the shadow of God. It may have fallen upon us
in one or other of several experiences. It may have come to us in some reverse of
fortune, in some change in our prospects. Or it may have come to us in some bodily
illness or the threatening of some illness. Or it may have come to us, as so much with
regard to the unseen world comes to us all, in the great silence of a bereavement.
But there is probably not one of adult years who has not had at least one experience](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-17-2048.jpg)
![which has touched him to the quick and has brought him for the time being face to
face with God. And yet, if we are strict with ourselves, we shall have to confess that
as the trouble eased the high seriousness which it brought began to pass away, so
that probably not one of us has worked out into our life and character the holy
intentions which we proposed to ourselves on a certain day when our heart was sore.
We have lost from ourselves a certain dignity, a certain superiority to the world
which was ours in days that we can still recall, when some suspense was keeping our
heart open, when in some precious concern of our life we were depending utterly
upon God for something. To be touched—that is the work of God, the work of life
upon us; whereas to abide requires the consent of our will. In order to abide it needs
that the whole man, who knows that in the personal crisis God was singling him out,
shall live henceforth by the wisdom and calling of that hour. It needs that he shall
depart from all the iniquity which the light of that holy hour revealed to him.
The original meaning of the word here translated “abide” is “to wrap up in a
garment for warmth and rest during the cool of the night.” The reflexive form of the
verb is here used: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall wrap
himself round in the shadow of the God of Might.” earness to God is to be to him
as the garment which the traveller wraps around him as he goes to sleep in the
desert, when the chills of night descend. God’s immediate presence is to be wrapped
round about him for his protection.1 [ ote: A. S. Renton.]
3. God’s protection does not mean exemption from outward calamities. But there is
an evil in the calamity that will never come near the man who is sheltered under
God’s wing. The physical external event may be entirely the same to him as to
another who is not covered with His feathers. Here are two partners in a business;
the one is a Christian man, and the other is not. A common disaster overwhelms
them. They become bankrupts. Is insolvency the same to the one as it is to the other?
Here are two men on board a ship, the one putting his trust in God, the other
thinking it all nonsense to trust anything but himself. They are both drowned. Is
drowning the same to the two? As their corpses lie side by side, you may say of the
one, but only of the one, “There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague
come nigh thy dwelling.” For the protection that is granted to faith is to be
understood only by faith.
“If you believe in God,” wrote Robert Louis Stevenson, “where is there any more
room for terror? If you are sure that God, in the long-run, means kindness by you,
you should be happy.” Fighting a losing battle with death, he wrote: “The tragedy of
things works itself out blacker and blacker. Does it shake my cast-iron faith? I
cannot say that it does. I believe in an ultimate decency of things; aye, and if I woke
in hell, should still believe it.” Let us thank God for the faith of that high and brave
soldier of suffering, going up and down the earth in quest of health, and singing as
he went:
If to feel in the ink of the slough,
And sink of the mire,
Veins of glory and fire](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-18-2048.jpg)
![Run through and transpierce and transpire,
And a secret purpose of glory in every part,
And the answering glory of battle fill my heart;
To thrill with the joy of girded men,
To go on forever and fail and go on again,
And be mauled to the earth and arise,
And contend for the shade of a word and a thing not seen with the eyes:
With the half of a broken hope for a pillow at night;
That somehow the right is the right
And the smooth shall bloom from the rough:
Lord, if that were enough?
4. But the promise is absolutely true in a far higher region—the region of spiritual
defence. For no man who lies under the shadow of God, and has his heart filled with
the continual consciousness of that Presence, is likely to fall before the assaults of
evil that tempt him away from God; and the defence which He gives in that region is
yet more magnificently impregnable than the defence which He gives against
external evils. For, as the ew Testament teaches us, we are kept from sin, not by
any outward breastplate or armour, not even by the Divine wing lying above us to
cover us, but by the indwelling Christ in our hearts. His Spirit within us makes us
“free from the law of sin and death,” and conquerors over all temptations. Every
step taken into a higher, holier life secures a completer immunity from the power of
evil. Virtually there is no temptation to those who climb high enough; they still
suffer the trial of their faith and principle, but they have no evil thought, no affinity
with evil; it exercises over them no fascination; it is to them as though it were not.
ever deal with temptation on low utilitarian grounds of health, reputation, or
interest. If you have a vice, convict it at Sinai; arraign it at the bar of the Judgment
Day; make it ashamed of itself at the feet of Christ; blind it with heaven; scorch it
with hell; take it into the upper air where it cannot get its breath, and choke it.
And chok’st thou not him in the upper air
His strength he will still on the earth repair.
Migratory birds invisible to the eye have been detected by the telescope crossing the
disc of the sun six miles above the earth. They have found one of the secret places of
the Most High; far above the earth, invisible to the human eye, hidden in the light,
they were delightfully safe from the fear of evil. Thus it is with the soul that soars
into the heavenly places; no arrow can reach it, no fowler betray it, no creature of
prey make it afraid: it abides in the shadow of the Almighty.1 [ ote: W. L.
Watkinson, The Ashes of Roses, 117.]
How good it is, when weaned from all beside,
With God alone the soul is satisfied,
Deep hidden in His heart!
How good it is, redeemed, and washed, and shriven,
To dwell, a cloistered soul, with Christ in heaven,
Joined, never more to part!
How good the heart’s still chamber thus to close
On all but God alone—](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-19-2048.jpg)
![There in the sweetness of His love repose,
His love unknown!
All else for ever lost—forgotten all
That else can be;
In rapture undisturbed, O Lord, to fall
And worship Thee.2 [ ote: Frances Bevan, Hymns of Ter Steegen, 36.]
ELLICOTT, "Verse 1
PSALM 91
THE SECURITY OF HIM WHO TRUSTS I GOD
"Jewish tradition assigns this psalm to Moses, an assignment which Dr. Kay and
others accept as borne out by the facts."[1] We fail to be impressed with the current
fashion of late-dating many psalms upon considerations which, at best, are very
precarious and questionable.
One rather perplexing characteristic of this psalm was mentioned by Maclaren,
"There are sudden and bewildering changes of persons, from first person to second
person, etc., in which `He,' `I' and `thou' alternate."[2] The context usually affords
the clue to what is meant and who is the speaker, or the one spoken to.
The paragraphing that we follow here is that of Briggs.[3]
Security of the True Worshipper of God
Psalms 91:1-4
"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of Jehovah, He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in whom I trust.
For he will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler,
And from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover thee with his pinions,
And under his wings shalt thou take refuge;
His truth is a shield and a buckler."
"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High" (Psalms 91:1). "`The secret](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-20-2048.jpg)
![place' is here generally understood to mean `the temple' or `tabernacle,' but `one's
dwelling there' is not a reference to persons actually living in the temple. It seems
rather to mean those who consistently worship the God who is enshrined there, or
to, "Those who make the temple of God their habitual resort."[4]
"He will deliver thee" (Psalms 91:3). Two perils are mentioned here, (1) the snare of
the fowler, and (2) the deadly pestilence. Both of these indicate the type of peril that
is unseen, striking the strong and the weak alike. "The snare of the fowler is a
metaphor for evil plots,"[5] that might inflict loss or even death. The other danger
here is "the deadly pestilence." The human race is never exempt from the ravages of
mortal illnesses that come about from the spread of infectious diseases. The `Black
Death' (the bubonic plague) of the 14th Century wiped out the majority of the
population of Europe; and Durant declared that, "One-fourth of the population of
the civilized world perished, the deaths in Europe alone reaching 25,000,000."[6]
The great pestilence of 1918 was the swine flu which wiped out more people in the
United States than our nation lost in World War I.
The threat of such things, held partially in check by the diligence of the medical
profession, is nevertheless perpetual. All kinds of fatal diseases lie submerged within
the microscopic life surrounding all men, and any of these may break forth at any
time. A recent example is AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome).
"He will cover thee" (Psalms 91:4). God's protection of his own is assured in words
such as these. From the ew Testament, we learn that God's children are by no
means to be protected from death from every threat and at all times. What is meant
is that God will protect them even "through death." Our Lord spoke of Christians
who would even be put to death, saying, "But not a hair of your head shall perish"
(Luke 21:18).
This does not deny that the Providence of God does indeed provide protection from
the most terrible dangers for those who truly love him, doing so now in this present
earthly life.
CO STABLE, "1. The security God provides91:1-2
God Himself is the One who is the believer"s security. The unknown psalmist
described Him as the Most High (Sovereign Ruler) and the Almighty (One having
all power). Those who rely on Him find that He is a shelter from the storms of life
and a shadowy place of security, much like the area under a bird"s wing. He is a
refuge where we can run for safety in times of danger and a fortress that will
provide defense against attacking foes.
This wisdom psalm focuses on security in life, an idea present in Psalm 90. The
writer knew that God provides security. It is a psalm for situations involving
danger, exposure, or vulnerability.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-21-2048.jpg)
!["This remarkable psalm speaks with great specificity, and yet with a kind of
porousness, so that the language is enormously open to each one"s particular
experience. Its tone is somewhat instructional, as though reassuring someone else
who is unsure. Yet the assurance is not didactic, but confessional. It is a personal
testimony of someone whose own experience makes the assurance of faith
convincing and authentic." [ ote: Brueggemann, p156.]
EXPOSITORS DICTIO ARY OF TEXTS, "God"s Inner Circle
Psalm 91:1
This wonderful Psalm has always been a favourite with the mystic and quietist. For
it expresses what we may call the Beatitude of the Inner Circle. Most religions have
distinguished carefully between the rank and file of the faithful, and that select
company of initiates who taste the hidden wisdom and have access to the secret
shrine. From the nature of the case some such distinction exists even in the kingdom
of heaven. Christ Himself allowed a difference between "His own friends" and those
many disciples who are servants still. Only we must never forget on what this
difference depends.... The Father who is Lord of heaven and earth has seen good to
hide His secrets from the wise and prudent, and to reveal them unto babes.
I. As we recognize the reality of this Inner Circle of souls enlightened and initiated,
these verses suggest some signs and tokens which characterize those who not merely
wear their Lord"s livery, but are actual courtiers in the palace of the Great King.
We may say that they are more at home with God than other Christians, and they
are also more alone with God. These dwellers in the secret place of the Most High
are like children at home there, who have received the Spirit whereby they say
always, "Abba—that Isaiah , Father".
II. Such spiritual intimacy requires a spiritual privacy as well. To come close to God
means not merely to be withdrawn from the noise and glare of the world, but also to
be embraced in that shadow with which the uncreated height softens His glory to
our eyes. For those who are thus brought near to their Father in heaven, there rises
a strange delight in remembering the Divine Omnipotence. They exult in His power
and might, His majesty and dominion.
III. And thus it comes to pass that the self-same attributes of God which daunt and
repel us at a distance, are transformed into our very shelter and joy when once He
covers us with His feathers. "Thou shalt not be afraid." o promise is oftener
repeated and ratified to the childlike soul. Those who belong to God"s Inner Circle
bear on their countenances the seal that they are quiet from fear of evil, that they
have gained the victory over terror and dismay.
IV. In God"s Inner Circle the childlike spirit is made one with the will and the love
of the Almighty Father. And herein lies our security and refuge against whatsoever
may await us in this world or in any other.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-22-2048.jpg)
![There is, no doubt, difficulty in Psalms 91:1; for, if it is taken as an independent
sentence, it sounds tautological, since there is no well-marked difference between
"sitting" and "lodging," nor much between "secret place" and "shadow." But
possibly the idea of safety is more strongly conveyed by "shadow" than by "secret
place," and the meaning of the apparently identical assertion may be, that he who
quietly enters into communion with God thereby passes into His protection; or, as
Kay puts it, "Loving faith on man’s part shall be met by faithful love on God’s
part." The LXX changes the person of "will say" in Psalms 91:2, and connects it
with Psalms 91:1 as its subject ("He that sits, that lodges shall say"). Ewald,
followed by Baethgen and others, regards Psalms 91:1 as referring to the "I" of
Psalms 91:2, and translates "Sitting I say." Hupfeld, whom Cheyne follows, cuts the
knot by assuming that "Blessed is" has dropped out at the beginning of Psalms 91:1,
and so gets a smooth run of construction and thought ("Happy is he who sits who
lodges who says). It is suspiciously smooth, obliterates the characteristic change of
persons, of which the psalm has other instances, and has no support except the
thought that the psalmist would have saved us a great deal of trouble, if he had only
been wise enough to have written so. The existing text is capable of a meaning in
accordance with his general drift. A wide declaration like that of Psalms 91:1
fittingly preludes the body of the song, and naturally evokes the pathetic profession
of faith which follows.
SIMEO , "THE BLESSED ESS OF GOD’S PEOPLE
Psalms 91:1-4. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide
under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my
fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of
the fowler and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers,
and, under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
TO unfold the doctrines and duties of our holy religion is a matter of indispensable
necessity to every one who would discharge the ministerial office with acceptance.
Yet it is not necessary that a minister should always be laying the foundation of
repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ: there are times and
seasons when he should “go on unto perfection [ ote: Hebrews 6:1.],” and exhibit
Christianity in its highest stages of practical efficiency. The psalm before us will
afford us ample scope for this. The words which we have just read are somewhat
disconnected: but a slight alteration in the translation, whilst it will not affect the
sense of the passage, will cast a light and beauty over it, and render it doubly
interesting to us all. Two prelates of our Church agree in reading the passage thus:
“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, that abideth under the
shadow of the Almighty; that saith of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; my
God, in whom I will trust.” Then the Psalmist, instead of proceeding regularly with
his speech, breaks off, and in an apostrophe addresses the person whom he has been
describing; “Surely he shall deliver thee [ ote: Bishop Lowth and Bishop Horne,
See Bishop Home on the place.],” &c. &c. According to this rendering, we have a
clear exposition of the character and blessedness of every true believer. Let us
consider, then,](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-24-2048.jpg)
![I. His character—
He is not described either by his religious creed or by his moral conduct. We are led
to view him rather in his secret walk with God: and in this view his character is
portrayed,
1. Figuratively
[It will be remembered that God dwelt by a visible symbol of his presence in the
tabernacle; and that the high-priest on the great day of annual atonement went
within the veil, and abode there till he had sprinkled the blood of his sacrifices upon
the mercy-seat, and covered the mercy-seat with his incense. ow, what he did
corporeally once in the year, the true Christian does spiritually every day in the
year; for through Christ we all are “made kings and priests unto our God.” Paint to
yourselves, then, the high-priest in his occasional access to God; and there you see
the Christian going continually within the veil, or rather habitually dwelling there,
and “making God himself his habitation [ ote: ver. 9.].” And truly this is “a secret
place,” of which an unconverted man has no conception: it is “the secret of God’s
pavilion, the secret of his tabernacle [ ote: Psalms 27:5.].” But we must divest
ourselves of the notion of locality: for this place is wherever God manifests his more
immediate presence: and therefore David beautifully calls it, “the secret of his
presence [ ote: Psalms 31:20.].” There the Believer dwells: and, O! who can
conceive “the fellowship which he there enjoys with God the Father and with the
Lord Jesus Christ [ ote: 1 John 1:3.];” whilst they, with condescending and
affectionate endearment, come to him, and abidingly feast with him [ ote: John
14:21; John 14:23. Revelation 3:20.]. In truth, the communion between God and the
soul is such as no language can cunvey: it is nothing less than a mutual in-dwelling,
resembling that which subsists between the Father and the Son; they being in God,
and God in them; yea, and being one with God, and God with them [ ote: Compare
John 6:56 and 1 John 4:15-16. with John 17:21-23.] — — — This is a mercy which
the Believer alone enjoys. But some little idea of it may be formed from the favour
conferred upon the camp of Israel in the wilderness. The cloudy pillar led them in
all their way, affording them shade by day from the heat of the burning sun, and
light throughout the night season. To no other people under heaven was this ever
vouchsafed. And so it is with the camp of the true Israelites at this day: they, and
they only, behold the light of God’s countenance in the nightseason of adversity; and
they alone are sheltered from every thing that would oppress and overwhelm their
souls; as it is written, “The Lord will create upon every dwelling-place of Mount
Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a
flaming file by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence [ ote: Isaiah 4:5.].”]
2. In plain terms—
[The workings of his mind, under all the trials and difficulties which he has to
encounter, are here set forth. He is convinced that no created arm can be sufficient
for him. Hence he directs his eyes towards the Creator himself, and saith of him,](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-25-2048.jpg)
![“He is my refuge” from every trouble: “He is my fortress” against every assailant:
“He is my God,” all whose powers and perfections shall be employed for me. “In
Him will I trust,” in Him only and exclusively; in Him always, under all
circumstances; in Him, with perfect confidence and unshaken affiance. The man is
not like the ungodly world, who know not what to do, and are at their wit s end
when trouble comes: he is “in the secret place of the Most High;” and, where others
can see nothing, he beholds “chariots of fire and horses of fire all around him [ ote:
2 Kings 6:17.],” or, rather, he beholds “God himself as a wall of fire round about
him [ ote: Zechariah 2:5.],” and has the very glory of God resting on him [ ote: 1
Peter 4:14.]. Thus is the true Believer distinguished from all others: “he beholds
Him who is invisible [ ote: Hebrews 11:27.];” and walks us in his immediate
presence, saying, “If God be for me, who can be against me?”
Shall this be thought an exaggerated description? I do not say that the Divine
presence is equally realized by all, or by any equally at all times: there are seasons
when a Peter may be “of little faith [ ote: Matthew 14:31.];” and a Paul may need a
special revelation for his support, saying to him, “Be not afraid; but speak, and hold
not thy peace; for I am with thee; and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee [ ote:
Acts 18:9-10,].” evertheless, in the general habit of their mind, their language is
like that of David; “I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, in
whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I
will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine
enemies [ ote: Psalms 18:1-3.].”]
With such views of the believer’s character, you can have no doubt of,
II. His blessedness—
Here let the abruptness of the address be borne in mind. The Psalmist, instead of
proceeding, as might have been expected, to declare the blessings which a person of
this description should receive, addresses himself to that person in these animated
terms: “Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the
noisome pestilence; he shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt
thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.” now, in these terms, he, in the
very name of God himself, and in the most assured manner, pledges to him the
protection,
1. Of God’s power—
[If war were raging in our country; or pestilence, like that which desolated Judea
after David had numbered the people, and which probably gave occasion to this
psalm, were carrying off multitudes all around us; we should enter more fully into
the subject before us, and see more forcibly the exalted privileges of the true
Believer. But we must remember that there is a moral “pestilence” raging all around
us, and sweeping myriads into the pit of destruction. We should remember, too, that
there is a spiritual “fowler,” who entangles, in his net, millions, unwary as the silly
bird, and “leads them captive at his will [ ote: 2 Timothy 2:26. τοῦ διαβύλου](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-26-2048.jpg)
![παγίδος ἐζωγρηµένοι.].” What is the example of men in every walk of life, but one
deadly contagion, from which it is almost impossible to escape? And what are those
lusts and temptations with which we are continually beset, but baits, whereby the
devil seeketh to ensnare us to our everlasting ruin? And who can preserve us from
these snares, but God himself? Little will human wisdom or power avail against
such potent enemies. Peter imagined himself secure enough from denying his Lord,
when he formed so steadfast a resolution respecting it: but, as our Lord had
forewarned him, “the cock did not crow twice, till he had denied him thrice.” And
whomsoever Satan should get into his sieve, he would prove us all to be chaff, if we
should be left without timely succour from on high [ ote: Luke 22:31.], But “God
will keep the feet of his saints [ ote: 1 Samuel 2:9.],” and not suffer them to fall a
prey to the destroyer. The care of a hen over her brood is well known. When a bird
of prey is hovering over them, she calls them under her wings, and there preserves
them in perfect safety. The bird of prey, when searching for them, can behold
nothing but the dam. Thus will God preserve his people from all their enemies: “He
will cover them with his feathers, and under his wings shall they trust:” yea, “their
lives shall be hid with Christ in God,” beyond the reach of harm: and because
“Christ himself is their life, when he shall appear, they also shall appear with him in
glory [ ote: Colossians 3:3-4.].” What was done by God for Israel in the wilderness,
shall be done by him for every soul that puts its trust in him [ ote: Deuteronomy
32:9-12.] — — —]
2. Of his faithfulness—
[For every believer the very truth of God is pledged; and “life is promised” to him
by a “God who cannot lie [ ote: Titus 1:2.].” It is not said that the believer shall not
be tempted, or “be in heaviness through manifold temptations: but that he shall not
be finally overcome, God docs engage; as the Apostle says: “God is faithful, who will
not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also
make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it [ ote: 1 Corinthians 10:13.].”
Here, I say, the very faithfulness of God is pledged; and we may be sure, that “of all
the good things which he has promised to his people, not one shall ever fail [ ote:
Joshua 23:14.].” o doubt they may through weakness be overcome for a season, as
the lives of the most eminent saints but too clearly prove. But in such a case God has
told us how he will act towards them: “If his children forsake my law, and walk not
in my judgments; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; then
will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.
evertheless, my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my
faithfulness to fail; my covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out
of my lips: for once have I sworn by my holiness, that I will not lie unto David [ ote:
Psalms 89:30-35.].” Of course, we are not to understand this of one who sins wilfully
and habitually: for, whatever he may profess, he is no child of God, but a downright
hypocrite: but of the weakest of real saints it is spoken (and to him it shall assuredly
be fulfilled: for “it is not the will of our Father that one of his little ones should
perish [ ote: Matthew 18:14.].”]
For a just improvement of this passage, let it be remembered,](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-27-2048.jpg)
![1. In what way alone we can have access to God—
[We have spoken of the believer as “dwelling in God:” but how came he into that
sanctuary? and where did he find a door of entrance? This is a point that should be
well understood. There is but one way to the Father; and that is by Christ. Our
blessed Lord himself tells us this, when he says, “I am the way, the truth, and the
life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me.” It must never be forgotten, that in
ourselves we are altogether departed from God; and that we can be “brought nigh
only by the blood of Jesus.” It was by the blood of his sacrifice alone, that the High
Priest, of whom we have before spoken, could come into the holy place of the Most
High [ ote: Hebrews 9:7.]: and it is by the blood of Jesus alone that we can venture
into the holiest [ ote: Hebrews 10:19.], or presume to ask any thing at the hands of
God [ ote: Hebrews 10:20-22.]. I beseech you, therefore, to bear this in
remembrance, and never to call God yours, until you have come to him in his
appointed way — — —]
2. What is that kind of confidence which we ought to maintain—
[It must not be presumptuous confidence, that overlooks the use of means or
supersedes the necessity of holy fear. Satan could not be better served than by such
confidence as that. And hence it was, that, in tempting our blessed Lord, he cited
this very psalm, and urged a part of it as a warrant for him to cast himself down
from a pinnacle of the temple; saying, “If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down:
for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands
they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone [ ote: ver.
11, 12. with Matthew 4:6.].” Our Lord’s reply to him shews us our duty in relation
to this matter; “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” We are not needlessly to
expose ourselves to dangers, in the expectation that God will preserve us: nor are we
to neglect the use of means, as though God were engaged to work miracles in our
behalf. We must be humble, watchful, diligent; as it is written, “Give all diligence to
make your calling and election sure.” God has, indeed, engaged to “give us both to
will and to do:” but, whilst we depend on him for his effectual aid, we must “work
out our own salvation with fear and trembling [ ote: Philippians 2:12-13.].” In
every step of our way to Zion, we must cry, “Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe.”]
3. What should be the frame of our minds after we have come to him—
[I have said, ‘We should fear;’ for “blessed is the man that feareth always.” But this
fear should temper, not weaken, our confidence in God. Hear what the Prophet
Isaiah says: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee;
because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord for. ever; for with the Lord
Jehovah is everlasting strength [ ote: Isaiah 26:3-4.].” St. Paul maintained to the
uttermost the fear of which we have been speaking; for he “kept under his body,
and brought it into subjection; lest that by any means, after he had preached to
others, he himself should be a cast-away [ ote: 1 Corinthians 9:27.].” But his
confidence in God was entire. He defied all the powers in the universe to separate](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-28-2048.jpg)
![him from the love of God [ ote: Romans 8:33-39.] — — — And you, also, may
possess the same blessed hope, “knowing in whom you have believed [ ote: 2
Timothy 1:12.],” and assured that none shall ever pluck you out of the Saviour’s
hands [ ote: John 10:28.].]
BI 1-16, "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the
shadow of the Almighty.
A song of faith
I. The solitary voice of faith. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High”—
how high up that “secret place” must be; how deep the silence up there; how pure the
air! How far above the poisonous mists that cling to the low-lying swamps; how far out
of the reach of the arrows or shots of the foeman, is he that dwelleth with God by
communion, by constancy of desire, by aspiration, and by clear recognition of the Divine
goal of all his work! “He that dwelleth” thus, “in the secret place of the Most High, shall
abide under the shadow of the Almighty”—and since He is Almighty the long shadow
that that great rock casts will shelter him who keeps beneath it from the burning rays of
the fiery sunshine, in every “ weary land.” Let me keep myself in touch with God, and I
keep myself master of all things, and secure from the evil that is in evil.
II. The great assurances which answer to this solitary voice of faith. Now, is it true, as
the psalmist goes on to portray under a double figure of battle and pestilence, that the
man who thus trusts is saved from widespread calamities which may be devastating the
lines of a community? If we look on the surface it is not true. Those that “dwell in the
secret place of the Most High” will die of an epidemic—cholera, or smallpox—like the
men beside them that have no such abode. But, for all that, it is true! For suppose two
men, one a Christian, another not, both dying from the same epidemic. Yet the
difference between the two is such that we may confidently say of the one, “He that
believeth shall never die,” and of the other that he has died. It is irrelevant to talk about
vaccination being a better prophylactic than faith. No doubt this psalmist was thinking
mainly of physical life. No doubt, also, you and I have better means of interpreting and
understanding Providence and its dealings than he had. And for us the belief that they
who “dwell in the secret place of the Most High” are immune from death, is possible and
imperative, after a fashion far nobler and better than the psalmist could have dreamed.
We must remember Old Testament conditions when we read Old Testament promises,
and apply New Testament interpretations to Old Testament assurances. When we read,
“there shall no evil befall thee,” and think of our own harassed, tempest-tossed, often
sorrowful lives, and broken, solitary hearts, we must learn that the evil that educates is
not evil, and that the chastening of the Father’s hand is good; and that nothing that
brings a man nearer to God can be an enemy. The poison is wiped off the arrow, though
the arrow may mercifully wound; and the evil in the evil is all dissipated.
III. A deeper voice still coming in, and confirming the enlarging all these promises. God
Himself speaks, promising deliverance consequent upon fixed love. “Because he hath set
his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him.” As the word in the original suggests,
when a poor man presses himself close up against the Divine breast, as a dog might
against his master’s limbs, or one that loves might clasp close to himself the beloved,
then God responds to the desire for close contact, and in union He brings deliverance.
Further, He promises elevation consequent on acquaintance with Divine character. “I
will set him on high”—high above all the weltering flood of evil that washes vainly round
the base of the cliff—“because he hath known My name.” Loving acquaintance with the
revealed character of God lifts a man above earth and all its ills. Further, there is the](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-29-2048.jpg)
!["as God" —"God over all, blessed for ever, "and of love, reverence, trust,
obedience, and filial relation towards him on the part of the Psalmist, as MY God
...when reflecting on the refuge and strength which the Lord has always been to
him, and recalling his blessed experiences of sweet communion with God—words
fail him. He can only say (but oh, with what expression!) MY GOD! Mary B.M.
Duncan.
Ver. 2. My God. Specially art Thou my God, first, on thy part, because of the special
goodness and favour which Thou dost bestow upon me. Secondly, on my part,
because of the special love and reverence with which I cling to Thee. J. Paulus
Palanterius.
Ver. 2-4. If the severity and justice of God terrify, the Lord offereth himself as a
bird with stretched out wings to receive the supplicant, Psalms 91:4. If enemies who
are too strong do pursue, the Lord openeth his bosom as a refuge, Psalms 91:2. If
the child be assaulted, he becometh a fortress, Psalms 91:2. If he be hotly pursued
and enquired after, the Lord becometh a secret place to hide his child; if persecution
be hot, God giveth himself for a shadow; if potentates and mighty rulers turn
enemies, the Lord interposes as the Most High and Almighty Saviour, Psalms 91:1.
If his adversaries be crafty like fowlers or hunters, the Lord promises to prevent
and break the snares, Psalms 91:3. Whether evils do come upon the believer night or
day, secretly or openly, to destroy him, the Lord preserveth his child from
destruction;and if stumbling blocks be laid in his child's way, he hath his
instruments, his servants, his angels, prepared to keep the believer that he stumble
not: He shall give his angels charge over thee; not one angel only, but all of them, or
a number of them. David Dickson.
BE SO , "Psalms 91:2-3. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge — Upon that
ground I will confidently commit myself and all my affairs to God. Surely he shall
deliver thee — O thou believing, pious soul, who after my example shalt make God
thy refuge, thou shalt partake of the same privilege which I enjoy. From the snare of
the fowler — Which is laid unseen, and catches the unwary prey on a sudden; and
from the noisome pestilence — Which, like a fowler’s snare, seizeth men
unexpectedly, and holdeth them fast, and commonly delivers them up to death.
“This promise,” saith Henry, “protects, 1st, The natural life, and is often fulfilled in
our preservation from those dangers which are very threatening, and very near, and
yet we ourselves are not apprehensive of them, no more than the bird is of the snare
of the fowler. 2d, The spiritual life, which is protected by divine grace from the
temptations of Satan, which are as the snares of the fowler, from the contagion of
sin, which is the noisome pestilence. He that has given grace to be the glory of the
soul, will create a defence upon all that glory.”
EBC, "According to the accents, Psalms 91:2 is to be read "I will say. To Jehovah
[belongs] my refuge," etc. But it is better to divide as above. Jehovah is the refuge.
The psalmist speaks to Him, with the exclamation of yearning trust. He can only call
Him by precious names, to use which, in however broken a fashion, is an appeal that
goes straight to His heart, as it comes straight from the suppliant’s. The singer
lovingly accumulates the Divine names in these two first verses. He calls God "Most](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-40-2048.jpg)
![CLARKE, "Surely he shall deliver thee - If thou wilt act thus, then the God in
whom thou trustest will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, from all the devices of
Satan, and from all dangerous maladies. As the original word, דבר dabar, signifies a word
spoken, and deber, the same letters, signifies pestilence; so some translate one way, and
some another: he shall deliver thee from the evil and slanderous word; he shall deliver
thee from the noisome pestilence - all blasting and injurious winds, effluvia, etc.
GILL, "Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler,.... These are
the words of the psalmist, either speaking to himself, for the encouragement of his own
faith and trust in the Lord; or to the man that dwells in the secret place, and under the
shadow of the most High; which latter seems most agreeable; though Cocceius thinks
they are the words of God in one of his Persons, speaking of another divine Person that
should deliver such that trust in him: the Targum makes them to be the words of David
to Solomon his son. By the "fowler" and his "snare" may be meant either Saul, who laid
wait for David, spread snares for him, and hunted him as a partridge on the mountains,
from whom he was delivered; or rather any tyrannical enemy and persecutor of the
saints, who lay snares for them; and these are broken by the Lord, and so they escape, as
a bird out of the hands of the fowler, Psa_124:6 or it may, best of all, be understood of
Satan and his temptations, which are as snares that he lays to catch the people of God in,
and from which they are delivered by the power and grace of God; see 1Ti_3:7.
and from the noisome pestilence; the most pernicious and destructive one; which
may be literally understood of any pestilential distemper; from which the Lord, by his
powerful providence, sometimes protects his people, when in danger of it: or, spiritually,
of the pestilential disease of sin, that noisome and deadly one, the plague of the heart,
which is the worst of all plagues; and from the ruinous and destructive effects and
consequences of which the Lord saves his saints.
HE RY, "The great encouragement he gives to others to do likewise, not only from
his own experience of the comfort of it (for in that there might possibly be a fallacy), but
from the truth of God's promise, in which there neither is nor can be any deceit (Psa_
91:3, Psa_91:4, etc.): Surely he shall deliver thee. Those who have themselves found the
comfort of making God their refuge cannot but desire that others may do so. Now here it
is promised,
1. That believers shall be kept from those mischiefs which they are in imminent danger
of, and which would be fatal to them (Psa_91:3), from the snare of the fowler, which is
laid unseen and catches the unwary prey on a sudden, and from the noisome pestilence,
which seizes men unawares and against which there is no guard. This promise protects,
(1.) The natural life, and is often fulfilled in our preservation from those dangers which
are very threatening and very near, while yet we ourselves are not apprehensive of them,
any more than the bird is of the snare of the fowler. We owe it, more than we are
sensible, to the care of the divine Providence that we have been kept from infectious
diseases and out of the hands of the wicked and unreasonable. (2.) The spiritual life,
which is protected by divine grace from the temptations of Satan, which are as the
snares of the fowler, and from the contagion of sin, which is the noisome pestilence. He
that has given grace to be the glory of the soul will create a defence upon all that glory.
JAMISO , "snares ... [and] ... noisome pestilence — literally, “plagues of](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-42-2048.jpg)
![Psalms 91:5-8. Thou shalt not be afraid— The younger ones were to rest secure in
the divine promise for protection. Amid the daily spectacles of mortality to which
they were soon to be accustomed, it is added, Psalms 91:8. Only with thine eyes shalt
thou behold, &c. i.e. "Thou shalt only have the discomfort of seeing those who may
be dear to thee fall by their own guilt, and the just sentence passed upon them for
their wicked murmurings and disobedience."
ELLICOTT, "Verse 5
EXHORTATIO OT TO FEAR THE PESTILE CE
"Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night,
or for the arrow that flieth by day;
For the pestilence that walketh in darkness;
or for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
A thousand shall fall at thy side,
And ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold,
And see the reward of the wicked."
We do not believe all of this paragraph is a reference to the pestilence, `the arrow
that flieth by day' being no doubt a reference to warfare.
If Moses was the author of this, as the Rabbinic tradition assures us, then Moses
had actually seen instances of such marvelous help of God's people in the midst of
abounding misfortunes for the wicked.
For example, the plague of boils was a horrible pestilence upon the Egyptians, as
was the plague of the murrain of cattle (Genesis 9); but, " othing that belonged to
the children of Israel died" (Genesis 9:4). Furthermore, God's victory over Amalek
(Exodus 17) and over the Amorites and the Moabites ( umbers 21), provided
instances in which God's followers suffered very few casualties and the enemies
Were destroyed. Also in Joshua's conquest of Canaan, there were numerous
examples of that same providence.
"The pestilence that walketh in darkness ... the destruction that wasteth at
noonday" (Psalms 91:6). Yates pointed out that the Jewish Talmud identified these
lines with the night-time demon (Lilith), and the day-time demon ( amtar),
"Suggesting that the psalm be used in the case of demonic attacks."[7] Regardless of
such opinions, we find no reference whatever here to superstitions like that. Christ](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-56-2048.jpg)
!["For thou, O Jehovah, art my refuge!
Thou hast made the Most High thy habitation.
There shall no evil befall thee,
either shall any plague come nigh thy tent.
For he will give his angels charge over thee,
To keep thee in all thy ways.
They shall bear thee up in their hands,
Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder:
The young lion and the serpent shalt thou trample under foot."
Briggs stated that there is a Messianic significance in this passage;[8] and certainly
Satan himself thought it applied to Christ, for he quoted Psalms 91:11-12 to Jesus
Christ in the temptation recorded in Matthew 4:4 and Luke 4:10-11.
Christ, of course refused the Devil's suggestion that he cast himself from the
pinnacle of the temple, noting that such an action would tempt God. For our full
comments on that episode, see in my ew Testament series of commentaries under
those references.
"There shall no evil befall thee" (Psalms 91:10). Promises just as glorious as these
are provided for the Christians in the ew Testament, as for example, in Romans
8:35-39; but as Kidner cautioned, "The assurance here is that nothing can touch
God's servant except by God's permission, and that no rebel (Psalms 91:8) can
escape God's punishment."[9] Kidner also quoted Luke 21:19 in this connection,
indicating that there actually is no exemption whatever to Christians regarding the
common dangers and disasters of all men, the great difference for the child of God
being that, "The Lord will preserve him through every experience, even death
itself."
"He will give his angels charge over thee" (Psalms 91:11). This promise has its ew
Testament echo in Hebrews 1:13-14, where it is stated that "all," the entire host of
the heavenly angels, are charged with the duty of ministering unto them that shall
be the heirs of salvation.
The following things which angels do for the redeemed are mentioned in the Bible:
(1) They bear away the souls of the righteous in death (Luke 16:22). (2) They oppose](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-75-2048.jpg)
![purposes and designs of Satan, not in their own names, but in the name of the Lord
(Jude 1:1:6). (3) They execute God's judgments upon the incorrigibly wicked (2
Kings 19:35; Acts 12:23). (4) They exert influence upon rulers and governments
(Daniel 10:20. (5) They aid providentially in bringing the unsaved to hear the saving
gospel of Christ (Acts 10:3). (6) They exercise watchful care over little children
(Matthew 18:10). (7) They maintain perpetually the availability of the Word of God
for the human race. The Rainbow Angel stands upon the land and the sea, having in
his hand "a little book, OPE ." That little BOOK is the ew Testament (Revelation
10).
"Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder" (Psalms 91:13). Briggs translated
this line, "Upon reptile and cobra thou wilt tread"[10] but the new versions do not
honor that rendition. A similar blessing is seen in the life of Paul who shook the
poisonous viper off into the fire (Acts 28:3-6).
CO STABLE, "Verses 9-13
Those who trust in the Lord can rely on His protection. He will commission angels
to watch over and protect His own. This is one of the passages in Scripture that
reveals the existence and activity of "guardian angels" (cf. Matthew 18:10; Hebrews
1:14). The writer was using hyperbole when he wrote that the believer will not even
stub his or her toe ( Psalm 91:12). Psalm 91:13 also seems to be hyperbolic. It
pictures overcoming dangerous animals. God has given some believers this kind of
protection occasionally (e.g, Daniel 6; Acts 28:3-6), but the writer"s point was that
God will protect His people from all kinds of dangers.
Satan quoted Psalm 91:11-12 when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness ( Matthew
4:6). He urged Him to interpret this promise literally. However, Jesus declined to
tempt God by deliberately putting Himself in a dangerous situation to see if God
would miraculously deliver Him.
Jesus referred to Psalm 91:13 when He sent the disciples out on a preaching mission
( Luke 10:19). Again, it seems clear that His intention was to assure the disciples
that God would take care of them. He was not encouraging them to put their lives in
danger deliberately.
EXPOSITORS DICTIO ARY, "The Refuge of the Devout Soul
Psalm 91:9-10
I. We have here the cry of the devout soul. This cry of the soul recognizing God as
its asylum and home comes in response to a revelation of God"s blessing and to
large words of promise. So the words of my text, "Thou art my refuge" are the best
answer of the devout soul to the plain words of Divine promise. This cry of the
devout soul suggests to me that our response ought to be the establishment of a clear
personal relation between us and God. We must isolate ourselves and stand, God
and we alone—together—at heart grips, we grasping His hand and He giving
Himself to us.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-76-2048.jpg)
![IT is scarcely possible to conceive any terms more strong, or any images more lively,
than those in which the Scripture represents the privileges of believers. We need
look no further than to the psalm before us for a confirmation of this truth. Indeed,
according to the view given of this psalm by a learned prelate, there is, in the first
verses of it, an emphasis which cannot be surpassed [ ote: Bishop Horne reads the
two first verses thus: “He that dwelleth &c. who abideth under &c, who saith of the
Lord,” &c. Then at the end of ver. 2, he supposes the Psalmist to break off abruptly,
and, instead of continuing his description, to address himself to the person before
described; “Surely he shall deliver thee.”]. And the whole may be considered as the
believer’s charter, in which all his privileges are contained, from his first acceptance
with God to the consummation of his happiness in glory.
We have in the words of our text a just description of the believer:
I. His experience—
The true Christian is one who has been “turned from darkness unto light, and from
the power of Satan unto God.” Being once brought to God, he “makes the Most
High his habitation.” He regards God, not merely as reconciled to him, but as
affording him (what a dwelling-house affords to its possessor),
1. Free access—
[A person goes familiarly to his house at all times, not doubting but that he shall
gain a ready admission into it. He considers it as his own, and feels that it exists only
for his accommodation. It is thus that the believer goes to God as his God: he has
“access to him with boldness and confidence:” he is certain that, when he calls, he
shall receive an answer; and “when he knocks, the door will be opened to him.” In
this precise view the Psalmist speaks of God; “Be thou my strong habitation,
whereunto I may continually resort [ ote: Psalms 71:3.].”]
2. ecessary provision—
[Every man, whatever be his situation in life, expects to find in his own house the
things suited to his necessities. He does not seek his meals at the houses of his
neighbours, but in his own; and he returns home at stated seasons to partake of
them. And whither does the believer go for daily supplies of bread for his soul? It is
in Christ Jesus that his fulness is treasured up; and in him the believer expects to
find the “grace that is sufficient for him.” God invites him to come to him for the
express purpose, that he may be filled and satisfied with good things: “Wherefore
do ye spend your money for that which is not bread? Hearken diligently unto me,
and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness [ ote: Isaiah
55:2.].”]
3. Sure protection—](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-78-2048.jpg)
![[If storms descend, or dangers menac, we take refuge in our house, and find it a
place of safety. Thus “The name of God also is a strong tower, into which the
righteous runneth and is safe [ ote: Proverbs 18:10.].” It is to himself that God
invites us, when he says, “Come my people, enter thou into thy chambers, shut the
door about thee, and hide thyself for a little moment, until the indignation be
overpast [ ote: Isaiah 26:20.].” And that this was a primary idea in the mind of the
Psalmist, appears from the very words of the text, wherein he calls God “his
Refuge,” and from the whole scope of the psalm, from the beginning to the end.
With this also agrees the beautiful description given of Jesus by the Prophet, as “an
hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest [ ote: Isaiah 32:2.].”]
4. Sweet repose—
[To his house a man retires from the noise and bustle of the world; and there he lays
himself down to rest after the fatigues of the day. Home, though inferior in many
respects to places of temporary residence, is to almost all persons the most
agreeable, because they are most at ease. And such is God to the believer. “In every
place, God is to him as a little sanctuary [ ote: Ezekiel 11:16.],” where he finds
himself at rest. He carries his wants to God, and “casts all his care on him,” and
enjoys that peace which passeth all understanding. In this sense he says for his own
encouragement, “Return unto thy Rest, O my soul:” and attests for the glory of his
God, “Lord thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations [ ote: Psalms
90:1.].”]
In connexion with this experience of the believer, let us consider,
II. His privilege—
The expression in the text seems to exceed the bounds of truth: but the more it is
examined, the more will it be found to be strictly true. The man who makes God his
habitation shall have no evil befall him:
1. one here—
[ o casual evil shall befall him. There is no such thing as chance; every thing, even
to the falling of a sparrow, is ordered of the Lord. As for the children of God, “their
heavenly Father hath given his angels charge over them, to keep them in all their
ways [ ote: ver. 11, 12.];” and if any thing were to happen to them, they (the angels)
would contract a fearful responsibility for their neglect. We must not however
imagine that Believers are at liberty to rush into needless dangers; for our Lord,
when tempted by Satan to cast himself from a pinnacle of the Temple in expectation
that the angels would preserve him from injury, replied, “Thou shalt not tempt the
Lord thy God:” but nothing can happen to them except by the Divine appointment:
they are hid in the shadow of their Father’s hand, and “their very hairs are all
numbered.”
But it may be thought that penal evil may come to them. This however we utterly](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-79-2048.jpg)
![deny. That they may be “visited with the rod,” we readily acknowledge: but there is
a great difference between the vindictive arm of an incensed judge, and the gentle
chastisements of an indulgent parent. The cup that may at any time be put into their
hands may be bitter; but it has not in it one drop of wrath: it is altogether mixed by
love; and not an ingredient can be found in it, which they themselves shall not one
day confess to have been salutary and beneficial.
In short, no real evil shall befall them. That they may have troubles, is certain: that
their troubles may be heavy and accumulated, is also certain. But who accounts
even the amputation of a limb evil, if it be the only and infallible method of
preserving life? Much less then are any sufferings to be accounted evil, which the
Believer can ever be called to sustain: for he shall never endure any, which shall not
work for good to him in this life, and be the means of increasing his weight of glory
in the next [ ote: Romans 8:28 and 2 Corinthians 4:17.].”]
2. one hereafter—
[It is in this life only that the Believer can meet with even the semblance of evil:
when he goes hence, he is instantly placed beyond the reach of harm. o sin, no
sorrow, no pain, no temptation, no weariness, no want, can ever be felt by him in the
mansions of bliss. He will there enjoy for ever one unclouded day! and his happiness
will be without alloy, without intermission, without end [ ote: Revelation 21:4.].”]
To render this subject more instructive, we shall add a word,
1. Of direction—
[Christ, in reference to the sheepfold of his church, says, “I am the door; if any man
enter in by me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture [ ote:
John 10:9.].” The same figure we may apply to the subject before us: “Christ is the
door;” he is “the way to the Father;” and “no man cometh unto the Father, but by
him.” To those who come to God in any other way, he is not “a Refuge,” or
“Habitation,” but “a consuming fire [ ote: Hebrews 12:29.].” But if we believe in
Christ, then “will he dwell in us, and we shall dwell in him [ ote: John 6:56.]:” yea,
“he will be our house of defence, to save us for ever [ ote: Psalms 31:2.].”]
2. Of warning—
[Who, except the believer, can apply to himself the promise in the text? As for the
unbelieving and disobedient, they are in danger every hour: they know not but that
God’s wrath may break forth against them the very next moment to their
destruction. Of this they are certain, (whether they will believe it or not,) that in a
little time his judgments shall overtake them, and the greatest of all evils shall befall
them, unless they repent. O that they would be prevailed upon to flee for refuge to
the hope that is set before them! O that they would now seek to be “found in
Christ!” Then should the destroying angel pass over them, and “they should dwell
safely, and be quiet from the fear of evil [ ote: Proverbs 1:33.].”]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-80-2048.jpg)
![3. Of encouragement—
[The weakness of men’s faith often robs them of the comfort which it is their
privilege to enjoy. Why should a believer be afraid of thunder and lightning? Were
he but sensible what a Protector he has, he would feel assured that no evil could
come unto him. How varied are God’s promises to him in the psalm before us! How
diversified also are the assurances given him by Eliphaz in the book of Job [ ote:
Job 5:19-24.]! Let him only commit himself to God, and he has nothing to fear. Let
us then, beloved, have faith in God; and let those words of David be our song in this
land of our pilgrimage; “God is our refuge, &c.; therefore will we not fear, though
the earth be removed, and though the waters be carried into the midst of the sea
[ ote: Psalms 46:1-4.]: &c.”]
10 no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
BAR ES, "There shall no evil befall thee - The Chaldee Paraphrase has, “The
Lord of the world answered and said, ‘There shall no evil befall thee,’” etc. The
sentiment, however, is that the psalmist could assure such an one, from his own
personal experience, that he would be safe. He had himself made Yahweh his refuge, and
he could speak with confidence of the safety of doing so. This, of course, is to be
understood as a general truth, in accordance with what has been said above.
Neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling - On the word rendered
“plague” here נגע nega‛ - see Psa_38:12, note; Psa_39:11, note. It is not the same word
which is used in Psa_91:6, and translated “pestilence;” and it does not refer to what is
technically called the “plague.” It may denote anything that would be expressive of the
divine displeasure, or that would be sent as a punishment. The word rendered “dwelling”
here means a tent; and the idea is, that no such mark of displeasure would abide with
him, or enter his tent as its home. Of course, this also must be understood as a general
promise, or as meaning that religion would constitute a general ground of security.
GILL, "There shall no evil befall thee,.... The evil of sin cleaves to the best of saints,
the evil of temptations besets them, and the evil of afflictions comes upon them, as
chastisements from the Lord; for they must expect to receive evil, in this sense, as well as](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-81-2048.jpg)
![applied this passage to Christ, Mat_4:6, nor did our Lord object to the application of it;
and it can hardly be thought that he would have ventured to have done it, had he been
aware that a misapplication might be objected; or that it was not the received sense of
the place: what he is to be blamed for, in quoting it, was the wrong purpose for which he
produced it, and for leaving out the next clause, which he saw was against his design;
to keep thee in all thy ways; in walking and travelling from place to place, as
Providence calls and directs; and in all civil ways, in all lawful business and employment
of life; in all spiritual ones, as the ways of God and religion: what Satan tempted Christ
to was neither of these ways; it was not a natural way of going, nor the duty of his office,
nor any of the ways of God.
HE RY, " That the angels of light shall be serviceable to them, Psa_91:11, Psa_91:12.
This is a precious promise, and speaks a great deal both of honour and comfort to the
saints, nor is it ever the worse for being quoted and abused by the devil in tempting
Christ, Mat_4:6. Observe, [1.] The charge given to the angels concerning the saints. He
who is the Lord of the angels, who gave them their being and gives laws to them, whose
they are and whom they were made to serve, he shall give his angels a charge over thee,
not only over the church in general, but over every particular believer. The angels keep
the charge of the Lord their God; and this is the charge they receive from him. It denotes
the great care God takes of the saints, in that the angels themselves shall be charged with
them, and employed for them. The charge is to keep thee in all thy ways; here is a
limitation of the promise: They shall keep thee in thy ways, that is, “as long as thou
keepest in the way of thy duty;” those that go out of that way put themselves out of God's
protection. This word the devil left out when he quoted the promise to enforce a
temptation, knowing how much it made against him. But observe the extent of the
promise; it is to keep thee in all thy ways: even where there is no apparent danger yet we
need it, and where there is the most imminent danger we shall have it. Wherever the
saints go the angels are charged with them, as the servants are with the children. [2.]
The care which the angels take of the saints, pursuant to this charge: They shall bear
thee up in their hands, which denotes both their great ability and their great affection.
They are able to bear up the saints out of the reach of danger, and they do it with all the
tenderness and affection wherewith the nurse carries the little child about in her arms; it
speaks us helpless and them helpful. They are condescending in their ministrations; they
keep the feet of the saints, lest they dash them against a stone, lest they stumble and fall
into sin and into trouble.
CALVI , "11For he has given his angels charge concerning thee. This is added by
the Psalmist expressly with the view of obviating any fears which might arise from
our infirmity; so that we cannot fail to be struck with the benignant condescension
of God in thus not only forgiving our diffidence, but proposing the means by which
it may be best removed. Does he exhibit himself to us as a fortress and shield,
proffer the shadow of his protection, make himself known to us as a habitation in
which we may abide, and stretch out his wings for our defense — surely we are
chargeable with the worst ingratitude if we are not satisfied with promises so
abundantly full and satisfactory? If we tremble to think of his majesty, he presents
himself to us under the lowly figure of the hen: if we are terrified at the power of
our enemies, and the multitude of dangers by which we are beset, he reminds us of
his own invincible power, which extinguishes every opposing force. When even all
these attempts to encourage us have been tried, and he finds that we still linger and](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-84-2048.jpg)
![his disciples had power given them by him to tread on serpents and scorpions, and to
take up serpents, without receiving any damage from them; and when a viper fastened
on the hand of the Apostle Paul, he shook it off, without being hurt by it; see Mar_1:13,
Act_28:5, it may be understood figuratively of Satan, who, for his voraciousness and
cruelty, is compared to a lion; and, for his craft and subtlety, to a serpent, 1Pe_5:8,
the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample underfoot; which also may
be understood of the great dragon, the old serpent, called the devil and Satan; whom
Christ trampled under his feet when he hung on the cross, and spoiled him and his
principalities and powers; and who, in a short time, will be bruised under the feet of his
people, as he has been already by the seed of the woman, Gen_3:15.
HE RY, "The care which the angels take of the saints, pursuant to this charge: They
shall bear thee up in their hands, which denotes both their great ability and their great
affection. They are able to bear up the saints out of the reach of danger, and they do it
with all the tenderness and affection wherewith the nurse carries the little child about in
her arms; it speaks us helpless and them helpful. They are condescending in their
ministrations; they keep the feet of the saints, lest they dash them against a stone, lest
they stumble and fall into sin and into trouble. [3.] That the powers of darkness shall be
triumphed over by them (Psa_91:13): Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder. The
devil is called a roaring lion, the old serpent, the red dragon; so that to this promise the
apostle seems to refer in that (Rom_16:20), The God of peace shall tread Satan under
your feet. Christ has broken the serpent's head, spoiled our spiritual enemies (Col_2:15),
and through him we are more than conquerors; for Christ calls us, as Joshua called the
captains of Israel, to come and set our feet on the necks of vanquished enemies. Some
think that this promise had its full accomplishment in Christ, and the miraculous power
which he had over the whole creation, healing the sick, casting out devils, and
particularly putting it into his disciples' commission that they should take up serpents,
Mar_16:18. It may be applied to that care of the divine Providence by which we are
preserved from ravenous noxious creatures (the wild beasts of the field shall be at peace
with thee, Job_5:23); nay, and have ways and means of taming them, Jam_3:7.
JAMISO , "Even the fiercest, strongest, and most insidious animals may be
trampled on with impunity.
SBC, "The definite promise, "Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the dragon," was a
reference not only to reptiles and wild beasts of outward evil, but to evils in which the
deadliness of vice is concentrated in our individual hearts: evil thoughts, and deeds, and
habits which assail and hurt the soul. The fitness of the metaphor is shown by the fact
that we find it also in the heathen mythology. The Greek type of a deliverer of the world
was the hero Hercules. They saw, as we see, that he who would indeed conquer evil in
the world must first conquer it in his own heart. The moral is finely conveyed in the
legend of his conquest of the Nemaean lion. Every man’s Nemaean lion lies in the way
for him somewhere. All future victories depend upon that. Kill it, and through all the rest
of your lives what was once terrible becomes your armour; you are clothed with the
virtue of that conquest.
I. In the first place, this lion is to be fought in the darkness, and in the cavern, and with
no earthly weapons. The lion is that inward sin, that special impulse and temptation to](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-98-2048.jpg)
![especially to Old Testament times; but if we put emphasis on "satisfy," rather than
on the extended duration, it may fairly suggest that, to the trustful soul, life is long
enough, whatever its duration, and that the guest, who has sat at God’s table here, is
not unwilling to rise from it, when his time comes, being "satisfied with favour, and
full of the goodness of the Lord." The vision of God’s salvation, which is set last,
seems from its position in the series to point, however dimly, to a vision which comes
after earth’s troubles and length of days. The psalmist’s language implies not a mere
casual beholding, but a fixed gaze. Delitzsch renders "revel in My salvation"
(English translation). Cheyne has "feast his eyes with." Such seeing is possession.
The crown of God’s promises to the man who makes God his dwelling place is a full,
rapturous experience of a full salvation, which follows on the troubles and
deliverances of earth, and brings a more dazzling honour and a more perfect
satisfaction.
14 “Because he[b] loves me,” says the Lord, “I
will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my
name.
BAR ES, "Because he hath set his love upon me - Has become attached to
me; has united himself with me; is my friend. The Hebrew word expresses the strongest
attachment, and is equivalent to our expression - “to fall in love.” It refers here to the fact
that God is the object of supreme affection on the part of his people; and it also here
implies, that this springs from their hearts; that they have seen such beauty in his
character, and have such strong desire for him, that their hearts go out in warm affection
toward him.
Therefore will I deliver him - I will save him from trouble and from danger.
I will set him on high - By acknowledging him as my own, and treating him
accordingly.
Because he hath known my name - He has known me; that is, he understands my
true character, and has learned to love me.
CLARKE, "Because he hath set his love upon me - Here the Most High is
introduced as confirming the word of his servant. He has fixed his love - his heart and
soul, on me.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-104-2048.jpg)
![I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble:
I will deliver him, and honor him.
With long life will I satisfy him,
And show him my salvation."
God Himself is the speaker in these verses; and they convey very rich and precious
promises for the faithful servant of God.
This passage states that because one loves God and knows his name, that the Lord:
(1) will deliver him from trouble; (2) exalt him and honor him; (3) give him the
privilege of prayer; (4) satisfy him with long life; and (5) show him God's salvation!
What a mountain of motivation there is here for humble and faithful service of God!
There are a number of implications in these verses, as noted by Barnes: (1) It is
natural to desire longevity; (2) long life is to be regarded as a blessing; and (3) the
tendency of godly living is to lengthen life."[11]
The apostle Paul connected the obedience of parents with long life (Ephesians 6:1-
3); and there can be no doubt that, in a general sense at least, Christian living
enhances the chances that one may live a long time upon the earth.
Again, from Barnes, "It is a fact that virtue, temperance, industry, calmness of
mind, moderation in all things, freedom from excessive eating or drinking - all of
which things are required and encouraged by the Scriptures - that such things
undoubtedly contribute to the maintenance of health and the attainment of long life.
[12]
"With long life will I satisfy him" (Psalms 91:16). We shall address the implication
here that one may be satisfied with living and ready to pass onward in death. Even
for one who enjoys the richest blessings of heaven and who has been rewarded with
life's most desirable emoluments, and who has been granted to live past the normal
span of human life, there shall inevitably come the time, when he shall be satisfied
with living and ready to go on to be with God. When the infirmities of age have
become more and more intolerable, when strength has been diminished, when the
dearest loved ones are sleeping in the dust, when the utter loneliness of being "the
last leaf on the tree" has surrounded him with sorrow and grief, and in the
contemplation of the truth once mentioned by Paul, "That it is better to depart and
be with Christ," and as the hope of heaven itself grows brighter and brighter, there
will come the time when the saint of God may feel that he has had enough of life on
earth and that he is ready for the Lord's summons that shall conclude his earthly](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-111-2048.jpg)
![pilgrimage.
CO STABLE, "erses 14-16
3. The assurance God provides91:14-16
The writer recorded God"s promise to deliver those who know and love Him. He
will eventually answer the cries for help that His people voice (cf. Joel 2:32; Acts
2:21; Romans 10:13). He will not abandon them in their distresses (cf. Joshua 1:9;
Matthew 28:20). The promises of rescue and honor normally find fulfillment in this
life, but they always do the other side of the grave. God usually blesses people who
follow His will by allowing them to live longer. This was a special blessing under the
Mosaic Law (cf. Exodus 20:12). Furthermore, God promised the godly the
satisfaction of seeing His deliverance.
"It"s one thing for doctors to add years to our life, but God adds life to our years
and makes that life worthwhile." [ ote: Wiersbe, The . . . Wisdom . . ., p259.]
How can we explain the fact that God has apparently not honored these promises
consistently? Some godly people have died young, for example. Others have
perished at the hands of their enemies, as was and is true of some Christian martyrs.
Does this indicate that God is unfaithful and His promises are unreliable? If we view
life as extending beyond the grave, which it does, we should have no trouble with
these promises. God will grant ultimate deliverance to His own, even if He allows
them to suffer and die at the hands of enemies in this life. Even believers who die
young have eternal life.
"In life the Lord may permit many terrible things to happen to his children (cf.
Job), as he did to his own Song of Solomon , our Lord. But his children know that
no power is out of God"s control." [ ote: VanGemeren, p601.]
EXPOSITORS DICTIO ARY, "God"s Answer to Man"s Trust
Psalm 91:14
These words seem to me to carry two thoughts: the first what God delights to find in
a man; and the second what God delights to give to the man in whom He finds it.
I. There are two things that the great Father"s heart seeks, and wheresoever it finds
them He is glad and lavishes upon such a one the most precious things in His
possession. ow the word rendered "set his love" includes more than is suggested
by that rendering, beautiful as it is. It is not my love only that I am to fasten upon
God, but my whole self that I am to bind to Him. God delights in us when we cling
to Him. Let us cling to Him in our thoughts, hour by hour, moment by moment,
amidst all the distractions of daily life. Let us cleave to Him still further by the
obedient contact of our wills with His, receiving all our instructions from our Father
in heaven. There is another thing in the text which, as I take it, is a consequence of](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-112-2048.jpg)
![that close union between man in his whole nature and God. You have to become
acquainted with Him and be very familiar with Him—that is to say, to fix your
whole self on Him—before you "know" Him; and it is only the knowledge which is
born of love and familiarity that is worth calling knowledge at all. Only he knows
God to whom the commonplaces of religion have turned into facts which he verifies
by his own experiences.
II. ote secondly what God gives to the man in whom He finds such things. "I will
deliver him," says the promise. God"s promise is not that no evil shall come to the
man who trusts him, but that he shall be delivered out of the evil that does come,
and that it will not be truly evil. Still further we have another great promise: "I will
set him on high because he hath known My name". That is more than lifting a man
up above the reach of the storm of life by means of external deliverance. There is a
better thing than that—namely, that our whole inward life be lived loftily. Then
perhaps there is a hint in the words, on an elevation even higher than that, when,
life ended and earth done, He shall receive into His glory those whom He hath
guided by His counsel.
—A. Maclaren, The God of the Amen, p167.
SIMEO , "Verses 14-16
DISCOURSE: 656
THE CHARACTER A D PRIVILEGES OF THE GODLY
Psalms 91:14-16. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him:
I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I
will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.
THE Scriptures are the charter of the Christian’s privileges. They contain the most
minute and accurate description of his character, and set forth, in all the variety of
expression that language can afford, the blessings he enjoys. The declarations
concerning him in this Psalm may certainly be interpreted as relating to the
Messiah, because when a passage out of it was applied to Christ, he did not deny its
reference to himself, but shewed with what limitations the passage was to be
understood [ ote: Compare ver. 11, 12. with Matthew 4:6-7.]. That it refers also to
the church cannot admit of doubt. Throughout the whole of it the character and
blessedness of God’s people are delineated; but with peculiar force and beauty in
the concluding verses. In discoursing upon them we shall consider,
I. The character of God’s people—
They “know the name” of God—
[The name of God as proclaimed by himself, is recorded in the Scriptures [ ote:
Exodus 34:6-7.]; and the Christian has a view of him as possessed of those very](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-113-2048.jpg)
![perfections which are there ascribed to him. He particularly sees these perfections
harmonizing, and glorified, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ; or, if he be not
perfectly clear in his views of these things, he at least is sensible that the divine
mercy flows only in one channel, and can be imparted only through the atoning
blood of Christ.]
They so know him as to “set their love upon him”—
[It is not a mere speculative knowledge that Christians possess (in this the ungodly
may far surpass them), but such a practical knowledge as influences their heart and
life. They feel an interest in every perfection of the Deity. The justice and holiness of
God are as amiable in their eyes as his love and mercy. From what they know of him
they are constrained to love him, yea, to “set their love upon him,” with intenseness
of desire and fixedness of affection.]
They wait upon him in continual prayer—
[Others may keep up an outward form of devotion, or even be exceedingly earnest
in prayer on some particular occasion; but they alone can maintain a real
intercourse with the Deity, who have been taught by the Holy Spirit both to know
and love him. When they have been thus enlightened and renewed, they will feel the
necessity, and taste the sweetness, of secret prayer, and will account it their highest
honour and happiness to have access unto their God at the throne of grace; nor will
they ever be satisfied with the worship they offer, if they do not “worship him in
spirit and in truth.”]
In perfect correspondence with their character will be found,
II. Their privileges—
There is nothing good which shall be withheld from them in time or eternity. God
will vouchsafe to them,
1. Answers to prayer—
[They who offer their petitions only in a formal manner, never expect an answer to
them. They conceive that all testimonies from God respecting the acceptance of our
prayers are chimerical and enthusiastic in the extreme. But God is at no loss to
impart to his people a clear and lively sense of his approbation. He most assuredly
will answer them, though not by tokens that may be heard or seen, yet by sensible
communications, and effectual interpositions. Are they laden with guilt? their
burthen shall be removed, and they shall be filled with peace and joy. Are they
bowed down under trials and temptations? they shall be strengthened by his grace,
and be made more than conquerors over all. And though they cannot infallibly
conclude from any feelings of their mind that God has answered their prayers, yet
their feelings, in conjunction with the effects produced by them, will enable them to
ascertain it, at least sufficiently for their own encouragement [ ote: Psalms 138:3.].]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-114-2048.jpg)
![2. Deliverances from trouble—
[The people of God are exposed to troubles no less than others. But they are
supported under them by the presence of their God. As the Son of man walked with
the Hebrew youths in the furnace, so will he with all his afflicted people; nor shall a
hair of their head be singed. As a refiner he will carefully watch over every vessel,
moderating the heat that would injure it, and bringing out the vessel as soon as his
purposes in submitting it to the fire have been fully answered. This is twice declared
in the text; and in due season shall it be experienced by every true believer.]
3. Present honour—
[The saints are, for the most part, loaded with contempt and ignominy. Yet the very
persons who persecute them most, have frequently, like Herod, an inward reverence
for them in their hearts. But, however they may be treated by the ungodly, they are
universally respected by the saints. The very angels account it their honour and
happiness to minister unto them. They are lights in the world, and living witnesses
for God to all around them: and “God himself is not ashamed to be called their
God.” They are already exalted to the rank and dignity of God’s children; and are
made “heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.”]
4. Everlasting glory—
[How far length of days is to be expected as the reward of piety under the Gospel
dispensation, we cannot absolutely determine. But the true Christian will be
“satisfied with his life,” whether it be long or short. He does not wish for the
termination of it merely because he is dissatisfied with his present state, but because
he longs for his inheritance. He has Pisgah views of the promised land even here:
and as soon as he has finished his appointed course, God will shew him his full
salvation; causing him to behold all its glory and enjoy all its blessedness. Then shall
be given to him a life which will fully satisfy his most enlarged desires. God will say
to him, in the presence of the whole assembled universe, ‘Come thou servant, whom
I have decreed to “set on high,” see the kingdom that was prepared for thee from
eternity; take possession of it as thine own, and inherit it for ever [ ote: Matthew
25:34.].’]
Infer—
1. In how pitiable a state are the ignorant and ungodly world!
[Being ignorant of God, and destitute of any real love to him, they have no part or
lot in his salvation. They are strangers to all those sublime pleasures, which are
communicated to God’s peculiar people. The witness of the Spirit, and many other
unspeakably precious tokens of the divine favour, are withheld from them. If they
be in trouble, they have no heavenly consolations to support them. They may have
the wealth of this world, and the honour which cometh of men; but they can expect](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-115-2048.jpg)
![no salvation from God, nor any thing but shame and everlasting contempt [ ote:
Daniel 12:2.]. O that they were wise and would consider these things!]
2. How plain and simple is the duty of God’s people!
[The privileges before mentioned, are all bestowed on us because we love and seek
the Lord. ot that our services are meritorious, and can claim a “reward of debt;”
but God has appointed these as means, in the use of which we shall attain the end.
Would we then have more abundant tokens of God’s favour here, and secure a still
richer inheritance hereafter? Let us study to “grow in the knowledge of him,” and
in a more fervent and fixed love towards him. Let us wait upon him more earnestly
and with greater constancy in prayer. Thus shall his blessings infinitely exceed our
highest expectations, and be enjoyed by us when the fleeting vanities of time shall be
no more.]
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
BAR ES, "He shall call upon me - He shall have the privilege of calling on me in
prayer; and he will do it.
And I will answer him - I will regard his supplications, and will grant his requests.
There could be no greater privilege - no more precious promise - than this.
I will be with him in trouble - I will stand by him; I will not forsake him.
I will deliver him, and honor him - I will not only rescue him from danger, but I
will exalt him to honor. I will recognize him as my friend, and will regard and treat him
as such. On earth he shall be treated as my friend; in another world he shall be exalted to
honor among the redeemed, and become the associate of holy beings forever.
CLARKE, "He shall call upon me - He must continue to pray; all his blessings
must come in this way, when he calls, I will answer him - I will give him whatever is best
for him.
I will be with him in trouble - Literally, I am with him. אנכי עמו immo anochi; as
soon as the trouble comes, I are there.
I will deliver him - For his good I may permit him to be exercised for a time, but
delivered he shall be.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-116-2048.jpg)
![and show him my salvation; Jesus Christ, the author of salvation, whom God
appointed to do it, and who has finished it; salvation itself, wrought out by him; its
fulness and suitableness, and interest in it; and also eternal glory and happiness, the
completion and consummation of salvation: the former is shown unto and seen by faith
here; the latter will be seen and enjoyed in heaven to all eternity. Aben Ezra and Kimchi
refer this salvation to the days of the Messiah.
HE RY, "That they shall have a sufficiency of life in this world (Psa_91:16): With
length of days will I satisfy him; that is, [1.] They shall live long enough: they shall be
continued in this world till they have done the work they were sent into this world for
and are ready for heaven, and that is long enough. Who would wish to live a day longer
than God has some work to do, either by him or upon him? [2.] They shall think it long
enough; for God by his grace shall wean them from the world and make them willing to
leave it. A man may die young, and yet die full of days, satur dierum - satisfied with
living. A wicked worldly man is not satisfied, no, not with long life; he still cries, Give,
give. But he that has his treasure and heart in another world has soon enough of this; he
would not live always. (6.) That they shall have an eternal life in the other world. This
crowns the blessedness: I will show him my salvation, show him the Messiah (so some);
good old Simeon was then satisfied with long life when he could say, My eyes have seen
thy salvation, nor was there any greater joy to the Old Testament saints than to see
Christ's day, though at a distance. It is more probably that the word refers to the better
country, that is, the heavenly, which the patriarchs desired and sought: he will show him
that, bring him to that blessed state, the felicity of which consists so much in seeing that
face to face which we here see through a glass darkly; and, in the mean time, he will give
him a prospect of it. All these promises, some think, point primarily at Christ, and had
their accomplishment in his resurrection and exaltation.
JAMISO , "show him — literally, “make him see” (Psa_50:23; Luk_2:30).
SPURGEO , "Ver. 16. With long life will I satisfy him. The man described in this
Psalm fills out the measure of his days, and whether he dies young or old he is quite
satisfied with life, and is content to leave it. He shall rise from life's banquet as a
man who has had enough, and would not have more even if he could.
And shew him my salvation. The full sight of divine grace shall be his closing vision.
He shall look from Amana and Lebanon. ot with destruction before him black as
night, but with salvation bright as noonday smiling upon him he shall enter into his
rest.
EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.
Ver. 16. With long life will I satisfy him. Saint Bernard interprets this of
heaven;because he thought nothing long that had an end. This, indeed, is the
emphasis of heaven's joy; those blessed souls never sin, never weep more; they shall
not only be with the Lord, but ever with the Lord. This is the accent which is set on
the eulogies given to heaven in Scripture. It is "an inheritance, "and that an
"incorruptible one, that fadeth not away; "it is "a crown of glory, "and that a
weighty one, yea, "an exceeding great and eternal weight of glory." When once it is
on the saint's head it can never fall, or be snatched off; it is a feast, but such a one](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-122-2048.jpg)
![acknowledged. (2.) Faith in God delivers from terrifying fear; and even death, to the
faithful believer, has lost its sting.
(4.) In general desolations the faithful shall be safe. A thousand shall fall at thy side,
and ten thousand at thy right hand; such dreadful havoc does the plague often
make: but it shall not come nigh thee; either a particular providence shall guard
their houses, as when the destroying angel passed through Egypt; or at least they
shall not be hurt by it if they fall, for to them death is gain. Only with thine eyes
shalt thou behold, and see the reward of the wicked, in whose destruction God is
glorified; and in his righteous judgments his people rejoice, and adore him.
2nd, We have here many more rich promises of God declared, and the character of
his faithful people described, to whom they belong.
1. Their character. [1.] They make the Lord their refuge, trusting in him in every
time of trial. [2.] The most High is their habitation, where their souls find sweet
repose, and a comfortable provision of all good things. [3.] They set their love on
God, he is the grand object of it, and reigns in their hearts without a rival. [4.] They
know his name; are acquainted with his word, where he has made the most glorious
displays of his perfections; and with his Son the brightness of his glory, by whom
alone the Father can be truly known, Matthew 11:27. [5.] They call upon him in
ceaseless prayer for the relief of all their wants, and testify their continual
dependance on his protection and care. Reader, is this thy character? then blessed
art thou. For,
2. Great are the promised blessings which the Psalmist, in God's name, yea, which
God himself, pronounces on all such.
(1.) o evil shall befall thee, nor any plague come nigh thy dwelling; either God will,
by a distinguishing act of his providence, protect them; or, whatever trouble comes,
it shall be sanctified, in the issue produce their greatest good, and prove a real
blessing in disguise.
(2.) Angelic guards shall attend their steps; they minister to the heirs of salvation,
and from unforeseen danger preserve and protect them with the most
condescending tenderness, and with mighty power. Satan applied this passage to
Christ, but with the omission of a material clause: they shall keep thee in all thy
ways, into which by Divine Providence thou art led, or by the Divine Word directed;
for out of the path of duty we may not expect the way of safety.
(3.) The powers of darkness shall be subdued under them. Thou shalt tread upon
the lion and adder; literally, these noxious animals being restrained from hurting;
or, figuratively, wicked men and wicked devils, for power and subtilty compared to
these, shall be trodden down: the young lion and dragon shalt thou trample under
feet, even Satan, whose head shall shortly be bruised under the feet of God's faithful
people.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psalm91commentary-160614131052/75/Psalm-91-commentary-126-2048.jpg)
Uploaded byGLENN PEASE
Psalm 91 commentary
Psalm 91, likely authored by Moses or David, emphasizes the safety and protection that comes from dwelling in close communion with God. The psalm outlines the blessings for the faithful, portraying God as a refuge and shelter from dangers, with promises of deliverance and long life. It has been interpreted as a source of comfort during times of crisis, reminding believers of their security under God's watchful care.
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Psalm 91 commentary
- 1. PSALM 91 COMMETARY EDITED BY GLE PEASE I TRODUCTIO SPURGEO , "This Psalm is without a title, and we have no means of ascertaining either the name of its writer, or the date of its composition, with certainly. The Jewish doctors consider that when the author's name is not mentioned we may assign the Psalm to the last named writer; and, if so, this is another Psalm of Moses, the man of God. Many expressions here used are similar to those of Moses in Deuteronomy, and the internal evidence, from the peculiar idioms, would point towards him as the composer. The continued lives of Joshua and Caleb, who followed the Lord fully, make remarkably apt illustrations of this Psalm, for they, as a reward for abiding in continued nearness to the Lord, lived on "amongst the dead, amid their graves." For these reasons it is by no means improbable that this Psalm may have been written by Moses, but we dare not dogmatize. If David's pen was used in giving us this matchless ode, we cannot believe as some do that he this commemorated the plague which devastated Jerusalem on account of his numbering the people. For him, then, to sing of himself as seeing "the reward of the wicked" would be clean contrary to his declaration, "I have sinned, but these sheep, what have they done?"; and the absence of any allusion to the sacrifice upon Zion could not be in any way accounted for, since David's repentance would inevitably have led him to dwell upon the atoning sacrifice and the sprinkling of blood by the hyssop. In the whole collection there is not a more cheering Psalm, its tone is elevated and sustained throughout, faith is at its best, and speaks nobly. A German physician was wont to speak of it as the best preservative in times of cholera, and in truth, it is a heavenly medicine against plague and pest. He who can live in its spirit will be fearless, even if once again London should become a lazar-house, and the grave be gorged with carcases. DIVISIO . On this occasion we shall follow the divisions which our translators have placed at the head of the Psalm, for they are pithy and suggestive. Psalms 91:1-2 —The state of the godly. Psalms 91:3-8 —Their safety. Psalms 91:9-10 —Their habitation. Psalms 91:11-13 —Their servants. Psalms 91:14-16 —Their friend; with the effects of them all. COKE, "THIS psalm has no title, and therefore is likely to be by the same author with the foregoing; but this is still more probable from the subject of it: for as the 90th psalm appears calculated for the use of those who were to die in the wilderness, so the present seems evidently designed for those who were to survive this threatened devastation, and whom therefore he arms against the fear of death, by a
- 2. religious trust inGod; with the promise of a miraculous protection to such as trusted in him. Both psalms seem to have been composed soon after the irrevocable decree was passed, umbers 14 which condemned one part of them, all who were numbered from twenty years old and upwards, to a lingering death in the wilderness, and their little ones to a forty years wandering for their father's sins; but with a gracious promise, however, that they should at length obtain an entrance into the land of Canaan. Both sorts, therefore, stood in need of support and consolation, though of a different kind; and we find it given them in these two psalms. The younger sort are thus instructed and encouraged: He that dwelleth, &c. Psalms 91:1-4. Peters. 1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.[a] BAR ES, "He that dwelleth - Everyone that so dwells. The proposition is universal, and is designed to embrace all who are in this condition. It is true of one; it is true of all. The word rendered “dwelleth” here is a participle from the verb to “sit,” and here means “sitting:” literally, “sitting in the secret place,” etc. The idea is that of calm repose; of resting; of sitting down - as one does in his dwelling. In the secret place - On the meaning of this see the notes at Psa_27:5. Compare Psa_31:20; Psa_32:7. Abiding where God abides. The idea is that of having one’s home or residence in the most holy place in the tabernacle or the temple, and of sitting with him in that sacred place. Of the Most High - Of God, represented as exalted above all; over all the universe. Shall abide - Margin, as in Hebrew, “lodge.” That is his home - his resting place - where he lodges, or passes the night. He takes up his lodging there; he makes it his home. Under the shadow of the Almighty - Under his protection, as if under his wings. Compare the notes at Psa_17:8. This is a general statement, and is designed as an introduction to the whole psalm, or as expressing what the psalm is intended to illustrate, “the blessedness” of the man who thus dwells with God; who makes him his friend; who makes the home of God his home. CLARKE, "He that dwelleth in the secret place - The Targum intimates that this is a dialogue between David, Solomon, and Jehovah. Suppose we admit this, - then
- 3. David asserts: “Hewho dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty,” Psa_91:1. Solomon answers: “I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in him will I trust,” Psa_91:2. David replies, and tells him what blessings he shall receive from God if he abide faithful, Psa_91:3-13. Then the Supreme Being is introduced, and confirms all that David had spoken concerning Solomon, Psa_91:14-16 : and thus this sacred and instructive dialogue ends. In the secret place of the Most High - Spoken probably in reference to the Holy of holies. He who enters legitimately there shall be covered with the cloud of God’s glory - the protection of the all-sufflcient God. This was the privilege of the high priest only, under the law: but under the new covenant all believers in Christ have boldness to enter tnto the holiest by the blood of Jesus; and those who thus enter are safe from every evil. GILL, "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High,.... Or the Supreme; a title of God, who is superior to all beings, the Creator and Preserver of them, God over all, higher than the highest of angels or men; see Gen_14:22, "his secret place" is his heart, his bosom, where his only begotten Son lies; and into which he takes his people, where they are set as a seal, and who enjoy intimate communion with him; which is no other than his gracious presence, called "the secret of his presence", Psa_ 31:20, which none but saints are admitted to, when his everlasting love, which was a secret in his heart, is made known unto them, and in which they also dwell, 1Jo_4:16, as they likewise do in the eternal decree of election; which perhaps is meant by "the clefts of the rock, and secret places of the stairs", where the church is said to dwell, Son_2:14, unless rather Christ the Rock, and who may be signified by the cleft of that Moses was put into, when the goodness of the Lord passed before him, is intended; and who is the hiding place from the wind: mention is made of "the secret" of God's "tabernacle", Psa_ 27:5, in which he hides his people; alluding to the tabernacle, or temple, and the most holy place in it, called his secret place, Eze_7:22, and may refer to the ministry of the word and ordinances, where saints dwell, and enjoy much communion with God; and who are particularly under his special providence, protection, and power; which may here be designed: shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty: who is able to do all things for his people, and is "Shaddai", all sufficient, as this word is thought to signify; has a sufficiency of happiness in and for himself, and of provisions for all his creatures, and of power and grace for his own children: his "shadow" may be the same with his secret place, his power and protection, often in this book of Psalms called "the shadow of his wings", Psa_17:8, in allusion to birds that overshadow and protect their young with their wings; though perhaps the allusion here may be to the shadow of a tree, and design the word and ordinances of the Lord's house, which are a delightful, refreshing, reviving, and fruitful shadow, Son_2:3, where gracious souls dwell, and abide with great delight and pleasure. Christ, the Son of God, is sometimes compared to the shadow of a rock, or tree, which screens and shelters from heat; as he preserves his people from the heat of a fiery law, the flaming sword of justice, the wrath of God, the fiery darts of Satan, and the fury of persecutors: under this shadow do they abide or lodge all night, safe and secure, as the word (o) signifies: the Targum calls this shadow the shadow of the clouds of glory; the Arabic version, "the shadow of the God of heaven."
- 4. HE RY, "I.A great truth laid down in general, That all those who live a life of communion with God are constantly safe under his protection, and may therefore preserve a holy serenity and security of mind at all times (Psa_91:1): He that dwells, that sits down, in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty; he that by faith chooses God for his guardian shall find all that in him which he needs or can desire. Note, 1. It is the character of a true believer that he dwells in the secret place of the Most High; he is at home in God, returns to God, and reposes in him as his rest; he acquaints himself with inward religion, and makes heart-work of the service of God, worships within the veil, and loves to be alone with God, to converse with him in solitude. 2. It is the privilege and comfort of those that do so that they abide under the shadow of the Almighty; he shelters them, and comes between them and every thing that would annoy them, whether storm or sunshine. They shall not only have an admittance, but a residence, under God's protection; he will be their rest and refuge for ever. JAMISO , "Psa_91:1-16. David is the most probable author; and the pestilence, mentioned in 2Sa_24:13-15, the most probable of any special occasion to which the Psalm may refer. The changes of person allowable in poetry are here frequently made. dwelleth in the secret place — (Psa_27:5; Psa_31:20) denotes nearness to God. Such as do so abide or lodge secure from assaults, and can well use the terms of trust in Psa_91:2. K&D 1-2, "As the concealing One, God is called ּוןי ְל ֶ,ע the inaccessibly high One; and as the shadowing One י ַ ַ,שׁ the invincibly almighty One. Faith, however, calls Him by His covenant name (Heilsname) יהוה and, with the suffix of appropriation, י ַּהל ֱא (my God). In connection with Psa_91:1 we are reminded of the expressions of the Book of Job, Job_ 39:28, concerning the eagle's building its nest in its eyrie. According to the accentuation, Psa_91:2 ought to be rendered with Geier, “Dicit: in Domino meo (or Domini) latibulum, etc.” But the combination לה ר ַּמא is more natural, since the language of address follows in both halves of the verse. SBC, "These are the words of one who had known almost more than any other man of the shafts of unkindness, and the arrows of death, and the cruel torments of life. None, probably, save only David’s Son, ever equalled David in the degree in which he had passed through all the sympathies of our common nature. And this is his testimony, that in the midst of all there is a "place," a "secret place," as deep in its secrecy as God is high in His omnipotence, shadowed over by the hand of God. I. What is meant by the secret place? The secret of the whole of the Old Testament is the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore to the mind of David—i.e., in its first intention—the expression, "the secret place of the Most High," would certainly connect itself with Christ. II. The Psalmist designates the man who "dwells" in the secret place. It is a beautiful idea—the man who has his home in Christ. It is to have Jesus all round us—our covering, our beauty, our defence, our rest. III. Every promise has in it the dignity and the security of prophecy. "He shall abide."
- 5. The image assuresus of two things: (1) safety; (2) peace. He who refreshes himself in Christ has a refuge to which he can return again and again, and it is always there. It is the same "yesterday, today, and for ever." J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 9th series, p. 134. References: Psa_91:1.— J. N. Norton, Every Sunday, p. 257. Psa_91:1, Psa_91:2.— R. S. Candlish, The Gospel of Forgiveness, p. 227. Psa_91:2.— Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxii., No. 1297. Psa_91:3.— Ibid., vol. iii., No. 124. Psa_91:4.—Ibid., vol. xv., No. 902. Psa_91:11.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. xv., p. 143; J. H. Keble, Sermons for Saints’ Days, p. 372. Psalms 91:1-2 Three parties speak in this Psalm: the witness for God, the brother in peril, and God Himself. I. The witness for God, the sympathising friend of the party exposed to danger, speaking from his own experience, declares generally, "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty" (Psa_91:1, and see also Psa_ 91:9). Three lessons are taught in that inner school: (1) That God is true, true to Himself and true to you. (2) In your new dwelling-place you see the reward of the wicked. (3) You learn that there are members of the family not involved in your peril who yet are deeply and affectionately interested in your safety: "He shall give His angels charge over thee," etc. II. The second party in this discourse and dialogue—the brother in peril—says very little. But the little which he does say is very comprehensive: "I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God; in Him will I trust" (Psa_91:2). It is a prompt response to the very first appeal made to him. It is the language not of faith only, but of love. III. What God Himself is overheard to say at the close of the Psalm is the glorious corner-stone of this edifice of confidence. (1) Mark the cause assigned by the Lord for the warm interest which He feels in His servant thus exposed: "He has set his love upon Me; he has known My name." (2) Mark how the Lord speaks, connecting His servant’s love to Him and knowledge of His name with His own purpose of deliverance and exaltation, as if His honour were concerned to make it plain that the love is not misplaced: "I will deliver him." (3) Mark what the Lord expects on the part of His servant: "He shall call upon Me." (4) Mark the assurance of the Lord’s gracious interposition, answering to His servant’s calling upon Him: "He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him," etc. (5) Nor is it to be all trouble with the man of God while he is fighting the good fight and finishing his course. Nay, there is so much enjoyment for him as to make him rather wish for its continuance, and welcome the concluding promise which he hears the Lord giving: "With long life will I satisfy him, and show him My salvation." R. S. Candlish, The Gospel of Forgiveness, p. 227. CALVI , "1He that dwelleth in the secret place of the High One. Some Hebrew interpreters read the three first verses as one continuous sentence, down to the words, he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler The whole would then run
- 6. thus — “Hewho dwells in the covert of the Most High, and abides under his shadow, to him will I say of Jehovah, that he is his hope and defense, and the God in whom he may safely rest, for he shall deliver him from the snare,” etc. This is evidently a forced construction to put upon the verses, and the reason which has led some to adopt it is weak and insufficient. They consider that the first verse repeats the same thing twice, and therefore conveys no proper meaning. But this is a great mistake; for the inspired penman of the psalm, whoever he may have been, states two ideas quite distinct, That he who is hid under the Divine protection occupies a safe and secure position, where no hostile weapon can reach him. Or should the verse be read — He who has God to be the guardian of his safety shall rest under the shadow of God; still the second clause would retain an emphatic meaning, for the power of God would be contrasted with that weak defense which man is able to extend. Those, too, who dwell in the secret place of God are here said by the Psalmist to dwell under his shadow, in the sense that they experience to what a rich extent his protection reaches. Men generally seek out a great-variety of hiding- places, having recourse to one or another, according as the calamities are different which threaten to overtake them; but here we are taught that the only safe and impregnable fortress to which we can betake ourselves is the protection of God. He contrasts the security of those who trust in God with the vanity of all other confidences by which we are apt to delude ourselves. SPURGEO , "Ver. 1. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High. The blessings here promised are not for all believers, but for those who live in close fellowship with God. Every child of God looks towards the inner sanctuary and the mercyseat, yet all do not dwell in the most holy place; they run to it at times, and enjoy occasional approaches, but they do not habitually reside in the mysterious presence. Those who through rich grace obtain unusual and continuous communion with God, so as to abide in Christ and Christ in them, become possessors of rare and special benefits, which are missed by those who follow afar off, and grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Into the secret place those only come who know the love of God in Christ Jesus, and those only dwell there to whom to live is Christ. To them the veil is rent, the mercyseat is revealed, the covering cherubs are manifest, and the awful glory of the Most High is apparent: these, like Simeon, have the Holy Ghost upon them, and like Anna they depart not from the temple; they are the courtiers of the Great King, the valiant men who keep watch around the bed of Solomon, the virgin souls who follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. Elect out of the elect, they have "attained unto the first three", and shall walk with their Lord in white, for they are worthy. Sitting down in the august presence chamber where shines the mystic light of the Sheckinah, they know what it is to be raised up together, and to be made to sit together with Christ in the heavenlies, and of them it is truly said that their conversation is in heaven. Special grace like theirs brings with it special immunity. Outer court worshippers little know what belongs to the inner sanctuary, or surely they would press on until the place of nearness and divine familiarity became theirs. Those who are the Lord's constant guests shall find that he will never suffer any to be injured within his gates; he has eaten the covenant salt with them, and is pledged for their protection.
- 7. Shall abide underthe shadow of the Almighty. The Omnipotent Lord will shield all those who dwell with him, they shall remain under his care as guests under the protection of their host. In the most holy place the wings of the cherubim were the most conspicuous objects, and they probably suggested to the psalmist the expression here employed. Those who commune with God are safe with Him, no evil can reach them, for the outstretched wings of his power and love cover them from all harm. This protection is constant—they abide under it, and it is all sufficient, for it is the shadow of the Almighty, whose omnipotence will surely screen them from all attack. o shelter can be imagined at all comparable to the protection of Jehovah's own shadow. The Almighty himself is where his shadow is, and hence those who dwell in his secret place are shielded by himself. What a shade in the day of noxious heat! What a refuge in the hour of deadly storm! Communion with God is safety. The more closely we cling to our Almighty Father the more confident may we be. EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS. Whole Psalm. The Talmud writers ascribe not only the ninety-first Psalm, but the nine ensuing, to the pen of Moses; but from a rule which will in no respect hold, that all the psalms which are without the name of an author in their respective titles are the production of the poet whose name is given in the nearest preceding title. And though it is impossible to prove that this highly beautiful ode was not written by David, the general drift of its scenery and allusions rather concur in showing that, like the last, we are indebted for it to the muse of Moses: that it was composed by him during the journey through the wilderness, shortly after the plague of the fiery serpents; when the children of Israel, having returned to a better spirit, were again received into the favour of JEHOVAH. Besides political enemies, the children of Israel in the wilderness had other evils in great numbers to encounter, from the nature and diseases of the climate, which exposed them to coups de soleil, or sun smiting, during the heat of the day; and to pestilential vapours, moon smiting, during the damp of the night, so as to render the miraculous canopy of the cloud that hung over them in the former season, and the miraculous column of fire that cheered and purified them in the latter, equally needful and refreshing. In Egypt, they had seen so much of the plague, and they had been so fearfully threatened with it as a punishment for disobedience, that they could not but be in dread of its reappearance, from the incessant fatigues of their journeying. In addition to all which, they had to be perpetually on their guard against the insidious attacks of the savage monsters and reptiles of "that great and terrible wilderness", as Moses describes it on another occasion, "wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought; where there was no water" (De 8:15); and where, also, as we learn from other parts of Scripture, bears, lions, leopards or tigers, and "the wolf of the evening", as Jeremiah has beautifully expressed it, prowled without restraint. ow in the Psalm before us, and especially in Psalms 91:6-13, we have so clear and graphic a description of the whole of these evils presented to us, as to bring its composition directly home to the circumstances and the period here pitched upon, and to render it at least needless to hunt out for any other occasion. J. M. Good's "Historical Outline of the Book of Psalms", 1842. Whole Psalm. It is one of the most excellent works of this kind which has ever appeared. It is impossible to imagine anything more solid, more beautiful, more
- 8. profound, or moreornamented. Could the Latin or any modern language express thoroughly all the beauties and elegancies as well of the words as of the sentences, it would not be difficult to persuade the reader that we have no poem, either in Greek or Latin, comparable to this Hebrew ode. Simon de Muis. Whole Psalm. Psalms 90:1-17 spoke of man withering away beneath God's anger against sin. Psalms 91:1-16 tells of a Man, who is able to tread the lion and adder under His feet. —Undoubtedly the Tempter was right in referring this Psalm to "the Son of God" (Matthew 4:6). The imagery of the Psalm seems to be in part drawn from that Passover ight, when the Destroying Angel passed through Egypt, while the faithful and obedient Israelites were sheltered by God. William Kay. Ver. 1. He, no matter who he may be, rich or poor, learned or unlearned, patrician or plebeian, young or old, for "God is no respecter of persons", but "he is rich to all that call upon him." Bellarmine. Ver. 1. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High. ote, he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High is not he that conjures up one or two slight and fleeting acts of hope in Him, but the man that places in him an assiduous and constant confidence. In this way he establishes for himself in God by that full trust, a home, a dwelling place, a mansion, ...The Hebrew for he that dwelleth, is bvy, that is, dwelling in quietude, and resting, enduring and remaining with constancy. Le Blanc. Ver. 1. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High. What intimate and unrestrained communion does this describe! —the Christian in everything making known his heart, with its needs and wishes, its thoughts and feelings, its doubts and anxieties, its sorrows and its joys, to God, as to a loving, perfect friend. And all is not on one side. This Almighty Friend has admitted his chosen one to his "secret place." It is almost too wonderful to be true. It is almost too presumptuous a thought for such creatures as we are to entertain. But He himself permits it, desires it, teaches us to realise that it is communion to which he calls us. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him." And what is this "secret"? It is that in God which the world neither knows, nor sees, nor cares to enjoy. It is his mind revealed to those that love him, his plans, and ways ("He made known his ways to Moses", Psalms 103:7), and thoughts opened to them. Yea, and things hid from angels are manifest to the least of his friends (1 Peter 1:12). He wishes us to know him, and by his Word and by his Spirit he puts himself before us. Ah! it is not his fault if we do not know him. It is our own carelessness. Mary B. M. Duncan, in "Under the Shadow", 1867. Ver. 1. By secret here is meant a place of refuge from the storms of the world under the secret of his providence, who careth for all his children. Also, by the secret of the most High, some writers understand the castle of his mighty defence, to which his people run, being pursued by enemies, as the wild creature doth to his hole or den for succour, when the hunter hath him in chase, and the dogs are near. This then being the meaning of that which the prophet calleth the "secret place of the most High", and our dwelling in it, by confidence in him; we learn, in all troubles, to cleave to God chiefly or only for help, and to means but as underlings to his providence... That which is here translated dwelleth, is as much in weight as sitteth, or is settled; and so, our dwelling in God's secret, is as much as our sitting down in it: the
- 9. meaning is, wemust make it our rest, as if we should say, Here will we dwell. From whence we learn, that God's children should not come to God's secret place as guests to an inn, but as inhabitants to their own dwellings; that is, they should continue to trust in God, as well in want as in fulness; and as much when they wither in their root, as when they flourish in it. Robert Horn. Ver. 1. He that dwelleth, etc. 1. "He dwells", therefore he shall "abide." He shall lodge quietly, securely. 2. "He dwells in the secret place", therefore he shall "abide under the shadow." In the cool, the favour, the cover from the heat 3. "He dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, therefore he shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty; "i.e., of the all powerful God, of the God of heaven; of that God whose name is Shaddai, All sufficient. Adam Clarke. Ver. 1. Shall abide. The Hebrew for "shall abide" is kwlty, which signifies, he shall pass the night. Abiding denotes a constant and continuous dwelling of the just in the assistance and protection of God. That help and protection of God is not like a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, or in a vineyard; which is destroyed in a moment, nor is it like a tent in the way which is abandoned by the traveller. It is a strong tower, a paternal home, wherein we spend all our life with the best, wealthiest, and mightiest of parents. Passing the night also denotes security and rest in time of darkness, temptations and calamities. With God Abraham passed the night, when He foretold to him the affliction of his descendants in Egypt, and their deliverance, Genesis 15:12-16. Then also God said to him (Genesis 15:1), Fear not Abram. I am thy shield. And leading him forth he showed him the glittering stars, and said, Tell the number of the stars, if thou bc able; so shall thy seed be. Le Blanc. Ver. 1. The shadow. The allusion of this verse may be to the awful and mystic symbols of the ark. Under the ancient ceremony, the high priest only could enter, and that but once a year, into the holy place, where stood the emblems of the divine glory and presence; but under the present bright and merciful dispensation, every true believer has access, with boldness, into the holiest of all; and he who now dwelleth in the secret place of prayer and communion with the God of salvation, shall find the divine mercy and care spread over him for his daily protection and solace. John Morison. Ver. 1. Under the shadow of the Almighty. This is an expression which implies great nearness. We must walk very close to a companion, if we would have his shadow fall on us. Can we imagine any expression more perfect in describing the constant presence of God with his chosen ones, than this—they shall "abide under his shadow"? In Solomon's beautiful allegory, the Church in a time of special communion with Christ, says of him—"I sat down under his shadow with great delight" (Song of Solomon 2:3) —"sat down", desiring not to leave it, but to abide there for ever. And it is he who chooses to dwell in the secret place of the most High, who shall "abide under the shadow of the Almighty." There is a condition and a promise attached to it. The condition is, that we "dwell in the secret place, "—the promise, that if we do so we "shall abide under the shadow." It is of importance to view it thus. For when we remember the blessing is a promised blessing—we are led to feel it is a gift—a thing therefore to be prayed for in faith, as well as sought for by God's appointed means. Ah, the hopes that this awakens! My wandering, wavering, unstable heart, that of itself cannot keep to one course two days together
- 10. is to seekits perseverance from God, and not in its own strength. He will hold it to him if it be but seeking for stedfastness. It is not we who cling to him. It is he who keeps near to us. Mary B. M. Duncan. Ver. 1-4, 9. 0 you that be in fear of any danger, leave all carnal shifts, and carking counsels, and projects, and dwell in the rock of God's power and providence, and be like the dove that nestles in the holes of the rock; by faith betake yourselves unto God, by faith dwell in that rock, and there nestle yourselves, make your nests of safety in the clefts of this rock. But how may we do this thing, and what is the way to do it? Do this, —Set thy faith on work to make God that unto thee which thy necessity requires, pitch and throw thyself upon his power and providence, with a resolution of spirit to rest thyself upon it for safety, come what will come. See an excellent practice of this, Psalms 91:1, He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty; that is, he shall be safe from all fears and dangers. Aye, that is true, you will say, who makes any doubt of it? But how shall a man come to dwell, and get into this secret place, within this strong tower? See Psalms 91:2 : I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress; as if he had said, I will not only say, that he is a refuge; but he is my refuge, I will say to the Lord; that is, I will set my faith on work in particular, to throw, devolve, and pitch myself upon him for my safety. And see what follows upon this setting faith thus on work, Psalms 91:3-4 : Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, etc. So confident the Psalmist is that upon this course taken, safety shall follow. Our safety lies not simply upon this, because God is a refuge, and is an habitation, but "Because thou hast made the Lord which is my refuge, thy habitation, there shall no evil befall thee, "etc. It is therefore the making of God our habitation, upon which our safety lies; and this is the way to make God an habitation, thus to pitch and cast ourselves by faith upon his power and providence. Jeremiah Dyke. Ver. 1. We read of a stag that roamed about in the greatest security, by reason of its having a label on its neck, "Touch me not, I belong to Caesar": thus the true servants of God are always safe, even among lions, bears, serpents, fire, water, thunder, and tempests; for all creatures know and reverence the shadow of God. Bellarmine. BE SO , "Psalms 91:1. He that dwelleth in the secret place, &c. — He that makes God his habitation and refuge, as he is called Psalms 91:9, that has recourse to him, and relies on him in his dangers and difficulties; that has access to him, intercourse with him, and worships within the veil, living a life of constant communion with him; shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty — He shall not be disappointed of his hope, but shall find a quiet and safe resting- place under the divine care. A shadow, in Scripture, often signifies protection. But there evidently seems to be an allusion to the most holy place in the tabernacle and temple, and to the outstretched wings of the cherubim covering the ark and mercy-seat: see notes on Psalms 27:5; Psalms 32:7. And it is as if the psalmist had said, He shall dwell like the ark in the holy of holies, under the immediate shadow and protection of the Divine Majesty. It is justly observed here by Dr. Horne, that “in all dangers, whether spiritual or corporal, the members of Christ’s mystical body may reflect, with comfort, that they
- 11. are under thesame almighty Protector.” ELLICOTT, "God’s Inner Circle He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.—Psalms 91:1. The beauty of the language of this poem fitly corresponds to the grandeur of the thoughts which it conveys. The Psalmist here sings “to one clear harp in divers tones”; and the central thought which he exhibits in its different aspects is that of God’s response to man. For every advance on man’s part there is an immediate and corresponding advance on God’s part. When man goes out to seek God, God meets him more than half-way. When he calls upon God, God will answer him. Loving faith on man’s part will be met by faithful love on the part of God. This is in the first verse, of which the whole psalm is an expansion. If man dwells “in the secret place of the Most High,” he shall abide “under the shadow of the Almighty.” We have here the condition and promise. In his later years, Calvin’s colleague at Geneva was Theodore de Beza (1519–1605), the writer of the metrical version of Psalms 68, which was the battle-song of the Huguenots. Taste for the culture of the Renaissance, passion for poetry, worldly success and fame, had weakened the impression of the religious training of his youth. A dangerous illness revived his former feelings. Escaping from the bondage of Egypt, as he called his previous life, he took refuge with Calvin at Geneva. In 1548, when he for the first time attended the service of the Reformed Assembly, the congregation was singing Psalms 91, “Whoso dwelleth under the defence of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” He never forgot the effect of the words. They supported him in all the difficulties of his subsequent life; they conquered his fears, and gave him courage to meet every danger.1 [ ote: R. E. Prothero, The Psalms in Human Life, 185.] “The 91st Psalm is a mountain of strength to all believers”; so General Gordon wrote from Gravesend in 1869, one of the six quiet years which he used to speak of as the happiest of his life. Again, thirteen years later, in January 1882, he wrote thus from Mauritius: “I dwell more or less (I wish it were more) under the shadow of the Almighty.” I In the Secret Place 1. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High.” We get the clearest idea of the meaning of this phrase by an examination of the different passages in the Psalms where the word here translated “secret place” occurs. Thus in Psalms 31:20, we read: “Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence”; also in Psalms 83:3, where another form of the same word occurs, we read of God’s “hidden ones.” From these and similar passages we find that the word is usually connected with the idea of a fugitive hiding from his pursuers. It calls up before us the picture of a man running away from his enemies. Weary and panting, he knows not where to hide himself, and in his despair he flees to some friend of his and seeks protection, and the friend hides him in a secret place. The fugitive gives his all into the keeping of
- 12. his friend. Heplaces his life in his friend’s hands, and he has now power of life and death over him. So, then, the man who dwells in “the secret place of the Most High” is he who ventures his all upon God. With a sure and steadfast trust, with a simple but unwavering faith, he gives himself, his all, into the keeping of God. He surrenders himself to God, and by that very act he is taken near to God; he is put in the secret place of the Most High and becomes one of “God’s hidden ones.” By his act of absolute self-surrender he has attained to that state which the Apostle Paul describes in language very similar to that of the Psalmist—only going a little further than the latter with his imperfect light could go—when he says, “Ye died, and your new life is hid with Christ in God.” We are like vessels which are near a lee shore in the night. The darkness of the open sea is safer for the skilled seaman than the line of the shore. Our safety is to stand out in the bosom of the dark; it is to press into the mysteries of God. Why is it that our moral nature, even the religious, is too often shallow and poverty-stricken? It is because we do not pursue the growing knowledge of God on our own account. We are religious, or at least we are always in danger of being religious, without spiritual growth, and spiritual growth surely means spiritual insight. We cease to become sensible of spiritual enrichment. We come to a time of life when we are content to say, “I get no secrets from God now.” Revelations do not arrive; doors are not opened in Heaven; new vistas of faith do not spread away before the soul. Faith runs on upon the level, and it does not mount, and it does not soar. God becomes by habit a uniform Presence to us. He is not denied. We do not venture to deny Him. I was almost going to say we had not the courage to deny Him. But, at any rate, we do not deny Him. We only disregard Him, like the air and the sky. We do not give our minds seriously and deliberately to realizing Him. We do not pore upon Him until fold after fold removes, and depth after depth opens, and we look into His heart. The secret, the secret of the Most High is not with us.1 [ ote: P. T. Forsyth.] 2. While this is the general idea, it is possible that the immediate figure of “the secret place” may have been borrowed from the arrangements and appointments of the Temple. There was the vast outside world stretching on every side beyond the Temple walls; then the outer courts of the Temple; then the inner chambers and precincts; then the Holy Place with its golden candlestick and table of shewbread; and last of all, the Holy of Holies, the secret place, the mystic abiding-place of the eternal God. And every Jew thought reverently and almost awfully of that secret, silent place where God dwelt between the cherubim. He turned towards it, he worshipped towards it, his desire moved towards it; it was the mysterious centre of his adoration and service. And that arrangement and apportionment of the Temple became to the Psalmist the type and the symbol of human life. Life could be all outside, or it could spend itself in outer courts, on the mere fringe of being, or it could have a secret place where everything found significance and interpretation and value in the mysterious fellowship of God. That seems to be the primary meaning of life “in the secret place”; it is life abandoning the mere outside of things, refusing to dwell in the outer halls and passages of the stately temple of being, and centralizing itself in that mysterious interior of things where “cherubim and seraphim continually do cry, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty.”
- 13. The necessity ofan inward stillness hath appeared clear to my mind. In true silence strength is renewed, and the mind is weaned from all things, save as they may be enjoyed in the Divine will; and a lowliness in outward living, opposite to worldly honour, becomes truly acceptable to us. In the desire after outward gain the mind is prevented from a perfect attention to the voice of Christ; yet being weaned from all things, except as they may be enjoyed in the Divine will, the pure light shines into the soul. Where the fruits of the spirit which is of this world are brought forth by many who profess to be led by the Spirit of truth, and cloudiness is felt to be gathering over the visible church, the sincere in heart, who abide in true stillness, and are exercised therein before the Lord for His name’s sake, have knowledge of Christ in the fellowship of His sufferings; and inward thankfulness is felt at times, that through Divine love our own wisdom is cast out, and that forward, active part in us is subjected, which would rise and do something without the pure leadings of the spirit of Christ.1 [ ote: The Journal of John Woolman, 29.] Don’t be too much taken up with excitements social and intellectual. The depths of life are still and ought not to be ruffled by every wanton breeze, else they lose the capacity which they ought to possess of being that centre of rest, and peace, and content, to which we can withdraw when wearied of the world which is too much with us. Life to be worth anything at all must have a moral basis. After all, it is the root of the matter, unless the universe was made in jest.2 [ ote: Memoir of Robert Herbert Story, 401.] 3. The Church is, in God’s idea, a home where we recover from the fatigue of effort, when we take a new hold of high purposes from which our hand had slackened; a place of compensations; a place from which we see our life more truly, for we see more than itself. Here, in this house, we may feel something, some one, even God, in the form and manner of Jesus Christ, coming between us and the things which would dishearten us and work despair. Here we may sit under a shadow, under the shadow of thought and faith. Here we may come under the rebuke and deliverance of high and unworldly considerations; here we may receive the emancipation which comes the moment we adopt the spiritual view and seek not our own will but the will of God. To seek the face of God in worship is the instinct of the soul which has become aware of itself and its surroundings. Life and death are the great preachers. It is they who ring the church bells. That instinct for God, that instinct for the shadow, will never pass away. It may only become perverted and debased. The foundation—which is man’s need for God, for guidance, for cleansing, for support, and that again is but God’s search for man, God’s overtures to man—the foundation standeth sure. Whatever temple science may build there will always need to be hard by a Gothic chapel for wounded souls.1 [ ote: F. Paulsen, Ethics.] “A little chamber” built “upon the wall,” With stool and table, candlestick and bed, Where he might sit, or kneel, or lay his head
- 14. At night orsultry noontide: this was all A prophet’s need: but in that chamber small What mighty prayers arose, what grace was shed, What gifts were given—potent to wake the dead, And from its viewless flight a soul recall! And still what miracles of grace are wrought In many a lonely chamber with shut door, Where God our Father is in secret sought, And shows Himself in mercy more and more! Dim upper rooms with God’s own glory shine, And souls are lifted to the life Divine.2 [ ote: R. Wilton.] 4. The secret place is not to be limited to a particular locality, but means nearness to God, the close fellowship into which the soul enters, the inner circle of communion in which the soul realizes vividly the Divine presence. Some may associate such communion with one locality, and some with another, according to their individual experience. But this matters not. The essential thing is the nearness of the soul to God, its entering into His presence with the full consciousness that He graciously regards it, and will hear its prayer and accept its homage, breathing its feelings and desires into His ear, and spreading all its case before Him. His is not that distant and formal intercourse which one man may hold with another when, in the open and crowded places of the city, they have to restrain themselves because of being exposed to the observation of others; it is that intimate and unrestrained intercourse which friend holds with friend when they meet in privacy, where no other eye sees or ear hears, and each communicates to the other not the things which are open to public observation, but the secret and hidden feelings of the heart. Reverently, although freely and confidently, does the worshipper in the secret place speak to God as a child to its father, giving expression to all his feelings, whatsoever they may be. “Fellowship with the living God,” says Andrew Bonar in his graphic little sketch of Samuel Rutherford, “is a little distinguishing feature in the holiness given by the Holy Ghost.… Rutherford could sometimes say, ‘I have been so near Him, that I have said I take instruments (documents by way of attestation) that this is the Lord,’ and he could from experience declare, ‘I dare avouch, the saints know not the length and largeness of the sweet earnest, and of the sweet green sheaves before the harvest, that might be had on this side of the water, if we only took more pains.’ … All this,” adds Bonar suggestively, “is from the pen of a man who was a metaphysician, a controversialist, a leader in the Church, and learned in ancient scholastic lore.” Where is that secret place of the Most High? And who is He? Where shall we look for Him That dwelleth there? Between the cherubim, That o’er the seat of grace, with constant eye, And outspread wing, brood everlastingly? Or shall we seek that deeper meaning dim,
- 15. And as wemay, walk, flutter, soar, and swim, From deep to deep of the void, fathomless sky? Oh! seek not there the secret of the Lord In what hath been, or what may never be; But seek the shadow of the mystic word— The shadow of a truth thou canst not see: There build thy nest, and, like a nestling bird, Find all thy safety in thy secrecy.1 [ ote: Hartley Coleridge.] 5. How are we to maintain our life of fellowship with God? How are we to dwell in the Secret Place? The Psalmist doubtless would find guidance in the ways and ministries of the Temple. (1) The spirit of reverence must be cherished. There was to be no tramping in the sacred courts. He was to move quietly, as in the presence of something august and unspeakable. And that is the very first requisite if we would dwell in the secret place—the reverent spirit and the reverent step. The man who strides through life with flippant tramp will never get beyond the outer courts. He may “get on,” he will never “get in”; he may find here and there an empty shell, he will never find “the pearl of great price.” Irreverence can never open the gate into the secret place. (2) The second thing requisite in the Temple ministry to any one who sought the fellowship of the secret place was the spirit of sacrifice. o man was permitted to come empty-handed in his movements towards the secret place. “Bring an offering, and come into his courts.” And in that Temple-ministry the Psalmist would recognize another of the essential requisites if he would dwell in the secret place. That offering meant that a man must surrender all that he possesses, of gifts and goods, to his quest of the central things of life. For there is this strange thing about the strait gate which opens into the secret place: it is too strait for the man who brings nothing; it is abundantly wide for the man who brings his all. o man deserves the hallowed intimacies of life, the holy tabernacle of the Most High, who does not bring upon the errand all that he is, and all that he has. Life’s crown demands life’s all. (3) And other Temple-ministries in which the Psalmist would find principles of guidance would be the requirement of prayer and praise. “Sing unto the Lord a new song.” Such was to be one of the exercises of those who sought the grace and favour of the holy place. They were to come wearing the garment of praise. And therefore the Psalmist knew that praise was to be one of the means by which he was to possess the intimacies of the secret place. And praise is still one of the ministries by which we reach the central heart of things, the hallowed abode where we come to share “the secret of the Lord.” And praise is not fawning upon God, flattering Him, piling up words of empty eulogy; it is the hallowed contemplation of the greatness of God, and the grateful appreciation of the goodness of God. And with praise there goes prayer—the recognition of our dependence upon the Highest, the fellowship of desire, the humble speech which cooperates in the reception and distribution of grace.
- 16. “I passed mytime in great peace, content to spend the remainder of my life there, if such should be the will of God. I employed part of my time in writing religious songs. I, and my maid La Gautière, who was with me in prison, committed them to heart as fast as I made them. Together we sang praises to Thee, O our God! It sometimes seemed to me as if I were a little bird whom the Lord had placed in a cage, and that I had nothing to do now but to sing. The joy of my heart gave a brightness to the objects around me. The stones of my prison looked in my eyes like rubies. I esteemed them more than all the gaudy brilliancies of a vain world. My heart was full of that joy which Thou givest to them who love Thee in the midst of their greatest crosses.”1 [ ote: Madame Guyon, in Life, by T. C. Upham.] Let praise devote thy work and skill employ Thy whole mind, and thy heart be lost in joy. Well-doing bringeth pride, this constant thought Humility, that thy best done is naught. Man doeth nothing well, be it great or small, Save to praise God; but that hath saved all: For God requires no more than thou hast done, And takes thy work to bless it for His own.2 [ ote: R. Bridges.] The wise man will act like the bee, and he will fly out in order to settle with care, intelligence, and prudence on all the gifts and on all the sweetness which he has experienced, and on all the good which God has done to him; and through the rays of the sun and his own inward observation he will experience a multitude of consolations and blessings. And he will not rest on any flower of all these gifts, but, laden with gratitude and praise, he will fly back again toward the home in which he longs to dwell and rest for evermore with God.3 [ ote: M. Maeterlinck, Ruysbroeck and the Mystics, 130.] II Under His Shadow The man who commits himself to God, and dwells in Him, has this promise, that he will abide under the shadow of the Almighty. There are two names of God used in the text, “The Most High” and “The Almighty”; and when we remember the deep religious significance which the different names of God had for the Hebrew, and the careful way in which they are used throughout the whole of the Old Testament, so that in general it is true that that name of God is used which alone serves to indicate the particular aspect of God’s character or government upon which the writer wished to lay stress; when we remember this, we are justified in looking for a meaning in the distinction between the two names of God used here. The man to whom the promise is made seeks to dwell in the secret place of “the Most High.” He seeks to be near God as the “Most High” God, the God of surpassing excellence. He desires the company of Him who is “Most High” because He is most holy. The character which he contemplates in God is not so much His power as His holiness. He desires to be near God, not because of what God can do for him, but because of what God is; it is in the thought of God’s goodness that he rests secure. It is the holiness of Jehovah that attracts him; it is the beauty of the Lord his God that he would behold continually. To the man who thus disinterestedly seeks after Him God
- 17. will reveal Himselfin the character of the Almighty. The power of the Almighty shall be round about him. “Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.” This man is to “abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” This wonderful Psalm has always been a favourite with the Mystic and the Quietist. For it expresses what we may call the Beatitude of the Inner Circle. Most religions have distinguished carefully between the rank and file of the faithful, and that select company of initiates who taste the hidden wisdom and have access to the secret shrine. From the nature of the case some such distinction exists even in the Kingdom of Heaven. Christ Himself allowed a difference between “His own friends” and those many disciples who are servants still. Only we must never forget on what this difference depends. The Father, who is Lord of heaven and earth, has seen good to hide His secrets from the wise and prudent, and to reveal them unto babes. While from the inmost sanctuary of Christian experience a Voice cries continually, “Whosoever will let him come freely—if he be content to come as a little child.”1 [ ote: T. H. Darlow, The Upward Calling, 38.] 1. What does the Psalmist mean by “abiding under the shadow”? Does he mean to say that the shadow of the Almighty rests on the secret place? At first sight it would seem so, but such a conclusion would not be in harmony with the trend of thought throughout the Psalm. What he appears really to teach is that, when a man regularly communes with God in secret, then, wherever he goes, the shadow of the Almighty shall rest upon him, and in times of trial and danger shall shelter and protect him. As the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night went before the children of Israel, and was both a guide and a shelter to them, so the shadow of the Almighty shall ever rest upon those who dwell in the secret place of the Most High. A shadow is produced when some object intercepts the light. Here it represents God placing Himself in front of the sun, to screen His people from heat. The sun shall not smite them by day, nor the moon by night. The last poems of Miss Havergal are published with the title, Under His Shadow, and the preface gives the reason for the name. She said, “I should like the title to be, Under His Shadow. I seem to see four pictures by that: under the shadow of a rock in a weary plain; under the shadow of a tree; closer still, under the shadow of His wing; nearest and closest, in the shadow of His hand. Surely that hand must be the pierced hand, that may oftentimes press us sorely, and yet evermore encircling, upholding, and shadowing.”1 [ ote: C. H. Spurgeon, Till He Come, 23.] 2. ow it is one thing to be touched by the shadow of the Almighty, another to abide within that shadow. One has not lived long, or has lived only on the surface, who has never for a moment been touched by the shadow of God. It may have fallen upon us in one or other of several experiences. It may have come to us in some reverse of fortune, in some change in our prospects. Or it may have come to us in some bodily illness or the threatening of some illness. Or it may have come to us, as so much with regard to the unseen world comes to us all, in the great silence of a bereavement. But there is probably not one of adult years who has not had at least one experience
- 18. which has touchedhim to the quick and has brought him for the time being face to face with God. And yet, if we are strict with ourselves, we shall have to confess that as the trouble eased the high seriousness which it brought began to pass away, so that probably not one of us has worked out into our life and character the holy intentions which we proposed to ourselves on a certain day when our heart was sore. We have lost from ourselves a certain dignity, a certain superiority to the world which was ours in days that we can still recall, when some suspense was keeping our heart open, when in some precious concern of our life we were depending utterly upon God for something. To be touched—that is the work of God, the work of life upon us; whereas to abide requires the consent of our will. In order to abide it needs that the whole man, who knows that in the personal crisis God was singling him out, shall live henceforth by the wisdom and calling of that hour. It needs that he shall depart from all the iniquity which the light of that holy hour revealed to him. The original meaning of the word here translated “abide” is “to wrap up in a garment for warmth and rest during the cool of the night.” The reflexive form of the verb is here used: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall wrap himself round in the shadow of the God of Might.” earness to God is to be to him as the garment which the traveller wraps around him as he goes to sleep in the desert, when the chills of night descend. God’s immediate presence is to be wrapped round about him for his protection.1 [ ote: A. S. Renton.] 3. God’s protection does not mean exemption from outward calamities. But there is an evil in the calamity that will never come near the man who is sheltered under God’s wing. The physical external event may be entirely the same to him as to another who is not covered with His feathers. Here are two partners in a business; the one is a Christian man, and the other is not. A common disaster overwhelms them. They become bankrupts. Is insolvency the same to the one as it is to the other? Here are two men on board a ship, the one putting his trust in God, the other thinking it all nonsense to trust anything but himself. They are both drowned. Is drowning the same to the two? As their corpses lie side by side, you may say of the one, but only of the one, “There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.” For the protection that is granted to faith is to be understood only by faith. “If you believe in God,” wrote Robert Louis Stevenson, “where is there any more room for terror? If you are sure that God, in the long-run, means kindness by you, you should be happy.” Fighting a losing battle with death, he wrote: “The tragedy of things works itself out blacker and blacker. Does it shake my cast-iron faith? I cannot say that it does. I believe in an ultimate decency of things; aye, and if I woke in hell, should still believe it.” Let us thank God for the faith of that high and brave soldier of suffering, going up and down the earth in quest of health, and singing as he went: If to feel in the ink of the slough, And sink of the mire, Veins of glory and fire
- 19. Run through andtranspierce and transpire, And a secret purpose of glory in every part, And the answering glory of battle fill my heart; To thrill with the joy of girded men, To go on forever and fail and go on again, And be mauled to the earth and arise, And contend for the shade of a word and a thing not seen with the eyes: With the half of a broken hope for a pillow at night; That somehow the right is the right And the smooth shall bloom from the rough: Lord, if that were enough? 4. But the promise is absolutely true in a far higher region—the region of spiritual defence. For no man who lies under the shadow of God, and has his heart filled with the continual consciousness of that Presence, is likely to fall before the assaults of evil that tempt him away from God; and the defence which He gives in that region is yet more magnificently impregnable than the defence which He gives against external evils. For, as the ew Testament teaches us, we are kept from sin, not by any outward breastplate or armour, not even by the Divine wing lying above us to cover us, but by the indwelling Christ in our hearts. His Spirit within us makes us “free from the law of sin and death,” and conquerors over all temptations. Every step taken into a higher, holier life secures a completer immunity from the power of evil. Virtually there is no temptation to those who climb high enough; they still suffer the trial of their faith and principle, but they have no evil thought, no affinity with evil; it exercises over them no fascination; it is to them as though it were not. ever deal with temptation on low utilitarian grounds of health, reputation, or interest. If you have a vice, convict it at Sinai; arraign it at the bar of the Judgment Day; make it ashamed of itself at the feet of Christ; blind it with heaven; scorch it with hell; take it into the upper air where it cannot get its breath, and choke it. And chok’st thou not him in the upper air His strength he will still on the earth repair. Migratory birds invisible to the eye have been detected by the telescope crossing the disc of the sun six miles above the earth. They have found one of the secret places of the Most High; far above the earth, invisible to the human eye, hidden in the light, they were delightfully safe from the fear of evil. Thus it is with the soul that soars into the heavenly places; no arrow can reach it, no fowler betray it, no creature of prey make it afraid: it abides in the shadow of the Almighty.1 [ ote: W. L. Watkinson, The Ashes of Roses, 117.] How good it is, when weaned from all beside, With God alone the soul is satisfied, Deep hidden in His heart! How good it is, redeemed, and washed, and shriven, To dwell, a cloistered soul, with Christ in heaven, Joined, never more to part! How good the heart’s still chamber thus to close On all but God alone—
- 20. There in thesweetness of His love repose, His love unknown! All else for ever lost—forgotten all That else can be; In rapture undisturbed, O Lord, to fall And worship Thee.2 [ ote: Frances Bevan, Hymns of Ter Steegen, 36.] ELLICOTT, "Verse 1 PSALM 91 THE SECURITY OF HIM WHO TRUSTS I GOD "Jewish tradition assigns this psalm to Moses, an assignment which Dr. Kay and others accept as borne out by the facts."[1] We fail to be impressed with the current fashion of late-dating many psalms upon considerations which, at best, are very precarious and questionable. One rather perplexing characteristic of this psalm was mentioned by Maclaren, "There are sudden and bewildering changes of persons, from first person to second person, etc., in which `He,' `I' and `thou' alternate."[2] The context usually affords the clue to what is meant and who is the speaker, or the one spoken to. The paragraphing that we follow here is that of Briggs.[3] Security of the True Worshipper of God Psalms 91:1-4 "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of Jehovah, He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in whom I trust. For he will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, And from the deadly pestilence. He will cover thee with his pinions, And under his wings shalt thou take refuge; His truth is a shield and a buckler." "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High" (Psalms 91:1). "`The secret
- 21. place' is heregenerally understood to mean `the temple' or `tabernacle,' but `one's dwelling there' is not a reference to persons actually living in the temple. It seems rather to mean those who consistently worship the God who is enshrined there, or to, "Those who make the temple of God their habitual resort."[4] "He will deliver thee" (Psalms 91:3). Two perils are mentioned here, (1) the snare of the fowler, and (2) the deadly pestilence. Both of these indicate the type of peril that is unseen, striking the strong and the weak alike. "The snare of the fowler is a metaphor for evil plots,"[5] that might inflict loss or even death. The other danger here is "the deadly pestilence." The human race is never exempt from the ravages of mortal illnesses that come about from the spread of infectious diseases. The `Black Death' (the bubonic plague) of the 14th Century wiped out the majority of the population of Europe; and Durant declared that, "One-fourth of the population of the civilized world perished, the deaths in Europe alone reaching 25,000,000."[6] The great pestilence of 1918 was the swine flu which wiped out more people in the United States than our nation lost in World War I. The threat of such things, held partially in check by the diligence of the medical profession, is nevertheless perpetual. All kinds of fatal diseases lie submerged within the microscopic life surrounding all men, and any of these may break forth at any time. A recent example is AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). "He will cover thee" (Psalms 91:4). God's protection of his own is assured in words such as these. From the ew Testament, we learn that God's children are by no means to be protected from death from every threat and at all times. What is meant is that God will protect them even "through death." Our Lord spoke of Christians who would even be put to death, saying, "But not a hair of your head shall perish" (Luke 21:18). This does not deny that the Providence of God does indeed provide protection from the most terrible dangers for those who truly love him, doing so now in this present earthly life. CO STABLE, "1. The security God provides91:1-2 God Himself is the One who is the believer"s security. The unknown psalmist described Him as the Most High (Sovereign Ruler) and the Almighty (One having all power). Those who rely on Him find that He is a shelter from the storms of life and a shadowy place of security, much like the area under a bird"s wing. He is a refuge where we can run for safety in times of danger and a fortress that will provide defense against attacking foes. This wisdom psalm focuses on security in life, an idea present in Psalm 90. The writer knew that God provides security. It is a psalm for situations involving danger, exposure, or vulnerability.
- 22. "This remarkable psalmspeaks with great specificity, and yet with a kind of porousness, so that the language is enormously open to each one"s particular experience. Its tone is somewhat instructional, as though reassuring someone else who is unsure. Yet the assurance is not didactic, but confessional. It is a personal testimony of someone whose own experience makes the assurance of faith convincing and authentic." [ ote: Brueggemann, p156.] EXPOSITORS DICTIO ARY OF TEXTS, "God"s Inner Circle Psalm 91:1 This wonderful Psalm has always been a favourite with the mystic and quietist. For it expresses what we may call the Beatitude of the Inner Circle. Most religions have distinguished carefully between the rank and file of the faithful, and that select company of initiates who taste the hidden wisdom and have access to the secret shrine. From the nature of the case some such distinction exists even in the kingdom of heaven. Christ Himself allowed a difference between "His own friends" and those many disciples who are servants still. Only we must never forget on what this difference depends.... The Father who is Lord of heaven and earth has seen good to hide His secrets from the wise and prudent, and to reveal them unto babes. I. As we recognize the reality of this Inner Circle of souls enlightened and initiated, these verses suggest some signs and tokens which characterize those who not merely wear their Lord"s livery, but are actual courtiers in the palace of the Great King. We may say that they are more at home with God than other Christians, and they are also more alone with God. These dwellers in the secret place of the Most High are like children at home there, who have received the Spirit whereby they say always, "Abba—that Isaiah , Father". II. Such spiritual intimacy requires a spiritual privacy as well. To come close to God means not merely to be withdrawn from the noise and glare of the world, but also to be embraced in that shadow with which the uncreated height softens His glory to our eyes. For those who are thus brought near to their Father in heaven, there rises a strange delight in remembering the Divine Omnipotence. They exult in His power and might, His majesty and dominion. III. And thus it comes to pass that the self-same attributes of God which daunt and repel us at a distance, are transformed into our very shelter and joy when once He covers us with His feathers. "Thou shalt not be afraid." o promise is oftener repeated and ratified to the childlike soul. Those who belong to God"s Inner Circle bear on their countenances the seal that they are quiet from fear of evil, that they have gained the victory over terror and dismay. IV. In God"s Inner Circle the childlike spirit is made one with the will and the love of the Almighty Father. And herein lies our security and refuge against whatsoever may await us in this world or in any other.
- 23. —T. H. Darlow,The Upward Galling, p38. EBC, "THE solemn sadness of Psalms 90:1-17 is set in strong relief by the sunny brightness of this song of happy, perfect trust in the Divine protection. The juxtaposition is, however, probably due to the verbal coincidence of the same expression being used in both psalms in reference to God. In Psalms 90:1 and in Psalms 91:9, the somewhat unusual designation "dwelling place" is applied to Him. and the thought conveyed in it runs through the whole of this psalm. An outstanding characteristic of it is its sudden changes of persons; "He," "I," and "thou" alternate in a bewildering fashion, which has led to many attempts at explanation. One point is clear-that, in Psalms 91:14-16, God speaks, and that He speaks of, not to, the person who loves and clings to Him. At Psalms 91:14, then, we must suppose a change of speaker, which is unmarked by any introductory formula. Looking back over the remainder of the psalm, we find that the bulk of it is addressed directly to a person who must be the same as is spoken of in the Divine promises. The "him" of the latter is the "thee" of the mass of the psalm. But this mass is broken at two points by clauses alike in meaning, and containing expressions of trust (Psalms 91:2,, Psalms 91:9 a). Obviously the unity of the psalm requires that the "I" of these two verses should be the "thou" of the great portion of the psalm, and the "he" of the last part. Each profession of trust will then be followed by assurances of safety thence resulting. Psalms 91:2 having for pendant Psalms 91:3-8, and Psalms 91:9 a being followed by Psalms 91:9-13. The two utterances of personal faith are substantially identical, and the assurances which succeed them are also in effect the same. It is by some supposed that this alternation of persons is due simply to the poet expressing partly "his own feelings as from himself, and partly as if they were uttered by another" (Perowne after Ewald). But that is not an explanation of the structure; it is only a statement of the structure which requires to be explained. o doubt the poet is expressing his own feelings or convictions all through the psalm: but why does he express them in this singular fashion? The explanation which is given by Delitzsch, Stier, Cheyne and many others takes the psalm to be antiphonal, and distributes the parts among the voices of a choir, with some variations in the allocation. But Psalms 91:1 still remains a difficulty. As it stands it sounds flat and tautological, and hence attempts have been made to amend it, which will presently be referred to. But it will fall into the general antiphonal scheme, if it is regarded as a prelude, sung by the same voice which twice answers the single singer with choral assurances that reward his trust. We, then. have this distribution of parts: Psalms 91:1, the broad statement of the blessedness of dwelling with God; Psalms 91:2, a solo, the voice of a heart encouraged thereby to exercise personal trust; Psalms 91:3-8, answers, setting forth the security of such a refuge; Psalms 91:9 a, solo, reiterating with sweet monotony the word of trust; Psalms 91:9-13, the first voice or chorus repeating with some variation the assurances of Psalms 91:3-8; and Psalms 91:14-16, God’s acceptance of the trust and confirmation of the assurances.
- 24. There is, nodoubt, difficulty in Psalms 91:1; for, if it is taken as an independent sentence, it sounds tautological, since there is no well-marked difference between "sitting" and "lodging," nor much between "secret place" and "shadow." But possibly the idea of safety is more strongly conveyed by "shadow" than by "secret place," and the meaning of the apparently identical assertion may be, that he who quietly enters into communion with God thereby passes into His protection; or, as Kay puts it, "Loving faith on man’s part shall be met by faithful love on God’s part." The LXX changes the person of "will say" in Psalms 91:2, and connects it with Psalms 91:1 as its subject ("He that sits, that lodges shall say"). Ewald, followed by Baethgen and others, regards Psalms 91:1 as referring to the "I" of Psalms 91:2, and translates "Sitting I say." Hupfeld, whom Cheyne follows, cuts the knot by assuming that "Blessed is" has dropped out at the beginning of Psalms 91:1, and so gets a smooth run of construction and thought ("Happy is he who sits who lodges who says). It is suspiciously smooth, obliterates the characteristic change of persons, of which the psalm has other instances, and has no support except the thought that the psalmist would have saved us a great deal of trouble, if he had only been wise enough to have written so. The existing text is capable of a meaning in accordance with his general drift. A wide declaration like that of Psalms 91:1 fittingly preludes the body of the song, and naturally evokes the pathetic profession of faith which follows. SIMEO , "THE BLESSED ESS OF GOD’S PEOPLE Psalms 91:1-4. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and, under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. TO unfold the doctrines and duties of our holy religion is a matter of indispensable necessity to every one who would discharge the ministerial office with acceptance. Yet it is not necessary that a minister should always be laying the foundation of repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ: there are times and seasons when he should “go on unto perfection [ ote: Hebrews 6:1.],” and exhibit Christianity in its highest stages of practical efficiency. The psalm before us will afford us ample scope for this. The words which we have just read are somewhat disconnected: but a slight alteration in the translation, whilst it will not affect the sense of the passage, will cast a light and beauty over it, and render it doubly interesting to us all. Two prelates of our Church agree in reading the passage thus: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, that abideth under the shadow of the Almighty; that saith of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I will trust.” Then the Psalmist, instead of proceeding regularly with his speech, breaks off, and in an apostrophe addresses the person whom he has been describing; “Surely he shall deliver thee [ ote: Bishop Lowth and Bishop Horne, See Bishop Home on the place.],” &c. &c. According to this rendering, we have a clear exposition of the character and blessedness of every true believer. Let us consider, then,
- 25. I. His character— Heis not described either by his religious creed or by his moral conduct. We are led to view him rather in his secret walk with God: and in this view his character is portrayed, 1. Figuratively [It will be remembered that God dwelt by a visible symbol of his presence in the tabernacle; and that the high-priest on the great day of annual atonement went within the veil, and abode there till he had sprinkled the blood of his sacrifices upon the mercy-seat, and covered the mercy-seat with his incense. ow, what he did corporeally once in the year, the true Christian does spiritually every day in the year; for through Christ we all are “made kings and priests unto our God.” Paint to yourselves, then, the high-priest in his occasional access to God; and there you see the Christian going continually within the veil, or rather habitually dwelling there, and “making God himself his habitation [ ote: ver. 9.].” And truly this is “a secret place,” of which an unconverted man has no conception: it is “the secret of God’s pavilion, the secret of his tabernacle [ ote: Psalms 27:5.].” But we must divest ourselves of the notion of locality: for this place is wherever God manifests his more immediate presence: and therefore David beautifully calls it, “the secret of his presence [ ote: Psalms 31:20.].” There the Believer dwells: and, O! who can conceive “the fellowship which he there enjoys with God the Father and with the Lord Jesus Christ [ ote: 1 John 1:3.];” whilst they, with condescending and affectionate endearment, come to him, and abidingly feast with him [ ote: John 14:21; John 14:23. Revelation 3:20.]. In truth, the communion between God and the soul is such as no language can cunvey: it is nothing less than a mutual in-dwelling, resembling that which subsists between the Father and the Son; they being in God, and God in them; yea, and being one with God, and God with them [ ote: Compare John 6:56 and 1 John 4:15-16. with John 17:21-23.] — — — This is a mercy which the Believer alone enjoys. But some little idea of it may be formed from the favour conferred upon the camp of Israel in the wilderness. The cloudy pillar led them in all their way, affording them shade by day from the heat of the burning sun, and light throughout the night season. To no other people under heaven was this ever vouchsafed. And so it is with the camp of the true Israelites at this day: they, and they only, behold the light of God’s countenance in the nightseason of adversity; and they alone are sheltered from every thing that would oppress and overwhelm their souls; as it is written, “The Lord will create upon every dwelling-place of Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming file by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence [ ote: Isaiah 4:5.].”] 2. In plain terms— [The workings of his mind, under all the trials and difficulties which he has to encounter, are here set forth. He is convinced that no created arm can be sufficient for him. Hence he directs his eyes towards the Creator himself, and saith of him,
- 26. “He is myrefuge” from every trouble: “He is my fortress” against every assailant: “He is my God,” all whose powers and perfections shall be employed for me. “In Him will I trust,” in Him only and exclusively; in Him always, under all circumstances; in Him, with perfect confidence and unshaken affiance. The man is not like the ungodly world, who know not what to do, and are at their wit s end when trouble comes: he is “in the secret place of the Most High;” and, where others can see nothing, he beholds “chariots of fire and horses of fire all around him [ ote: 2 Kings 6:17.],” or, rather, he beholds “God himself as a wall of fire round about him [ ote: Zechariah 2:5.],” and has the very glory of God resting on him [ ote: 1 Peter 4:14.]. Thus is the true Believer distinguished from all others: “he beholds Him who is invisible [ ote: Hebrews 11:27.];” and walks us in his immediate presence, saying, “If God be for me, who can be against me?” Shall this be thought an exaggerated description? I do not say that the Divine presence is equally realized by all, or by any equally at all times: there are seasons when a Peter may be “of little faith [ ote: Matthew 14:31.];” and a Paul may need a special revelation for his support, saying to him, “Be not afraid; but speak, and hold not thy peace; for I am with thee; and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee [ ote: Acts 18:9-10,].” evertheless, in the general habit of their mind, their language is like that of David; “I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies [ ote: Psalms 18:1-3.].”] With such views of the believer’s character, you can have no doubt of, II. His blessedness— Here let the abruptness of the address be borne in mind. The Psalmist, instead of proceeding, as might have been expected, to declare the blessings which a person of this description should receive, addresses himself to that person in these animated terms: “Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence; he shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.” now, in these terms, he, in the very name of God himself, and in the most assured manner, pledges to him the protection, 1. Of God’s power— [If war were raging in our country; or pestilence, like that which desolated Judea after David had numbered the people, and which probably gave occasion to this psalm, were carrying off multitudes all around us; we should enter more fully into the subject before us, and see more forcibly the exalted privileges of the true Believer. But we must remember that there is a moral “pestilence” raging all around us, and sweeping myriads into the pit of destruction. We should remember, too, that there is a spiritual “fowler,” who entangles, in his net, millions, unwary as the silly bird, and “leads them captive at his will [ ote: 2 Timothy 2:26. τοῦ διαβύλου
- 27. παγίδος ἐζωγρηµένοι.].” Whatis the example of men in every walk of life, but one deadly contagion, from which it is almost impossible to escape? And what are those lusts and temptations with which we are continually beset, but baits, whereby the devil seeketh to ensnare us to our everlasting ruin? And who can preserve us from these snares, but God himself? Little will human wisdom or power avail against such potent enemies. Peter imagined himself secure enough from denying his Lord, when he formed so steadfast a resolution respecting it: but, as our Lord had forewarned him, “the cock did not crow twice, till he had denied him thrice.” And whomsoever Satan should get into his sieve, he would prove us all to be chaff, if we should be left without timely succour from on high [ ote: Luke 22:31.], But “God will keep the feet of his saints [ ote: 1 Samuel 2:9.],” and not suffer them to fall a prey to the destroyer. The care of a hen over her brood is well known. When a bird of prey is hovering over them, she calls them under her wings, and there preserves them in perfect safety. The bird of prey, when searching for them, can behold nothing but the dam. Thus will God preserve his people from all their enemies: “He will cover them with his feathers, and under his wings shall they trust:” yea, “their lives shall be hid with Christ in God,” beyond the reach of harm: and because “Christ himself is their life, when he shall appear, they also shall appear with him in glory [ ote: Colossians 3:3-4.].” What was done by God for Israel in the wilderness, shall be done by him for every soul that puts its trust in him [ ote: Deuteronomy 32:9-12.] — — —] 2. Of his faithfulness— [For every believer the very truth of God is pledged; and “life is promised” to him by a “God who cannot lie [ ote: Titus 1:2.].” It is not said that the believer shall not be tempted, or “be in heaviness through manifold temptations: but that he shall not be finally overcome, God docs engage; as the Apostle says: “God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it [ ote: 1 Corinthians 10:13.].” Here, I say, the very faithfulness of God is pledged; and we may be sure, that “of all the good things which he has promised to his people, not one shall ever fail [ ote: Joshua 23:14.].” o doubt they may through weakness be overcome for a season, as the lives of the most eminent saints but too clearly prove. But in such a case God has told us how he will act towards them: “If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. evertheless, my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail; my covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips: for once have I sworn by my holiness, that I will not lie unto David [ ote: Psalms 89:30-35.].” Of course, we are not to understand this of one who sins wilfully and habitually: for, whatever he may profess, he is no child of God, but a downright hypocrite: but of the weakest of real saints it is spoken (and to him it shall assuredly be fulfilled: for “it is not the will of our Father that one of his little ones should perish [ ote: Matthew 18:14.].”] For a just improvement of this passage, let it be remembered,
- 28. 1. In whatway alone we can have access to God— [We have spoken of the believer as “dwelling in God:” but how came he into that sanctuary? and where did he find a door of entrance? This is a point that should be well understood. There is but one way to the Father; and that is by Christ. Our blessed Lord himself tells us this, when he says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me.” It must never be forgotten, that in ourselves we are altogether departed from God; and that we can be “brought nigh only by the blood of Jesus.” It was by the blood of his sacrifice alone, that the High Priest, of whom we have before spoken, could come into the holy place of the Most High [ ote: Hebrews 9:7.]: and it is by the blood of Jesus alone that we can venture into the holiest [ ote: Hebrews 10:19.], or presume to ask any thing at the hands of God [ ote: Hebrews 10:20-22.]. I beseech you, therefore, to bear this in remembrance, and never to call God yours, until you have come to him in his appointed way — — —] 2. What is that kind of confidence which we ought to maintain— [It must not be presumptuous confidence, that overlooks the use of means or supersedes the necessity of holy fear. Satan could not be better served than by such confidence as that. And hence it was, that, in tempting our blessed Lord, he cited this very psalm, and urged a part of it as a warrant for him to cast himself down from a pinnacle of the temple; saying, “If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone [ ote: ver. 11, 12. with Matthew 4:6.].” Our Lord’s reply to him shews us our duty in relation to this matter; “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” We are not needlessly to expose ourselves to dangers, in the expectation that God will preserve us: nor are we to neglect the use of means, as though God were engaged to work miracles in our behalf. We must be humble, watchful, diligent; as it is written, “Give all diligence to make your calling and election sure.” God has, indeed, engaged to “give us both to will and to do:” but, whilst we depend on him for his effectual aid, we must “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling [ ote: Philippians 2:12-13.].” In every step of our way to Zion, we must cry, “Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe.”] 3. What should be the frame of our minds after we have come to him— [I have said, ‘We should fear;’ for “blessed is the man that feareth always.” But this fear should temper, not weaken, our confidence in God. Hear what the Prophet Isaiah says: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord for. ever; for with the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength [ ote: Isaiah 26:3-4.].” St. Paul maintained to the uttermost the fear of which we have been speaking; for he “kept under his body, and brought it into subjection; lest that by any means, after he had preached to others, he himself should be a cast-away [ ote: 1 Corinthians 9:27.].” But his confidence in God was entire. He defied all the powers in the universe to separate
- 29. him from thelove of God [ ote: Romans 8:33-39.] — — — And you, also, may possess the same blessed hope, “knowing in whom you have believed [ ote: 2 Timothy 1:12.],” and assured that none shall ever pluck you out of the Saviour’s hands [ ote: John 10:28.].] BI 1-16, "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. A song of faith I. The solitary voice of faith. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High”— how high up that “secret place” must be; how deep the silence up there; how pure the air! How far above the poisonous mists that cling to the low-lying swamps; how far out of the reach of the arrows or shots of the foeman, is he that dwelleth with God by communion, by constancy of desire, by aspiration, and by clear recognition of the Divine goal of all his work! “He that dwelleth” thus, “in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty”—and since He is Almighty the long shadow that that great rock casts will shelter him who keeps beneath it from the burning rays of the fiery sunshine, in every “ weary land.” Let me keep myself in touch with God, and I keep myself master of all things, and secure from the evil that is in evil. II. The great assurances which answer to this solitary voice of faith. Now, is it true, as the psalmist goes on to portray under a double figure of battle and pestilence, that the man who thus trusts is saved from widespread calamities which may be devastating the lines of a community? If we look on the surface it is not true. Those that “dwell in the secret place of the Most High” will die of an epidemic—cholera, or smallpox—like the men beside them that have no such abode. But, for all that, it is true! For suppose two men, one a Christian, another not, both dying from the same epidemic. Yet the difference between the two is such that we may confidently say of the one, “He that believeth shall never die,” and of the other that he has died. It is irrelevant to talk about vaccination being a better prophylactic than faith. No doubt this psalmist was thinking mainly of physical life. No doubt, also, you and I have better means of interpreting and understanding Providence and its dealings than he had. And for us the belief that they who “dwell in the secret place of the Most High” are immune from death, is possible and imperative, after a fashion far nobler and better than the psalmist could have dreamed. We must remember Old Testament conditions when we read Old Testament promises, and apply New Testament interpretations to Old Testament assurances. When we read, “there shall no evil befall thee,” and think of our own harassed, tempest-tossed, often sorrowful lives, and broken, solitary hearts, we must learn that the evil that educates is not evil, and that the chastening of the Father’s hand is good; and that nothing that brings a man nearer to God can be an enemy. The poison is wiped off the arrow, though the arrow may mercifully wound; and the evil in the evil is all dissipated. III. A deeper voice still coming in, and confirming the enlarging all these promises. God Himself speaks, promising deliverance consequent upon fixed love. “Because he hath set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him.” As the word in the original suggests, when a poor man presses himself close up against the Divine breast, as a dog might against his master’s limbs, or one that loves might clasp close to himself the beloved, then God responds to the desire for close contact, and in union He brings deliverance. Further, He promises elevation consequent on acquaintance with Divine character. “I will set him on high”—high above all the weltering flood of evil that washes vainly round the base of the cliff—“because he hath known My name.” Loving acquaintance with the revealed character of God lifts a man above earth and all its ills. Further, there is the
- 30. promise of Divinecompanionship consequent on sorrows. “I will be with him in trouble.” Some of us know what that means, how we never get a glimpse of God until earth was dark, and how when a devastating flood as it seemed came sweeping over the fair gardens of our lives, we found, when it had gone back, that it had left fertility that we knew nothing about before. “With long life will I satisfy him,” through the ages of eternity, and “show him My salvation” in the glories of an immortal life. (A. Maclaren, D.D.) The special providence of God Rarely, if anywhere, has faith made so complete a shield of God, or planted itself so firmly within the circle of His defence. No wonder we find this psalm called in the Talmud a “Song of Accidents,” that is, a talisman or prophylactic in times of danger. And no wonder the ancient Church used it as its “Invocavit,” to rally and encourage the hearts of the faithful in troublous and stormy times. The question is, How are we to understand it? Is it true? Can a man, because he is a Christian, and fears God, count upon such immunity as is here described? Does he lead a sort of charmed life, clothed with impenetrable armour, which no shaft of pestilence can pierce, so that while thousands or tens of thousands may fall at his right hand, he shall never be touched? We know that it is not so. Is there, then, any way in which we can interpret it, so as to use it with intelligence and profit to ourselves? I. The difficulty we feel in connection with the psalm is not that it assumes a special providence, as we call. It. This is taught everywhere in Scripture. It is difficult, indeed, to see how there can be any providence at all if it does not condescend to particulars, and take the individual, as well as the community or the race, into account. In the Old Testament its primary concern is with Israel as a people, and with the individual only in a subordinate and secondary degree. In the New Testament the individual is more distinctly and definitely an object of Divine regard. He, and the community of which he forms a part, are equally essential to one another, and that because the Church is not moved and governed from without, but from within; and such a government is impossible, except by the indwelling of the Spirit of God in the heart of each individual believer. II. The difficulty which meets us here, then, is not that of a special providence, but of the manner in which it is said to act. 1. In the Old Testament the Divine providence was specially concerned in so guiding and controlling the history of Israel, that in it as a nation the kingdom of God, or of the Messias, should be realized. He was to judge the world with righteousness, and the poor with judgment. His reign was to be an era of peace and prosperity which should know no end. Those who were to be more immediately about Him, and to occupy the chief places of honour and authority, were to be His own people, to whom in a special sense He belonged. And round them, in ever-widening and more distant circles, were to be the other inhabitants of earth, all under the sway of the same benignant sceptre. 2. In the New Testament the point of view is entirely different. Religion is not embodied in a national history, nor is the kingdom of God an earthly kingdom, as even the disciples believed it would be up to the Day of Pentecost. Its essential characteristics are spiritual—righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. What made the difference? It was the Cross of Christ. On this stone of offence Israel had
- 31. stumbled, and beenbroken in pieces. The kingdom of God was henceforth to appear under altered conditions. The old things having passed away, all things became new. And on this new creation was the impress of the Cross. And how had the Cross so transformed the whole spiritual outlook and hopes of men? It had shown that the greatest evil was sin, and that the righteousness which was to characterize the kingdom of the Messias could only be reached by atonement. Henceforward the great evil to be shunned was not poverty, nor hardship, but that which all along had arrayed itself against Him, and finally had nailed Him to the tree. Henceforth the greatest blessing to be gained was to have His spirit of disinterested and generous self-sacrifice. But the Cross of Jesus was more than the altar of expiation, more than the revelation of a love that passeth knowledge. It was also the consummation of His own experience, the perfecting of His humanity. But the sacrifice of the Cross, it may be said, was voluntarily borne. And though Christians must be ready to suffer for the truth, and to lighten the world’s burden, by bearing it as Christ did, may they not expect to be delivered from those evils which are neither imposed by loyalty to the Gospel, nor assumed for the good of others? Have they no right to look for special protection in times of famine or pestilence; or does God send these indiscriminately on the evil and the good, just as He sends the sunshine and the rain? Undoubtedly He does, and Christians have no right to look for immunity from the ills that are the common lot of men. Inasmuch as they are still a part of a sinful humanity, they must share in the judgments which may come upon it. But does a Christian, then, derive no advantage from his Christianity in such visitations? By no means. For he has placed himself under God’s care, who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, and who cannot allow His servant to suffer, simply because He will not take the trouble to save him, or grudges what the effort might cost. Moreover, he is persuaded that God is acquainted with every particular connected with his trial, the very hairs of his head being all numbered, and that if He chose He could secure his absolute safety. And what reconciles him to the fact that God does not choose? What but the conviction that there is thus to come to him a larger blessing than he would otherwise receive? (C. Moinet, M.A.) God’s secret and shadow I. The position indicated. 1. The place. We are to enter and to abide in the secret of God. (1) God’s Word has its secret. There are some who read it through chapter by chapter, who have a large amount of superficial biblical knowledge, but who know comparatively nothing of its grand, glorious, momentous secrets. There are others who so read it that they grasp the real meaning, the grand spiritual realities that underlie its utterances; they so read it that they catch the very spirit of its Divine Author, so that the views formed and the feelings kindled towards the subject of which it treats, are the same as God’s. Such may be said to enter into the secret of God, or into “the secret place of the Most High.” (2) Communion with God has its secret. There are some who say their prayers very regularly and very devoutly. So far as outward decorum and forms of speech are concerned, they are faultless. But communion with God there is none. There are others whose communion with Heaven is a sublime reality. The very presence of the Heavenly Father is consciously enjoyed.
- 32. (3) The loveof God has its secret. There are some, and we fear professing Christians too, whose feelings towards God are those of polite reserve. They know nothing of living in the love of God. But there are others who get into His very heart. They are children. (4) The purpose of God has its secret. There are some who feel little or no interest in that which lies close to God’s heart, engages His profoundest sympathies, and employs His untiring energies. They have never entered into that purpose, never felt its vital importance, never conceived its glorious design. Never seriously considered whether by their lives and actions they were co- operating with God, or opposing Him. But there are others who have so closely identified themselves with God’s purpose that it is the great centre to which every line of thought, of feeling, of intention, and of sympathy converges. 2. The attitude. “He that dwelleth.” To dwell means a fixed, settled, habitual mode of life. It must be so with our conduct in reference to God’s Word, God’s friendship, God’s love, and God’s purpose. We must dwell in them, live in them. We must ask for no holiday, no leave of absence, there must be no departure. 3. How attained. How can we reach and take up our abode in this the very heart of God? Christ supplies the answer, “I am the way,” etc. II. The blessing enjoyed. 1. We have indicated what it is to dwell in the secret place of God’s Word. With minds thus furnished and filled we are under their protection. The world’s thoughts, and ideas, and principles of things may assail us, but they cannot do much with us; we know better; we have received a higher education, our minds are fortified with God’s thoughts, guarded with God’s ideas, protected with God’s principles. 2. We have indicated what it is to dwell in the secret place of God’s communion. In that position we get our whole nature animated with holy impulses, sympathies, tastes, and dispositions. We get our whole nature magnetized with the nature of God. With our whole nature thus infused, fired, animated, and magnetized with the very impulses and inspirations of God’s nature, we are under their protection. We are lifted into a higher sphere of life. 3. We have indicated what it is to dwell in the secret place of God’s love. In that position we get our best, strongest, and supreme affections impregnated with the love of God. We live under its shadow and protection. By its high and holy and potent influence we are preserved from the love of low, base, temporal, inferior things. 4. We have indicated what it is to dwell in the secret place of God’s purpose. In that position our energies, our sympathies, our interests, our intentions, and our pursuits are all enlisted and engaged in co-operating with God in bringing about the desire of His heart and the great pleasure of His will. In our labours and toils, our efforts and struggles to destroy sin and to establish holiness, whether it be in our own hearts, in the lives and conduct of our children, or in the spirit and practice of the world, we are under the protection and shadow of the Most High, because we are identified with God’s purpose. (B. Pierce.) The believer safely dwelling in God
- 33. I. The placethe psalmist has in mind. Intercourse and communion with the God that made us is not, as some represent, a fallacy. You may describe it as an idle thing; and so might the blind man say of the light of this glorious sun, and so might the deaf man say of music. But the thing is real; and your doubts of its reality lie in this—you want the discerning faculty. You want to be brought into contact with your God. II. The conduct of the believer. Strip the text of metaphor, and this “dwelling” in God is only another term for trusting God. Try your confidence by these two tests. Is it an habitual, everyday confidence? Did it lead you yesterday, the day before, and the day before that,—has it led you to-day—to cast yourselves on the Lord? Is it a habit of faith? And then—is it grounded on the blood of the Lord Jesus? Is it a confidence in a reconciling, pardoning, redeeming God? III. The blessing which the believer finds in the habitation he dwells in. This is expressed in almost the same terms in which his conduct is expressed. He “dwells in the secret place of the Most High”; that is his conduct. He “shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty”; that is his privilege. Make God your refuge, and He will be your refuge; take Him as your habitation, and He will be your habitation; seek shelter in Him, and He will shelter you; go to Him for refreshment, and He will refresh you; delight thyself in Him, and He will give thee the desires of thy heart. (C. Bradley, M. A.) A home in Christ The psalmist has been pierced with the shafts of unkindness, yet he speaks of what he seems perfectly sure when he speaks of his dwelling in the secret place of the Most High, and abiding under the shadow of the Almighty. What is more sweet than this promise? I. The secret place. 1. Some think the secret here spoken of is that intimacy of fellowship which God’s children enjoy in communion with Him. 2. Others think it has a more definite or special meaning. To my mind it is certain that the secret spoken of contains a promise and an expectation of the coming Messiah. The Wonderful, named in Isa_9:1-21, is in the margin rendered “secret.” So, in the text, the word rendered secret is connected with the Messiah; then the Christian’s hiding-place is in Christ. II. Dwelling in this secret place. He that dwelleth, he who has a home, in Christ shall abide in the shadow of the Almighty. Every congregation might be divided into those who make their home in the world and visit Christ, and those who have their home in Christ and visit the world. A home in Christ. Oh, wondrous thought! The psalmist speaks of God as a refuge, a home, an abiding-place. John says, We dwell in Him and He in us. He is in all we have, all we are, and all we hope to be or hope for. You might as well undertake to describe a sunset to the blind or music to the deaf, as to talk of dwelling in Christ to one who has never tasted of the graciousness of the Lord. No man knows this but he who is already in Christ. III. The promise. He shall abide, etc. When God’s love makes a promise, His sovereignty secures its fulfilment. He shall abide in the shadow of the Almighty. 1. In that shadow the Christian finds protection. We may live and die in its shadow. It is always the same, yesterday, to-day and for ever. 2. There is also refreshment in this shadow. He who dwells in the secret place of the
- 34. Most High hasa perfect home, complete in all that can contribute to its safety, rest, and perfectness. Oh, make the experiment! (J. A. M. Chapman, D.D.) God our dwelling, and in our dwelling Where is the secret place of the Most High? We can find it by two spiritual lines of measurement, as by latitude and longitude at sea. The longitude, we will say, is the omnipresence of God. All do not practically believe that God is everywhere. Many will acknowledge this in words, while they have no realizing sense of it which makes it of practical value. To know the longitude at sea would be of little use without another element in the calculation, the latitude; as to know the latitude without the longitude leaves the mariner bewildered. Frequently a passing ship will set her signals to inquire of another ship, What is your longitude? though the latitude may have been determined by the sun at noon. Hence the other element of measure to find the secret place of the Most High, though we know Him to be everywhere, is a praying heart. It is interesting to know that the place here mentioned is not confined to one spot. A man may always live under the same tent; the place where he eats and sleeps will always be a secret place to him; yet the tents may be movable, sometimes in a valley, then on the side of a hill; then upon the hill top. So the secret place of the Most High is movable. As there is no latitude at the poles, no longitude at Greenwich, because longitude is the distance east or west from Greenwich and latitude is the distance from either pole, this represents that which heaven will be to us, where there are no seeming distances from God; for we shall no more walk by faith but by continual sight. But on earth, in all our journeyings toward heaven, we have constant need to find the secret place of the Most High, that is, a place of communion with God. The promise in the text is to such as make praying their breath; who hold continued communion with God, referring all things to Him as their fixed habit; breathing out love, adoration, confession, supplication, more intimately than they commune with the dearest friend. The promise is that they shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. This may signify— 1. Nearness. A child walking with you abides under your shadow; you are never far from him, you keep him in sight, within reach. 2. Protection. We cannot estimate the benefit of frequent prayer. (N. Adams, D. D.) The secret of the Most High We have here two distinct aspects of the one life in their living relations with one another. The first clause furnishes the living reason for the second; while the second is the necessary complement of the first. The luxuriance of the figures which the psalmist employs is due to the exuberance of a profound faith that has mastered all difficulties and contradiction, and dares to assert to the utmost possibilities of language the perfect security of those that dwell in the secret of the Most High. We are here in truth at the very highest point of pre-Christian revelation with regard to man’s spiritual relation to God, and it would be difficult even now to express the truth in question more grandly and truly than it is here expressed. I. The secret of the true life. There is something inspringly grand in the conception here offered, that the secret of man’s truest and noblest life is identical with the secret of the Most High. The brute may find its life in the relations of the visible and temporal. But it is precisely in this that man is essentially different from the brute. He is not true man
- 35. until he occupiesthe eternal standpoint; he does not begin to live until he has the vision of God. When man finds God’s secret place, he finds the place of eternal calm. 1. Such a life is marked by “inwardness.” In finding the secret of the Most High, man finds his most inward self. He enters into the inner temple of spirit, and feels the throb of life at its deepest point where it reveals its affinity to the essential life of God. 2. Again, to dwell in the secret of the Most High is to know God and be in fellowship with Him. By knowing God I do not mean an intellectual belief in His existence or a correct conception of His nature and attributes. I mean by it the direct consciousness of His presence. The life enters into the inner realm where God is seen, and gazes upon the glorious vision. 3. Such a life will be actuated and inspired by the highest ideals of service. Those that stand in the presence of God are of necessity “ministers of His that do His pleasure.” Those that truly walk with God will walk like God. II. The security of the true life. There are three stages. 1. In the first (Psa_91:1-8), the idea of temporal security predominates. The man of God is immortal until his work is done. 2. In the second stage (Psa_91:9-13), the figures used are more suggestive of spiritual or quasi-spiritual foes. 3. The next and last stage (Psa_91:14-16), leads us from security and victory to honour and glorification. The relation between the victorious man and God grows wondrously near; it is a relation of mutual knowledge and of mutual love. The language grows indefinite, the glory gathers in nebulous suggestion of a dazzling beyond, the godly man becomes transfigured before us, and a cloud receives him out of our sight. (John Thomas, M.A.) The secret of His presence There is some thing about the word “shadow” that always interests, for there never has been a shadow without the light; thus the “secret place” must be a place of brightness. It is a place where God is, for the nearest of all things to me in the sunlight as I journey is my shadow, and he who walks in my shadow or rests in it must be very near to me, so that when I am in the shadow of God I can reach forth my hand and touch Him; I can lift up mine eyes and see Him face to face. I know there is a sense in which God is always near us; He is in all things and He is everywhere; but there is something about the “secret of His presence” to which every one is a stranger until he has dwelt there. I. The typical reference must be to the holy place of the tabernacle, which the priests were privileged to enter; but Peter assures us that we have become in this new dispensation “a holy priesthood,” so that it is possible for us to enter on that ground. For in the tabernacle just beyond the veil was a glory cloud, and all the magnificence that could be wrought in gold and silver, purple and fine linen; but I am persuaded that even that was as nothing when compared to that which awaits us when we enter the secret place of God. II. It would be impossible for one to read the verses immediately following the text without being impressed with the fact that the most remarkable results will follow our
- 36. abiding and dwellingis the “secret place.” 1. In the “secret place” there is peace. “In the world ye shall have tribulation,” our Master said, “but in Me ye shall have peace.” I have read that a certain insect has the power to surround itself with a film of air, encompassed in which it drops into the midst of muddy, stagnant pools, and remains unhurt. And the believer may be thus surrounded by the atmosphere of God, and while he is in the midst of the turmoils of the world he may be filled to overflowing with the peace of God, because God is with him. This is true whatever your occupation, if it is ever so menial. The Rev. F. B. Meyer tells us of Lawrence, the simple-minded cook, who said that “for more than sixty years he had never lost the sense of the presence of God, but was as conscious of it while performing the duties of his humble office as when partaking of the Lord’s Supper.” What peace he must have had. 2. In the “secret place” there is purity. I suppose we might have been with Jacob when in his dream he saw the heavens opened and beheld the angels going up and coming down and heard the voice of God, and we should only have seen the dreary mountains round about. I doubt not but that we might have been with Paul when he was caught up to the third heaven, and we should have seen nothing but the humble surroundings of his tent; and I doubt not but that if Paul were here he would see God here this morning, and he would have walked on the street with Him yesterday. Is not the trouble with ourselves instead of our surroundings or our times? Every permitted sin encrusts the windows of the soul and blinds our vision. And every victory over evil clears the vision of the soul, and we can see Him a little plainer. 3. In the “secret place” there is power. There can be no effective service that is not the outcome of communion. Our Lord’s Day precedes the week of work, and this is always the plan of God. That wonderful fifteenth chapter of John is founded on that idea. We must abide first, and after that we cannot help but bear fruit. Oh that we might be so near to Him that we should be magnetized and charged with a spiritual force that the world can neither gainsay nor resist. III. How may i enter into this “secret place”? Cannot something be said that will make the way plain? It can all be summed up in this answer. None can “know the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal Him.” Jesus Christ said, “I am the way, I am the door, by Me, if any man will, he shall enter in.” There are some places in the Bible where the way seems plain. “He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood dwelleth in Me and I in him.” (J. W. Chapman, D. D.) Abiding in God Mr. Meyer says, “The sun says to the little earth planet, Abide in me. Resist the temptation to fly into space; remain in the solar sphere, and I will abide in the formation of thy rocks, the verdure of thy vegetation, and of all living things, baptizing them in my fire.” “Abide in me,” says the ocean to the alcove, that shows symptoms of division from its waves. “Keep thy channel unsilted and open, and I will pour my fulness up to thy furthest shore twice in every twenty-four hours.” Abide in me. The vine says it to the branch, that it may impart supplies of life and fruit; the air says it to the lung, that it may minister ozone and oxygen to its cells; the magnet says it to the needle, that it may communicate its own specific quality, and fit it to guide across the ocean the mighty steamer, laden with the freight of human life.
- 37. 2 I willsay of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” BAR ES, "I will say of the Lord - I, the psalmist; I will take this to myself; I will endeavor to secure this blessedness; I will thus abide with God. In view of the blessedness of this condition, and with the hope of securing it to myself; I will adopt this resolution as the purpose of my life. It is what I need; it is what my soul desires. My refuge and my fortress - “I will say of Jehovah, My refuge and my fortress!” I will address him as such; I will regard him as such. On the meaning of these terms, see the notes at Psa_18:2. My God - I will address him as my God; as the God whom alone I worship; as the only being to whom the name “God” can properly be applied; as being to me all that is implied in the word God. In him will I trust - I will repose that confidence in him which is evinced by making my home with him, and seeking permanently to dwell with him. CLARKE, "I will say of the Lord - This is my experience: “He is my fortress, and in him will I continually trust.” GILL, "I will say of the Lord,.... Or to the Lord (p): these are the words of the psalmist, expressing his faith in the Lord in the following words, taking encouragement from the safety of the godly man above described: the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions, read, he shall say to the Lord; that is, the man that dwells in the secret place, and under the shadow of the Lord: the Targum is, "David said, I will say to the Lord,'' as follows: he is my refuge: a refuge in every time of trouble, outward or toward; a refuge when all others fail; and is himself a never failing one, a strong refuge, which none can break
- 38. through and into,and in which all that have fled thither and dwell are safe: and my fortress; what fortifications, natural or artificial, are to a city and its inhabitants, that is God to his people, and much more; he is round about them, as the mountains were about Jerusalem; his salvation are walls and bulwarks to them; yea, he is a wall of fire about them, Psa_125:2, they are kept by his power, as in a garrison, 1Pe_ 1:5, my God, in him will I trust; his covenant God, his God in Christ, and who would ever continue so; and was a proper object of his trust and confidence, both as the God of nature, and the God of grace; who is to be trusted in, both for temporal and spiritual blessings, and at all times; to which his lovingkindness, power, and faithfulness, greatly encourage and engage: the Targum is, "in his Word will I trust.'' HE RY, "II. The psalmist's comfortable application of this to himself (Psa_91:2): I will say of the Lord, whatever others say of him, “He is my refuge; I choose him as such, and confide in him. Others make idols their refuge, but I will say of Jehovah, the true and living God, He is my refuge: any other is a refuge of lies. He is a refuge that will not fail me; for he is my fortress and strong-hold.” Idolaters called their idols Mahuzzim, their most strong-hold (Dan_11:39), but therein they deceived themselves; those only secure themselves that make the Lord their God, their fortress. There being no reason to question his sufficiency, fitly does it follow, In him will I trust. If Jehovah be our God, our refuge, and our fortress, what can we desire which we may not be sure to find in him? He is neither fickle nor false, neither weak nor mortal; he is God and not man, and therefore there is no danger of being disappointed in him. We know whom we have trusted. CALVI , "In the second verse he repeats the truth which he had already inculcated, showing at the same time that he speaks from his personal feeling and experience as a believer. This is very necessary in one who would be a teacher; for we cannot communicate true knowledge unless we deliver it not merely with the lips, but as something which God has revealed to our own hearts. (576) The Psalmist accordingly gives evidence, that what he had taught in the preceding verse accorded with his own inward experience. Some read, I will say concerning the Lord, and the Hebrew prefix, ,ל lamed, may be so rendered; but the other translation which I have given conveys the more forcible meaning. The believer does more than simply resolve to make God his fortress; he draws near in the trust of the Divine promises, and familiarly addresses God. This confidence in prayer affords an additional proof how securely the people of God can dwell under his shadow. This holy species of boasting constitutes the very highest triumph of faith, when we betake ourselves to God without fear under our worst trials, and are fully persuaded that he answers all our prayers, nay, that we have in him a sufficiency and a superabundance of help. SPURGEO , "Ver. 2. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress. To take up a general truth and make it our own by personal faith is the highest wisdom. It is but poor comfort to say `the Lord is a refuge, 'but to say he is my refuge, is the essence of consolation. Those who believe should also speak—"I will say", for such
- 39. bold avowals honourGod and lead others to seek the same confidence. Men are apt enough to proclaim their doubts, and even to boast of them, indeed there is a party nowadays of the most audacious pretenders to culture and thought, who glory in casting suspicion upon every thing: hence it becomes the duty of all true believers to speak out and testify with calm courage to their own well grounded reliance upon their God. Let others say what they will, be it ours to say of the Lord, "he is our refuge." But what we say we must prove by our actions, we must fly to the Lord for shelter, and not to an arm of flesh. The bird flies away to the thicket, and the fox hastens to its hole, every creature uses its refuge in the hour of danger, and even so in all peril or fear of peril let us flee unto Jehovah, the Eternal Protector of his own. Let us, when we are secure in the Lord, rejoice that our position is unassailable, for he is our fortress as well as our refuge. o moat, portcullis, drawbridge, wall, battlement and donjon, could make us so secure as we are when the attributes of the Lord of Hosts environ us around. Behold this day the Lord is to us instead of walls and bulwarks! Our ramparts defy the leagured hosts of hell. Foes in flesh, and foes in ghostly guise are alike balked of their prey when the Lord of Hosts stands between us and their fury, and all other evil forces are turned aside. Walls cannot keep out the pestilence, but the Lord can. As if it were not enough to call the Lord his refuge and fortress, he adds, My God! in him will I trust. ow he can say no more; "my God" means all, and more than all, that heart can conceive by way of security. It was most meet that he should say "in him will I trust", since to deny faith to such a one were wilful wickedness and wanton insult. He who dwells in an impregnable fortress, naturally trusts in it; and shall not he who dwells in God feel himself well at ease, and repose his soul in safety? O that we more fully carried out the psalmist's resolve! We have trusted in God, let us trust him still. He has never failed us, why then should we suspect him? To trust in man is natural to fallen nature, to trust in God should be as natural to regenerated nature. Where there is every reason and warrant for faith, we ought to place our confidence without hesitancy or wavering. Dear reader, pray for grace to say, "In him will I trust." EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS. Ver. 2. My refuge, my fortress, my God. "My refuge." God is our "refuge." He who avails himself of a refuge is one who is forced to fly. It is a quiet retreat from a pursuing enemy. And there are trials, and temptations, and enemies, from which the Christian does best to fly. He cannot resist them. They are too strong for him. His wisdom is to fly into the refuge of the secret place of his God— to rest in the shadow of the Almighty. His "strength is to sit still" there. Isaiah 30:7. "My fortress." The Psalmist says, moreover, that God is his "fortress." Here the idea is changed— no longer a peaceful, quiet hiding place, but a tower of defence— strong, manifest, ready to meet the attacks of all enemies, ready and able to resist them all. God is a Friend who meets every want in our nature, who can supply every need. So when we are weak and fainting, and unable to meet the brunt of battle, and striving against sin and sorrow and the wrath of man He is our safe, quiet resting place—our fortress also where no harm can reach us, no attack injure us. "My God." ow the Psalmist, as a summing up of all his praises, says "I will say of Him, He is... my God!" Is there any thing omitted in the former part of his declaration? Everything is here—all possible ascription of honour, and glory, and power to Him
- 40. "as God" —"Godover all, blessed for ever, "and of love, reverence, trust, obedience, and filial relation towards him on the part of the Psalmist, as MY God ...when reflecting on the refuge and strength which the Lord has always been to him, and recalling his blessed experiences of sweet communion with God—words fail him. He can only say (but oh, with what expression!) MY GOD! Mary B.M. Duncan. Ver. 2. My God. Specially art Thou my God, first, on thy part, because of the special goodness and favour which Thou dost bestow upon me. Secondly, on my part, because of the special love and reverence with which I cling to Thee. J. Paulus Palanterius. Ver. 2-4. If the severity and justice of God terrify, the Lord offereth himself as a bird with stretched out wings to receive the supplicant, Psalms 91:4. If enemies who are too strong do pursue, the Lord openeth his bosom as a refuge, Psalms 91:2. If the child be assaulted, he becometh a fortress, Psalms 91:2. If he be hotly pursued and enquired after, the Lord becometh a secret place to hide his child; if persecution be hot, God giveth himself for a shadow; if potentates and mighty rulers turn enemies, the Lord interposes as the Most High and Almighty Saviour, Psalms 91:1. If his adversaries be crafty like fowlers or hunters, the Lord promises to prevent and break the snares, Psalms 91:3. Whether evils do come upon the believer night or day, secretly or openly, to destroy him, the Lord preserveth his child from destruction;and if stumbling blocks be laid in his child's way, he hath his instruments, his servants, his angels, prepared to keep the believer that he stumble not: He shall give his angels charge over thee; not one angel only, but all of them, or a number of them. David Dickson. BE SO , "Psalms 91:2-3. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge — Upon that ground I will confidently commit myself and all my affairs to God. Surely he shall deliver thee — O thou believing, pious soul, who after my example shalt make God thy refuge, thou shalt partake of the same privilege which I enjoy. From the snare of the fowler — Which is laid unseen, and catches the unwary prey on a sudden; and from the noisome pestilence — Which, like a fowler’s snare, seizeth men unexpectedly, and holdeth them fast, and commonly delivers them up to death. “This promise,” saith Henry, “protects, 1st, The natural life, and is often fulfilled in our preservation from those dangers which are very threatening, and very near, and yet we ourselves are not apprehensive of them, no more than the bird is of the snare of the fowler. 2d, The spiritual life, which is protected by divine grace from the temptations of Satan, which are as the snares of the fowler, from the contagion of sin, which is the noisome pestilence. He that has given grace to be the glory of the soul, will create a defence upon all that glory.” EBC, "According to the accents, Psalms 91:2 is to be read "I will say. To Jehovah [belongs] my refuge," etc. But it is better to divide as above. Jehovah is the refuge. The psalmist speaks to Him, with the exclamation of yearning trust. He can only call Him by precious names, to use which, in however broken a fashion, is an appeal that goes straight to His heart, as it comes straight from the suppliant’s. The singer lovingly accumulates the Divine names in these two first verses. He calls God "Most
- 41. High," "Almighty," whenhe utters the general truth of the safety of souls that enter His secret place; but, when he speaks his own trust, he addresses Jehovah, and adds to the wide designation "God" the little word "my," which claims personal possession of His fulness of Deity. The solo voice does not say much, but it says enough. There has been much underground work before that clear jet of personal "appropriating faith" could spring into light. 3 Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. BAR ES, "Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler - The snare or gin set for catching birds; meaning, here, that God would save him from the purposes of wicked people; such purposes as might be compared with the devices employed to catch birds. On the meaning of the figure used here, see the notes at Psa_ 18:5. And from the noisome pestilence - The “fatal” pestilence; the pestilence that spreads death in its march. That is, he can prevent its coming upon you; or, he can save you from its ravages, while others are dying around you. This promise is not to be understood as absolute, or as meaning that no one who fears God will ever fall by the pestilence - for good people “do” die at such times as well as bad people; but the idea is, that God “can” preserve us at such a time and that, as a great law, he will be thus the protector of those who trust him. It is to be remembered that in times of pestilence (as was the case during the prevalence of the Asiatic cholera in 1832 and 1848), very many of the victims are the intemperate, the sensual, the debased, and that a life of this kind is a predisposing cause of death in such visitations of judgment. A large part of those who die are of that number. From the danger arising from this cause, of course the virtuous, the temperate, the pious are exempt; and this is one of the methods by which God saves those who trust in him from the “noisome pestilence.” Religion, therefore, to a considerable extent, constitutes a ground of security at such times; nor is there any reason to doubt that, in many cases also, there may be a special interposition protecting the friends of God from danger, and sparing them for future usefulness. The promise here is substantially that general promise which we have in the Scriptures everywhere, that God is the Protector of his people, and that they may put their trust in him.
- 42. CLARKE, "Surely heshall deliver thee - If thou wilt act thus, then the God in whom thou trustest will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, from all the devices of Satan, and from all dangerous maladies. As the original word, דבר dabar, signifies a word spoken, and deber, the same letters, signifies pestilence; so some translate one way, and some another: he shall deliver thee from the evil and slanderous word; he shall deliver thee from the noisome pestilence - all blasting and injurious winds, effluvia, etc. GILL, "Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler,.... These are the words of the psalmist, either speaking to himself, for the encouragement of his own faith and trust in the Lord; or to the man that dwells in the secret place, and under the shadow of the most High; which latter seems most agreeable; though Cocceius thinks they are the words of God in one of his Persons, speaking of another divine Person that should deliver such that trust in him: the Targum makes them to be the words of David to Solomon his son. By the "fowler" and his "snare" may be meant either Saul, who laid wait for David, spread snares for him, and hunted him as a partridge on the mountains, from whom he was delivered; or rather any tyrannical enemy and persecutor of the saints, who lay snares for them; and these are broken by the Lord, and so they escape, as a bird out of the hands of the fowler, Psa_124:6 or it may, best of all, be understood of Satan and his temptations, which are as snares that he lays to catch the people of God in, and from which they are delivered by the power and grace of God; see 1Ti_3:7. and from the noisome pestilence; the most pernicious and destructive one; which may be literally understood of any pestilential distemper; from which the Lord, by his powerful providence, sometimes protects his people, when in danger of it: or, spiritually, of the pestilential disease of sin, that noisome and deadly one, the plague of the heart, which is the worst of all plagues; and from the ruinous and destructive effects and consequences of which the Lord saves his saints. HE RY, "The great encouragement he gives to others to do likewise, not only from his own experience of the comfort of it (for in that there might possibly be a fallacy), but from the truth of God's promise, in which there neither is nor can be any deceit (Psa_ 91:3, Psa_91:4, etc.): Surely he shall deliver thee. Those who have themselves found the comfort of making God their refuge cannot but desire that others may do so. Now here it is promised, 1. That believers shall be kept from those mischiefs which they are in imminent danger of, and which would be fatal to them (Psa_91:3), from the snare of the fowler, which is laid unseen and catches the unwary prey on a sudden, and from the noisome pestilence, which seizes men unawares and against which there is no guard. This promise protects, (1.) The natural life, and is often fulfilled in our preservation from those dangers which are very threatening and very near, while yet we ourselves are not apprehensive of them, any more than the bird is of the snare of the fowler. We owe it, more than we are sensible, to the care of the divine Providence that we have been kept from infectious diseases and out of the hands of the wicked and unreasonable. (2.) The spiritual life, which is protected by divine grace from the temptations of Satan, which are as the snares of the fowler, and from the contagion of sin, which is the noisome pestilence. He that has given grace to be the glory of the soul will create a defence upon all that glory. JAMISO , "snares ... [and] ... noisome pestilence — literally, “plagues of
- 43. mischiefs” (Psa_5:9; Psa_52:7),are expressive figures for various evils. K&D 3-9, "קושָׁ,י as in Pro_6:5; Jer_5:26, is the dullest toned from for ּושׁקָי or שׁ ֵּוקי, Psa_124:7. What is meant is death, or “he who has the power of death,” Heb_2:14, cf. 2Ti_2:26. “The snare of the fowler” is a figure for the peril of one's life, Ecc_9:12. In connection with Psa_91:4 we have to call to mind Deu_32:11 : God protects His own as an eagle with its large strong wing. ה ָר ְב ֶא is nom. unitatis, a pinion, to ר ֶב ֵ,א Isa_40:31; and the Hiph. ְך ֵס ֵ,ה from ְך ַכ ָ,ס with the dative of the object, like the Kal in Psa_140:8, signifies to afford covering, protection. The ᅏπαξ λεγ. ה ָר ֵּחס, according to its stem-word, is that which encompasses anything round about, and here beside הָ ִ,צ a weapon of defence surrounding the body on all sides; therefore not corresponding to the Syriac sᐓārtā', a stronghold (ר ַּהס, ת ֶרֶ ְס ִ,)מ but to Syriac sabrā', a shield. The Targum translates הָ ִצ with א ָיס ֵר ְ , θυρεός, and ה ָר ֵּחס with א ָילִג ֲ,ע which points to the round parma. ּו ִמ ֲא is the truth of the divine promises. This is an impregnable defence (a) in war-times, Psa_91:5, against nightly surprises, and in the battle by day; (b) in times of pestilence, Psa_91:6, when the destroying angel, who passes through and destroys the people (Exo_11:4), can do no harm to him who has taken refuge in God, either in the midnight or the noontide hours. The future ְּךל ֲֽהַי is a more rhythmical and, in the signification to rage (as of disease) and to vanish away, a more usual form instead of ְך ֵלֵ.י The lxx, Aquila, and Symmachus erroneously associate the demon name ד ֵשׁ with שׁוּדָ.י It is a metaplastic (as if formed from שׁוּד morf de) future for ּדשָׁ,י cf. Pro_29:6, רוּןָ,י and Isa_42:4, רוּץָ,י frangetur. Psa_91:7 a hypothetical protasis: si cadant; the preterite would signify cediderint, Ew. §357, b. With ק ַר that which will solely and exclusively take place is introduced. Burk correctly renders: nullam cum peste rem habebis, nisi ut videas. Only a spectator shalt thou be, and that with thine own eyes, being they self inaccessible and left to survive, conscious that thou thyself art a living one in contrast with those who are dying. And thou shalt behold, like Israel on the night of the Passover, the just retribution to which the evil-doers fall a prey. ה ָמ ֻ ִ,שׁ recompense, retribution, is a hapaxlegomenon, cf. ים ִמ ֻ ִ,שׁ Isa_34:8. Ascribing the glory to God, the second voice confirms or ratifies these promises. CALVI , "In verse third the Psalmist expresses his assurance that the trust of which he had spoken would not be vain and delusory, but that God would prove at all times the deliverer of his people. He is evidently to be considered as addressing himself, and in this way encouraging his own heart to hope in the Lord. Some think that by the snare of the fowler, spoken of here in connection with the pestilence, is to be understood hidden mischief as distinguished from open aggression, and that the Psalmist declares the Divine protection to be sufficient for him, whether Satan should attack him openly and violently or by more secret and subtle methods. I would not reject this interpretation; for though some may think that the words should be taken in their simpler acceptation, the Psalmist most probably intended under these terms to denote all different kinds of evil, and to teach us that God was
- 44. willing and ableto deliver us from any of them. SPURGEO , "Ver 3. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler. Assuredly no subtle plot shall succeed against one who has the eyes of God watching for his defence, We are foolish and weak as poor little birds, and are very apt to be lured to our destruction by cunning foes, but if we dwell near to God, he will see to it that the most skilful deceiver shall not entrap us. "Satan the fowler who betrays Unguarded souls a thousand ways", shall be foiled in the case of the man whose high and honourable condition consists in residence within the holy place of the Most High. And from the noisome pestilence. He who is a Spirit can protect us from evil spirits, he who is mysterious can rescue us from mysterious dangers, he who is immortal can redeem its from mortal sickness. There is a deadly pestilence of error, we are safe from that if we dwell in communion with the God of truth; there is a fatal pestilence of sin, we shall not be infected by it if we abide with the thrice Holy One; there is also a pestilence of disease, and even from that calamity our faith shall win immunity if it be of that high order which abides in God, walks on in calm serenity, and ventures all things for duty's sake. Faith by cheering the heart keeps it free from the fear which, in times of pestilence, kills more than the plague itself. It will not in all cases ward off disease and death, but where the man is such as the first verse describes, it will assuredly render him immortal where others die; if all the saints are not so sheltered it is because they have not all such a close abiding with God, and consequently not such confidence in the promise. Such special faith is not given to all, for there are diversities in the measure of faith. It is not of all believers that the psalmist sings, but only of those who dwell in the secret place of the Most High. Too many among us are weak in faith, and in fact place more reliance in a phial or a globule than in the Lord and giver of life, and if we die of pestilence as others die it is because we acted like others, and did not in patience possess our souls. The great mercy is that in such a case our deaths are blessed, and it is well with us, for we are for ever with the Lord. Pestilence to the saints shall not be noisome but the messenger of heaven. EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS. Ver. 3. He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler. Are we therefore beasts? Beasts doubtless. When man was in honour he understood not, but was like the foolish beasts. (Psalms 49:12) Men are certainly beasts, wandering sheep, having no shepherd. Why art thou proud, O man? Why dost thou boast thyself, O smatterer? See what a beast thou art, for whom the snares of the fowler are being prepared. But who are these fowlers? The fowlers indeed are the worst and most wicked, the cleverest and the most cruel. The fowlers are they who sound no horn, that they may not be heard, but shoot their arrows in secret places at the innocent... But lo! since we know the fowlers and the beasts, our further enquiry must be, what this snare may be. I wish not myself to invent it, nor to deliver to you what is subject to doubt. The Apostle shows us this snare, for he was not ignorant of the devices of these fowlers. Tell us, I pray, blessed Paul, what this snare of the devil is, from which the faithful soul rejoices that it is delivered? They that will be rich (in this world?) says he, fall into temptation and the snare (of the devil?) (1 Timothy 6:9-10). Are not the
- 45. riches of thisworld, then, the snare of the devil?. Alas! how few we find who can boast of freedom from this snare, how many who grieve that they seem to themselves too little enmeshed in the net, and who still labour and toil with all their strength to involve and entangle themselves more and more. Ye who have left all and followed the Son of man who has not where to lay his head, rejoice and say, He hath delivered we from the snare of the fowlers. Bernard. Ver. 3. Surely he shall deliver thee from the noisome pestilence. Lord Craven lived in London when that sad calamity, the plague, raged. His house was in that part of the town called Craven Buildings. On the plague growing epidemic, his Lordship, to avoid the danger, resolved to go to his seat in the country. His coach and six were accordingly at the door, his baggage put up, and all things in readiness for the journey. As he was walking through his hall with his hat on, his cane under his arm, and putting on his gloves, in order to step into his carriage, he overheard his negro, who served him as postillion, saying to another servant. "I suppose, by my Lord's quitting London to avoid the plague, that his God lives in the country, and not in town." The poor negro said this in the simplicity of his heart, as really believing a plurality of gods. The speech, however, struck Lord Craven very sensibly, and made him pause. "My God, "thought he, "lives everywhere, and can preserve me in town as well as in the country. I will even stay where I am. The ignorance of that negro has just now preached to me a very useful sermon. Lord, pardon this unbelief, and that distrust of thy providence, which made me think of running from thy hand." He immediately ordered his horses to be taken from the coach, and the baggage to be taken in. He continued in London, was remarkably useful among his sick neighbours, and never caught the infection. Whitecross's Anecdotes. Ver. 3, 6. Pestilence. It is from a word (rkd) that signifies to speak, and speak out; the pestilence is a speaking thing, it proclaims the wrath of God amongst a people. Drusius fetches it from the same root, but in piel, which is to decree; showing that the pestilence is a thing decreed in heaven, not casual. Kirker thinks it is called rkd, because it keeps order, and spares neither great nor small. The Hebrew root signifies to destroy, to cut off, and hence may the plague or pestilence have its name. The Septuagint renders it yanatos, death, for ordinarily it is death; and it is expressed by "Death, "Revelation 6:8, he sat on the pale horse, and killed with sword, hunger, death, and beasts of the earth; it refers to Ezekiel 14:21, where the pestilence is mentioned. Pestilence may be from a word which signifies to spread, spoil, rush upon, for it doth so; 2 Samuel 24:15, seventy thousand slain in three days; and plague, a plhgh from plhssw, to smite, to wound, for it smites suddenly, and wounds mortally; hence it is in umbers 14:12, "I will smite them with the pestilence." This judgment is very grievous, it is called in Psalms 91:3 the "noisome pestilence, "because it is infectious, contagious; and therefore the French read it, "de la peste dangereuse, "from the dangerous pestilence, it doth endanger those that come near it: and Musculus hath it, a peste omnium pessima, from the worst pestilence of all: and others, the woeful pestilence; it brings a multitude of woes with it to any place or person it comes unto, it is a messenger of woeful fears, sorrows, distractions, terrors, and death itself. William Greenhill. CO STABLE, "Verses 3-8 God saves us from those who insidiously try to trap us and from deadly diseases. He
- 46. does this asa mother bird does when she covers her young with her wings, namely, tenderly and carefully. He provides as sure a defense as a shield or large rampart can. Consequently, the believer can be at peace and not fear attacks at any time ( Psalm 91:5-6). Those who fall by our side ( Psalm 91:7) are those who do not trust in the Lord. The believer is invincible until his or her time is up. We will see the wicked fall around us, but God will sustain us. othing can touch us except what He permits, nor can any rebel escape His retribution ( Psalm 91:8). EBC, "We might have looked for a Selah here, if this psalm had stood in the earlier books, but we can feel the brief pause before the choral answer comes in Psalms 91:3-8. It sets forth in lofty poetry the blessings that such a trust secures. Its central idea is that of safety. That safety is guaranteed in regard to two classes of dangers- those from enemies, and those from diseases. Both are conceived of as divided into secret and open perils. Psalms 91:3 proclaims the trustful soul’s immunity, and Psalms 91:4 beautifully describes the Divine protection which secures it. Psalms 91:5-6 expand the general notion of safety into defence against secret and open foes and secret and open pestilences; while Psalms 91:7-8 sum up the whole, in a vivid contrast between the multitude of victims and the man sheltered in God, and looking out from his refuge on the wide-rolling flood of destruction. As in Psalms 18:5, Death is represented as a "fowler" into whose snares men heedlessly flutter, unless held back by God’s delivering hand. The mention of pestilence in Psalms 91:3 somewhat anticipates the proper order, as the same idea recurs in its appropriate place in Psalms 91:6. Hence the rendering "word," which requires no consonantal change is adopted from the LXX by several moderns. But that is feeble, and the slight irregularity of a double mention of one form of peril, which is naturally suggested by the previous reference to Death, is not of much moment. The beautiful description of God sheltering the trustful man beneath his pinions recalls Deuteronomy 32:11 and Psalms 17:8; Psalms 63:7. The mother eagle, spreading her dread wingover her eaglets, is a wonderful symbol of the union of power and gentleness. It would be a bold hand which would drag the fledglings from that warm hiding place and dare the terrors of that beak and claws. But this pregnant verse (Psalms 91:4) not only tells of the strong defence which God is, but also, in a word, sets in clear light man’s way of reaching that asylum. "Thou shalt take refuge." It is the word which is often vaguely rendered "trust," but which, if we retain its original signification, becomes illuminative as to what that trust is. The flight of the soul, conscious of nakedness and peril, to the safe shelter of God’s breast is a description of faith which, in practical value, surpasses much learned dissertation. And this verse adds yet another point to its comprehensive statements, when, changing the figure, it calls God’s Troth, or faithful adherence to His promises and obligations, our "shield and target." We have not to fly to a dumb God for shelter, or to risk anything upon a Peradventure. He has spoken, and His word is inviolable. Therefore, trust is possible. And between ourselves and all evil we may lift the shield of His Troth. His faithfulness is our sure defence, and Faith is our shield only in a secondary sense, its office being but to grasp our true defence,
- 47. and to keepus well behind that. The assaults of enemies and the devastations of pestilence are taken in Psalms 91:5-6 as types of all perils. These evils speak of a less artificial stage of society than that in which our experience moves, but they serve us as symbols of more complex dangers besetting outward and inward life. "The terror of the night" seems best understood as parallel with the "arrow that flies by day," in so far as both refer to actual attacks by enemies. octurnal surprises were favourite methods of assault in early warfare. Such an explanation is worthier than the supposition that the psalmist means demons that haunt the night. In Psalms 91:6 pestilence is personified as stalking, shrouded in darkness, the more terrible because it strikes unseen. Psalms 91:6 b has been understood, as by the Targum and LXX, to refer to demons who exercise their power in noonday. But this explanation rests upon a misreading of the word rendered "devastates." The other translated "sickness" is only found, besides this place, in Deuteronomy 32:24 ("destruction") and Isaiah 28:2 ("a destroying storm," lit. a storm of destruction), and in somewhat different form in Hosea 13:14. It comes from a root meaning to cut, and seems here to be a synonym for pestilence. Baethgen sees in "the arrow by day" the fierce sunbeams, and in "the heat (as he renders) which rages at noonday" the poisonous simoom. The trustful man, sheltered in God, looks on while thousands fall round him, as Israel looked from their homes on the Passover night, and sees that there is a God that judges and recompenses evil-doers by evil suffered. Heartened by these great assurances, the single voice once more declares its trust. Psalms 91:9 a is best separated from b, though Hupfeld here again assumes that" thou hast said" has fallen out between "For" and "Thou." This second utterance of trust is almost identical with the first. Faith has no need to vary its expression. "Thou, Jehovah, art my refuge" is enough for it. God’s mighty name and its personal possession of all which that name means, as its own hiding place, are its treasures which it does not weary of recounting. Love loves to repeat itself. The deepest emotions, like song birds, have but two or three notes, which they sing over and over again all the long day through. He that can use this singer’s words of trust has a vocabulary rich enough. 4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
- 48. BAR ES, "Heshall cover thee with his feathers ... - As the parent bird protects its young. See the notes at Psa_17:8. Compare Deu_32:11. “His truth.” His unfailing promise; the certainty that what he has promised to do he will perform. Shall be thy shield and buckler - literally, “Shield and buckler is his truth.” The meaning is, that his pledge or promise would be unto them as the shield of the soldier is to him in battle. Compare Psa_35:2. The word rendered “buckler” is derived from the verb “to surround,” and is given to the defensive armor here referred to, because it “surrounds,” and thus “protects” a person. It may apply to a coat of mail. CLARKE, "He shall cover thee with his feathers - He shall act towards thee as the hen does to her brood, - take thee under his wings when birds of prey appear, and also shelter thee from chilling blasts. This is a frequent metaphor in the sacred writings; see Psa_17:8 (note), Psa_57:1 (note), Psa_61:4 (note), and the notes on them. The Septuagint has Εν τοις µεταφρενοις αυτου επισκιασει σοι· He will overshadow thee between his shoulders; alluding to the custom of parents carrying their weak or sick children on their backs, and having them covered even there with a mantle. Thus the Lord is represented carrying the Israelites in the wilderness. See Deu_32:11-12 (note), where the metaphor is taken from the eagle. His truth shall be thy shield and buckler - His revelation; his Bible. That truth contains promises for all times and circumstances; and these will be invariably fulfilled to him that trusts in the Lord. The fulfillment of a promise relative to defense and support is to the soul what the best shield is to the body. GILL, "He shall cover thee with his feathers,.... As birds do their young, who cannot cover themselves: this they do from a tender regard to them, whereby they both keep them warm, and protect them from those that would hurt them: this represents the helpless state of the children of God, who are, like to young birds, weak and unable to defend themselves: the tender regard of God unto them, as the eagle and other birds have to their young; see Deu_32:11 and the warmth and comforts souls have, as well as protection, under his powerful and gracious presence; he comforts them under their tribulations, as well as defends them from their enemies: and under his wings shalt thou trust; See Gill on Psa_91:1 and the passages there referred to; the same metaphor is continued: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler; his faithfulness, which is engaged to keep and preserve his saints safe to his kingdom and glory, 1Co_1:8, his Son, who is "truth" itself, Joh_14:6, and whose person, blood, righteousness, and salvation, are as a shield and buckler all around the saints, to secure them from ruin and destruction; and are the shield which faith lays hold on, and makes use of, against the temptation, of Satan; see Psa_84:11, the word of God also, which is truth, Joh_17:19, every promise in it, and doctrine of it, is as a shield and buckler to strengthen, support, and secure the faith of his people, Pro_30:5. HE RY, " That God himself will be their protector; those must needs be safe who
- 49. have him fortheir keeper, and successful for whom he undertakes (Psa_91:4): He shall cover thee, shall keep thee secret (Psa_31:20), and so keep thee safe, Psa_27:5. God protects believers, (1.) With the greatest tenderness and affection, which is intimated in that, He shall cover thee with his feathers, under his wings, which alludes to the hen gathering her chickens under wings, Mat_23:37. By natural instinct she not only protects them, but calls them under that protection when she sees them in danger, not only keeps them safe, but cherishes them and keeps them warm. To this the great God is pleased to compare his care of his people, who are helpless as the chickens, and easily made a prey of, but are invited to trust under the shadow of the wings of the divine promise and providence, which is the periphrasis of a proselyte to the true religion, that he has come to trust under the wings of the God of Israel, Rth_2:12. (2.) With the greatest power and efficacy. Wings and feathers, though spread with the greatest tenderness, are yet weak, and easily broken through, and therefore it is added, His truth shall be thy shield and buckler, a strong defence. God is willing to guard his people as the hen is to guard the chickens, and as able as a man of war in armour. JAMISO , "For the first figure compare Deu_32:11; Mat_23:37. buckler — literally, “surrounding” - that is, a kind of shield covering all over. CALVI , "4He shall protect thee with his wings. This figure, which is employed in other parts of Scripture, is one which beautifully expresses the singularly tender care with which God watches over our safety. When we consider the majesty of God, there is nothing which would suggest a likeness such as is here drawn between him and the hen or other birds, who spread their wings over their young ones to cherish and protect them. But, in accommodation to our infirmity, he does not scruple to descend, as it were, from the heavenly glory which belongs to him, and to encourage us to approach him under so humble a similitude. Since he condescends in such a gracious manner to our weakness, surely there is nothing to prevent us from coming to him with the greatest freedom. By the truth of God, which, the Psalmist says, would be his shield and buckler, we must understand God’s faithfulness, as never deserting his people in the time of their need; still we cannot doubt that he had in his eye the Divine promises, for it is only by looking to these that any can venture to cast themselves upon the protection of God. As, without the word, we cannot come to the enjoyment of that Divine mercy of which the Psalmist had already spoken, he now comes forward himself to bear witness in behalf of it. Formerly, under the comparison of a fortress, he had taught that by trusting in God we shall enjoy safety and security; now he compares God to a shield, intimating that he will come between us and all our enemies to preserve us from their attacks. SPURGEO , "Ver. 4. He shall cover thee with thy feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust. A wonderful expression! Had it been invented by an uninspired man it would have verged upon blasphemy, for who should dare to apply such words to the Infinite Jehovah? But as he himself authorised, yea, dictated the language, we have here a transcendent condescension, such as it becomes us to admire and adore. Doth the Lord speak of his feathers, as though he likened himself
- 50. to a bird?Who will not see herein a matchless love, a divine tenderness, which should both woo and win our confidence? Even as a hen covereth her chickens so doth the Lord protect the souls which dwell in him; let us cower down beneath him for comfort and for safety. Hawks in the sky and snares in the field are equally harmless when we nestle so near the Lord. His truth —his true promise, and his faithfulness to his promise, shall be thy shield and buckler. Double armour has he who relies upon the Lord. He bears a shield and wears an all surrounding coat of mail—such is the force of the word "buckler." To quench fiery darts the truth is a most effectual shield, and to blunt all swords it is an equally effectual coat of mail. Let us go forth to battle thus harnessed for the war, and we shall be safe in the thickest of the fight. It has been so, and so shall it be till we reach the land of peace, and there among the "helmed cherubim and sworded seraphim, " we will wear no other ornament, his truth shall still be our shield and buckler. EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS. Ver. 4. He shall cover thee with his feathers, etc. Christ's wings are both for healing and for hiding (Matthew 4:2), for curing and securing us; the devil and his instruments would soon devour the servants of God, if he did not set an invincible guard about them, and cover them with the golden feathers of his protection. Thomas Watson. Ver. 4. He shall cover thee with his feathers, etc. This is the promise of the present life. For the promise of the life to come, who can explain? If the expectation of the just be gladness, and such gladness, that no object of desire in the world is worthy to be compared with it, what will the thing itself be which is expected? o eye, apart from Thee, O God, hath seen what Thou hast prepared for them that love Thee. Under these wings, therefore, four blessings are conferred upon us. For under these we are concealed:under these we are protected from the attack of the hawks and kites, which are the powers of the air: under these a salubrious shade refreshes us, and wards off the overpowering heat of the sun; under these, also we are nourished and cherished. Bernard. Ver. 4. He shall cover thee with his feathers, etc., His plumes shall make a downie bed, Where thou shalt rest; He shall display His wings of truth over thy head, Which, like a shield, shall drive away The fears of night, the darts of day. Thomas Caryl. Ver. 4. His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. That which we must oppose to all perils is the truth, or Word of God; so long as we keep that, and ward off darts and swords by that means, we shall not be overcome. David Dickson. BE SO , "Psalms 91:4. He shall cover thee with his feathers — shall protect thee with the greatest tenderness and affection, as a hen covers and defends her chickens when they are in any danger. And under his wings shalt thou trust — The wings of his overshadowing power and providence; his truth — Whereby he is obliged to fulfil all his gracious promises, and among the rest, that of protection in dangers; shall be thy shield and buckler — Thy strong and sure defence.
- 51. COKE, "Psalms 91:4.His truth— Meaning, no doubt, that gracious promise, umbers 14:31. But your little ones, which you said should be a prey, them will I bring in; and they shall know the land which ye have despised; whereas of the others their doom is repeated in the following verse: Your carcases shall fall in the wilderness. 5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, BAR ES, "Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night - That which usually causes alarm at night - a sudden attack; an unexpected incursion of enemies; sudden disease coming on by night; or the pestilence which seems to love night, and to “walk in darkness.” Any one of these things seems to be aggravated by night and darkness; and hence, we most dread them then. We cannot see their approach; we cannot measure their outlines; we know not the extent of the danger, or what may be the calamity. Nor for the arrow that flieth by day - Whether shot from the bow of God - as pestilence and disease; or from the hand of man in battle. The idea is, that he that trusts in God will be calm. Compare the notes at Psa_56:3. CLARKE, "The terror by night - Night is a time of terrors, because it is a time of treasons, plunder, robbery, and murder. The godly man lies down in peace, and sleeps quietly, for he trusts his body, soul, and substance, in the hand of God; and he knows that he who keepeth Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps. It may also mean all spiritual foes, - the rulers of the darkness of this world. I have heard the following petition in an evening family prayer: “Blessed Lord, take us into thy protection this night; and preserve us from disease, from sudden death, from the violence of fire, from the edge of the sword, from the designs of wicked men, and from the influence of malicious spirits!” Nor for the arrow - The Chaldee translates this verse, “Thou shalt not fear the demons that walk by night; nor the arrow of the angel of death which is shot in the day time.” Thou needest not to fear a sudden and unprovided-for death. GILL, "Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night,.... The terrible things that happen in the night; as fire, storms and tempests, invasion of enemies, murders, thefts, and, robberies: a good man, when he has committed himself and his family to the care and protection of God by prayer, has no reason to be anxiously careful of these
- 52. things, or toindulge a slavish fear about them; see Psa_3:5, the Targum is, "thou shall not be afraid for the fear of devils that walk in the night:'' so Jarchi interprets this, and the next verse, of such; as do others of the Jewish writers: a man that trusts in the Lord need not be afraid of men or devils: a fear of evil spirits is natural to men, and very early appeared; perhaps it took its rise from the fatal affair of the fall of our first parents, through an intercourse with an evil spirit; and ever since has been imprinted on human nature an aversion to evil spirits, and a dread of them, and even of all spirits in general; see Job_4:13, nor for the arrow that flieth by day; the judgments of God, such as the sword, famine, and pestilence; these are called the arrows of God, Deu_32:23 (q), because they move swiftly, come suddenly, and strike surely, and are open and visible; they are sent by the Lord, and are ordered and directed by him, and hit and hurt whom he pleases, and none else; and therefore such who dwell in the secret of the Lord, and under his shadow, need not be distressed about them: the Targum interprets it of the arrow of the angel of death, which he sends out in the day; see Heb_2:14, so Jarchi understands it of a demon that flies like an arrow. HE RY 5-6, " That he will not only keep them from evil, but from the fear of evil, Psa_91:5, Psa_91:6. Here is, (1.) Great danger supposed; the mention of it is enough to frighten us; night and day we lie exposed, and those that are apt to be timorous will in neither period think themselves safe. When we are retired into our chambers, our beds, and have made all as safe as we can about us, yet there is terror by night, from thieves and robbers, winds and storms, besides those things that are the creatures of fancy and imagination, which are often most frightful of all. We read of fear in the night, Son_3:8. There is also a pestilence that walketh in darkness, as that was which slew the first-born of the Egyptians, and the army of the Assyrians. No locks nor bars can shut out diseases, while we carry about with us in our bodies the seeds of them. But surely in the day-time, when we can look about us, we are not so much in danger; yes, there is an arrow that flieth by day too, and yet flies unseen; there is a destruction that wasteth at high-noon, when we are awake and have all our friends about us; even then we cannot secure ourselves, nor can they secure us. It was in the day-time that that pestilence wasted which was sent to chastise David for numbering the people, on occasion of which some think this psalm was penned. But, (2.) Here is great security promised to believers in the midst of this danger: “Thou shalt not be afraid. God by his grace will keep thee from disquieting distrustful fear (that fear which hath torment) in the midst of the greatest dangers. Wisdom shall keep thee from being causelessly afraid, and faith shall keep thee from being inordinately afraid. Thou shalt not be afraid of the arrow, as knowing that though it may hit thee it cannot hurt thee; if it take away the natural life, yet it shall be so far from doing any prejudice to the spiritual life that it shall be its perfection.” A believer needs not fear, and therefore should not fear, any arrow, because the point is off, the poison is out. O death! where is thy sting? It is also under divine direction, and will hit where God appoints and not otherwise. Every bullet has its commission. Whatever is done our heavenly Father's will is done; and we have no reason to be afraid of that. JAMISO , "terror — or, what causes it (Pro_20:2). by night — then aggravated. arrow — that is, of enemies.
- 53. CALVI , "5Thoushalt not fear for the terror of the night. The Psalmist continues to insist upon the truth which I have just adverted to, that, if we confide with implicit reliance upon the protection of God, we will be secure from every temptation and assault of Satan. It is of importance to remember, that those whom God has taken under his care are in a state of the most absolute safety. Even those who have reached the most advanced experience find nothing more difficult than to rely upon Divine deliverance; and more especially when, overtaken by some of the many forms in which danger and death await us in this world, doubts will insinuate themselves into our hearts, giving rise to fear and disquietude. There was reason, therefore, why the Psalmist should enter upon a specification of different evils, encouraging the Lord’s people to look for more than one mode of deliverance, and to bear up under various and accumulated calamities. Mention is made of the fear of the night, because men are naturally apprehensive in the dark, or because the night exposes us to dangers of different kinds, and our fears are apt at such a season to magnify any sound or disturbance. The arrow, rather than another weapon, is instanced as flying by day, for the reason apparently that it shoots to a greater distance, and with such swiftness, that we can with difficulty escape it. The verse which follows states, though in different words, the same truth, that there is no kind of calamity which the shield of the Almighty cannot ward off and repel. SPURGEO , "Ver. 5. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night. Such frail creatures are we that both by night and by day we are in danger, and so sinful are we that in either season we may be readily carried away by fear; the promise before us secures the favourite of heaven both from danger and from the fear of it. ight is the congenial hour of horrors, when alarms walk abroad like beasts of prey, or ghouls from among the tombs; our fears turn the sweet season of repose into one of dread, and though angels are abroad and fill our chambers, we dream of demons and dire visitants from hell. Blessed is that communion with God which renders us impervious to midnight frights, and horrors born of darkness. ot to be afraid is in itself an unspeakable blessing, since for every suffering which we endure from real injury we are tormented by a thousand griefs which arise from fear only. The shadow of the Almighty removes all gloom from the shadow of night: once covered by the divine wing, we care not what winged terrors may fly abroad in the earth. or for the arrow that flieth by day. Cunning foes lie in ambuscade, and aim the deadly shaft at our hearts, but we do not fear them, and have no cause to do so. That arrow is not made which can destroy the righteous, for the Lord hath said, " o weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper." In times of great danger those who have made the Lord their refuge, and therefore have refused to use the carnal weapon, have been singularly preserved; the annals of the Quakers bear good evidence to this; yet probably the main thought is, that from the cowardly attacks of crafty malice those who walk by faith shall be protected, from cunning heresies they shall be preserved, and in sudden temptations they shall be secured from harm. Day has its perils as well as night, arrows more deadly than those poisoned by the Indian are flying noiselessly through the air, and we shall be their victims unless we find both shield and buckler in our God. 0 believer, dwell under the shadow of the Lord,
- 54. and none ofthe archers shall destroy thee, they may shoot at thee and wound thee grievously, but thy bow shall abide in strength. When Satan's quiver shall be empty thou shalt remain uninjured by his craft and cruelty, yea, his broken darts shall be to thee as trophies of the truth and power of the Lord thy God. EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS. Ver. 5. The true remedy against tormenting fear is faith in God; for many terrible things may befall men when they are most secure, like unto those which befall men in the night: but for any harm which may befall the believer this way, the Lord here willeth him to be nothing afraid: Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night. Many sadder accidents may befall men when they are most watching and upon their guard, but the Lord willeth the believer to be confident that he shall not be harmed this way: Thou shalt not be afraid for the arrow that flieth by day. Many evils are men subject unto, which come upon them men cannot tell how, but from such evils the Lord assures the believer he shall have no harm: Thou shalt not be afraid of the pestilence which walketh in darkness. Men are subject to many evils which come upon them openly, and not unawares, such as are calamities from enemies and oppressors; the Lord willeth the believer to be confident that he shall not be harmed this way: Thou shalt not be afraid for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. David Dickson. Ver. 5. Thou shalt not be afraid. ot only do the pious stand safe, they are not even touched with fear. For the prophet does not say, Thou shalt not be seized; but, Thou shalt not be afraid. Certainly such a confidence of mind could not be attributed to natural powers, in so menacing and so overwhelming a destruction. For it is natural to mortals, it is implanted in them by God the author and maker of nature, to fear whatever is hurtful and deadly, especially what visibly smites and suddenly destroys. Therefore does he beautifully join together these two things: the first, in saying, Thou shalt not be afraid;the second, by adding, For the terror. He acknowledges that this plague is terrible to nature; and then by his trust in divine protection he promises himself this security, that he shall not fear the evil, which would otherwise make human nature quail. Wherefore, in my judgment, those persons are neither kind (humani) nor pious who are of opinion that so great a calamity is not to be dreaded by mortals. They neither observe the condition of our nature, nor honour the blessing of divine protection; both of which we see here done by the prophet. Musculus. Ver. 5. ot that we are always actually delivered out of every particular danger or grievance, but because all will turn (such is our confidence in God) to our greater good; and the more we suffer the greater shall our reward and our glory be. To the same purpose is the expression of Isaiah: "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." Isaiah 43:2. So also Habakkuk 3:17-18, "Although the fig tree shall not blossom, "&c.; and Job 5:19-20, etc. And therefore here is no ground, if the words be rightly understood, for any man absolutely to presume or conclude that he shall actually be delivered out of any particular danger; much less upon such a presumption wilfully to run into dangers. If such figures, the ornament of all language; such rhetorical, emphatic amplifications be allowed to human writers, and well enough understood in ordinary language; why not to holy writers as well,
- 55. who had todo with men, as well as others; whose end also was to use such expressions as might affect and move? That human writers have said as much of the security of good and godly men, I shall need to go no further than Horace his Ode, Integer vitae scelerisque purus, &c. Most dangerous then and erroneous is the inference of some men, yea, of some expositors, here, upon these words of the psalmist, that no godly man can suffer by the plague, or pestilence: nor is old Lactantius his assertion much sounder, on potest ergo fieri, quin hominem justum inter descrimina tempestatum, &c., that no just man can perish by war, or by tempest. (Instit. 1. v, c. 18). Most interpreters conclude here, that the godly are preserved in time of public calamities; which, in a right sense, may be true; but withal they should have added, that all godly men are not exempted at such times; to prevent rash judgments. Westminster Assembly's Annotations. Ver. 5. The arrow. The arrow in this passage probably means the pestilence. The Arabs denote the pestilence by an allusion to this flying weapon. "I desired to remove to a less contagious air. I received from Solyman, the emperor, this message; that the emperor wondered what I meant, in desiring to remove my habitation; is not the pestilence God's arrow, which will always hit his mark? If God would visit me here with, how could I avoid it? is not the plague, said he, in my own palace, and yet I do not think of removing." Busbequiu's Travels. "What, say they, is not the plague the dart of Almighty God, and can we escape the blow that he levels at us? is not his hand steady to hit the persons he aims at? can we run out of his sight, and beyond his power?" Smith's Remarks on the Turks, 1673. Herbert also, speaking of Curroon, says, "That year his empire was so wounded with God's arrows of plague, pestilence, and famine, as this thousand years before was never so terrible." See Ezekiel 5:16. S. Burder's Scripture Expositor. Ver. 5-6. Joseph Scaliger explains, in Epis. 9, these two verses thus, thou shalt not fear, dxkm, from consternation by night, Uxm, from the arrow flying by day, rgdm, from pestilence walking at evening, kymqm, from devastation at noon. Under these four he comprehends all the evils and dangers to which man is liable. And as the Hebrews divide the twenty-four hours of day and night into four parts, namely, evening, midnight, morning, and midday, so he understands the hours of danger to be divided accordingly: in a word, "that the man who has made God his refuge, "is always safe, day and night, at every hour, from every danger. Bythner. BE SO , "Verse 5-6 Psalms 91:5-6. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night — When evil accidents are most terrible and least avoidable; nor for the arrow — Any common and destructive calamity; (for such are commonly called God’s arrows;) that flieth by day — Which is the time for shooting arrows. The sense of the verse is, Thou shalt be kept from secret and open mischiefs at all times. or for the pestilence, &c. — This verse explains the former, and shows what that terror and arrow signify; that walketh in darkness — That makes progress and spreads death and desolation in an invisible manner, such as can neither be foreseen nor prevented; nor for the destruction at noon-day — That, like a bold enemy, assaults us openly, and though discovered cannot be resisted. COKE, "Verses 5-8
- 56. Psalms 91:5-8. Thoushalt not be afraid— The younger ones were to rest secure in the divine promise for protection. Amid the daily spectacles of mortality to which they were soon to be accustomed, it is added, Psalms 91:8. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold, &c. i.e. "Thou shalt only have the discomfort of seeing those who may be dear to thee fall by their own guilt, and the just sentence passed upon them for their wicked murmurings and disobedience." ELLICOTT, "Verse 5 EXHORTATIO OT TO FEAR THE PESTILE CE "Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, or for the arrow that flieth by day; For the pestilence that walketh in darkness; or for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, And ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold, And see the reward of the wicked." We do not believe all of this paragraph is a reference to the pestilence, `the arrow that flieth by day' being no doubt a reference to warfare. If Moses was the author of this, as the Rabbinic tradition assures us, then Moses had actually seen instances of such marvelous help of God's people in the midst of abounding misfortunes for the wicked. For example, the plague of boils was a horrible pestilence upon the Egyptians, as was the plague of the murrain of cattle (Genesis 9); but, " othing that belonged to the children of Israel died" (Genesis 9:4). Furthermore, God's victory over Amalek (Exodus 17) and over the Amorites and the Moabites ( umbers 21), provided instances in which God's followers suffered very few casualties and the enemies Were destroyed. Also in Joshua's conquest of Canaan, there were numerous examples of that same providence. "The pestilence that walketh in darkness ... the destruction that wasteth at noonday" (Psalms 91:6). Yates pointed out that the Jewish Talmud identified these lines with the night-time demon (Lilith), and the day-time demon ( amtar), "Suggesting that the psalm be used in the case of demonic attacks."[7] Regardless of such opinions, we find no reference whatever here to superstitions like that. Christ
- 57. indeed cast outdemons; and there are many ew Testament references to demonic possession, but in all instances where Christ is known and loved, demon-possession seems now to be an utter impossibility. There is much that men do not know about this; and there are instances of human depravity which indeed seem to be demonically induced. evertheless, the pestilence and destruction mentioned here are not connected in any way with demons. 6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. BAR ES, "Nor for the pestilence - The plague or pestilence was common in Oriental countries. That walketh in darkness - Not that it particularly comes in the night, but that it seems to creep along as if in the night; that is, where one cannot mark its progress, or anticipate when or whom it will strike. The laws of its movements are unknown, and it comes upon people as an enemy that suddenly attacks us in the night. Nor for the destruction - The word used here - קטב qeᑛeb - means properly a cutting off, a destruction, as a destroying storm, Isa_28:2; and then, contagious pestilence, Deu_32:24. It may be applied here to anything that sweeps away people - whether storm, war, pestilence, or famine. That wasteth at noonday - It lays waste, or produces desolation, at noon; that is, visibly, openly. The meaning is, that whenever, or in whatever form, calamity comes which sweeps away the race - whether at midnight or at noon - whether in the form of pestilence, war, or famine - he who trusts in God need not - will not - be afraid. He will feel either that he will be preserved from its ravages, or that if he is cut off he has nothing to fear. He is a friend of God, and he has a hope of a better life. In death, and in the future world, there is nothing of which he should be afraid. The Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate render this, strangely enough, “Nor of mischance and the demon of noonday.” CLARKE, "Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday - The rabbins supposed that the empire of death was under two demons, one of which ruled by day, the other by night. The Vulgate and Septuagint have - the noonday devil. The ancients thought that there were some demons who had the power to injure particularly at noonday. To this Theocritus refers,
- 58. Id. 1: ver.15: - Ου θεµις, ω ποιµαν, το µεσαµβρινον, ου θεµις αµµιν Συρισδεν· τον Πανα δεδοικαµες· η γαρ απ’ αγρας Τανικα κεκµακως αµπαυεται, εντι γε πικρος, Και οᅷ αει δριµεια χολα ποτι ምινι καθηται. “It is not lawful, it is not lawful, O shepherd, to play on the flute at noonday: we fear Pan, who at that hour goes to sleep in order to rest himself after the fatigues of the chase; then he is dangerous, and his wrath easily kindled.” Lucan, in the horrible account he gives us of a grove sacred to some barbarous power, worshipped with the most horrid rites, refers to the same superstition: - Lucus erat longo nunquam violatus ab aevo, Non illum cultu populi propiore frequentant, Sed cessere deis: medio cum Phoebus in axe est. Aut coelum nox atra tenet, pavet ipse sacerdos Accessus, dominumque timet deprendere luci. Lucan, lib. iii., ver. 399. “Not far away, for ages past, had stood An old inviolated sacred wood: The pious worshippers approach not near, But shun their gods, and kneel with distant fear: The priest himself, when, or the day or night Rolling have reached their full meridian height, Refrains the gloomy paths with wary feet, Dreading the demon of the grove to meet; Who, terrible to sight, at that fixed hour Still treads the round about this dreary bower.” Rowe. It has been stated among the heathens that the gods should be worshipped at all times, but the demons should be worshipped at midday: probably because these demons, having been employed during the night, required rest at noonday and that was the most proper time to appease them. See Calmet on this place. Both the Vulgate and Septuagint seem to have reference to this superstition. The Syriac understands the passage of a pestilential wind, that blows at noonday. Aquila translates, of the bite of the noonday demon. GILL, "Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness,.... Some think, and not without cause, that what is figuratively expressed in the preceding verse is here explained; and, indeed, the "pestilence" may well be called the "terror by night": the name of the plague, at a distance, is terrible; the near approach of it is more so; when it enters a country, city, or town, what fleeing is there from it? and in the night season it is more dreadful than in the day; not only to think of it in the gloomy watches of the night,
- 59. but to seethe vast numbers carried out to be interred, and to hear the dismal cry, Bring out your dead: and so it is here said to "walk in darkness"; in the darkness of the night, or to arise from dark and unknown causes; when it moves and walks through cities, towns, and villages, and there is no stopping it: and this also may be the "arrow that flieth by day"; which flies as swift as an arrow, and that flies as swift as a bird (r); this is taken out of the Lord's quiver, has its commission and direction from him, and does execution by night and by day: the plague that smote the firstborn in Egypt was in the night; and that which was in David's time, and might be the occasion of penning this psalm, began in the day, Exo_12:29, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noon day; as the pestilence, which may be increased, and rage the more, through the heat of the day; and which destroys great numbers wherever it comes: seventy thousand were taken off in three days by the plague occasioned by David's numbering of the people: the Targum is, "of a company of devils that destroy at noon day;'' that is, thou shall not be afraid: some think respect is had to a pestilential hot wind, common in the eastern countries, which begins to blow about eight o'clock in a morning, and is hottest at noon; which instantly suffocates persons, burns them, and reduces them to ashes presently, which the Arabs call "sammiel", or a poison wind (s). SPURGEO , "Ver. 6. or for the pestilence that walketh in darkness. It is shrouded in mystery as to its cause and cure, it marches on, unseen of men, slaying with hidden weapons, like an enemy stabbing in the dark, yet those who dwell in God are not afraid of it. othing is more alarming than the assassin's plot, for he may at any moment steal in upon a man, and lay him low at a stroke; and such is the plague in the days of its power, none can promise themselves freedom from it for an hour in any place in the infected city; it enters a house men know not how, and its very breath is mortal; yet those choice souls who dwell in God shall live above fear in the most plague stricken places— they shall not be afraid of the "plagues which in the darkness walk." or for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. Famine may starve, or bloody war devour, earthquake may overturn and tempest may smite, but amid all, the man who has sought the mercy seat and is sheltered beneath the wings which overshadow it, shall abide in perfect peace. Days of horror and nights of terror are for other men, his days and nights are alike spent with God, and therefore pass away in sacred quiet. His peace is not a thing of times and seasons, it does not rise and set with the sun, nor does it depend upon the healthiness of the atmosphere or the security of the country. Upon the child of the Lord's own heart pestilence has no destroying power, and calamity no wasting influence: pestilence walks in darkness, but he dwells in light; destruction wastes at noonday, but upon him another sun has risen whose beams bring restoration. Remember that the voice which saith "thou shalt not fear" is that of God himself, who hereby pledges his word for the safety of those who abide under his shadow, nay, not for their safety only, but for their serenity. So far shall they be from being injured that they shall not even be made to fear the ills which are around them, since the Lord protects them. "He, his shadowy plumes outspread.
- 60. With his wingshall fence thy head; And his truth around thee wield, Strong as targe or bossy shield! aught shall strike thee with dismay, Fear by night, nor shaft by day." EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS. Ver. 6. The pestilence that walketh in darkness; the destruction that wasteth at noonday. The description is equally forcible and correct. The diseases of all hot climates, and especially where vegetation is highly luxuriant, and marshes and miry swamps are abundant, as in the wilderness here referred to, proceed from the accumulating vapours of the night, or from the violence of the sun's rays at midday. The Beriberi of Ceylon, the spasmodic cholera and jungle fever of India, and the greater part of the fevers of intertropical climates, especially that called the yellow fever, chiefly originate from the first of these—"the pestilence that stalks in darkness"; while sunstrokes or coups de soleil, apoplexies, inflammations of the brain, and liver complaints of most kinds, proceed from the second, "the destruction that wasteth at noonday." And it is in allusion to this double source of mischief that the psalmist exclaims most beautifully on another occasion, Psalms 121:6 : "The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night." And hence the Israelites were miraculously defended against both during their passage through the wilderness by the pillar of a cloud in the daytime, to ward off the solar rays; and by the pillar of fire by night, to dissipate the collecting vapours, and preserve the atmosphere clear, dry, and healthy. J. M. Good. Ver. 6. The putrid plague fever often comes on in the night while the patient is asleep; the solstitial disease seizes in heat of harvest upon a man in open air, and cuts him off, perhaps ere evening. It is safety from perils like these that is spoken of. All these blessings are derived from and rest on (Psalms 91:1) the position of Him that claims them "under the covert of the Most High." Andrew A. Bonar. Ver. 6. The pestilence that walketh in darkness. It walketh not so much in natural darkness, or in the darkness of the night, as in a figurative darkness, no man knowing where it walks, or whither it will walk, in the clearest light, whether to the poor man's house, or to the rich man's house, whether to the dwelling of the plebeian, or of the prince, till it hath left its own mark, and given a deadly stroke. Joseph Caryl. EXPOSITORS DICTIO ARY, "The Perils of the Middle-aged Psalm 91:6 The noonday of life is the time of middle age, when the morning freshness of youth has passed away. And so the destruction that wasteth at the noonday may be referred to the peculiar temptations of the period. I. One of the features of middle age is this—that by that time a man has found his life-work. ow with this settlement into a single task there generally comes a certain happiness. But just here arises one danger of that period—it lies in the contraction of the manhood to the one groove in which the life-work runs. Absorbed in the
- 61. business on whichhis living hangs a man contracts into a business man. o matter how successful a man be, if he is impoverished and contracted by success, then in the sight of God he is in peril of the destruction that wasteth at noonday. Faced then by that peril how may we hope to overcome it? One way is to have some lively interest out of the single line of the career. But there is something better. It is the thought that there once moved on earth a man who was perfect in the whole range of manhood. That is the value of fellowship with Christ in an age when specialism is inevitable. II. One of the perils of the noonday is the deadening of faith. In middle age there is neither the stimulus of youth nor of age to lead a man to trust in the unseen. Youth has its dangers, but the sins of the middle age, though not so patent, may be more deadly, for they lead to that encrustation of the spirit which the Bible calls the hardening of the heart. III. But not only is middle age the time when we are in peril of losing faith in God. It is also very notably the time when we are in danger of losing faith in man. We see how different men are from our dreams. The vision we had of them is rudely shattered, and with the shattering there goes our faith. Some men it makes utterly hard-hearted; others it makes tolerantly cynical. There is but one help in that temptation—it is to remember that though He knew the worst, Christ never for one hour lost faith in man. —G. H. Morrison, The Wings of the Morning, p131. 7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. BAR ES, "A thousand shall fall at thy side - Though a thousand should fall at thy side, or close to thee. This alludes to the manner in which the pestilence often moves among people. And ten thousand at thy right hand - Compare Psa_3:6. The word “myriad” would better represent the exact idea in the original, as the Hebrew word is different from that which is translated “a thousand.” It is put here for any large number. No matter how many fall around thee, on the right hand and the left, you will have nothing
- 62. to fear. But itshall not come nigh thee - You will be safe. You may feel assured of the divine protection. Your mind may be calm through a sense of such guardianship, and your very calmness will conduce to your safety. This refers, as remarked above, to a “general” law in regard to the judgments of God. It is true that others, beside the dissipated, vicious, and debased, may be the victims; but the great law is that temperance, soberness, virtue, cleanliness, and that regard to comfort and health to which religion and virtue prompt, constitute a marked security - so marked as to illustrate the “general” law referred to in the psalm before us. CLARKE, "A thousand shall fall at thy side - Calmet thinks this place should be translated thus: “A thousand enemies may fall upon thee on one side, and ten thousand may fall upon thee on thy right hand: but they shall not come nigh thee to take away thy life.” It is a promise of perfect protection, and the utmost safety. GILL, "A thousand shall fall at thy side,.... The left side, as the Targum; so the Arabic version, and Jarchi and Kimchi; which sense the opposition and distinction in the next clause direct unto: this is not to be understood of falling in battle, as some interpret it, but by the pestilence before spoken of: and ten thousand at thy right hand; which shows both the great devastation made by the plague where it comes, and the special care and providence of God in preserving his people from it; of which David had an experience, when vast numbers of his people were destroyed by it on the right and left: but it shall not come nigh thee; it may come near the place where good men are, or else it could not be said that a thousand should fall on their side, and ten thousand at their right hand: the plague that killed the firstborn in Egypt was near the dwellings of the Israelites, though it entered not into them; and that in David's time was near him, though he was not infected with it: but the meaning is, that it should not come so near such as to seize their bodies and they fall by the distemper; there being a particular providence oftentimes concerned for their safety, which guards them from it; see Eze_ 9:4, not but that good men may fall in a common calamity, and by an epidemical distemper; but then it is for their good, and not their hurt; they are taken away from the evil to come, and are delivered from a worse plague than that by which they fall, the plague of their own hearts, the evil of sin; and so the Targum adds, "shall not come near to hurt", though it understands it of devils. HE RY, "That they shall be preserved in common calamities, in a distinguishing way (Psa_91:7): “When death rides in triumph, and diseases rage, so that thousands and ten thousands fall, fall by sickness, or fall by the sword in battle, fall at thy side, at thy right hand, and the sight of their fall is enough to frighten thee, and if they fall by the pestilence their falling so near thee may be likely to infect thee, yet it shall not come nigh thee, the death shall not, the fear of death shall not.” Those that preserve their purity in times of general corruption may trust God with their safety in times of general desolation. When multitudes die round about us, though thereby we must be awakened to prepare for our own death, yet we must not be afraid with any amazement, nor make
- 63. ourselves subject tobondage, as many do all their life-time, through fear of death, Heb_ 2:15. The sprinkling of blood secured the first-born of Israel when thousands fell. Nay, it is promised to God's people that they shall have the satisfaction of seeing, not only God's promises fulfilled to them, but his threatenings fulfilled upon those that hate them (Psa_ 91:8): Only with thy eyes shalt thou behold and see the just reward of the wicked, which perhaps refers to the destruction of the first-born of Egypt by the pestilence, which was both the punishment of the oppressors and the enlargement of the oppressed; this Israel saw when they saw themselves unhurt, untouched. As it will aggravate the damnation of sinners that with their eyes they shall behold and see the reward of the righteous (Luk_ 13:28), so it will magnify the salvation of the saints that with their eyes they shall behold and see the destruction of the wicked, Isa_66:24; Psa_58:10. JAMISO , "The security is more valuable, as being special, and, therefore, evidently of God; and while ten thousands of the wicked fall, the righteous are in such safety that they only see the calamity. CALVI , "7A thousand shall fall at thy side. (579) He proceeds to show that, though the state of all men may to appearance be alike, the believer has the special privilege of being exempted from evils of an imminent and impending nature; for it might be objected that he was but man, and, as such, exposed with others to death in its thousand different forms. To correct this mistake, the Psalmist does not hesitate to assert that, when universal ruin prevails around, the Lord’s children are the objects of his distinguishing care, and are preserved amidst the general destruction. The lesson is one which is needed by us all, that, though naturally subject to the common evils which are spread around, we are privileged with a special exemption which secures our safety in the midst of dangers. In the verse succeeding more is meant than merely that the believer will have personal experience of the truth which the Psalmist had stated, actually feeling and seeing with his own eyes that God manages his defense; a new argument is brought forward in support of the truth, which is this, that God, as the righteous judge of the world, cannot but punish the wicked according to their sins, and extend protection to his own children. There is much that is dark in the aspect of things in this world, yet the Psalmist hints that, amidst all the confusion which reigns, we may collect from what we see of God’s judgments, that he does not disappoint the expectations of his believing people. He must be considered, however, as addressing those who have eyes to see, who are privileged with the true light of faith, who are fully awake to the consideration of the Divine judgments, and who wait patiently and quietly till the proper time arrive; for most men stagger and confuse their minds upon this subject, by starting to precipitate conclusions, and are prevented from discovering the providence of God by judging according to sense. It becomes us too to be satisfied with apprehending the judgments of God only in some imperfect measure while we remain upon earth, and leaving him to defer the fuller discovery of them to the day of complete revelation. SPURGEO , "Ver. 7. A thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy right hand. So terribly may the plague rage among men that the bills of mortality may become very heavy and continue to grow ten times heavier still, yet shall such as this
- 64. Psalm speaks ofsurvive the scythe of death. It shall not come nigh thee. It shall be so near as to be at thy side, and yet not nigh enough to touch thee; like a fire it shall burn all around, yet shall not the smell of it pass upon thee. How true is this of the plague of moral evil, of heresy, and of backsliding. Whole nations are infected, yet the man who communes with God is not affected by the contagion; he holds the truth when falsehood is all the fashion. Professors all around him are plague smitten, the church is wasted, the very life of religion decays, but in the same place and time, in fellowship with God, the believer renews his youth, and his soul knows no sickness. In a measure this also is true of physical evil; the Lord still puts a difference between Israel and Egypt in the day of his plagues. Sennacherib's army is blasted, but Jerusalem is in health. "Our God his chosen people saves Amongst the dead, amidst the graves." EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS. Ver. 7. Ten thousand. The word myriad would better represent the exact idea in the original, as the Hebrew word is different from that which is translated "a thousand." It is here put for any large number. Albert Barnes. Ver. 7. It shall not come nigh thee. ot nigh thee? What? when they die on this side and on that, on every hand of a man, doth it not come nigh him? Yes, nigh him, but not so nigh as to hurt him: the power of God can bring us near to danger, and yet keep us far from harm. As good may be locally near us, and yet virtually far from us, so may evil. The multitude thronged Christ in the Gospel, and yet but one touched him so as to receive good; so Christ can keep us in a throng of dangers, that not one shall touch us to our hurt. Joseph Caryl. Ver. 7. It shall not come nigh thee. ot with a view of showing that all good men may hope to escape from the pestilence, but as proofs that some who have had superior faith have done so, I have collected the following instances from various sources. C. H. S. Before his departure from Isna (Isny), the town was greatly afflicted with the pestilence; and he, understanding that many of the wealthiest of the inhabitants intended to forsake the place, without having any respect or care of such as laboured with that disease, and that the houses of such as were infected, were commanded to be shut up by the magistrate, he openly admonished them, either to continue in the town, or liberally to bestow their alms before their departure, for the relief of such as were sick. And during the time of the visitation, he himself in person would visit those that were sick: he would administer spiritual comfort unto them, pray for them, and would be present with them day and night; and yet by the providence of God he remained untouched, and was preserved by the all powerful hand of God. From the Life of Paulus Fagius, in T. Fuller's Abel Redevivus. In 1576, Cardinal Carlo Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, the worthiest of all the successors of St. Ambrose, when he learnt at Lodi, that the plague had made its appearance in his city, went at once to the city. His council of clergy advised him to remain in some healthy part of his diocese till the sickness should have spent itself, but he replied that a bishop, whose duty it is to give his life for his sheep, could not rightly abandon them in time of peril. They owned that to stand by them was the higher course. "Well, "he said, "is it not a bishop's duty to choose the higher course?" So back into the town of deadly sickness he went, leading the people to
- 65. repent, and watchingover them in their suffering, visiting the hospitals, and, by his own example, encouraging his clergy in carrying spiritual consolation to the dying. All the time the plague lasted, which was four months, his exertions were fearless and unwearied, and what was remarkable was, that of his whole household only two died, and they were persons who had not been called to go about among the sick. From "A Book of Golden Deeds, "1864. Although Defoe's history of the plague is a work of fiction, yet its statements are generally facts, and therefore we extract the following: —"The misery of the poor I had many occasions to be an eyewitness of, and sometimes also of the charitable assistance that some pious people daily gave to such, sending them relief and supplies both of food, physic, and other help as they found they wanted... Some pious ladies were transported with zeal in so good a work, and so confident in the protection of Providence in discharge of the great duty of charity, that they went about in person distributing alms to the poor, and even visiting poor families, though sick and infected, in their very houses, appointing nurses to attend those that wanted attending, and ordering apothecaries and surgeons... giving their blessing to the poor in substantial relief to them, as well as hearty prayers for them. I will not undertake to say, as some do, that none of those charitable people were suffered to fall under the calamity itself; but this I may say, that I never knew anyone of them that came to any ill, which I mention for the encouragement of others in case of the like distress, and, doubtless, if they that give to the poor lend to the Lord, and he will repay them, those that hazard their lives to give to the poor, and to comfort and assist the poor in such misery as this, may hope to be protected in the work." Daniel Defoe's Journal of the Plague in London. Horne, in his notes on the Psalms, refers to the plague in Marseilles and the devotion of its bishop. There is a full account of him in the Percy Anecdotes from which we cull the following: —"M. de Belsunce, Bishop of Marseilles, so distinguished himself for his humanity during the plague which raged in that city in 1720, that the Regent of France offered him the richer and more honourable See of Laon, in Picardy; but he refused it, saying, he should be unwilling to leave a flock that had been endeared to him by their sufferings. His pious and intrepid labours are commemorated in a picture in the Town Hall of Marseilles, in which he is represented in his episcopal habit, attended by his almoners, giving his benediction to the dying... But perhaps the most touching picture extant of the bishop's humane labours, is to be found in a letter of his own, written to the Bishop of Soissons, Sept. 27, 1720. ` ever, 'he says, `was desolation greater, nor was ever anything like this. Here have been many cruel plagues, but none was ever more cruel: to be sick and dead was almost the same thing. What a melancholy spectacle have we on all sides', we go into the streets full of dead bodies, half rotten through, which we pass to come to a dying body, to excite him to an act of contrition, and to give him absolution.'" otwithstanding exposure to a pestilence so fatal, the devoted bishop escaped uninjured. While France justly boasts of "Marseilles' good Bishop, "England may congratulate herself on having cherished in her bosom a clergyman who in an equally earnest manner discharged his pastoral care, and watched over the simple flock committed to his charge, at no less risk of life, and with no less fervour of piety and benevolence. The Rev. W. Mompesson was rector of Eyam in Derbyshire, in the
- 66. time of theplague that nearly depopulated the town in the year 1666. During the whole time of the calamity, he performed the functions of the physician, the legislator, and the minister of his afflicted parish; assisting the sick with his medicines, his advice, and his prayers. Tradition still shows a cavern near Eyam, where this worthy pastor used to preach to such of his parishioners as had not caught the distemper, Although the village was almost depopulated, his exertions prevented the spread of the plague to other districts, and he himself survived unharmed. BE SO , "Psalms 91:7. A thousand shall fall at thy side — At thy left side, this being opposed to the right hand, immediately mentioned; but it shall not come nigh thee — This and such like promises are not to be understood absolutely and universally, as if no truly good man could be cut off by the plague, or by other common calamities, which is confuted both by other plain texts of Scripture, and by unquestionable experience; but with due limitations and conditions; either on man’s part, as, if there be a defect in his faith or obedience; or on God’s part, when God sees death is more for his good than life, as it apparently is, when righteous men are taken away from the evil to come, as is said Isaiah 57:1. In which case, though God doth not give the thing promised, yet he giveth a far greater mercy instead of it, and so fulfils his promise in the best sense, and with most advantage. 8 You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. BAR ES, "Only - That is, This is “all” that will occur to you. The only thing which you have to anticipate is, that you will see how God punishes sinners. With thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked - Your own eyes shall see it. See the notes at Psa_37:34. You will see the just punishment of the ungodly, the vicious, the profane, the sensual. You will see what is the proper fruit of their conduct; what is the just expression of the views which God takes of their character. This undoubtedly refers to the general principle that there is a moral government on earth; that vice is often punished as such; that the general course of the divine dealings is such as to show that God is favorable to virtue, and is opposed to vice. The system is not complete here, and there are many things which could not be reconciled with this, if the present world were all, and if there were no future state: but the course of events indicates the general character of the divine administration, and what is the tendency of things. The completion - the actual and perfect adjustment - is reserved for a future state. The facts as they occur on earth prove that there is an
- 67. attribute of justicein God; the fact that his dealings here are not wholly and fully in accordance with what justice demands, proves that there will be a state where full justice will be done, and where the whole system will be adjusted. CLARKE, "The reward of the wicked - Thou shalt not only be safe thyself, but thou shalt see all thy enemies discomfited and cast down. GILL, "Only with thine eyes shall thou behold,.... The flying arrow, the walking pestilence, and wasting destruction, and the great devastations made by it: and see the reward of the wicked; the vengeance of God upon them, and this as a just punishment for their sins; not looking upon it with delight and pleasure, rejoicing in the misery of their fellow creatures, any otherwise than as the glory of divine justice is displayed in it; see Psa_52:6, the pestilence is always threatened, and it always comes, as a Judgment upon a wicked generation of men; a SPURGEO , "Ver. 8. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. The sight shall reveal both the justice and the mercy of God; in them that perish the severity of God will be manifest, and in the believer's escape the richness of divine goodness will be apparent. Joshua and Caleb verified this promise. The Puritan preachers during the plague of London must have been much impressed with this verse as they came out of their hiding places to proclaim mercy and judgment to the dissolute age which was so sorely visited with the pest. The sight of God's judgments softens the heart, excites a solemn awe, creates gratitude, and so stirs up the deepest kind of adoration. It is such a sight as none of us would wish to see, and yet if we did see it we might thus be lifted up to the very noblest style of manhood. Let us but watch providence, and we shall find ourselves living in a school where examples of the ultimate reward of sin are very plentiful. One case may not be judged alone lest we misjudge, but instances of divine visitation will be plentiful in the memory of any attentive observer of men and things; from all these put together we may fairly draw conclusions, and unless we shut our eyes to that which is self evident, we shall soon perceive that there is after all a moral ruler over the sons of men, who sooner or later rewards the ungodly with due punishment. EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS. Ver. 8. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. First, indeed, because of thy own escape; secondly, on account of thy complete security; thirdly, for the sake of comparison; fourthly, because of the perfect preeminence of justice itself. For then it will not be the time of mercy, but of judgment; nor shall any mercy in any way be ever shown towards the wicked there, where no improvement can be hoped for. Far away will be that softness of human infirmity, which meanwhile charity nevertheless uses for salvation, collecting in the ample folds of her outspread net good and bad fishes, that is, pleasant and hurtful affections. But this is done at sea. On the shore she chooses only the good, and so rejoicing with them that do rejoice, it hence comes to pass that she weeps not with those that weep. Bernard.
- 68. BE SO ,"Psalms 91:8. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold, &c. — Without any terror or danger to thyself, and with a thankful reflection on God’s goodness to thee; and see the reward of the wicked — The just recompense of their sins, or the vengeance of God upon them. Observe well, reader, those that preserve their purity in times of general corruption, may trust God with their safety in times of general desolation. When multitudes die around us, though thereby we ought to be awakened to prepare for our own death, yet we ought not to be afraid with any amazement, nor make ourselves subject to bondage, as many do all their lifetime, through fear of death. The sprinkling of blood secured the firstborn of Israel, when thousands fell. 9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, BAR ES, "Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge - literally, “For thou, O Jehovah, (art) my refuge.” The Chaldee Paraphrase regards this as the language of Solomon, who, according to that version, is one of the speakers in the psalm: “Solomon answered and said, ‘Since thou, O Lord, art my refuge,’” etc. Tholuck regards this as the response of the choir. But this is unnecessary. The idea is, that the psalmist “himself” had made Yahweh his refuge, or his defense. The language is an expression of his own feeling - of his own experience - in having made God his refuge, and is designed here to be a ground of exhortation to others to do the same thing. He could say that he had made God his refuge; he could say that God was now his refuge; and he could appeal to this - to his own experience - when he exhorted others to do the same, and gave them assurance of safety in doing it. Even the Most High thy habitation - literally, “The Most High hast thou made thy habitation;” or, thy home. On the word habitation, see the notes at Psa_90:1. The idea is, that he had, as it were, chosen to abide with God, or to dwell with him - to find his home with him as in a father’s house. The consequence of this, or the security which would follow, he states in the following verses. CLARKE, "Because thou hast made the Lord - Seeing thou hast taken Jehovah, the Most High, for thy portion and thy refuge, no evil shall come nigh thy dwelling; thou shalt be safe in thy soul, body, household, and property, Psa_91:10. Every pious man may expect such protection from his God and Father.
- 69. GILL, "Because thouhast made the Lord which is my refuge,.... So the words, according to Kimchi, also are directed to the good man; giving the reason of his safety, because he trusts in the Lord, and puts himself under his protection: but they should rather be rendered, and the accents require such a reading, "because thou, Lord, art my refuge" (t); and so are either the words of the good man that trusts in the Lord; or rather of the psalmist himself, seeing his safety in the midst of danger, and ascribing it to the Lord; whose providence was in a peculiar manner over him, whose power protected him, and he was as an asylum or city of refuge to him; so that nothing could hurt him: even the most High, thy habitation; it should be rendered, "thou hast made the most High thy habitation"; being an apostrophe of the psalmist to his own soul, observing the ground of his security; the most high God being made and used by him as his habitation, or dwelling place, where he dwelt, as every good man does, safely, quietly, comfortably, pleasantly, and continually: the Targum makes them to be the words of Solomon, paraphrasing them thus, "Solomon answered, and thus he said, thou thyself, O Lord, art my confidence; in an high habitation thou hast put the house of thy majesty.'' HE RY, "Here are more promises to the same purport with those in the foregoing verses, and they are exceedingly great and precious, and sure to all the seed. I. The psalmist assures believers of divine protection, from his own experience; and that which he says is the word of God, and what we may rely upon. Observe, 1. The character of those who shall have the benefit and comfort of these promises; it is much the same with that, Psa_91:1. They are such as make the Most High their habitation (Psa_91:9), as are continually with God and rest in him, as make his name both their temple and their strong tower, as dwell in love and so dwell in God. It is our duty to be at home in God, to make our choice of him, and then to live our life in him as our habitation, to converse with him, and delight in him, and depend upon him; and then it shall be our privilege to be at home in God; we shall be welcome to him as a man to his own habitation, without any let, hindrance, or molestation, from the arrests of the law or the clamours of conscience; then too we shall be safe in him, shall be kept in perfect peace, Isa_26:3. To encourage us to make the Lord our habitation, and to hope for safety and satisfaction in him, the psalmist intimates the comfort he had had in doing so: “He whom thou makest thy habitation is my refuge; and I have found him firm and faithful, and in him there is room enough, and shelter enough, both for thee and me.” In my father's house there are many mansions, one needs not crowd another, much less crowd out another. JAMISO , "This exemption from evil is the result of trust in God, who employs angels as ministering spirits (Heb_1:14). K&D 9-16, "The first voice continues this ratification, and goes on weaving these promises still further: thou hast made the Most High thy dwelling-place (ּוןע ָ;)מ there shall not touch thee.... The promises rise ever higher and higher and sound more glorious. The Pual הָ ֻ,א prop. to be turned towards, is equivalent to “to befall one,” as in Pro_12:21; Aquila well renders: ου ʆ µεταχθήσεται πρᆵς σᆯ κακία. ב ַר ְקִּא־יל reminds one of
- 70. Isa_54:14, where לֶא follows; here it is ְ , as in Jdg_19:13. The angel guardianship which is apportioned to him who trusts in God appears in Psa_91:11, Psa_91:12 as a universal fact, not as a solitary fact and occurring only in extraordinary instances. Haec est vera miraculorum ratio, observes Brentius on this passage, quod semel aut iterum manifeste revelent ea quae Deus semper abscondite operatur. In ָךְאוּנ ָ ִי the suffix has been combined with the full form of the future. The lxx correctly renders Psa_91:12: µήποτε προσκόψᇽς πρᆵς λίθον τᆵν πόδα σου, for ףַגָנ everywhere else, and therefore surely here too and in Pro_3:23, has a transitive signification, not an intransitive (Aquila, Jerome, Symmachus), cf. Jer_13:16. Psa_91:13 tells what he who trusts in God has power to do by virtue of this divine succour through the medium of angels. The promise calls to mind Mar_16:18, ᆊφεις ᅊροሞσι, they shall take up serpents, but still more Luk_10:19 : Behold, I give you power to tread ᅚπάνω ᆊφεων καᆳ σκορπίων καᆳ ᅚπᆳ πᇰσαν τᆱν δύναµιν τοሞ ᅚχθροሞ. They are all kinds of destructive powers belonging to nature, and particularly to the spirit-world, that are meant. They are called lions and fierce lions from the side of their open power, which threatens destruction, and adders and dragons from the side of their venomous secret malice. In Psa_91:13 it is promised that the man who trusts in God shall walk on over these monsters, these malignant foes, proud in God and unharmed; in Psa_91:13, that he shall tread them to the ground (cf. Rom_16:20). That which the divine voice of promise now says at the close of the Psalm is, so far as the form is concerned, an echo taken from Ps 50. Psa_50:15, Psa_50:23 of that Psalm sound almost word for word the same. Gen_46:4, and more especially Isa_63:9, are to be compared on Psa_50:15. In B. Taanith 16a it is inferred from this passage that God compassionates the suffering ones whom He is compelled by reason of His holiness to chasten and prove. The “salvation of Jahve,” as in Psa_50:23, is the full reality of the divine purpose (or counsel) of mercy. To live to see the final glory was the rapturous thought of the Old Testament hope, and in the apostolic age, of the New Testament hope also. CALVI , "9Because thou, Jehovah, art my protection. He dwells at this length in commendation of the providence of God, as knowing how slow men naturally are to resort to God in a right manner; and how much they need to be stimulated to this duty, and to be driven from those false and worldly refuges in which they confide. There is a change of person frequently throughout this psalm: thus, in the first verse, he addresses God, and afterwards addresses himself. God he styles his protection, — in this manner, by his own example, recommending others to have recourse to God as their help. So, afterwards, he addresses himself, that he may be the better persuaded of the sincerity of his inward affection. The true method of testing our faith is to turn our thoughts inward upon ourselves, and, when no human eye sees us, to search our own spirits. If, not content with having to do with God only, we turn our eyes to men, it is almost impossible to prevent pride from insinuating itself into the room of faith. He speaks of accounting God to be his house or refuge, because he defends us from every evil, as in Psalms 90:1. This verse may be considered as connected with that which follows, and as stating the cause or reason of what is there asserted; for it is added, There shall no evil befall thee. And how are coming evils averted, but just by our resting with confidence in the
- 71. protection of God?Troubles, it is true, of various kinds assail the believer as well as others, but the Psalmist means that God stands between him and the violence of every assault, so as to preserve him from being overwhelmed. The Divine guardianship is represented as extending to the whole household of the righteous; and we know that God comprehends under his love the children of such as he has adopted into his fatherly favor. Or, perhaps, the term may be taken in its simpler sense, and nothing more be intended than that those who choose God for their refuge will dwell safely in their houses. SPURGEO , "Ver. 9-10. Before expounding these verses I cannot refrain from recording a personal incident illustrating their power to soothe the heart, when they are applied by the Holy Spirit. In the year 1854, when I had scarcely been in London twelve months, the neighbourhood in which I laboured was visited by Asiatic cholera, and my congregation suffered from its inroads. Family after family summoned me to the bedside of the smitten, and almost every day I was called to visit the grave. I gave myself up with youthful ardour to the visitation of the sick, and was sent for from all corners of the district by persons of all ranks and religions. I became weary in body and sick at heart. My friends seemed falling one by one, and I felt or fancied that I was sickening like those around me. A little more work and weeping would have laid me low among the rest; I felt that my burden was heavier than I could bear, and I was ready to sink under it. As God would have it, I was returning mournfully home from a funeral, when my curiosity led me to read a paper which was wafered up in a shoemaker's window in the Dover Road. It did not look like a trade announcement, nor was it, for it bore in a good bold handwriting these words: — Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. The effect upon my heart was immediate. Faith appropriated the passage as her own. I felt secure, refreshed, girt with immortality. I went on with my visitation of the dying in a calm and peaceful spirit; I felt no fear of evil, and I suffered no harm. The providence which moved the tradesman to place those verses in his window I gratefully acknowledge, and in the remembrance of its marvellous power I adore the Lord my God. The psalmist in these verses assures the man who dwells in God that he shall be secure. Though faith claims no merit of its own, yet the Lord rewards it wherever he sees it. He who makes God his refuge shall find him a refuge; he who dwells in God shall find his dwelling protected. We must make the Lord our habitation by choosing him for our trust and rest, and then we shall receive immunity from harm; no evil shall touch us personally, and no stroke of judgment shall assail our household. The dwelling here intended by the original was only a tent, yet the frail covering would prove to be a sufficient shelter from harm of all sorts. It matters little whether our abode be a gypsy's hut or a monarch's palace if the soul has made the Most High its habitation. Get into God and you dwell in all good, and ill is banished far away. It is not because we are perfect or highly esteemed among men that we can hope for shelter in the day of evil, but because our refuge is the Eternal God, and our faith has learned to hide beneath his sheltering wing. "For this no ill thy cause shall daunt,
- 72. o scourge thytabernacle haunt." It is impossible that any ill should happen to the man who is beloved of the Lord; the most crushing calamities can only shorten his journey and hasten him to his reward. Ill to him is no ill, but only good in a mysterious form. Losses enrich him, sickness is his medicine, reproach is his honour, death is his gain. o evil in the strict sense of the word can happen to him, for everything is overruled for good. Happy is he who is in such a case. He is secure where others are in peril, he lives where others die. EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS. Ver. 9. Here commences the second half of the Psalm. And it is as though the Psalmist feared lest (as is too often the case with us) we should, in dwelling on the promises and blessings of God, and applying them to ourselves, forget the condition to which they are annexed— the character of those who are to receive them. He therefore pauses here to remind us of the opening verses of the Psalm, by repeating again their substance. Mary B. M. Duncan. Ver. 9. Because thou hast made the Lord, etc. What faith is this, what trust is that which God hath promised protection and deliverance to in the time of a plague? What act of faith is it? What faith is it? I answer first, there is a faith of persuasion, called faith, whereby men are persuaded and verily believe that they shall not die, nor fall by the hand of the plague. This is well; but I do not find in the 91st Psalm that this protection is entailed upon this persuasion, neither do I find this faith here mentioned. There is also a faith of reliance, whereby a man doth rely upon God for salvation; this is a justifying faith, true justifying faith; this is true faith indeed; but I do not find in this Psalm, that this promise of protection and deliverance in the time of a plague is entailed upon this, nor that this is here mentioned. But again, there is a faith, I may call it a faith of recourse unto God, whereby a man doth betake himself unto God for shelter, for protection as to his habitation; when other men do run one this way, another that way, to their hiding places: in the time of a plague for a man then to betake himself to God, as to his habitation, I think this is the faith here spoken of in this 91st Psalm: for do but mark the words of the Psalm: at Psalms 91:1, "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High, "in the hiding place of the Most High: as if he should say, "When others run from the plague and pestilence and run to their hiding places, ""He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, "that betakes himself to God as his Hiding place and his habitation, he shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty, shall be protected; and so at Psalms 91:9, "Because thou hast made the Lord which is my refuge, even the Most High thy habitation, there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling; "as if he should say to us, In time of a plague men are running and looking out for habitations and hiding places; but because thou hast made the Lord thy habitation and hast recourse to him as thy habitation, "no evil shall befall thee, neither shall the plague come nigh thy dwelling:" and again at Psalms 91:11 it is said, "He shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways, "the ways of thy calling; as if he should say, In the time of a plague men will be very apt to leave station and calling, and so run away from the plague and pestilence; but saith he, "He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways, "the ways of thy calling and place; that is, look when a man in the time of
- 73. a plague shallconscientiously keep his station and place, and betake himself to God as his habitation; this is the faith that is here spoken of, and this is the faith that God hath promised protection to, here in the 91st Psalm... This promise of protection and deliverance is not made to a believer as a believer, but as acting and exercising faith; for though a man be a believer, if he do not act and exercise his faith, this promise will not reach him, therefore if a believer die, not exercising faith and trusting in God, it is no disparagement to the promise. William Bridge. Ver. 9. o man can have two homes —two places of constant resort. And if the Lord be truly "our habitation, " we can have no other refuge for our souls, no other resting place for our hearts. Mary B. M. Duncan. Ver. 9-10. There is a threefold preservation which the church and the members of it may look for from divine providence. One from, another in, and a third by, dangers. First, from dangers, according to the promise in one of the Psalms, "Because thou hast made the Lord who is my refuge, even the Most High thy habitation: there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling." Austin had appointed to go to a certain town to visit the Christians there, and to give them a sermon or more. The day and place were known to his enemies, who set armed men to lie in wait for him by the way which he was to pass, and kill him. As God would have it, the guide whom the people had sent with him to prevent his going out of the right way mistook, and led him into a bypath, yet brought him at last to his journey's end. Which when the people understood, as also the adversaries' disappointment, they adored the providence of God, and gave him thanks for that great deliverance. (Agnoscunt omnes miram Dei providentiam, cui ut liberatori gratias merito egerunt. Possidonius in vita August, chap. 12.) II. In dangers. So in Job 5:19-20. "He shall deliver thee in six troubles, yea in seven there shall no evil touch thee. In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war from the power of the sword." In time of famine the widow of Sarepta's store was made to hold out. The providence of God was with Daniel in the lions' den, shutting up the mouths of those furious beasts: and with the men in the fiery furnace, giving a prohibition to the fire that it should not burn, when they were in the jaws of danger, yea of death. The church hath always been a lily among thorns, yet flourishes still. This bush is yet far from a consumption, although it has seldom or never been out of the fire. III. By danger. There is a preservation from greater evils by less. o poison but Providence knoweth how to make an antidote; so Jonah was swallowed by a whale, and by that danger kept alive. Joseph thrown into a pit, and afterwards sold into Egypt, and by these hazards brought to be a nursing father to the church. Chrysostom excellently, Fides in periculis secura est, in securitate periclitatur. (Homil. 26, operis imperf in Matt.) Faith is endangered by security, but secure in the midst of danger, as Esther's was when she said, "If I perish I perish." God preserveth us, not as we do fruits that are to last but for a year, in sugar; but as flesh for a long voyage in salt: we must expect in this life much brine and pickle, because our heavenly Father preserveth us as those whom he resolves to keep for ever, in and by dangers themselves. Paul's thorn in the flesh, which had much of danger and trouble in it, was given him on purpose to prevent pride, which was a great evil. "Lest I, "said he, "should be exalted above measure through abundance of revelations, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to
- 74. buffet me, lestI should be exalted above measure." Elsewhere having commemorated Alexander the coppersmith's withstanding and doing him much evil, yea ero's opening his mouth as a lion against him, and the Lord's delivering of him thence, he concludes as more than a conqueror. "And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom; to whom be glory for ever and ever, Amen." 2 Timothy 4:14-15; 2 Timothy 4:17-18. John, Arrowsmith, (1602-1659). Ver. 9-14. Dependence on Christ is not the cause of his hiding us, but it is the qualification of the person that shall be hid. Ralph Robinson. BE SO , "Psalms 91:9-12. Because thou hast made the Most High thy habitation — Which is the only ground and reason of that safety here mentioned; there shall no evil befall thee — amely, so as to destroy or really hurt thee. Though affliction befall thee, yet there shall be no real evil in it; for it shall come from the love of God, and shall be sanctified; it shall come, not for thy hurt, but for thy good; and though for the present it be not joyous but grievous, yet, in the end, it shall yield so well that thou thyself shalt own no evil befell thee. either shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling — This promise is not made to all that dwell nigh a righteous man, as, suppose, to his children, servants, and neighbours, who may, possibly, be wicked persons, and so strangers from God’s covenant and promises. How far it secures his own person, see on Psalms 91:7. For he shall give his angels charge over thee — Those blessed, powerful, and watchful spirits, whom God hath appointed to minister to, and take care of, the heirs of salvation. To keep thee in all thy ways — In the whole course of thy life, and in all thy lawful undertakings. They shall bear thee up in their hands — Sustain or uphold thee in thy goings, as we do a child or a weakly man, especially in uneven or dangerous paths; lest thou dash thy foot against a stone — So as to hurt it, or to cause thee to fall. Satan, it is well known, tempted Christ to cast himself from a pinnacle of the temple upon the presumption of this promise, which he quoted, implying, that angels should guard and support him in all dangers whatever. “But Christ, in answer, at once detected and exposed the sophistry of the grand deceiver, by showing that the promise belonged only to those who fell unavoidably into danger, in the course of duty; such might hope for the help and protection of Heaven; but that he who should wantonly and absurdly throw himself into peril, merely to try whether Providence would bring him out of it, must expect to perish for his pains.’” — Horne. ELLICOTT, "(9) Thou . . . my.—The difficulty of the change of person is avoided by the Authorised Version, but only with violence to the text, which runs, “For thou, Jehovah, my refuge; thou hast made the Most High thy habitation.” It is best to take the first line as a kind of under-soliloquy. The poet is assuring himself of the protection which will be afforded one who trusts in God; and he interrupts his soliloquy, as it were, with a comment upon it: “Yes, this is true of myself, for Thou Jehovah art indeed my refuge.” (For the Most High as a dwelling place, see Psalms 90:1.) ELLICOTT, "Verse 9 A MESSIA IC OTE
- 75. "For thou, OJehovah, art my refuge! Thou hast made the Most High thy habitation. There shall no evil befall thee, either shall any plague come nigh thy tent. For he will give his angels charge over thee, To keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder: The young lion and the serpent shalt thou trample under foot." Briggs stated that there is a Messianic significance in this passage;[8] and certainly Satan himself thought it applied to Christ, for he quoted Psalms 91:11-12 to Jesus Christ in the temptation recorded in Matthew 4:4 and Luke 4:10-11. Christ, of course refused the Devil's suggestion that he cast himself from the pinnacle of the temple, noting that such an action would tempt God. For our full comments on that episode, see in my ew Testament series of commentaries under those references. "There shall no evil befall thee" (Psalms 91:10). Promises just as glorious as these are provided for the Christians in the ew Testament, as for example, in Romans 8:35-39; but as Kidner cautioned, "The assurance here is that nothing can touch God's servant except by God's permission, and that no rebel (Psalms 91:8) can escape God's punishment."[9] Kidner also quoted Luke 21:19 in this connection, indicating that there actually is no exemption whatever to Christians regarding the common dangers and disasters of all men, the great difference for the child of God being that, "The Lord will preserve him through every experience, even death itself." "He will give his angels charge over thee" (Psalms 91:11). This promise has its ew Testament echo in Hebrews 1:13-14, where it is stated that "all," the entire host of the heavenly angels, are charged with the duty of ministering unto them that shall be the heirs of salvation. The following things which angels do for the redeemed are mentioned in the Bible: (1) They bear away the souls of the righteous in death (Luke 16:22). (2) They oppose
- 76. purposes and designsof Satan, not in their own names, but in the name of the Lord (Jude 1:1:6). (3) They execute God's judgments upon the incorrigibly wicked (2 Kings 19:35; Acts 12:23). (4) They exert influence upon rulers and governments (Daniel 10:20. (5) They aid providentially in bringing the unsaved to hear the saving gospel of Christ (Acts 10:3). (6) They exercise watchful care over little children (Matthew 18:10). (7) They maintain perpetually the availability of the Word of God for the human race. The Rainbow Angel stands upon the land and the sea, having in his hand "a little book, OPE ." That little BOOK is the ew Testament (Revelation 10). "Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder" (Psalms 91:13). Briggs translated this line, "Upon reptile and cobra thou wilt tread"[10] but the new versions do not honor that rendition. A similar blessing is seen in the life of Paul who shook the poisonous viper off into the fire (Acts 28:3-6). CO STABLE, "Verses 9-13 Those who trust in the Lord can rely on His protection. He will commission angels to watch over and protect His own. This is one of the passages in Scripture that reveals the existence and activity of "guardian angels" (cf. Matthew 18:10; Hebrews 1:14). The writer was using hyperbole when he wrote that the believer will not even stub his or her toe ( Psalm 91:12). Psalm 91:13 also seems to be hyperbolic. It pictures overcoming dangerous animals. God has given some believers this kind of protection occasionally (e.g, Daniel 6; Acts 28:3-6), but the writer"s point was that God will protect His people from all kinds of dangers. Satan quoted Psalm 91:11-12 when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness ( Matthew 4:6). He urged Him to interpret this promise literally. However, Jesus declined to tempt God by deliberately putting Himself in a dangerous situation to see if God would miraculously deliver Him. Jesus referred to Psalm 91:13 when He sent the disciples out on a preaching mission ( Luke 10:19). Again, it seems clear that His intention was to assure the disciples that God would take care of them. He was not encouraging them to put their lives in danger deliberately. EXPOSITORS DICTIO ARY, "The Refuge of the Devout Soul Psalm 91:9-10 I. We have here the cry of the devout soul. This cry of the soul recognizing God as its asylum and home comes in response to a revelation of God"s blessing and to large words of promise. So the words of my text, "Thou art my refuge" are the best answer of the devout soul to the plain words of Divine promise. This cry of the devout soul suggests to me that our response ought to be the establishment of a clear personal relation between us and God. We must isolate ourselves and stand, God and we alone—together—at heart grips, we grasping His hand and He giving Himself to us.
- 77. II. ote howthis cry of the devout soul recognizes God as He to Whom we must go because we need refuge. It is only when we know our dangers and defencelessness that God as the refuge of our souls becomes precious to us. So underlying and an essential part of all our confidence in God is the clear recognition of our own necessity. In all regions the consciousness of human want must go before the recognition of the Divine supply. III. ote the still more abundant answer which that cry evokes. There may be observed a certain distinction of tone between those promises which precede and those which follow the cry. Those which follow have a certain elevation and completeness and fullness beyond those that precede. They who store in patient and thankful hearts the faithful promises of God, have taken a sure way to make the gifts still larger and His promise still sweeter, and their fulfilment more faithful and precious. By the body we are brought into connexion with this frail outer world, and we try to make our homes out of shifting cloud-wrack, and dream that we may dwell secure. But we need a better dwelling-place than earth and that which holds to earth. We have God Himself for our true home. The secret of exemption from every evil lies in no peculiar providence, ordering in some especial manner our outward circumstances, but in the submission of our wills to that which the good hand of the Lord our God sends us for our good; and in cleaving close to Him as our refuge. —A. Maclaren, The God of the Amen, p158. EBC, "The responsive assurances (Psalms 91:9-13) are, in like manner, substantially identical with the preceding ones, but differences may be discerned by which these are heightened in comparison with the former. The promise of immunity is more general. Instead of two typical forms of danger, the widest possible exemption from all forms of it is declared in Psalms 91:10. o evil shall come near, no scourge approach, the "tent" of the man whose real and permanent "dwelling place" is Jehovah. There are much beauty and significance in that contrast of the two homes in which a godly man lives, housing, as far as his outward life is concerned, in a transitory abode, which tomorrow may be rolled up and moved to another camping place in the desert, but abiding in so far as his true being is concerned, in God, the permanent dwelling place through all generations. The transitory outward life has reflected on it some light of peaceful security from that true home. It is further noteworthy that the second group of assurances is concerned with active life, while the first only represented a passive condition of safety beneath God’s wing. In Psalms 91:11-12, His angels take the place of protectors, and the sphere in which they protect is "in all thy ways"-i.e., in the activities of ordinary life. The dangers there are of stumbling, whether that be construed as referring to outward difficulties or to temptations to sin. SIMEO , "THE SECURITY OF THOSE WHO DWELL I GOD Psalms 91:9-10. Because thou hast made the Lord which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation, there shall no evil befall thee.
- 78. IT is scarcelypossible to conceive any terms more strong, or any images more lively, than those in which the Scripture represents the privileges of believers. We need look no further than to the psalm before us for a confirmation of this truth. Indeed, according to the view given of this psalm by a learned prelate, there is, in the first verses of it, an emphasis which cannot be surpassed [ ote: Bishop Horne reads the two first verses thus: “He that dwelleth &c. who abideth under &c, who saith of the Lord,” &c. Then at the end of ver. 2, he supposes the Psalmist to break off abruptly, and, instead of continuing his description, to address himself to the person before described; “Surely he shall deliver thee.”]. And the whole may be considered as the believer’s charter, in which all his privileges are contained, from his first acceptance with God to the consummation of his happiness in glory. We have in the words of our text a just description of the believer: I. His experience— The true Christian is one who has been “turned from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God.” Being once brought to God, he “makes the Most High his habitation.” He regards God, not merely as reconciled to him, but as affording him (what a dwelling-house affords to its possessor), 1. Free access— [A person goes familiarly to his house at all times, not doubting but that he shall gain a ready admission into it. He considers it as his own, and feels that it exists only for his accommodation. It is thus that the believer goes to God as his God: he has “access to him with boldness and confidence:” he is certain that, when he calls, he shall receive an answer; and “when he knocks, the door will be opened to him.” In this precise view the Psalmist speaks of God; “Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort [ ote: Psalms 71:3.].”] 2. ecessary provision— [Every man, whatever be his situation in life, expects to find in his own house the things suited to his necessities. He does not seek his meals at the houses of his neighbours, but in his own; and he returns home at stated seasons to partake of them. And whither does the believer go for daily supplies of bread for his soul? It is in Christ Jesus that his fulness is treasured up; and in him the believer expects to find the “grace that is sufficient for him.” God invites him to come to him for the express purpose, that he may be filled and satisfied with good things: “Wherefore do ye spend your money for that which is not bread? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness [ ote: Isaiah 55:2.].”] 3. Sure protection—
- 79. [If storms descend,or dangers menac, we take refuge in our house, and find it a place of safety. Thus “The name of God also is a strong tower, into which the righteous runneth and is safe [ ote: Proverbs 18:10.].” It is to himself that God invites us, when he says, “Come my people, enter thou into thy chambers, shut the door about thee, and hide thyself for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast [ ote: Isaiah 26:20.].” And that this was a primary idea in the mind of the Psalmist, appears from the very words of the text, wherein he calls God “his Refuge,” and from the whole scope of the psalm, from the beginning to the end. With this also agrees the beautiful description given of Jesus by the Prophet, as “an hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest [ ote: Isaiah 32:2.].”] 4. Sweet repose— [To his house a man retires from the noise and bustle of the world; and there he lays himself down to rest after the fatigues of the day. Home, though inferior in many respects to places of temporary residence, is to almost all persons the most agreeable, because they are most at ease. And such is God to the believer. “In every place, God is to him as a little sanctuary [ ote: Ezekiel 11:16.],” where he finds himself at rest. He carries his wants to God, and “casts all his care on him,” and enjoys that peace which passeth all understanding. In this sense he says for his own encouragement, “Return unto thy Rest, O my soul:” and attests for the glory of his God, “Lord thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations [ ote: Psalms 90:1.].”] In connexion with this experience of the believer, let us consider, II. His privilege— The expression in the text seems to exceed the bounds of truth: but the more it is examined, the more will it be found to be strictly true. The man who makes God his habitation shall have no evil befall him: 1. one here— [ o casual evil shall befall him. There is no such thing as chance; every thing, even to the falling of a sparrow, is ordered of the Lord. As for the children of God, “their heavenly Father hath given his angels charge over them, to keep them in all their ways [ ote: ver. 11, 12.];” and if any thing were to happen to them, they (the angels) would contract a fearful responsibility for their neglect. We must not however imagine that Believers are at liberty to rush into needless dangers; for our Lord, when tempted by Satan to cast himself from a pinnacle of the Temple in expectation that the angels would preserve him from injury, replied, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God:” but nothing can happen to them except by the Divine appointment: they are hid in the shadow of their Father’s hand, and “their very hairs are all numbered.” But it may be thought that penal evil may come to them. This however we utterly
- 80. deny. That theymay be “visited with the rod,” we readily acknowledge: but there is a great difference between the vindictive arm of an incensed judge, and the gentle chastisements of an indulgent parent. The cup that may at any time be put into their hands may be bitter; but it has not in it one drop of wrath: it is altogether mixed by love; and not an ingredient can be found in it, which they themselves shall not one day confess to have been salutary and beneficial. In short, no real evil shall befall them. That they may have troubles, is certain: that their troubles may be heavy and accumulated, is also certain. But who accounts even the amputation of a limb evil, if it be the only and infallible method of preserving life? Much less then are any sufferings to be accounted evil, which the Believer can ever be called to sustain: for he shall never endure any, which shall not work for good to him in this life, and be the means of increasing his weight of glory in the next [ ote: Romans 8:28 and 2 Corinthians 4:17.].”] 2. one hereafter— [It is in this life only that the Believer can meet with even the semblance of evil: when he goes hence, he is instantly placed beyond the reach of harm. o sin, no sorrow, no pain, no temptation, no weariness, no want, can ever be felt by him in the mansions of bliss. He will there enjoy for ever one unclouded day! and his happiness will be without alloy, without intermission, without end [ ote: Revelation 21:4.].”] To render this subject more instructive, we shall add a word, 1. Of direction— [Christ, in reference to the sheepfold of his church, says, “I am the door; if any man enter in by me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture [ ote: John 10:9.].” The same figure we may apply to the subject before us: “Christ is the door;” he is “the way to the Father;” and “no man cometh unto the Father, but by him.” To those who come to God in any other way, he is not “a Refuge,” or “Habitation,” but “a consuming fire [ ote: Hebrews 12:29.].” But if we believe in Christ, then “will he dwell in us, and we shall dwell in him [ ote: John 6:56.]:” yea, “he will be our house of defence, to save us for ever [ ote: Psalms 31:2.].”] 2. Of warning— [Who, except the believer, can apply to himself the promise in the text? As for the unbelieving and disobedient, they are in danger every hour: they know not but that God’s wrath may break forth against them the very next moment to their destruction. Of this they are certain, (whether they will believe it or not,) that in a little time his judgments shall overtake them, and the greatest of all evils shall befall them, unless they repent. O that they would be prevailed upon to flee for refuge to the hope that is set before them! O that they would now seek to be “found in Christ!” Then should the destroying angel pass over them, and “they should dwell safely, and be quiet from the fear of evil [ ote: Proverbs 1:33.].”]
- 81. 3. Of encouragement— [Theweakness of men’s faith often robs them of the comfort which it is their privilege to enjoy. Why should a believer be afraid of thunder and lightning? Were he but sensible what a Protector he has, he would feel assured that no evil could come unto him. How varied are God’s promises to him in the psalm before us! How diversified also are the assurances given him by Eliphaz in the book of Job [ ote: Job 5:19-24.]! Let him only commit himself to God, and he has nothing to fear. Let us then, beloved, have faith in God; and let those words of David be our song in this land of our pilgrimage; “God is our refuge, &c.; therefore will we not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the waters be carried into the midst of the sea [ ote: Psalms 46:1-4.]: &c.”] 10 no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. BAR ES, "There shall no evil befall thee - The Chaldee Paraphrase has, “The Lord of the world answered and said, ‘There shall no evil befall thee,’” etc. The sentiment, however, is that the psalmist could assure such an one, from his own personal experience, that he would be safe. He had himself made Yahweh his refuge, and he could speak with confidence of the safety of doing so. This, of course, is to be understood as a general truth, in accordance with what has been said above. Neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling - On the word rendered “plague” here נגע nega‛ - see Psa_38:12, note; Psa_39:11, note. It is not the same word which is used in Psa_91:6, and translated “pestilence;” and it does not refer to what is technically called the “plague.” It may denote anything that would be expressive of the divine displeasure, or that would be sent as a punishment. The word rendered “dwelling” here means a tent; and the idea is, that no such mark of displeasure would abide with him, or enter his tent as its home. Of course, this also must be understood as a general promise, or as meaning that religion would constitute a general ground of security. GILL, "There shall no evil befall thee,.... The evil of sin cleaves to the best of saints, the evil of temptations besets them, and the evil of afflictions comes upon them, as chastisements from the Lord; for they must expect to receive evil, in this sense, as well as
- 82. good, from hishands; but the evil of punishment never touches them; and therefore, when any public calamity befalls them in common with others, yet not as an evil of punishment; it is not an evil to them, it is for their good: neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling; how should it, when they dwell in God, and have made him, the most High, their habitation (u); Psa_91:1 otherwise it may come nigh their temporal dwellings; See Gill on Psa_91:7 though it may not enter into them; and, should it, yet not as an evil, or by way of punishment; see Pro_3:33. HE RY, "Here are more promises to the same purport with those in the foregoing verses, and they are exceedingly great and precious, and sure to all the seed. I. The psalmist assures believers of divine protection, from his own experience; and that which he says is the word of God, and what we may rely upon. Observe, 1. The character of those who shall have the benefit and comfort of these promises; it is much the same with that, Psa_91:1. They are such as make the Most High their habitation (Psa_91:9), as are continually with God and rest in him, as make his name both their temple and their strong tower, as dwell in love and so dwell in God. It is our duty to be at home in God, to make our choice of him, and then to live our life in him as our habitation, to converse with him, and delight in him, and depend upon him; and then it shall be our privilege to be at home in God; we shall be welcome to him as a man to his own habitation, without any let, hindrance, or molestation, from the arrests of the law or the clamours of conscience; then too we shall be safe in him, shall be kept in perfect peace, Isa_26:3. To encourage us to make the Lord our habitation, and to hope for safety and satisfaction in him, the psalmist intimates the comfort he had had in doing so: “He whom thou makest thy habitation is my refuge; and I have found him firm and faithful, and in him there is room enough, and shelter enough, both for thee and me.” In my father's house there are many mansions, one needs not crowd another, much less crowd out another. 2. The promises that are sure to all those who have thus made the Most High their habitation. (1.) That, whatever happens to them, nothing shall hurt them (Psa_91:10): “There shall no evil befal thee; though trouble or affliction befal thee, yet there shall be no real evil in it, for it shall come from the love of God and shall be sanctified; it shall come, not for thy hurt, but for thy good; and though, for the present, it be not joyous but grievous, yet, in the end, it shall yield so well that thou thyself shalt own no evil befel thee. It is not an evil, an only evil, but there is a mixture of good in it and a product of good by it. Nay, not thy person only, but thy dwelling, shall be taken under the divine protection: There shall no plague come nigh that, nothing to do thee or thine any damage.” Nihil accidere bono viro mali potest - No evil can befal a good man. Seneca De Providentia. SPURGEO , "Ver. 10. There shall no evil befall thee, etc. It is a security in the very midst of evils. ot like the security of angels—safety in a world of safety, quiet in a calm; but it is quiet in a storm; safety amid desolation and the elements of destruction, deliverance where everything else is going to wreck. Cicaties Bradley, 1840. Ver. 10. God doth not say no afflictions shall befall us, but no evil. Thomas Watson. Ver. 10. Sin which has kindled a fire in hell, is kindling fires on earth continually. And when they break out, every one is asking how they happened. Amos replies, "Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?" And when desolation is made by fire, Isaiah declares, The Lord hath "consumed us, because of our
- 83. iniquities." Many yearsago my house was oft threatened to be destroyed, but the Lord insured it, by giving me Psalms 91:10; and the Lord's providence is the best insurance. John Bridge. 11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; BAR ES, "For he shall give his angels charge over thee - literally, “He will give ‘command’ to his angels.” That is, he would instruct them, or appoint them for this purpose. This passage Psa_91:11-12 was applied to the Saviour by the tempter. Mat_4:6. See the notes at that passage. This, however, does not prove that it had an original reference to the Messiah, for even if we should suppose that Satan was a correct and reliable expounder of the Scriptures, all that the passage would prove as used by him would be, that the righteous, or those who were the friends of God, might rely confidently on his protection, and that Jesus, if he was of God, might do this as others might. On the sentiment in the passage, to wit, that God employs his angels to protect his people, see the notes at Psa_34:7; compare the notes at Heb_1:14. To keep thee in all thy ways - To preserve thee wheresoever thou goest. CLARKE, "He shall give his angels charge over thee - Evil spirits may attempt to injure thee; but they shall not be able. The angels of God shall have an especial charge to accompany, defend, and preserve thee; and against their power, the influence of evil spirits cannot prevail. These will, when necessary, turn thy steps out of the wag of danger; ward it off when it comes in thy ordinary path; suggest to thy mind prudent counsels, profitable designs, and pious purposes; and thus minister to thee as a child of God, and an heir of salvation. To keep thee in all thy ways - The path of duty is the way of safety. Thou canst not reasonably expect protection if thou walk not in the way of obedience. Thy ways are the paths of duty, which God’s word and providence have marked out for thee. The way of sin is not thy way - thy duty, thy interest. Keep in thy own ways, not in those of sin, Satan, the world, and the flesh; and God will take care of thee. GILL, "For he shall give his angels charge over thee,.... Created spirits, so called, made by the Lord, and are at his command; who are ministering spirits to his people, who encamp about them, and are concerned in the preservation of them; they being committed to their care and charge by him who is Lord of heaven and earth: Satan
- 84. applied this passageto Christ, Mat_4:6, nor did our Lord object to the application of it; and it can hardly be thought that he would have ventured to have done it, had he been aware that a misapplication might be objected; or that it was not the received sense of the place: what he is to be blamed for, in quoting it, was the wrong purpose for which he produced it, and for leaving out the next clause, which he saw was against his design; to keep thee in all thy ways; in walking and travelling from place to place, as Providence calls and directs; and in all civil ways, in all lawful business and employment of life; in all spiritual ones, as the ways of God and religion: what Satan tempted Christ to was neither of these ways; it was not a natural way of going, nor the duty of his office, nor any of the ways of God. HE RY, " That the angels of light shall be serviceable to them, Psa_91:11, Psa_91:12. This is a precious promise, and speaks a great deal both of honour and comfort to the saints, nor is it ever the worse for being quoted and abused by the devil in tempting Christ, Mat_4:6. Observe, [1.] The charge given to the angels concerning the saints. He who is the Lord of the angels, who gave them their being and gives laws to them, whose they are and whom they were made to serve, he shall give his angels a charge over thee, not only over the church in general, but over every particular believer. The angels keep the charge of the Lord their God; and this is the charge they receive from him. It denotes the great care God takes of the saints, in that the angels themselves shall be charged with them, and employed for them. The charge is to keep thee in all thy ways; here is a limitation of the promise: They shall keep thee in thy ways, that is, “as long as thou keepest in the way of thy duty;” those that go out of that way put themselves out of God's protection. This word the devil left out when he quoted the promise to enforce a temptation, knowing how much it made against him. But observe the extent of the promise; it is to keep thee in all thy ways: even where there is no apparent danger yet we need it, and where there is the most imminent danger we shall have it. Wherever the saints go the angels are charged with them, as the servants are with the children. [2.] The care which the angels take of the saints, pursuant to this charge: They shall bear thee up in their hands, which denotes both their great ability and their great affection. They are able to bear up the saints out of the reach of danger, and they do it with all the tenderness and affection wherewith the nurse carries the little child about in her arms; it speaks us helpless and them helpful. They are condescending in their ministrations; they keep the feet of the saints, lest they dash them against a stone, lest they stumble and fall into sin and into trouble. CALVI , "11For he has given his angels charge concerning thee. This is added by the Psalmist expressly with the view of obviating any fears which might arise from our infirmity; so that we cannot fail to be struck with the benignant condescension of God in thus not only forgiving our diffidence, but proposing the means by which it may be best removed. Does he exhibit himself to us as a fortress and shield, proffer the shadow of his protection, make himself known to us as a habitation in which we may abide, and stretch out his wings for our defense — surely we are chargeable with the worst ingratitude if we are not satisfied with promises so abundantly full and satisfactory? If we tremble to think of his majesty, he presents himself to us under the lowly figure of the hen: if we are terrified at the power of our enemies, and the multitude of dangers by which we are beset, he reminds us of his own invincible power, which extinguishes every opposing force. When even all these attempts to encourage us have been tried, and he finds that we still linger and
- 85. hesitate to approachhim, or cast ourselves upon his sole and exclusive protection, he next makes mention of the angels, and proffers them as guardians of our safety. As an additional illustration of his indulgent mercy, and compassion for our weakness, he represents those whom he has ready for our defense as being a numerous host; he does not assign one solitary angel to each saint, but commissions the whole armies of heaven to keep watch over every individual believer. It is the individual believer whom the Psalmist addresses, as we read also Psalms 34:7 — that “angels encamp round about them that fear him.” We may learn from this that there is no truth in the idea that each saint has his own peculiar guardian angel; and it is of no little consequence to consider, that as our enemies are numerous, so also are the friends to whom our defense is intrusted. It were something, no doubt, to know that even one angel was set over us with this commission, but it adds weight to the promise when we are informed that the charge of our safety is committed to a numerous host, as Elisha was enabled, by a like consideration, to despise the great army of adversaries which was arrayed against him, (2 Kings 6:16.) or is this inconsistent with passages of Scripture, which seem to speak as if a distinct angel were assigned to each individual. It is evident that God employs his angels in different ways, setting one angel over several whole nations, and again several angels over one man. There is no necessity that we should be nice and scrupulous in inquiring into the exact manner in which they minister together for our safety; it is enough that, knowing from the authority of an apostle the fact of their being appointed ministers to us, we should rest satisfied of their being always intent upon their commission. We read elsewhere of their readiness to obey and execute the commands of God; and this must go to strengthen our faith, since their exertions are made use of by God for our defense. The Psalmist, in the passage now before us, speaks of members of the Church generally; and yet the devil did not wrest the words when, in his temptation in the wilderness, he applied them particularly to Christ. It is true that he is constantly seeking to pervert and corrupt the truth of God; but, so far as general principles are concerned, he can put a specious gloss upon things, and is a sufficiently acute theologian. It is to be considered that when our whole human family were banished from the Divine favor, we ceased to have anything in common with the angels, and they to have any communication with us. It was Christ, and he only, who, by removing the ground of separation, reconciled the angels to us; this being his proper office, as the apostle observes, (Ephesians 1:10,) to gather together in one what had been dispersed both in heaven and on earth. This was represented to the holy patriarch Jacob under the figure of a ladder, (Genesis 28:12;) and, in allusion to our being united into one collective body with the angels, Christ said, “Afterwards ye shall see the heavens opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending,” (John 1:51.) The Psalmist adds, all your ways in the plural number, to convey to us more distinctly that wherever we go we may expect that the angels shall always extend their guardianship to us. The course of our life is subject to many windings and changes, and who can tell all the storms by which we are liable to be tossed? It was
- 86. necessary, therefore, toknow that the angels preside over all our particular actions and purposes, and thus to be assured of their safe-conduct in whatever quarter we might be called to move. This expression, however, your ways, was, in all likelihood, intended to enjoin upon us a due consideration and modesty, to warn us against tempting God by any rash step, and admonish us to confine ourselves within the bounds of our proper calling. For should we commit ourselves recklessly, and attempt things which the promise of God does not warrant us to undertake, aspiring at what is presumptuous, and opposed to the Divine will, we are not to expect that the angels will become ministers and helps to our temerity. Satan would appear to have craftily omitted this clause when he tempted Christ rashly to throw himself down from the temple. SPURGEO , "Ver. 11. For he shall give his angels charge over thee. ot one guardian angel, as some fondly dream, but all the angels are here alluded to. They are the bodyguard of the princes of the blood imperial of heaven, and they have received commission from their Lord and ours to watch carefully over all the interests of the faithful. When men have a charge they become doubly careful, and therefore the angels are represented as bidden by God himself to see to it that the elect are secured. It is down in the marching orders of the hosts of heaven that they take special note of the people who dwell in God. It is not to be wondered at that the servants are bidden to be careful of the comfort of their Master's guests; and we may be quite sure that when they are specially charged by the Lord himself they will carefully discharge the duty imposed upon them. To keep thee in all thy ways. To be a bodyguard, a garrison to the body, soul, and spirit of the saint. The limit of this protection "in all thy ways" is yet no limit to the heart which is right with God. It is not the way of the believer to go out of his way. He keeps in the way, and then the angels keep him. The protection here promised is exceeding broad as to place, for it refers to all our ways, and what do we wish for more? How angels thus keep us we cannot tell. Whether they repel demons, counteract spiritual plots, or even ward off the more subtle physical forces of disease, we do not know. Perhaps we shall one day stand amazed at the multiplied services which the unseen bands have rendered to us. EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS. Ver. 11. He shall give his angels charge, etc. Charge; charge is a strict command, more than a bare command; as when you would have a servant do a business certainly and fully, you lay a charge upon him, I charge you that you do not neglect that business; you do not barely tell what he should do, prescribe him his work, but you charge him to do it. So says the Lord unto the angels: My servants or children, now they are in the plague and pestilence, O my angels, I change you stir not from their houses, I charge you, stir not from such an one's bedside; it is a charge, "He shall give his angels charge." Further, he doth not only, and will not only charge his angel, but his angels; not one angel charged with the safety of his people, but many angels; for their better guard and security, "He shall give his angels charge." And again, "He will give his angels charge over thee to keep thee; "to keep thee;charge over thee and to keep thee; not only over the whole church of God, but over every particular member of the church of God; "He will give his angels charge over thee to keep thee; "this is his
- 87. marvellous care. Well,but besides this, "He will give his angels charge to keep thee in all thy ways, "not in some of thy ways, but in all thy ways. As God's providence is particular in regard of our persons, so it is universal in regard of our ways. "He will give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee, "not in some but "in all thy ways." But is this all? o: "They shall bear thee up in their hands, "as every servant desires and loves to take up the young heir, or the young master into his arms, so the angels. It is a great matter that the Lord promises to pitch his tents. "And the angels of the Lord shall pitch their tents round about them that fear him; "but here is more; the angels shall not only pitch their tents, be their guard, but their nurses, to bear them up in their hands; but why? "That thou dash not thy foot against a stone." When children begin to go, they are very apt to fall and get many a knock; to stumble at every little stone. ow there are many stones of stumbling that are in our way, and we are very apt to fall and miscarry; but such is the goodness of God, the providence of God, the goodness of his providence, that as he hath provided his angels to be our guard, in opposition to all our foreign enemies, so he hath provided his angels to be our nurses, in opposition to all our weaknesses and infirmities, that we get no hurt, that we miscarry not in the least. But what need God make use of angels to protect his people, he is able to do it alone; and is it not for God's dishonour to make use of them for the protection of his people? o, it is for the honour of God, for the more honourable the servants are, the instruments are, that a king or prince doth use for the protecting of his people, the more honourable is that king or prince. ow, the angels, they are honourable creatures; frequently they are called gods; "Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels."... They are the fittest people in the world for this employment, fittest in regard of themselves, fittest in regard of the saints. They are fittest in regard of themselves, for First, they are an exceeding strong and potent people; who more fit to look to and care for the concerns of the saints and people of God, than those that are strong and potent? It is said of the angels in Psalms 103:20 that they excel in strength. One angel you know destroyed a hundred and fourscore thousand of the host of Assyria in a night; as one constable will scare away twenty thieves, so one good angel invested with God's authority is able to drive away a thousand evil angels, devils: they are an exceeding strong and potent people. Second. As they are an exceeding strong and potent people, so they are a very knowing and a wise people; and who so fit to manage the affairs and concerns of the saints and people of God, and to protect and defend them, as a knowing and understanding people? You know what Joab said to David; "Thou art for wisdom as an angel of God." Says our Saviour, " o man knoweth that day and time, no, not the angels in heaven; "as if the angels in heaven knew every secret and were acquainted with every hidden thing: they are an exceeding knowing people, very prudent and very wise. Third. As they are an exceeding knowing and wise people, so they are also exceeding active and expeditious, quick in despatches. Who more fit to protect and defend the saints and people of God, than those that are active, expedite, and quick in their despatches? such are the angels. In the first of Ezekiel ye read that every one had four wings; why?, because of their great activity and expedition, and the quick despatch they make in all their affairs. Fourth. As they are an active and expeditious people, so they are a people very faithful both to God and man; in Psalms 103:20-21 they are ready to do God's will, and not only ready to fulfil God's will, but they do
- 88. it: "Bless theLord all ye his angels that excel in strength (Psalms 103:20), that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye his hosts, ye ministers of his that do his pleasure." They are very faithful; and who so fit to do the work, to attend and look to the concerns of the saints and people of God, as those that are faithful? Fifth. As they are an exceeding faithful people, so they are a people that are very loving to the saints and children of God, very loving; otherwise they were not fit to be their nurses: what is a nurse without love? They are loving to the saints. "Do it not, "(said the angel unto John), "I am thy fellow servant; "do not give divine worship to me, I am thy fellow servant; fellow servants are loving to one another; they are fellow servants with the saints... It is recorded of Alexander that being in great danger and to fight next day with his enemies, he slept very soundly the night before; and he being asked the reason thereof, said, Parmenio wakes; meaning a great and faithful captain of his; Parmenio wakes, says he. The angels are called watchmen, they watch and are faithful, therefore you may be secure, quiet, and at rest: trust in the Lord for ever, upon this account, in this day trust in the Lord. If these things be so, then, friends, why should we not stoop to any work commanded, though it lie much beneath us? Do not you think that the attending upon a sick man, a man that hath a plague sore running upon him, is a work that lies much beneath angels? yet the angels do it because it is commanded, though much beneath them yet they stoop to it because it is commanded; and what though a work lie much beneath you, yet if it be commanded, why should you not stoop to it? You will say, Such an one is much beneath me, I will not lay my hand under his shoes, he is much beneath me; ah, but the angels lay their hands under your shoes, and the work they do for you is much beneath them: why should we not be like our attendants? This is angelical obedience; the angels do you many a kindness, and never look for thanks from you, they do many a kindness that you are not aware of: why are you delivered sometimes you know not how? here is a hand under a wing, the ministration of angels is the cause of it. But I say the work they stoop to for you is much beneath them, and therefore why should we not stoop to any work commanded, though it lie much beneath us? William Bridge. Ver. 11. He shall give his angels charge over thee, etc. When Satan tempted Christ in the wilderness, he alleged but one sentence of Scripture for himself, Matthew 4:6, and that Psalm out of which he borrowed it made so plain against him, that he was fain to pick here a word and there a word, and leave out that which went before, and skip in the midst, and omit that which came after, or else he had marred his cause. The Scripture is so holy, and pure, and true, that no word nor syllable thereof can make for the Devil, or for sinners, or for heretics: yet, as the devil alleged Scripture, though it made not for him, but against him, so do the libertines, and epicures, and heretics, as though they had learned at his school. Henry Smith. Ver. 11. One angel armed with the power and glory of God is stronger than a whole country. Earthly princes are subject to many changes and great unsurety of life and estate. The reason is, their enemies may kill their watch, and corrupt their guard. But what men or kingdoms can touch the Church's watch? what angels of gold are able to corrupt the angels of God? and then how can that perish that is committed to keepers so mighty and faithful? Secondly, the charge of us is given to those ministering spirits by parcels, not in gross and piecemeal, not in a lump: our
- 89. members in abook, our hairs by tale and number. For it is upon record, and, as it were, delivered to them in writing in one Psalm, They keep all our bones, Psalms 34:20; in this, they keep our very foot, putting it in security (Psalms 91:12); and elsewhere our whole man and every member. And can a charge so precisely and so particularly given and taken, be neglected? Thirdly, their manner of keeping us, as it is set down in the text, cannot but promise great assurance; for, is not the little child safe while the nurse carrieth it in her arms, or beareth it in her hands? So while these nurses so bear us, can we be ill danger? but our nurses on earth may fall; these nurses, the angels, cannot. Robert Horn. Ver. 11. His angels. Taking the word angel in its literal meaning, messenger, we may look upon any agency which God employs to strengthen, protect, and help us, as his angel to us. Mary B.M. Duncan. Ver. 11. To keep thee in all thy ways. How should those heavenly spirits bear that man in their arms, like nurses, upon earth living; or bear up his soul to heaven, like winged porters, when he dies, that refuseth the right way? They shall keep us in all our ways. Out of the way it is their charge to oppose us, as to preserve us in the way. or is this more a terror to the ungodly, than to the righteous a comfort. For if an angel would keep even a Balaam from sinning, how much more careful are all those glorious powers to prevent the miscarriages of God's children! From how many falls and bruises have they saved us! In how many inclinations to evil have they turned us, either by removing occasions, or by casting in secretly good motions! We sin too often, and should catch many more falls, if those holy guardians did not uphold us. Satan is ready to divert us, when we endeavour to do well; when to do ill, angels are as ready to prevent us. We are in Joshua the high priest's ease, with Satan on the one hand, on the other an angel, Zechariah 3:1 : without this, our danger were greater than our defence, and we could neither stand nor rise. Thomas Adams. Ver. 11. To keep thee in all thy ways. Their commission, large as it is, reaches no further: when you leave that, you lose your guard; but while you keep your way, angels, yea; the God of angels, will keep you. Do not so much fear losing your estate or your liberty or your lives, as losing your way, and leaving your way: fear that more than any tiring; nothing but sin exposes you to misery. So long as you keep your way, you shall keep other things; or if you lose any of them, you shall get what is better: though you may be sufferers for Christ, you shall not be losers by him. Samuel Sletter, (1704) in "Morning Exercises." Ver. 11. In all thy ways Your ways are God's ways, your way is the way commanded by God. If you be out of God's ways, you are out of your own way: if you be in your way, the angels shall keep you, even in the time of a plague, and bear you up in their hands that you dash not your foot against a stone; but if you be out of your way, I will not insure your safety. When Balaam went upon the devil's errand an angel met him and scared his ass, and the ass ran his foot against the wall, dashed his foot against the wall. The promise is, "Thou shalt not dash thy foot against a stone; "but he was out of his way, and the angel met him and scared his ass, and his ass made him rush his leg against the wall. Jonah went out of his way when he ran away from God; God bade him go one way, and he went another. Well, what then were the angels with him for his protection; the very sea would not be quiet till he was thrown overboard: instead of angels to protect him, he had a whale to devour him. I confess indeed, through the free grace and mercy of God, the belly of destruction
- 90. was made achamber of preservation to him, but he was out of his way; and instead of an angel to keep him that he dash not his foot, his whole body was thrown overboard. Says Solomon, "As a bird from her nest, so is a man out of his place:" so long as the bird is in her nest it is free from the hawk, it is free from the birding piece, it is free from the nets and gins and snares as long as it is in its nest; but when the bird is off her nest then she is exposed to many dangers. So, so long as a man is in his way, in his place and in his way, he is well and under protection; but when a man is off his nest, out of his place and out of his way, then is he exposed to all dangers: but be but in your way and then you may assure yourselves of divine protection, and of the management thereof by the hands of angels. Oh who would not labour always to be in that way which God hath appointed him to be in? Why should we not always consider with ourselves and say, But am I in my way? Old Mr. Dod being upon the water and going out of one boat into another, slipped between them, and the first word he spake was this, "Am I in my way?" so we should always be saying, But am I in my way? am I in my way? I am now idling away my time, but am I in my way? Oh my soul, am I in my way? I am in my calling this day without prayer in the morning and reading the Scriptures; but am I in my way? Oh, my soul, am I in my way? I am now in such frothy company where I get no good, but hurt; but am I in my way? Ever consider this, Am I in my way? You may expect the Lord's protection and the angels' attendance, if you be in your way, but not else. William Bridge. Ver. 11. We have the safeguard of the empire; not only the protection of the King, from which the wicked as outlaws are secluded; but also the keeping of angels, to whom he hath given a charge over us, to keep us in all h's ways. So nearly we participate of his Divine things, that we have his own guard royal to attend us. Thomas Adams. Ver. 11. He shall give his angels charge over thee, etc. And is there care in heaven, and is there love In heavenly spirits to these creatures base, That may compassion of their evils move? There is, else much more wretched were the race Of men than beasts. But oh, the exceeding grace Of highest God, that loves his creatures so, And all his works with mercy doth embrace, That blessed angels he sends to and fro, To serve us wicked men, to serve his wicked foe! How oft do they their silver bowers leave, To come to succour us that succour want! How oft do they with golden pinions cleave The flitting skies, like flying pursuivant, Against foul fiends to aid us militant! They for us fight, they watch and duly ward, And their bright squadrons round about us plant; And all for love and nothing for reward. Oh, wily should heavenly God to man have such regard! Edmund Spenser, 1552- 1599. Ver. 11-12. It is observable that Scripture is the weapon that Satan doth desire to
- 91. wield against Christ.In his other ways of dealing he was shy, and did but lay them in Christ's way, offering only the occasion, and leaving him to take them up; but in this he is more confident, and industriously pleads it, as a thing which he could better stand to and more confidently avouch. The care of his subtlety herein, lay in the misrepresentation and abuse of it, as may be seen in these particulars: (1) In that he urged this promise to promote a sinful thing, contrary to the general end of all Scripture, which was therefore written `that we sin not.' (2) But more especially in his clipping and mutilating of it. He industriously leaves out that part of it which doth limit and confine the promise of protection to lawful undertakings, such as this was not, and renders it as a general promise of absolute safety, be the action what it will. It is a citation from Psalms 91:11-12, which there runs thus, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. These last words, "in all thy ways, "which doth direct to a true understanding of God's intention in that promise, he deceitfully leaves out, as if they were needless and unnecessary parts of the promise, when indeed they were on purpose put there by the Spirit of God, to give a description of those persons and actions, unto whom, in such cases, the accomplishment of the promise might be expected; for albeit the word in the original, which is translated "ways" — Mykrd —doth signify any kind of way or action in the general, yet in this place it doth not; for then God were engaged to an absolute protection of men, not only when they unnecessarily thrust themselves into dangers, but in the most abominably sinful actions whatsoever, which would have been a direct contradiction to those many scriptures wherein God threatens to withdraw his hand and leave sinners to the danger of their iniquities; but it is evident that the sense of it is no more than this, `God is with you, while you are with him.' We have a paraphrase of this text, to this purpose, in Proverbs 3:23, "Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble:" where the condition of this safety, pointed to in the word "then, " which leads the promise, is expressly mentioned in the foregoing verses, "My son, let them" —that is, the precepts of wisdom—"not depart from thine eyes... Then" —not upon other terms—"shalt thou walk in thy way safely." The "ways" then in this promise cited by Satan, are the ways of duty, or the ways of our lawful callings. The fallacy of Satan in this dealing with Scripture is obvious, and Christ might have given this answer, as Bernard hath it, That God promises to keep him in his ways, but not in self created dangers, for that was not his way, but his ruin; or if a way, it was Satan's way, but not his. (3) To these two, some add another abuse, in a subtle concealment of the following verse in Psalms 91:13 : Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder. This concerned Satan, whose cruelty and poisonous deceits were fitly represented by the lion and the adder, and there the promise is also explained to have a respect to Satan's temptations —that is—God would so manage his protection, that his children should not be led into a snare. Richard Gilpin. Ver. 11-12. There is, to my mind, a very remarkable coincidence of expression between the verses of this Psalm, about the office of God's angels, and that passage in Isaiah where Christ's sympathy and presence receive the same charge attributed to them without interposition. In Isaiah 63:9, we read, "In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them." And again, "They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone, "compared with "And he bare them, and he carried them all the days of old." Christ in us, by sympathy
- 92. with our nature—Christ in us, by the indwelling of his Spirit in each individual heart —thus he knows all our needs. Christ with us, in every step, all powerful to make all work for good, and with love and pity watching over our interests—thus his presence saves us, and all things are made his messengers to us. Mary B.M. Duncan. COKE, "Verses 11-13 Psalms 91:11-13. He shall give his angels charge, &c.— These verses point out still more plainly the occasion of this psalm. For as the people were not only exposed to diseases in the wilderness, but also to the incursions of wild beasts, and particularly the venomous bite of serpents, he tells them, that God would protect them from all these dangers, by giving his angels charge over them, to keep them in all their ways; and Psalms 91:13. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder, &c. There is something so particular in this, that it will suit no other part of history beside that to which we suppose it to refer. For the wilderness in which they were condemned to wander abounded with those noxious creatures, as we learn from Deuteronomy 8:15 and yet we do not read that the Israelites were infested by them, till towards the end of their forty years' wandering, when God was pleased, for the renewed murmurings of that people, to let them loose upon them to chastise them; and even then, immediately upon their humiliation, a miraculous remedy was provided, which deserves our notice. It was a serpent of brass, by the express order of God fixed upon a pole or standard: and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when be beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. See umbers 21:5-9. This brazen serpent was doubtless designed to call to their remembrance the great object of their faith and hope from the fall; the promised victory over the old serpent, through that Seed of the woman who was destined to bruise his head: nor can we have a better comment on the Mosaic symbol, than the words of our Lord himself, John 3:14 compared with John 12:32. See also Hebrews 2:14.; Revelation 12:9., and Isaiah 11:10. By comparing these texts together you will observe the harmony of Scripture, and how naturally the words of our Blessed Lord and his apostles point us through the prophesy of Isaiah, and the brazen serpent of Moses, back to the first notice of a Redeemer given to mankind, in that well-known sentence, Genesis 3:15 or the first link of that chain of prophesy which runs throughout the Old Testament, and has its completion in the ew. I shall not lay any stress upon that assertion of Justin Martyr, that the נס nes, or standard, upon which this brazen serpent hung, bore the figure of a cross: it is sufficient to our purpose, if this serpent, erected as a trophy, was considered by them as an emblem of the victory to be obtained over the old serpent by the promised Seed; whether they had any explicit knowledge of the means whereby this victory was to be obtained, or not: for in this view it presented to the minds of the faithful the hopes of a deliverance from death, in a higher sense than a present cure of the bite of these venomous creatures imported; and it is no improbable supposition, that a belief of the one was made the condition of the other. Whether they who looked at the brazen serpent were directed at the same time to repeat the psalm before us, I know, not; but this I am sure of, that it affords a meditation highly suitable to the occasion. A religious trust in God is what we see inculcated throughout; and that remarkable sentence, Psalms 91:13. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder, they young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample
- 93. under feet, (especiallyif, as Bochart seems to have proved, these are only names of serpents of different sorts, and should be rendered, the viper and the asp—the serpent and the dragon,) is only saying in other words, Thou shalt bruise the serpent's head: and if an act of faith in that great Person who was to do this for them be here supposed and implied, then it would be easy and natural to interpret the following verses of this psalm in a sense of faith likewise, and as pointing out to them in no obscure terms,—I might say, perhaps, in very magnificent terms,—the gospel life and salvation. Peters. We shall enlarge further on this subject, when we come to Matthew 4:6. EXPOSITORS DICTIO ARY, "The Ministry of Angels Psalm 91:11 The ministry of angels is too clearly written in Holy Scripture for any of us to doubt it, even if we had not the evidence of our own experience. The work of the angels is— I. To Guide us.—It is a great mystery, yet who can question that we may be led by them? The Gospel for today"s service tells us of the angels of little children always beholding the face of the Father in heaven. It is impossible to suppose that their work ceases when we pass from childhood"s state; and it is a comfort to think that our angels, receiving their inspiration in heaven, will lead us in the right way, if only we will submit ourselves to them. II. To Guard us; or, as the text has it, "to keep" us. Years ago, when one, who is now a bishop, was curate in a rural parish, he was sent for after midnight to visit a distant house where there was said to be serious illness. He went there, passing through a lonely road, only to find that he had been hoaxed. Years passed, and the incident was never explained until the bishop was sent for to visit in prison a man condemned to death. The prisoner recalled the incident, and explained that it was he who had sought to lure the curate out that he might rob him. "And why did you not do so?" asked the bishop. "Because," came the reply, "another man joined you just when I was going to attack you." There had been no man; who can doubt but that it was the bishop"s guardian angel? III. But otice the Limitation.—"To keep thee," but only in all thy ways, and the story of our Lord"s temptation shows us that the guidance and guardianship is given only when we are in the right way. Reference.—XCI:11.—J. Keble, Sermons for the Saints" Days, p372.
- 94. 12 they willlift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. BAR ES, "They shall bear thee up ... - As if they took hold of thee, and held thee up, when about to fall. Lest thou dash thy foot ... - Lest you should stumble and fall. They will protect you so that you may walk safely. CLARKE, "They shall bear thee up in their hands - Take the same care of thee as a nurse does of a weak and tender child; lead thee, - teach thee to walk, - lift thee up out of the way of danger, “lest thou shouldst dash thy foot against a stone,” receive any kind of injury, or be prevented from pursuing thy path with safety and comfort. Let us remember that it is God, whose these angels are; He gives them charge from Him they receive their commission, - to Him they are responsible for their charge. From God thou art to expect them; and for their help he alone is to receive the praise. It is expressly said, He shall give his angels charge; to show that they are not to be prayed to nor praised but God alone, whose servants they are. See the note on Mat_4:6. GILL, "They shall bear thee up in their hands,.... Which denotes the strength and power of angels to carry the saints in their hands; their tender care of them, such as a parent or nurse have of children; the helpless condition of the people of God, who are like infants, and need to be dealt with after this manner; the condescension of angels to take such an office on them, in submission to the will of God; the constant view they have of the saints, being always in their hands, and so in sight: thus they bear them, up in life, and at death carry their souls to Abraham's bosom: lest thou dash thy foot against a stone; lest they fall into sin, or into any calamity and distress; lest the least hurt or mischief befall them, or the least injury be done them; see Pro_3:23. The Targum interprets it of the evil concupiscence, or corruption of nature, which is like a stone; see Eze_36:26. CALVI , "12They shall bear thee upon their hands. He gives us a still higher idea of the guardianship of the angels, informing us, that they not only watch lest any
- 95. evil should befallus, and are on the alert to extend assistance, but bear up our steps with their hands, so as to prevent us from stumbling in our course. Were we to judge indeed by mere appearances, the children of God are far from being thus borne up aloft in their career; often they labor and pant with exertion, occasionally they stagger and fall, and it is with a struggle that they advance in their course; but as in the midst of all this weakness it is only by the singular help of God that they are preserved every moment from falling and from being destroyed, we need not wonder that the Psalmist should speak in such exalted terms of the assistance which they receive through the ministrations of angels. ever, besides, could we surmount the serious obstacles which Satan opposes to our prayers, unless God should bear us up in the manner here described. Let any one combine together the two considerations which have been mentioned, — our own utter weakness on the one hand, and on the other the roughness, the difficulties, the thorns which beset our way, the stupidity besides which characterises our hearts, and the subtlety of the evil one in laying snares for our destruction, — and he will see that the language of the Psalmist is not that of hyperbole, that we could not proceed one step did not the angels bear us up in their hands in a manner beyond the ordinary course of nature. That we frequently stumble is owing to our own fault in departing from him who is our head and leader. And though God suffers us to stumble and fall in this manner that he may convince us how weak we are in ourselves, yet, inasmuch as he does not permit us to be crushed or altogether overwhelmed, it is virtually even then as if he put his hand under us and bore us up. SPURGEO , "Ver. 12. They, that is the angels, God's own angels, shall cheerfully become our servants. They shall bear thee up in their hands; as nurses carry little children, with careful love, so shall those glorious spirits bear up each individual believer. Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone; even minor ills they ward off. It is most desirable that we should not stumble, but as the way is rough, it is most gracious on the Lord's part to send his servants to bear us up above the loose pebbles. If we cannot have the way smoothed it answers every purpose if we have angels to bear us up in their hands. Since the greatest ills may arise out of little accidents, it shows the wisdom of the Lord that from the smaller evils we are protected. EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS. Ver. 12. Angels... shall bear thee up... lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Angels are introduced as bearing up the believer in their hands, not that he may be carried in safety over some vast ocean, not that he may be transported through hostile and menacing squadrons, not that; when exposed to some extraordinary danger, he may be conveyed to a place of refuge, but, as bearing him up in their arms, "lest at any time he hurt his foot against a stone."... Angels, the topmost beings in creation, the radiant, the magnificent, the powerful—angels are represented as holding up a righteous man, lest some pebble in the path should make him trip, lest he hurt his foot against a stone. Is there, after all, any want of keeping between the agency and the act, so that there is even the appearance of angels being unworthily employed, employed on what is beneath them, when engaged in bearing us up, lest at any time we hurt the foot against a stone? ay, the hurting the foot against a stone has often laid the
- 96. foundations of fatalbodily disease: the injury which seemed too trifling to be worth notice has produced extreme sickness, and ended in death. Is it different in spiritual respects, in regard of the soul, to which the promise in our text must be specially applied? ot a jot. Or, if there be a difference, it is only that the peril to the soul from a slight injury is far greater than that to the body: the worst spiritual diseases might commonly be traced to inconsiderable beginnings... It can be no easy thing, this keeping the foot from being hurt against a stone, seeing that the highest of created beings are commissioned to effect it. either is it. The difficulty in religion is the taking up the cross "daily, "rather than the taking it up on some set occasion, and under extraordinary circumstances. The serving God in little things, the carrying religious principles into the details of life, the discipline of our tempers, the regulation of our speech, the domestic Christianity, the momentary sacrifices, the secret and unobserved self denials; who that knows anything of the difficulties of piety, does not know that there is greater danger of his failing in these than in trials of apparently far higher cost, and harder endurance; if on no other account, yet because the very absence of what looks important, or arduous, is likely to throw him off his guard, make him careless or confident, and thereby almost insure defect or defeat? Henry Melvill. Ver. 12. To carry them in their hands is a metaphor, and signifies a perfect execution of their custody, to have a special care of them, and therefore is rather expressed so, than carrying them on their shoulders. That which one carries on their hand they are sure to keep. The Spaniards have a proverb when they would signify eminent favour and friendship, `they carry him upon the palms of their hands, 'that is, they exceedingly love him, and diligently keep him. Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. He persists in the metaphor: children often stumble and fall, unless they be led and carried in hands and arms. By stones are meant all difficulties, objections, perils, both to the outward and inward man, as Christ is said to take care of hairs and sparrows, that is, of every thing even to a hair. ow we know what this charge is, saving that Zanchy adds also the metaphor of schoolmasters, and says that we are poor rustic people, strangers; but being adopted into the household of God, he gives his most noble ministers, the angels, charge, first of our nursing and then of our education; when we are weaned, to instruct us, to admonish, to institute, to correct us, to comfort us, to defend us, to preserve us from all evil, and to provoke us to all good. And these angels, seeing we are so dear to God, that for our sakes he spared not his own Son, take this charge with all their hearts upon them, and omit nothing of their duty from our birth to the end of our life. Henry Lawrence, in "A Treatise of our Communion and Warre with Angells, "1646. 13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
- 97. BAR ES, "Thoushalt tread upon the lion and adder - Thou shalt be safe among dangers, as if the rage of the lion were restrained, and he became like a lamb, and as if the poisonous tooth of the serpent were extracted. Compare Mar_16:18. The word used here to denote the “lion” is a poetic term, not employed in prose. The word rendered “adder” is, in the margin, asp. The Hebrew word - פתן pethen - commonly means viper, asp, or adder. See Job_20:14, note; Job_20:16, note; compare Psa_58:4; Isa_11:8. It may be applied to any venomous serpent. The young lion - The “young” lion is mentioned as particularly fierce and violent. See Psa_17:12. And the dragon ... - Hebrew, תנין tannıyn. See Psa_74:13, note; Job_7:12, note; Isa_ 27:1, note. In Exo_7:9-10, Exo_7:12, the word is rendered serpent (and serpents); in Gen_1:21; and Job_7:12; whale (and whales); in Deu_32:33; Neh_2:13; Psa_74:13; Psa_148:7; Isa_27:1; Isa_51:9; Jer_51:34, as here, dragon (and dragons); in Lam_4:3, sea monsters. The word does not occur elsewhere. It would perhaps properly denote a sea monster; yet it may be applied to a serpent. Thus applied, it would denote a serpent of the largest and most dangerous kind; and the idea is, that he who trusted in God would be safe amidst the most fearful dangers, as if he should walk safely amidst venomous serpents. CLARKE, "Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder - Even the king of the forest shall not be able to injure thee; should one of these attack thee, the angels whom God sends will give thee an easy victory over him. And even the asp, (פתן pethen), one of the most venomous of serpents, shall not be able to injure thee. The asp is a very small serpent, and peculiar to Egypt and Libya. Its poison kills without the possibility of a remedy. Those who are bitten by it die in about from three to eight hours; and it is said they die by sleep, without any kind of pain. Lord Bacon says the asp is less painful than all the other instruments of death. He supposes it to have an affinity to opium, but to be less disagreeable in its operation. It was probably an this account that Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, chose to die by the asp, as she was determined to prevent the designs of Augustus, who intended to have carried her captive to Rome to grace his triumph. The dragon shalt thou trample - The תנין tannin, which we translate dragon, means often any large aquatic animal; and perhaps here the crocodile or alligator. GILL, "Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder,.... Or be unhurt by such savage and poisonous creatures; as the Israelites, when they travelled through the wilderness, in which were serpents and scorpions; and many of the servants of God have been delivered from them, or have slain them, as Samson, David, and Daniel; and so Christ was among the wild beasts in the wilderness, and yet not touched or hurt by them; and
- 98. his disciples hadpower given them by him to tread on serpents and scorpions, and to take up serpents, without receiving any damage from them; and when a viper fastened on the hand of the Apostle Paul, he shook it off, without being hurt by it; see Mar_1:13, Act_28:5, it may be understood figuratively of Satan, who, for his voraciousness and cruelty, is compared to a lion; and, for his craft and subtlety, to a serpent, 1Pe_5:8, the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample underfoot; which also may be understood of the great dragon, the old serpent, called the devil and Satan; whom Christ trampled under his feet when he hung on the cross, and spoiled him and his principalities and powers; and who, in a short time, will be bruised under the feet of his people, as he has been already by the seed of the woman, Gen_3:15. HE RY, "The care which the angels take of the saints, pursuant to this charge: They shall bear thee up in their hands, which denotes both their great ability and their great affection. They are able to bear up the saints out of the reach of danger, and they do it with all the tenderness and affection wherewith the nurse carries the little child about in her arms; it speaks us helpless and them helpful. They are condescending in their ministrations; they keep the feet of the saints, lest they dash them against a stone, lest they stumble and fall into sin and into trouble. [3.] That the powers of darkness shall be triumphed over by them (Psa_91:13): Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder. The devil is called a roaring lion, the old serpent, the red dragon; so that to this promise the apostle seems to refer in that (Rom_16:20), The God of peace shall tread Satan under your feet. Christ has broken the serpent's head, spoiled our spiritual enemies (Col_2:15), and through him we are more than conquerors; for Christ calls us, as Joshua called the captains of Israel, to come and set our feet on the necks of vanquished enemies. Some think that this promise had its full accomplishment in Christ, and the miraculous power which he had over the whole creation, healing the sick, casting out devils, and particularly putting it into his disciples' commission that they should take up serpents, Mar_16:18. It may be applied to that care of the divine Providence by which we are preserved from ravenous noxious creatures (the wild beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee, Job_5:23); nay, and have ways and means of taming them, Jam_3:7. JAMISO , "Even the fiercest, strongest, and most insidious animals may be trampled on with impunity. SBC, "The definite promise, "Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the dragon," was a reference not only to reptiles and wild beasts of outward evil, but to evils in which the deadliness of vice is concentrated in our individual hearts: evil thoughts, and deeds, and habits which assail and hurt the soul. The fitness of the metaphor is shown by the fact that we find it also in the heathen mythology. The Greek type of a deliverer of the world was the hero Hercules. They saw, as we see, that he who would indeed conquer evil in the world must first conquer it in his own heart. The moral is finely conveyed in the legend of his conquest of the Nemaean lion. Every man’s Nemaean lion lies in the way for him somewhere. All future victories depend upon that. Kill it, and through all the rest of your lives what was once terrible becomes your armour; you are clothed with the virtue of that conquest. I. In the first place, this lion is to be fought in the darkness, and in the cavern, and with no earthly weapons. The lion is that inward sin, that special impulse and temptation to
- 99. evil, which ismost directed against your individual heart. II. Observe the infinite superiority which Christ has granted to us in these days. The Greeks had noble ideals, but their conduct fell as far short of these ideals as ours does. But often these ideals were grievously corrupt. Human strength and knowledge are at the best but perfect weakness. But it is the mercy of God that He has given us in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ an ideal not human, but Divine. III. Notice that the more early this battle is undertaken, the more surely it is won. He who strangles serpents in his youth slays monsters in his manhood. He who has early had strength to conquer temptations will not be so likely later to lose his self-reverence and his self-control. F. W. Farrar, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxiii., p. 33. CALVI , "13.Thou shalt walk over the lion and asp. The same truth is here expressed in different words. He had already spoken of the obstacles which Satan throws in our course under the figure of a stone. ow he speaks of the formidable troubles to which we are exposed in the world under the figures of the asp, lion, young lion, and dragon So long as we are here we may be truly said to walk amongst wild beasts, and such as threaten us with destruction. And in this case what would become of us did not God promise to make us victorious over the manifold evils which everywhere impend us? one who seriously considers the temptations to which he is liable will wonder that the Psalmist, with the view of removing apprehension from the minds of the Lord’s people, should have adopted the language of hyperbole; nor indeed will he say that it is the language of hyperbole, but a true and exact representation of their case. We boast much of our courage so long as we remain at a distance from the scene of danger; but no sooner are we brought into action, than in the smallest matters we conjure up to ourselves lions, and dragons, and a host of frightful dangers. The Psalmist accommodates his language to this infirmity of our carnal apprehension. The Hebrew word ,שחל shachal, which in the Septuagint is rendered asp, (581) signifies a lion, and such repetition in the second member of the sentence is usual in the Hebrew. There is therefore no occasion for seeking any nice distinction which may have been intended in specifying these four different kinds of animals; only by the lion and young lion we are evidently to understand more open dangers, where we are assailed by force and violence, and by the serpent and dragon hidden mischiefs, where the enemy springs upon us insidiously and unexpectedly, as the serpent from its lurking place. (582) Cresswell thinks it probable that the language of this verse is proverbial. “The course of human life,” he remarks, “is in Scripture compared to a journey; and the dangers described in this verse were common to the wayfaring man in the Psalmist’s time and country.” SPURGEO , "Ver. 13. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder. Over force and fraud shalt thou march victoriously; bold opponents and treacherous adversaries shall alike be trodden down. When our shoes are iron and brass lions and adders are easily enough crushed beneath our heel.
- 100. The young lionand the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. The strongest foe in power, and the most mysterious in cunning, shall be conquered by the man of God. ot only from stones in the way, but from serpents also, shall we be safe. To men who dwell in God the most evil forces become harmless, they wear a charmed life, and defy the deadliest ills. Their feet come into contact with the worst of foes, even Satan himself nibbles at their heel, but in Christ Jesus they have the assured hope of bruising Satan under their feet shortly. The people of God are the real "George and the dragon, "the true lion kings and serpent tamers. Their dominion over the powers of darkness makes them cry, "Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy word." EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS. Ver. 13. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder, the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. What avails a human foot among these? What force of human affection can stand fast among such terrible monsters? These are spiritual wickednesses, and are designated by not incongruous titles... One is an asp, another a basilisk, a third a lion, and a fourth a dragon, because each in his own invisible way variously wounds, —one by his bite, another by his look, a third by his roar or blow, and a fourth by his breath... Consider this also, whether perchance we are able to meet these four temptations with four virtues. The lion roars, who will not fear? If any there be, he shall be brave. But when the lion is foiled, the dragon lurks in the sand, in order to excite the soul with his poisonous breath; breathing therein the lust of earthly things. Who, think you, shall escape his wiles? one but the prudent. But perhaps whilst you are careful in attacking these, some annoyance vexes you; and lo! the asp is upon you forthwith. For he seems to have found for himself a seasonable moment. Who is he that shall not be exasperated by this asp? Certainly the man of temperance and modesty, who knows how to abound, and to suffer want. On this opportunity, I think, the Evil Eye with its wicked allurements may determine to fascinate thee. Who shall turn away his face? Truly the just man, who not only desires not to take to himself the glory due to God, but not even to receive what is presented by another: if yet he is a just man, that justly executes what is just, who performs not his righteousness before men, who, lastly, although he is just, lifts not up his head. For this virtue consists specially in humility. This purifies the intention, this also obtains merit all the more truly and effectually, because it arrogates less to itself. Bernard. Ver. 13. Adder. The pethen is classed with the lion as being equally to be dreaded by the traveller... There is no doubt that the Egyptian cobra is the pethen of Scripture. J. G. Wood. Ver. 13. Dragon. The expression is used (1) for "sea monsters, " (2) for serpents, (3) for wild beasts or birds characteristic of desolate places, and (4) it is used figuratively to represent the enemies of the Lord, and especially Pharaoh, as head and representative of the Egyptian power, and ebuchadnezzar, the head and representative of the Chaldean monarchy. The term is thus a general one, signifying any monstrous creature, whether of the land or of the water, and is to be set down with the one or the other, according as the context indicates. John Duns, in "Biblical atural Science." Ver. 13. Thou shalt tread upon; thou shalt trample under feet. Thou shalt tread
- 101. upon them, notaccidentally, as a man treads upon an adder or a serpent in the way; but his meaning is, thou shalt intentionally tread upon them like a conqueror, thou shalt tread upon them to testify the dominion over them, so when the Lord Jesus gave that promise (Lu 10:19) to his disciples, that they should do great things, he saith, You shall tread upon serpents; that is, you shall have power to overcome whatsoever may annoy you: serpentine power is all hurtful power, whether literal or mystical. As the Apostle assures all believers (Romans 16:20), "God shall tread down Satan (that old serpent) under your feet shortly." Joseph Caryl. Ver. 13 (second clause). But what is said unto Christ? And thou shalt tread on the lion and dragon. Lion, for overt wrath; dragon for covert lurking. Augustine. BE SO , "Psalms 91:13. Thou shalt tread upon the lion — The lion shall lie prostrate at thy feet, and thou shalt securely put thy feet upon his neck, as the Israelites did upon the necks of the Canaanitish kings, Joshua 10:24. The young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample, &c. — By which he figuratively understands all pernicious creatures, though never so strong, and fierce, and subtle, and all sorts of enemies. “The fury and venom of our spiritual enemies,” especially, “are often portrayed by the natural qualities of lions and serpents.” And it is observable, that when the seventy disciples returned to Christ with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject to us through thy name, he answered them in the metaphorical language of this Psalm, Behold I give unto you power to tread on scorpions and serpents, &c. A promise this, which, in part, at least, belongs to all his faithful servants, whom through grace, he makes more than conquerors in all their conflicts with the same adversaries; enabling them to resist the devil, as St. Peter exhorts, steadfast in the faith; or bruising Satan under their feet, as St. Paul expresses it. We have need, however, to pray “for courage to resist the lion’s rage, and wisdom to elude the serpent’s wiles.” EXPOSITORS DICTIO ARY, "Let othing You Dismay Psalm 91:13 The whole of this Psalm is an unfolding of the certain outcome of fellowship with God. The man who dwells in the secret place of the Most High finds there a Divine power of protection and defence which lifts him into a place of safety in all the assaults of the enemy. As a hen covers her brood with her feathers, so is he covered by the Lord. He is defended as with a shield; he is upheld by angel ministrants so that his unwary footsteps do not slip. It is indeed a Psalm of the joy-bells which ring over the union of weakness with strength, of human need with Divine fullness. It tells with clear simplicity of the completeness of the provisions of grace for the life of the believer, and rings out, as though in defiance of the adversary, the clear note of certain victory in the inevitable conflicts of life. I. The lion—strongest and fiercest of beasts—may well stand for a man"s besetting sin, the temptation which is always nearest to him and from which there seems no available way of escape. And just as lions do not frequent the haunts of mankind, but are met in lonely and desert lands, so is this temptation met in the unshared
- 102. solitudes of life.As in the days of ero, Christians are always antagonizing lions, but the arena of their conflict is not open to the public. The struggle is waged without human spectators, and the victory when realized is unapplauded save in the courts of conscience and of heaven. Or, again, the lion may stand for the open opposition which every man meets as he pursues the pathway of God"s revealed will. II. The adder hidden in the grass or rocky crevices of the pathway, ready to dart out upon the unsuspecting pilgrim, with the power of death in its sting, well expresses the swiftness and unexpectedness with which temptation often assails men. The lion roars and gives warning of his approach, but the adder is most frequently encountered without any warning whatever of its presence. Suddenly the attack is delivered, and only he whose feet are Divinely shod can tread down the unlooked- for enemy. Who has not known temptation of this sort? It is of such that most defeat is recorded. Paradoxical though it sounds, such temptation usually finds its point of least resistance in a man"s strongest part. III. The dragon stands for temptation of an entirely different order, for no such beast is known to Prayer of Manasseh , except as the creation of his own imaginations. The dragon is but the fierce creature of mythical story, the terror of earlier ages, and the dread of childhood. As such it stands here for those temptations which are largely the result of uncontrolled thought, those creatures whose existence is the projection of a disordered mind on the soul"s vision. Though but imaginary, they are none the less strong to destroy those who do not in the courage of faith resolutely "trample them underfoot," and no Gospel promise of victory would be adequate which took no account of them. A man"s strongest foes are not only of his own household but frequently of his own heart where the dragon has its birth. Evil desires, enmities, ambitions, jealousies, hot passions, are all the product of an unchecked imagination, and going forth from out the heart they assume mysterious strength to leap upon and overcome their own parent. Of the same origin, though of different form, is the dragon of dark pessimism, most frequently concerning the future. —J. Stuart Holden, The Pre-Eminent Lord, p29. EBC, "The perils, further specified in Psalms 91:13, correspond to those of the previous part in being open and secret: the lion with its roar and leap, the adder with its stealthy glide among the herbage and its unlooked-for bite. So, the two sets of assurances, taken together, cover the whole ground of life, both in its moments of hidden communion in the secret place of the Most High, and in its times of diligent discharge of duty on life’s common way. Perils of communion and perils of work are equally real, and equally may we be sheltered from them. God Himself spreads His wing over the trustful man, and sends His messengers to keep him, in all the paths appointed for him by God. The angels have no charge to take stones out of the way. Hinderances are good for us. Smooth paths weary and make presumptuous. Rough ones bring out our best and drive us to look to God. But His messengers have for their task to lift us on their palms over difficulties, not so that we shall not feel them
- 103. to be difficult,but so that we shall not strike our foot against them. Many a man remembers the elevation and buoyancy of spirit which strangely came to him when most pressed by work or trouble. God’s angels were bearing him up. Active life is full of open and secret foes as well as of difficulties. He that keeps near to God will pass unharmed through them all, and, with a foot made strong and firm by God’s own power infused into it, will be able to crush the life out of the most formidable and the most sly assailants. "The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly." Finally, God Himself speaks, and confirms and deepens the previous assurances. That He is represented as speaking of, not to, His servant increases the majesty of the utterance, by seeming to call the universe to hear, and converts promises to an individual into promises to everyone who will fulfil the requisite conditions. These are threefold. God desires that men should cling to Him, know His name, and call on Him. The word rendered "cling" includes more than "setting love upon" one. It means to bind or knit oneself to anything, and so embraces the cleaving of a fixed heart, of a "recollected" mind, and of an obedient will. Such clinging demands effort: for every hand relaxes its grasp, unless ever and again tightened. He who thus clings will come to "know" God’s "name," with the knowledge which is born of experience, and is loving familiarity, not mere intellectual apprehension. Such clinging and knowledge will find utterance in continual converse with God, not only when needing deliverance, but in perpetual aspiration after Him. The promises to such a one go very deep and stretch very far. "I will deliver him." So the previous assurance that no evil shall come nigh him is explained and brought into correspondence with the facts of life. Evil may be experienced. Sorrows will come. But they will not touch the central core of the true life, and from them God wilt deliver, not only by causing them to cease, but by fitting us to bear. Clinging to Him, a man will be "drawn out of many waters," like Peter on the stormy lake. "I will set him on high" is more than a parallel promise to that of deliverance. It includes that; for a man lifted to a height is safe from the flood that sweeps through the valley, or from the enemies that ravage the plain. But that elevation, which comes from knowing God’s name, brings more than safety, even a life lived in a higher region than that. of things seen. "I will answer him." How can He fail to hear when they who trust Him cry? Promises, especially for the troubled, follow, which do not conflict with the earlier assurances, rightly understood. "I will be with him in trouble." God’s presence is the answer to His servant’s call. God comes nearer to devout and tried souls, as a mother presses herself caressingly closer to a weeping child. So, no man need add solitude to sadness, but may have God sitting with him, like Job’s friends, waiting to comfort him with true comfort. And His presence delivers from, and glorifies after, trouble borne as becomes God’s friend. The bit of dull steel might complain, if it could feel, of the pain of being polished, but the result is to make it a mirror fit to flash back the sunlight. "With length of days will I satisfy him" is, no doubt, a promise belonging more
- 104. especially to OldTestament times; but if we put emphasis on "satisfy," rather than on the extended duration, it may fairly suggest that, to the trustful soul, life is long enough, whatever its duration, and that the guest, who has sat at God’s table here, is not unwilling to rise from it, when his time comes, being "satisfied with favour, and full of the goodness of the Lord." The vision of God’s salvation, which is set last, seems from its position in the series to point, however dimly, to a vision which comes after earth’s troubles and length of days. The psalmist’s language implies not a mere casual beholding, but a fixed gaze. Delitzsch renders "revel in My salvation" (English translation). Cheyne has "feast his eyes with." Such seeing is possession. The crown of God’s promises to the man who makes God his dwelling place is a full, rapturous experience of a full salvation, which follows on the troubles and deliverances of earth, and brings a more dazzling honour and a more perfect satisfaction. 14 “Because he[b] loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. BAR ES, "Because he hath set his love upon me - Has become attached to me; has united himself with me; is my friend. The Hebrew word expresses the strongest attachment, and is equivalent to our expression - “to fall in love.” It refers here to the fact that God is the object of supreme affection on the part of his people; and it also here implies, that this springs from their hearts; that they have seen such beauty in his character, and have such strong desire for him, that their hearts go out in warm affection toward him. Therefore will I deliver him - I will save him from trouble and from danger. I will set him on high - By acknowledging him as my own, and treating him accordingly. Because he hath known my name - He has known me; that is, he understands my true character, and has learned to love me. CLARKE, "Because he hath set his love upon me - Here the Most High is introduced as confirming the word of his servant. He has fixed his love - his heart and soul, on me.
- 105. Therefore will Ideliver him - I will save him in all troubles, temptations, and evils of every kind. I will set him on high - I will place him out of the reach of all his enemies. I will honor and ennoble him, because he hath known my name - because he has loved, honored, and served me, and rendered me that worship which is my due. He has known me to be the God of infinite mercy and love. GILL, "Because he hath set his love upon me,.... These are the words of God himself; and, according to Aben Ezra, are directed to the angels, describing the good man, and making promises to him; and in this clause he is represented as one that had "set his love" upon the Lord, being first loved by the Lord, and having the grace of love wrought in his heart by him: the phrase denotes the strength of his affection to God, and the sincerity of it; its singularity, being placed alone on him, and the settlement and fixedness of it, so as nothing could separate from it: this the Lord takes great notice of, and is highly well pleased with: hence it follows, therefore will I deliver him: from noisome diseases before mentioned, from all afflictions into which he comes, and from all the temptations of the evil one, so as that he shall not be hurt or destroyed by them: I will set him on high; on the Rock Christ Jesus, that is higher than he, higher than the angels, higher than the heavens, and where he is now out of the reach of all his enemies, and will be set hereafter on high in heaven, among princes, inheriting the throne of glory; yea, even set upon the same throne with Christ himself: because he hath known my name; himself, his being, and perfections; his Son, the Angel of his presence, in whom his name, nature, and perfections are; and his name as proclaimed in him, a God gracious and merciful; and this not merely notionally, but experimentally, and affectionately and fiducially; for such, that truly know him, love him, and trust in him; and these exalt him, and so are exalted and set on high by him. HE RY 14-16, " He brings in God himself speaking words of comfort to the saints, and declaring the mercy he had in store for them, Psa_91:14-16. Some make this to be spoken to the angels as the reason of the charge given them concerning the saints, as if he had said, “Take care of them, for they are dear to me, and I have a tender concern for them.” And now, as before, we must observe, 1. To whom these promises do belong; they are described by three characters: - (1.) They are such as know God's name. His nature we cannot fully know; but by his name he has made himself known, and with that we must acquaint ourselves. (2.) They are such as have set their love upon him; and those who rightly know him will love him, will place their love upon him as the only adequate object of it, will let out their love towards him with pleasure and enlargement, and will fix their love upon him with a resolution never to remove it to any rival. (3.) They are such as call upon him, as by prayer keep up a constant correspondence with him, and in every difficult case refer themselves to him. 2. What the promises are which God makes to the saints. (1.) That he will, in due time, deliver them out of trouble: I will deliver him (Psa_91:14 and again Psa_91:15), denoting a double deliverance, living and dying, a deliverance in trouble and a deliverance out of trouble. If God proportions the degree and continuance of our
- 106. troubles to ourstrength, if he keeps us from offending him in our troubles, and makes our death our discharge, at length, from all our troubles, then this promise is fulfilled. See Psa_34:19; 2Ti_3:11; 2Ti_4:18. (2.) That he will, in the mean time, be with them in trouble, Psa_91:15. If he does not immediately put a period to their afflictions, yet they shall have his gracious presence with them in their troubles; he will take notice of their sorrows, and know their souls in adversity, will visit them graciously by his word and Spirit, and converse with them, will take their part, will support and comfort them, and sanctify their afflictions to them, which will be the surest token of his presence with them in their troubles. (3.) That herein he will answer their prayers: He shall call upon me; I will pour upon him the spirit of prayer, and then I will answer, answer by promises (Psa_85:8), answer by providences, bringing in seasonable relief, and answer by graces, strengthening them with strength in their souls (Psa_138:3); thus he answered Paul with grace sufficient, 2Co_12:9. (4.) That he will exalt and dignify them: I will set him on high, out of the reach of trouble, above the stormy region, on a rock above the waves, Isa_33:16. They shall be enabled, by the grace of God, to look down upon the things of this world with a holy contempt and indifference, to look up to the things of the other world with a holy ambition and concern; and then they are set on high. I will honour him; those are truly honourable whom God puts honour upon by taking them into covenant and communion with himself and designing them for his kingdom and glory, Joh_12:26. (5.) That they shall have a sufficiency of life in this world (Psa_91:16): With length of days will I satisfy him; that is JAMISO 14-16, "God Himself speaks (compare Psa_46:10; Psa_75:2, Psa_75:3). All the terms to express safety and peace indicate the most undoubting confidence (compare Psa_18:2; Psa_20:1; Psa_22:5). set his love — that of the most ardent kind. CALVI , "14.Because he hath trusted in me, I will deliver him. It may prevent any feeling of disgust or weariness under the repetition and enlargement of the Psalmist upon his present subject, to remember, that, as I have already observed, he is influenced in this by a due consideration of our weakness, ever indisposed, as we are upon the approach of danger, to exercise a due reliance upon the providence of God. With this view he now introduces God himself as speaking, and confirming by his own voice what had already been asserted. And here it is noticeable that God, in declaring from heaven that we shall be safe under the wings of his protection, speaks of nothing as necessary on the part of his people but hope or trust. For the Hebrew verb חשק , chashak, which signifies to desire, or love, or, as we commonly express it, to find our delight in any object, means here to rest with a sweet confidence in God, and rejoice in his favor. He engages to extend us assistance, if we seek him in sincerity. The language implies that we must be continually surrounded by death and destruction in this world, unless his hand is stretched out for our preservation. Occasionally he assists even unbelievers, but it is only to his believing people that his help is vouchsafed, in the sense of his being their Savior to the true extent of that term, and their Savior to the end. Their knowing the name of God is spoken of in connection with their trust and expectation; and very properly, for why is it that men are found casting their eyes vainly round them to every quarter in the hour of danger, but because they are ignorant of the power of God? They cannot
- 107. indeed be saidto know God at all, but delude themselves with a vague apprehension of something which is not God, a mere dead idol substituted for him in their imaginations. As it is a true knowledge of God which begets confidence in him, and leads us to call upon him; and as none can seek him sincerely but those who have apprehended the promises, and put due honor upon his name, the Psalmist with great propriety and truth represents this knowledge as being the spring or fountain of trust. That the doctrine which he teaches was needful we may learn from the senseless and erroneous manner in which the Papists speak of faith. While they inculcate an implicit adherence to God, they bury the word which opens up the only access which men can have to him. The expression to exalt or lift up on high means no more than to keep in a state of safety or security; but the reason of this metaphor is, that God preserves his people in an extraordinary manner, raising them, as it were, to some high and impregnable fortress. SPURGEO , "Ver. 14. Here we have the Lord himself speaking of his own chosen one. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him. ot because he deserves to be thus kept, but because with all his imperfections he does love his God; therefore not the angels of God only, but the God of angels himself will come to his rescue in all perilous times, and will effectually deliver him. When the heart is enamoured of the Lord, all taken up with him, and intensely attached to him, the Lord will recognise the sacred flame, and preserve the man who bears it in his bosom. It is love, —love set upon God, which is the distinguishing mark of those whom the Lord secures from ill. I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. The man has known the attributes of God so as to trust in him, and then by experience has arrived at a yet deeper knowledge, this shall be regarded by the Lord as a pledge of his grace, and he will set the owner of it above danger or fear, where he shall dwell in peace and joy. one abide in intimate fellowship with God unless they possess a warm affection towards God, and an intelligent trust in him; these gifts of grace are precious in Jehovah's eyes, and wherever he sees them he smiles upon them. How elevated is the standing which the Lord gives to the believer. We ought to covet it right earnestly. If we climb on high it may be dangerous, but if God sets us there it is glorious. EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS. Ver. 14. Because he hath set his love upon me. Vulg. Because he hath hoped in me. Whatever is to be done, whatever is to be declined, whatever is to be endured, whatever is to be chosen, Thou O Lord art my hope. This is the only cause of all my promises, this the sole reason of my expectation. Let another pretend to merit, let him boast that he bears the burden and heat of the day, let him say that he fasts twice on the Sabbath, let him finally glory that he is not as other men; for me it is good to cleave unto God, to place my hope in the Lord God. Let others hope in other things, one in his knowledge of letters, another in his worldly wisdom, one in his nobility, one in his dignity, another in some other vanity, for thy sake I have made all things loss, and count them but dung; since Thou, Lord, art my hope. Bernard, quoted by Le Blanc. Ver. 14 (.first clause). As there is a because and a therefore in the process of the law,
- 108. in concluding deathfor sin, so there is a because and a therefore in the process of grace, and of the gospel, which doth reason from one grace given to infer another grace to be given, even grace for grace; and such is this here: Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him. David Dickson. Ver. 14. He does not say, Because he is without sin, because he has perfectly kept all my precepts, because he has merit and is worthy to be delivered and guarded. But he produces those qualities which are even found in the weak, the imperfect, and those still exposed to sin in the flesh, namely, adhesion, knowledge of his name, and prayer. Musculus. Ver. 14. He hath set his love upon me. In the love of a divinely illuminated believer there is (1) the sweet property of gratitude. The soul has just and enlarged views of the salvation which he has obtained through the name of Jesus. The evils from which he is saved; the blessings in hand, and the blessings in hope; the salvation in time, and the salvation through eternity, which can and shall be enjoyed through the name of Jesus, excites feelings of the most ardent gratitude in the soul of the Christian. (2) Another delightful ingredient in this settled love is, admiration. Everything in the scheme and execution of God's redeeming plan is an object of admiration. All that the Lord Jesus is in himself; all that he has done; all that he does at the present; and all that he has promised to do for his people, deserves the warmest admiration. This holy feeling is experienced in the breast of the man to whom the Lord can say, He hath set his love upon me. (3) Another ingredient in the illuminated love of the believer is delightful complacency. othing can afford complacent delight in any excellency unless we are persuaded that we either do possess, or may possess it. I may go to the palace of the greatest monarch in the world, and be deeply struck with astonishment and admiration at the wonder beheld, but there will not be one thrill of complacency felt in my bosom at the view of the astonishing objects which crowd upon my vision. Why? Because I neither have, nor can have any interest in them; they are not mine, nor ever can be; therefore, I cannot take complacent delight in them. But the love of the Christian is a delightful love, (as Mr. Baxter called it,)because there is in the Lord everything that is worthy of infinite and eternal admiration; and then there is the thought which produces a thrill of pleasure, —whatever I admire I can, in some measure, possess. The illuminated eye of God's favourite sees everything in the Lord to supply his necessities; everything to satisfy his desires, all his own; which makes the soul delight itself in the Lord, and he rests in his love. Therefore, the Lord says of the object of his lovingkindness, "He hath set his love upon me" —he hath renounced sin as the greatest abomination; he hath taken off the heart from all idolatrous attachment to the creature, and placed it fixedly and supremely upon God. William Dawson, Methodist Preacher (1773-1841). Ver. 14. He hath set his love upon me. We have a similar expression in daily use, which means the bending of all our energies to one end—a ceaseless effort after one object. We say, "I have set my heart on such a thing." This is what God will have from us—an intense, single hearted love. We must love him "with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our strength, and with all our mind, "so that, like Jesus, we may "delight to do his will." Just let us think of the way in which setting our heart on anything affects us, head, hands, time, thought, action—all are at work for us attainment. How we sacrifice everything else to it? Comfort, ease,
- 109. present advantage, money,health, nay, our very selves, go freely for the sake of our cherished wish. Have I so "set my heart upon" God? Temperaments differ. This may be an overdrawn picture of the way in which some of us seek a cherished object. But each knows his own capability in this way. God also knows our frame, and requires his best at every man's hand. There is one thing in this verse which may encourage us very much. It is not because of perfect love that God will deliver. It is to the will to love and serve—it is to the setting the heart, that the promise is made—to the "full purpose of heart" that is set to cleave unto the Lord. Mary B. M. Duncan. Ver. 14. I will set him on high. That is, in an inaccessible, or lofty place, I will set him, which means, I will deliver him. When men truly know God to be a deliverer, they both put confidence in Him, and call upon Him. Then God exalts and delivers him that calls. Franciscus Vatablus. Ver. 14. I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. There is a great deal of safety in the knowledge of God, in his attributes, and in his Christ. A man's safety we see lies in his running to the tower (Proverbs 28:10); he runs and is safe. And it is the knowledge of this tower that sets a man a running to it. Hence we find safety attributed to the knowledge of the Lord. "I will set him on high, "I will exalt him, and so he shall be safe. Why so? "Because he hath known my name"; for the knowing of God aright was that which made him run, and so he is exalted and set on high. Then a man is safe when he hath got this tower to be his tower, when he hath gotten God to be his God. ow when we know God, we get him to be our God, and make this tower our tower, Jeremiah 24:7 : "I will give them an heart to know me, and I will be their God." Jeremiah Dyke, in "The Righteous Man's Tower, "1639. Ver. 14-16. He hath known my name. From this text I would introduce to your notice the most desirable character under the sun; and I would exhibit him before you to excite each one to seek, until you obtain the same blessedness. The character that I shall exhibit is GOD'S FAVOURITE, one who is an object of the "lovingkindness of the Lord"; and in reading this passage there are two things which strike our attention concerning such a character. First, what the Lord says of him. Second, what the Lord says to him. ow, then, my brethren—LOOK! There stands before you GOD's FAVOURITE! I. Listen to what God says OF him. 1. He says of him, "He knows my name." The first principle of the life of God the fallen soul of man is knowledge; spiritual, divine knowledge. The first operation of the Holy Ghost in the work of salvation, is a conviction of the character and perfections and relations of God. The Lord says, "he knows my name." He knows my name as Omniscient, Omnipresent, Holy, Just and True. (1) He first knows my name as a sin hating, sin avenging God; and this knowledge was a means of leading him to a deep sense of his own personal corruption, guilt, and danger as a sinner. (2) But the favourite of the Lord knows his name as revealed to Moses, as "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin." He knows the name of the Lord as concentrated in the name of Jesus, who "shall save his people from their sins." By the white beams of God's holiness, (if I may so speak) the sinner sees his corruption, guilt and deformity: by the red beams of God's justice he sees his unspeakable
- 110. danger: by themild beams of God's mercy, he discovers a ground of hope—that there is pardon for his aggravated crimes. But it is in the face of our Lord Jesus Christ, that God appears most delightful. Hence we can say to every saved soul, as Paul did to the Corinthians: —"God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." As all the colours of the rainbow meet in one sunbeam, so all the perfections of God as perfectly unite, and more beautifully shine forth, in the person and offices of Jesus Christ, upon the soul of the penitent believer. This saving knowledge is always vital, active, and powerful. William Dawson. Ver. 14. He hath known my name. May we not get some light on this expression from the custom of the Jews, keeping the name JEHOVAH sacred to their own use, regarding it as too holy even to be pronounced by them in common use and thus preserving it from being taken in vain by the heathen around? Thus it was known to Jews only... But whatever be the origin of the expressions, to "know His name, " to "trust in His name, "to "believe in His name, "it evidently in all these cases means whatever is revealed concerning Him—all that by which he maketh himself known. His Word, his Providence, above all, his Son, are included thus in his name, which we must know, believe in, and trust. So that to "know his name" is to know himself, as revealed in the Gospel. Mary B. M. Duncan. Ver. 14. (last clause). Sound love to God, floweth from and is joined with sound knowledge of God, as his Majesty is declared unto us in Scripture: the believer who hath set his love upon God, hath known my name, saith he. David Dickson. BE SO , "Verses 14-16 Psalms 91:14-16. Because he hath set his love upon me — In the former part of the Psalm the prophet had spoken in his own person; but here God himself is introduced as the speaker, confirming the preceding promises, and giving an account of the reasons of his singular care of all that truly believe and trust in him. Therefore will I deliver him — I will abundantly recompense his love with my favour and blessing. I will set him on high — In a high and safe place, where no evil can reach him; because he hath known my name — With a true and saving knowledge, so as to love me and put his trust in me; God’s name being here, as often elsewhere, put for God himself. He shall call upon me — As he knows and loves me, so he will offer up sincere and fervent prayers to me upon all occasions. And I will answer him — I will grant his petitions as far as will be for his good and my glory. I will be with him in trouble — To keep him from sinking under his burden. With long life — Either in this world, when it is expedient for my service, and for his benefit; or, at least, in the next world, where he shall live to eternity, in the blissful sight and enjoyment of me in glory. And show him my salvation — Either here or hereafter. ELLICOTT, "Verse 14 DELIVERA CE A D LO GEVITY PROMISED "Because he has set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him:
- 111. I will sethim on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble: I will deliver him, and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him, And show him my salvation." God Himself is the speaker in these verses; and they convey very rich and precious promises for the faithful servant of God. This passage states that because one loves God and knows his name, that the Lord: (1) will deliver him from trouble; (2) exalt him and honor him; (3) give him the privilege of prayer; (4) satisfy him with long life; and (5) show him God's salvation! What a mountain of motivation there is here for humble and faithful service of God! There are a number of implications in these verses, as noted by Barnes: (1) It is natural to desire longevity; (2) long life is to be regarded as a blessing; and (3) the tendency of godly living is to lengthen life."[11] The apostle Paul connected the obedience of parents with long life (Ephesians 6:1- 3); and there can be no doubt that, in a general sense at least, Christian living enhances the chances that one may live a long time upon the earth. Again, from Barnes, "It is a fact that virtue, temperance, industry, calmness of mind, moderation in all things, freedom from excessive eating or drinking - all of which things are required and encouraged by the Scriptures - that such things undoubtedly contribute to the maintenance of health and the attainment of long life. [12] "With long life will I satisfy him" (Psalms 91:16). We shall address the implication here that one may be satisfied with living and ready to pass onward in death. Even for one who enjoys the richest blessings of heaven and who has been rewarded with life's most desirable emoluments, and who has been granted to live past the normal span of human life, there shall inevitably come the time, when he shall be satisfied with living and ready to go on to be with God. When the infirmities of age have become more and more intolerable, when strength has been diminished, when the dearest loved ones are sleeping in the dust, when the utter loneliness of being "the last leaf on the tree" has surrounded him with sorrow and grief, and in the contemplation of the truth once mentioned by Paul, "That it is better to depart and be with Christ," and as the hope of heaven itself grows brighter and brighter, there will come the time when the saint of God may feel that he has had enough of life on earth and that he is ready for the Lord's summons that shall conclude his earthly
- 112. pilgrimage. CO STABLE, "erses14-16 3. The assurance God provides91:14-16 The writer recorded God"s promise to deliver those who know and love Him. He will eventually answer the cries for help that His people voice (cf. Joel 2:32; Acts 2:21; Romans 10:13). He will not abandon them in their distresses (cf. Joshua 1:9; Matthew 28:20). The promises of rescue and honor normally find fulfillment in this life, but they always do the other side of the grave. God usually blesses people who follow His will by allowing them to live longer. This was a special blessing under the Mosaic Law (cf. Exodus 20:12). Furthermore, God promised the godly the satisfaction of seeing His deliverance. "It"s one thing for doctors to add years to our life, but God adds life to our years and makes that life worthwhile." [ ote: Wiersbe, The . . . Wisdom . . ., p259.] How can we explain the fact that God has apparently not honored these promises consistently? Some godly people have died young, for example. Others have perished at the hands of their enemies, as was and is true of some Christian martyrs. Does this indicate that God is unfaithful and His promises are unreliable? If we view life as extending beyond the grave, which it does, we should have no trouble with these promises. God will grant ultimate deliverance to His own, even if He allows them to suffer and die at the hands of enemies in this life. Even believers who die young have eternal life. "In life the Lord may permit many terrible things to happen to his children (cf. Job), as he did to his own Song of Solomon , our Lord. But his children know that no power is out of God"s control." [ ote: VanGemeren, p601.] EXPOSITORS DICTIO ARY, "God"s Answer to Man"s Trust Psalm 91:14 These words seem to me to carry two thoughts: the first what God delights to find in a man; and the second what God delights to give to the man in whom He finds it. I. There are two things that the great Father"s heart seeks, and wheresoever it finds them He is glad and lavishes upon such a one the most precious things in His possession. ow the word rendered "set his love" includes more than is suggested by that rendering, beautiful as it is. It is not my love only that I am to fasten upon God, but my whole self that I am to bind to Him. God delights in us when we cling to Him. Let us cling to Him in our thoughts, hour by hour, moment by moment, amidst all the distractions of daily life. Let us cleave to Him still further by the obedient contact of our wills with His, receiving all our instructions from our Father in heaven. There is another thing in the text which, as I take it, is a consequence of
- 113. that close unionbetween man in his whole nature and God. You have to become acquainted with Him and be very familiar with Him—that is to say, to fix your whole self on Him—before you "know" Him; and it is only the knowledge which is born of love and familiarity that is worth calling knowledge at all. Only he knows God to whom the commonplaces of religion have turned into facts which he verifies by his own experiences. II. ote secondly what God gives to the man in whom He finds such things. "I will deliver him," says the promise. God"s promise is not that no evil shall come to the man who trusts him, but that he shall be delivered out of the evil that does come, and that it will not be truly evil. Still further we have another great promise: "I will set him on high because he hath known My name". That is more than lifting a man up above the reach of the storm of life by means of external deliverance. There is a better thing than that—namely, that our whole inward life be lived loftily. Then perhaps there is a hint in the words, on an elevation even higher than that, when, life ended and earth done, He shall receive into His glory those whom He hath guided by His counsel. —A. Maclaren, The God of the Amen, p167. SIMEO , "Verses 14-16 DISCOURSE: 656 THE CHARACTER A D PRIVILEGES OF THE GODLY Psalms 91:14-16. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation. THE Scriptures are the charter of the Christian’s privileges. They contain the most minute and accurate description of his character, and set forth, in all the variety of expression that language can afford, the blessings he enjoys. The declarations concerning him in this Psalm may certainly be interpreted as relating to the Messiah, because when a passage out of it was applied to Christ, he did not deny its reference to himself, but shewed with what limitations the passage was to be understood [ ote: Compare ver. 11, 12. with Matthew 4:6-7.]. That it refers also to the church cannot admit of doubt. Throughout the whole of it the character and blessedness of God’s people are delineated; but with peculiar force and beauty in the concluding verses. In discoursing upon them we shall consider, I. The character of God’s people— They “know the name” of God— [The name of God as proclaimed by himself, is recorded in the Scriptures [ ote: Exodus 34:6-7.]; and the Christian has a view of him as possessed of those very
- 114. perfections which arethere ascribed to him. He particularly sees these perfections harmonizing, and glorified, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ; or, if he be not perfectly clear in his views of these things, he at least is sensible that the divine mercy flows only in one channel, and can be imparted only through the atoning blood of Christ.] They so know him as to “set their love upon him”— [It is not a mere speculative knowledge that Christians possess (in this the ungodly may far surpass them), but such a practical knowledge as influences their heart and life. They feel an interest in every perfection of the Deity. The justice and holiness of God are as amiable in their eyes as his love and mercy. From what they know of him they are constrained to love him, yea, to “set their love upon him,” with intenseness of desire and fixedness of affection.] They wait upon him in continual prayer— [Others may keep up an outward form of devotion, or even be exceedingly earnest in prayer on some particular occasion; but they alone can maintain a real intercourse with the Deity, who have been taught by the Holy Spirit both to know and love him. When they have been thus enlightened and renewed, they will feel the necessity, and taste the sweetness, of secret prayer, and will account it their highest honour and happiness to have access unto their God at the throne of grace; nor will they ever be satisfied with the worship they offer, if they do not “worship him in spirit and in truth.”] In perfect correspondence with their character will be found, II. Their privileges— There is nothing good which shall be withheld from them in time or eternity. God will vouchsafe to them, 1. Answers to prayer— [They who offer their petitions only in a formal manner, never expect an answer to them. They conceive that all testimonies from God respecting the acceptance of our prayers are chimerical and enthusiastic in the extreme. But God is at no loss to impart to his people a clear and lively sense of his approbation. He most assuredly will answer them, though not by tokens that may be heard or seen, yet by sensible communications, and effectual interpositions. Are they laden with guilt? their burthen shall be removed, and they shall be filled with peace and joy. Are they bowed down under trials and temptations? they shall be strengthened by his grace, and be made more than conquerors over all. And though they cannot infallibly conclude from any feelings of their mind that God has answered their prayers, yet their feelings, in conjunction with the effects produced by them, will enable them to ascertain it, at least sufficiently for their own encouragement [ ote: Psalms 138:3.].]
- 115. 2. Deliverances fromtrouble— [The people of God are exposed to troubles no less than others. But they are supported under them by the presence of their God. As the Son of man walked with the Hebrew youths in the furnace, so will he with all his afflicted people; nor shall a hair of their head be singed. As a refiner he will carefully watch over every vessel, moderating the heat that would injure it, and bringing out the vessel as soon as his purposes in submitting it to the fire have been fully answered. This is twice declared in the text; and in due season shall it be experienced by every true believer.] 3. Present honour— [The saints are, for the most part, loaded with contempt and ignominy. Yet the very persons who persecute them most, have frequently, like Herod, an inward reverence for them in their hearts. But, however they may be treated by the ungodly, they are universally respected by the saints. The very angels account it their honour and happiness to minister unto them. They are lights in the world, and living witnesses for God to all around them: and “God himself is not ashamed to be called their God.” They are already exalted to the rank and dignity of God’s children; and are made “heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.”] 4. Everlasting glory— [How far length of days is to be expected as the reward of piety under the Gospel dispensation, we cannot absolutely determine. But the true Christian will be “satisfied with his life,” whether it be long or short. He does not wish for the termination of it merely because he is dissatisfied with his present state, but because he longs for his inheritance. He has Pisgah views of the promised land even here: and as soon as he has finished his appointed course, God will shew him his full salvation; causing him to behold all its glory and enjoy all its blessedness. Then shall be given to him a life which will fully satisfy his most enlarged desires. God will say to him, in the presence of the whole assembled universe, ‘Come thou servant, whom I have decreed to “set on high,” see the kingdom that was prepared for thee from eternity; take possession of it as thine own, and inherit it for ever [ ote: Matthew 25:34.].’] Infer— 1. In how pitiable a state are the ignorant and ungodly world! [Being ignorant of God, and destitute of any real love to him, they have no part or lot in his salvation. They are strangers to all those sublime pleasures, which are communicated to God’s peculiar people. The witness of the Spirit, and many other unspeakably precious tokens of the divine favour, are withheld from them. If they be in trouble, they have no heavenly consolations to support them. They may have the wealth of this world, and the honour which cometh of men; but they can expect
- 116. no salvation fromGod, nor any thing but shame and everlasting contempt [ ote: Daniel 12:2.]. O that they were wise and would consider these things!] 2. How plain and simple is the duty of God’s people! [The privileges before mentioned, are all bestowed on us because we love and seek the Lord. ot that our services are meritorious, and can claim a “reward of debt;” but God has appointed these as means, in the use of which we shall attain the end. Would we then have more abundant tokens of God’s favour here, and secure a still richer inheritance hereafter? Let us study to “grow in the knowledge of him,” and in a more fervent and fixed love towards him. Let us wait upon him more earnestly and with greater constancy in prayer. Thus shall his blessings infinitely exceed our highest expectations, and be enjoyed by us when the fleeting vanities of time shall be no more.] 15 He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. BAR ES, "He shall call upon me - He shall have the privilege of calling on me in prayer; and he will do it. And I will answer him - I will regard his supplications, and will grant his requests. There could be no greater privilege - no more precious promise - than this. I will be with him in trouble - I will stand by him; I will not forsake him. I will deliver him, and honor him - I will not only rescue him from danger, but I will exalt him to honor. I will recognize him as my friend, and will regard and treat him as such. On earth he shall be treated as my friend; in another world he shall be exalted to honor among the redeemed, and become the associate of holy beings forever. CLARKE, "He shall call upon me - He must continue to pray; all his blessings must come in this way, when he calls, I will answer him - I will give him whatever is best for him. I will be with him in trouble - Literally, I am with him. אנכי עמו immo anochi; as soon as the trouble comes, I are there. I will deliver him - For his good I may permit him to be exercised for a time, but delivered he shall be.
- 117. And honor him- אכבדהו acabbedehu, “I will glorify him.” I will load him with honor; that honor that comes from God. I will even show to men how highly I prize such. GILL, "He shall call upon me, and I will answer him,.... God is to be invoked by prayer, and to be called upon in every time of trouble, in faith and with fervency, in truth and uprightness, and sincerity of soul; and he himself directs and encourages to it, and promises an answer, which he always sooner or later gives; for he is a God hearing and answering prayer; see Psa_50:15. I will be with him in trouble; the Lord knows his people in adversity; he visits them in their affliction, grants his gracious presence with them, supports them under it, that they are not overwhelmed by it; he bears them up and through it, and makes all things work together for their good: I will deliver him, and honour him: deliverance is again promised, to denote the certainty of it; and with this addition, that the Lord will honour such that know him, and love him: all his saints are honoured by him, by taking them into his family, and giving them a name better than that of sons and daughters of the greatest potentate; by clothing them with the righteousness of his Son; by adorning them with the graces of his Spirit; by granting them communion and fellowship with himself, and by bringing them to his kingdom and glory. CALVI , "15.He shall call upon me. He now shows more clearly what was meant by trusting in God, or placing our love and delight in him. For that affection and desire which is produced by faith, prompts us to call upon his name. This is another proof in support of the truth, which I had occasion to touch upon formerly, that prayer is properly grounded upon the word of God. We are not at liberty in this matter, to follow the suggestions of our own mind or will, but must seek God only in so far as he has in the first place invited us to approach him. The context, too, may teach us, that faith is not idle or inoperative, and that one test, by which we ought to try those who look for Divine deliverances, is, whether they have recourse to God in a right manner. We are taught the additional lesson, that believers will never be exempt from troubles and embarrassments. God does not promise them a life of ease and luxury, but deliverance from their tribulations. Mention is made of his glorifying them, intimating that the deliverance which God extends, and which has been spoken of in this psalm, is not of a mere temporary nature, but will issue at last in their being advanced to perfect happiness. He puts much honor upon them in the world, and glorifies himself in them conspicuously, but it is not till the completion of their course that he affords them ground for triumph. It may seem strange that length of days should be mentioned in the last verse as promised to them, since many of the Lord’s people are soon taken out of the world. But I may repeat an observation which has been elsewhere made, that those Divine blessings which are promised in relation to the present perishing world, are not to be considered as made good in a universal and absolute sense, or fulfilled in all according to one set and equal rule. (583) Wealth and other worldly comforts must be looked upon as affording some experience of the Divine favor or goodness, but it does not follow that the poor are objects of the Divine displeasure; soundness of body and good
- 118. health are blessingsfrom God, but we must not conceive on this account that he regards with disapprobation the weak and the infirm. Long life is to be classed among benefits of this kind, and would be bestowed by God upon all his children, were it not for their advantage that they should be taken early out of the world. (584) They are more satisfied with the short period during which they live than the wicked, though their life should be extended for thousands of years. The expression cannot apply to the wicked, that they are satisfied with length of days; for however long they live, the thirst of their desires continues to be unquenched. It is life, and nothing more, which they riot in with such eagerness; nor can they be said to have had one moment’s enjoyment of that Divine favor and goodness which alone can communicate true satisfaction. The Psalmist might therefore with propriety state it as a privilege peculiarly belonging to the Lord’s people, that they are satisfied with life. The brief appointed term is reckoned by them to be sufficient, abundantly sufficient. Besides, longevity is never to be compared with eternity. The salvation of God extends far beyond the narrow boundary of earthly existence; and it is to this, whether we live or come to die, that we should principally look. It is with such a view that the Psalmist, after stating all the other benefits which God bestows, adds this as a last clause, that when he has followed them with his fatherly goodness throughout their lives, he at last shows them his salvation. SPURGEO , "Ver. 15. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him. He will have need to pray, he will be led to pray aright and the answer shall surely come. Saints are first called of God and then they call upon God; such calls as theirs always obtain answers. ot without prayer will the blessing come to the most favoured, but by means of prayer they shall receive all good things. I will be with him in trouble, or "I am with him in trouble." Heirs of heaven are conscious of a special divine presence in times of severe trial. God is always near in sympathy and in power to help his tried ones. I will deliver him, and honour him. The man honours God, and God honours him. Believers are not delivered or preserved in a way which lowers them, and makes them feel themselves degraded; far from it, the Lord's salvation bestows honour upon those it delivers. God first gives us conquering grace, and then rewards us for it. EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS. Ver. 15. I will answer him. I think we sometimes discourage ourselves by a misconception of the exact meaning of the expression, "answer, "taking it to mean only grant. ow, an answer is not necessarily an acquiescence. It may be a refusal, an explanation, a promise, a conditional grant. It is, in fact, simply attention to our request expressed. In this sense, before we call he will answer, and while we are get speaking he will hear, Isaiah 65:24. Mary B. M. Duncan. Ver. 15. I will be with him in trouble. I will be with him in trouble, says God: and shall I seek meanwhile anything else than trouble? It is good for me to cleave unto God. ot only so, but also to put my hope in the Lord: because I will deliver him, he says, and honour him. I will be with him in trouble. My delights, he says, are with the sons of men. Emmanuel God with us. Hail, thou art highly favoured, says the Angel to Mary, the Lord is with thee. In the fulness of grace He is with us, in the plenitude of glory we shall be with Him. He descends in order to be near to those
- 119. who are ofa troubled heart, that He may be with us in our trouble... It is better for me, O Lord, to be troubled, whilst only Thou art with me, than to reign without Thee, to feast without Thee, to be honoured without Thee. It is good rather to be embraced by Thee in trouble, to have thee in this furnace with me, than to be without Thee even in heaven. For what have I in heaven, and without Thee what do I desire upon earth? The furnace tries the gold, and the temptation of trouble just men. Bernard. Ver. 15. I will be with him trouble. God hath made promises of his special presence with his saints in suffering. If we have such a friend to visit us in prison, we shall do well enough; though we change our place, we shall not change our keeper. "I will be with him." God will hold our head and heart when we are fainting! What if we have more afflictions than others, if we have more of God's company? God's honour is dear to him; it would not be for his honour to bring his children into sufferings, and leave them there; he will be with them to animate and support them; yea, when new troubles arise. Job 5:19. "He shall deliver thee in six troubles." Thomas Watson. Ver. 15. I will be with him in trouble. Again God speaks and acts like a tender hearted mother towards a sickly child. When the child is in perfect health she can leave it in the hands of the nurse; but when it is sick she will attend it herself; she will say to the nurse, "You may attend a while to some other business, I will watch over the child myself." She hears the slightest moan; she flies to the cradle; she takes it in her arms; she kisses its lips, and drops a tear upon its face, and asks, "What can I do for thee, my child? How can I relieve thy pain and soften thy sufferings? Do not weep and break my heart; it is thy mother's arms that are around thee; it is thy mother's lap on which thou art laid; it is thy mother's voice that speaks to thee; it is thy mother that is with thee; fear not." So the Lord speaks to his afflicted children. "I will be with him in trouble." o mother can equally sympathise with her suffering child; as the Lord does with his suffering people. o! could all the love that ever dwelt in all the mothers' hearts that ever existed, be united in one mother's heart, and fixed on her only child, it would no more bear a comparison with the love of God to his people than the summer midnight glow worm is to be compared to the summer midday sun. Oh, that delightful sentence I will be with him in trouble. At other times God will leave them in the hands of angels: "I will give them charge over them, to keep them in all their ways; they bear them up lest at any time they dash their feet against a stone." But when they are in trouble, I will say to the angels, "Stand aside, I will take care of them myself." "I will be with them in trouble." So he speaks to his people: "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour." When languishing in sickness, He will make his bed, and his pillow; when travelling through the valley of the shadow of death, the Lord will be with him, and enable him to sing, "I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." Thus he is with them as their physician and nurse, in pain and sickness; as their strength in weakness; as their guide in difficulty; their ease in pain; and as their life in death. "I will be with him in trouble." William Dawson.
- 120. EXPOSITORS DICTIO ARY,"What God Will Do for Us Psalm 91:15-16 The words which we have now to consider cover the whole range of human life and need, and may be regarded as being a picture of the sure and blessed consequence of keeping our hearts fixed upon our Father, God. The verses of the text fall into three portions: there are promises for the suppliant, promises for the troubled, promises for mortals. ow let us look at these three. I. The promise to the suppliant. If a man"s heart is set upon God, his very life- breath will be a cry to His Father. Any man who has learned to love God will live in the exercise and habit of prayer, and it will be his instinct to cry to God in all changing circumstances. True prayer is the cry of the soul for the living God in Whom is all that it needs, and out of Whom is nothing that will do it good. II. (a) Further, here we have a promise for suppliants, "I will be with him in time of trouble". The promise is not only that, when trials fall upon us, we shall become more conscious, if we take them rightly, of God"s presence, but that all which is meant by God"s presence shall really be more fully ours, and that He is actually nearer us. (b) Then there follows the next stage, deliverance from trouble, "I will deliver him". He will deliver us not only by taking the burden off our backs, but by making us strong to carry it, and the sorrow which has changed into calm submission is sorrow from which we have been delivered. (c) Lastly, there is the third of these promises for the troubled, "I will honour him". Is not that the end of a trouble which has been borne in company with Him; and from which, because it has been so borne, a man may be delivered even whilst it lasts? Is that not God"s way of glorifying us before heaven"s glory? III. Last of all we have the promise for mortals, "With long life will I satisfy him, and show him My salvation". The idea contained in this promise may be fully illustrated by the expression which is used in reference to a select few of the Old Testament saints, of whom it is recorded that they died "full of days". They had got all out of the world which it could give, and were contented to have done with it all. The heart that lives near God will find in life all that life is capable of giving, but will be satisfied to have lived, and be contented to die. —A. Maclaren, The God of the Amen, p177. 16 With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.
- 121. BAR ES, "Withlong life will I satisfy him - The margin here, is “length of days;” that is, days lengthened out or multiplied. The meaning is, I will give him length of days as he desires, or until he is satisfied with life; implying (1) that it is natural to desire long life; (2) that long life is to be regarded as a blessing (compare Pro_3:2, Pro_3:16; Exo_ 20:12); (3) that the tendency of religion is to lengthen out life; since virtue, temperance, regular industry, calmness of mind, moderation in all things, freedom from excesses in eating and in drinking - to all of which religion prompts - contribute to health, and to length of days (see Psa_34:12-14, notes; Psa_37:9, note; Psa_55:23, note); and (4) that a time will come, even under this promised blessing of length of days, when a man will be “satisfied” with living; when he will have no strong desire to live longer; when, under the infirmities of advanced years, and under his lonely feelings from the fact that his early friends have fallen, and under the influence of a bright hope of heaven, he will feel that he has had enough of life here, and that it is better to depart to another world. And shew him my salvation - In another life, after he shall be “satisfied” with this life. The promise extends beyond the grave: “Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.” See the notes at 1Ti_4:8. Thus, religion blesses man in this life, and blesses him forever. In possession of this, it is a great thing to him to live long; and then it is a great thing to die - to go to be forever with God. CLARKE, "With long life - Literally, With length of days will I fill him up. He shall neither live a useless life, nor die before his time. He shall live happy and die happy. And show him my salvation - בשועתי ואראהו vearehu bishuathi, “I will make him see (or contemplate) in my salvation.” He shall discover infinite lengths, breadths, depths, and heights, in my salvation. He shall feel boundless desires, and shall discover that I have provided boundless gratifications for them. He shall dwell in my glory, and throughout eternity increase in his resemblance to and enjoyment of me. Thus shall it be done to the man whom the Lord delighteth to honor; and he delights to honor that man who places his love on him. In a word, he shall have a long life in this world, and an eternity of blessedness in the world to come. GILL, "With long life will I satisfy him,.... In this world: the saints live in it as long as they choose to live; and when they come to die, be it when it will, they are, like Abraham, full of years, or satisfied with them; they have had enough of them, and would not live always here; but, with good old Simeon, desire to depart in peace; and in the other world they shall be satisfied with length of days, for ever and ever, even with eternal life; and nothing short of this will satisfy a good man:
- 122. and show himmy salvation; Jesus Christ, the author of salvation, whom God appointed to do it, and who has finished it; salvation itself, wrought out by him; its fulness and suitableness, and interest in it; and also eternal glory and happiness, the completion and consummation of salvation: the former is shown unto and seen by faith here; the latter will be seen and enjoyed in heaven to all eternity. Aben Ezra and Kimchi refer this salvation to the days of the Messiah. HE RY, "That they shall have a sufficiency of life in this world (Psa_91:16): With length of days will I satisfy him; that is, [1.] They shall live long enough: they shall be continued in this world till they have done the work they were sent into this world for and are ready for heaven, and that is long enough. Who would wish to live a day longer than God has some work to do, either by him or upon him? [2.] They shall think it long enough; for God by his grace shall wean them from the world and make them willing to leave it. A man may die young, and yet die full of days, satur dierum - satisfied with living. A wicked worldly man is not satisfied, no, not with long life; he still cries, Give, give. But he that has his treasure and heart in another world has soon enough of this; he would not live always. (6.) That they shall have an eternal life in the other world. This crowns the blessedness: I will show him my salvation, show him the Messiah (so some); good old Simeon was then satisfied with long life when he could say, My eyes have seen thy salvation, nor was there any greater joy to the Old Testament saints than to see Christ's day, though at a distance. It is more probably that the word refers to the better country, that is, the heavenly, which the patriarchs desired and sought: he will show him that, bring him to that blessed state, the felicity of which consists so much in seeing that face to face which we here see through a glass darkly; and, in the mean time, he will give him a prospect of it. All these promises, some think, point primarily at Christ, and had their accomplishment in his resurrection and exaltation. JAMISO , "show him — literally, “make him see” (Psa_50:23; Luk_2:30). SPURGEO , "Ver. 16. With long life will I satisfy him. The man described in this Psalm fills out the measure of his days, and whether he dies young or old he is quite satisfied with life, and is content to leave it. He shall rise from life's banquet as a man who has had enough, and would not have more even if he could. And shew him my salvation. The full sight of divine grace shall be his closing vision. He shall look from Amana and Lebanon. ot with destruction before him black as night, but with salvation bright as noonday smiling upon him he shall enter into his rest. EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS. Ver. 16. With long life will I satisfy him. Saint Bernard interprets this of heaven;because he thought nothing long that had an end. This, indeed, is the emphasis of heaven's joy; those blessed souls never sin, never weep more; they shall not only be with the Lord, but ever with the Lord. This is the accent which is set on the eulogies given to heaven in Scripture. It is "an inheritance, "and that an "incorruptible one, that fadeth not away; "it is "a crown of glory, "and that a weighty one, yea, "an exceeding great and eternal weight of glory." When once it is on the saint's head it can never fall, or be snatched off; it is a feast, but such a one
- 123. that hath asitting down to it but no rising up from it. William Gurnall. Ver. 16. With long life will I satisfy him. Observe the joyful contrast here to the mournful words in the foregoing Psalm. "We spend our years as a tale that is told. The days of our years are threescore years and ten, "(Psalms 90:9-10.) The life of Israel in the wilderness was shortened by Disobedience. The Obedience of Christ in the wilderness has won for us a blessed immortality. Christopher Wordsworth. Ver. 16. With long life will I satisfy him, etc. The margin here is "length of days; "that is, days lengthened out or multiplied. The meaning is, I will give him length of days as he desires, or until he is satisfied with life; —implying (1) that it is natural to desire long life; (2) that long life is to be regarded as a blessing (comp. Proverbs 3:2; Proverbs 3:16, Exodus 20:12); (8) that the tendency of religion is to lengthen out life; since virtue, temperance, regular industry, calmness of mind, moderation in all things, freedom from excesses in eating and drinking, —to all of which religion prompts, — contribute to health and to length of days; and (4) that a time will come, even under this promised blessing of length of days, when a man will be "satisfied" with living; when he will have no strong desire to live longer; when, under the infirmities of advanced years, and under his lonely feelings from the fact that his early friends have fallen, and under the influence of a bright hope of heaven, he will feel that he has had enough of life here, and that it is better to depart to another world. And shew him my salvation. In another life, after he shall be satisfied with this life. Albert Barnes. Ver. 16. With long life will I satisfy him. This promise concerning length of life contains a gift of God by no means to be despised. Many enemies indeed will plot against his life, and desire to extinguish him as suddenly and as quickly as possible; but I shall so guard him that he shall live to a good old age and be filled with years, and desire to depart from life. J. B. Folengius. Verse 16. With long life will I satisfy him. We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths; In feelings, not in figures on a dial. We should count time by heart throbs. He most lives Who thinks most, feels noblest, acts the best. Philip James Bailey, in "Festus." Ver. 16. Long life. They err who measure life by years, With false or thoughtless tongue; Some hearts grow old before their time; Others are always young. It is not the number of the lines On life's fast filling page, It is not the pulse's added throbs, Which constitute their age. Some souls are serfs among the free, While others nobly thrive; They stand just where their fathers stood Dead, even while they live. Others, all spirit, heart, and sense, Theirs the mysterious power To live in thrills of joy or woe,
- 124. A twelvemonth inan hour! Bryan W. Procter Ver. 16. Long life. He liveth long who liveth well! All other life is short and vain: He liveth longest who can tell Of living most for heavenly gain. Fie liveth long who liveth well! All else is being flung away; He liveth longest who can tell of true things truly done each day. Horatius Bonar Ver. 16. I will show him my salvation. The last, greatest, climax of blessing, including and concluding all! What God does is perfectly done. Hitherto has his servant caught glimpses of the "great salvation." The Spirit has revealed step by step of it, as he was able to bear it. The Word has taught him, and he has rejoiced in his light. But all was seen in part and known in part. But when God has satisfied his servant with length of days, and time for him is over, eternity begun, he will "shew him his salvation." All will be plain. All will be known. God will be revealed in his love and his glory. And we shall know all things, even as we are known! Mary B. M. Duncan. ELLICOTT, "16) Long Life.—The promise of a long life, while in accordance with the general feeling of the Old Testament, is peculiarly appropriate at the close of this psalm, which all through speaks of protection from danger that threatened life. COKE, "Psalms 91:16. With long life will I satisfy, &c.— If we can doubt what is here meant by long life, we may find it well explained to us, Psalms 21:4. He asked life of thee, and thou gavest him a long life, even for ever and ever. As for the term salvation, let us hear Le Clerc's comment upon the place: "If you interpret this (says he,) in the Christian way, it will be eternal salvation;" but then he adds, But it should first be shewn, that this salvation was clearly revealed, before it be looked for in an ambiguous place, or text." If we can shew, then, that this salvation was revealed from the beginning; or that God's faithful people, all along from the fall, expected some great Person through whom they should at length obtain a conquest over death, then the words life and salvation in the Old Testament will be no longer ambiguous; or, at least, may very naturally be understood of a future life and salvation when the context favours such an interpretation. In short, every prophesy of our Saviour, which was understood by the Israelites, (and it is strange if they should not understand some of them, else where was their high privilege in having the oracles of God committed to them? Romans 3:2.) was to them an intimation of another life; as, on the other hand, the express notices of another life to be met with in the Old Testament, are a confirmation of the prophesies; so that they lend a mutual assistance to each other. I have dwelt the longer upon this subject, as being willing to assign to its proper author this noble remain of the Jewish lawgiver and historian, in itself so excellent and worthy of him; and so exactly suiting the time and occasion that I have mentioned, and no other. See Peters, p. 306. REFLECTIO S.—1st, The Scripture abounds with great and precious promises, and God's faithful people, who come to these sacred fountains, may ever draw
- 125. waters of comfort. 1.The Psalmist describes the safety and consolation of the faithful soul. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High, delights in his worship, and seeks repose, for his soul in the bosom of his grace, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty, sheltered from every danger by Almighty power, and comforted with a sense of divine love. 2. He professes his purpose to fly to this blest hiding-place. I will say of, or to the Lord, He is my refuge in every time of danger, my fortress, impregnable to the assaults of every enemy, spiritual, or temporal, my God, in whose regard, by faith, I claim an interest; in him will I trust, confident of his protection, and expecting all felicity from his power, grace, and faithfulness, according to his promises. ote; They who make God their only trust, will never be disappointed of their hope. 3. He instances a great variety of particulars, wherein God's care of his faithful people would appear. Surely he will deliver thee from every evil and danger, temporal or spiritual. (1.) From the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence, either literally from those who lie in wait to destroy our bodies, and from the pestilential diseases which endanger our lives, or, from the snares and temptations which Satan lays for our souls; from that most pestilential of all diseases, sin, and that worst of plagues, the plague of our own hearts. ote; How often may every man reflect on seasons of danger, when he owed the preservation of his life purely to the divine providence? (2.) He shall cover thee with his feathers, expressive of God's tender regard towards his faithful people, as a hen covereth her chickens, calling them when danger threatens, protecting and cherishing them under her wings. His faithfulness and truth, whereon the believer's confidence is placed, shall be thy shield and buckler; his promises engaged for him, his power almighty to defend him. ote; Though we are weak and helpless, our God is able to save to the uttermost; blessed and happy are they whom he covers with his wings and shield! (3.) o fear shall dismay. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, from fire, storm, robbers, or spirits of darkness who would in frightful dreams disturb the mind, or inject distrustful fears of God's care and protection: nor for the arrow that flieth by day; the sudden and unexpected judgments of God: nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, when the dead are carried forth to their graves; or, as arising from hidden causes, and stalking terrible through the land: nor for the destruction that wasteth at noon-day, when the heat causeth the pestilential vapour to be more fatal; or respect may be had to that suffocating wind, which, in some Eastern countries, kills those who are exposed to it: none of these shall terrify the faithful; God can preserve him from death, or make him triumphant over it; so that he shall never know that fear which hath torment. ote; (1.) If we lie down in peace, and sleep undisturbed, if we awake refreshed, and pass the day in safety amid the unnumbered dangers which surround our path, God's hand is to be thankfully
- 126. acknowledged. (2.) Faithin God delivers from terrifying fear; and even death, to the faithful believer, has lost its sting. (4.) In general desolations the faithful shall be safe. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; such dreadful havoc does the plague often make: but it shall not come nigh thee; either a particular providence shall guard their houses, as when the destroying angel passed through Egypt; or at least they shall not be hurt by it if they fall, for to them death is gain. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold, and see the reward of the wicked, in whose destruction God is glorified; and in his righteous judgments his people rejoice, and adore him. 2nd, We have here many more rich promises of God declared, and the character of his faithful people described, to whom they belong. 1. Their character. [1.] They make the Lord their refuge, trusting in him in every time of trial. [2.] The most High is their habitation, where their souls find sweet repose, and a comfortable provision of all good things. [3.] They set their love on God, he is the grand object of it, and reigns in their hearts without a rival. [4.] They know his name; are acquainted with his word, where he has made the most glorious displays of his perfections; and with his Son the brightness of his glory, by whom alone the Father can be truly known, Matthew 11:27. [5.] They call upon him in ceaseless prayer for the relief of all their wants, and testify their continual dependance on his protection and care. Reader, is this thy character? then blessed art thou. For, 2. Great are the promised blessings which the Psalmist, in God's name, yea, which God himself, pronounces on all such. (1.) o evil shall befall thee, nor any plague come nigh thy dwelling; either God will, by a distinguishing act of his providence, protect them; or, whatever trouble comes, it shall be sanctified, in the issue produce their greatest good, and prove a real blessing in disguise. (2.) Angelic guards shall attend their steps; they minister to the heirs of salvation, and from unforeseen danger preserve and protect them with the most condescending tenderness, and with mighty power. Satan applied this passage to Christ, but with the omission of a material clause: they shall keep thee in all thy ways, into which by Divine Providence thou art led, or by the Divine Word directed; for out of the path of duty we may not expect the way of safety. (3.) The powers of darkness shall be subdued under them. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder; literally, these noxious animals being restrained from hurting; or, figuratively, wicked men and wicked devils, for power and subtilty compared to these, shall be trodden down: the young lion and dragon shalt thou trample under feet, even Satan, whose head shall shortly be bruised under the feet of God's faithful people.
- 127. (4.) God himselfpromises, in trouble to be with them, and out of trouble to deliver them. Trouble we may expect, it is part of the lot of God's people; but his presence and a sense of his love overbalance every affliction; and living and dying he will deliver his faithful ones from their trials, either by giving them strength to support and overcome them, or by discharging them from the warfare, and admitting them to his eternal rest. (5.) He will hear all their prayers, and give them answers of peace. He gives the spirit of supplication; and when that spirit is put forth in prayer, he grants the requests which the believer makes in the way which is most for his good; for the prayer of faith never returned empty. (6.) He engages to set them on high, on the rock Christ, against which all storms and tempests rage in vain, and from whence they can look down on all the impotent malice of their foes; and to honour them, not only with justifying faith, with the title of his sons or daughters, and the graces of his Spirit here below, but with an inheritance eternal in the heavens, and with a throne of glory everlasting. (7.) With long life will I satisfy him; they shall live here as long as God has work for them to do; and shew him my salvation, the fulness of it above, when all the unutterable blessedness which the Lord Jesus hath purchased shall fully, freely, and eternally be bestowed on the faithful soul, and he shall be for ever satisfied with it. ISBET, "VICTOR I LIFE’S BATTLE ‘Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.’ Psalms 91:13 The definite promise, ‘Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the dragon,’ was a reference not only to reptiles and wild beasts of outward evil, but to evils in which the deadliness of vice is concentrated in our individual hearts: evil thoughts, and deeds, and habits which assail and hurt the soul. The fitness of the metaphor is shown by the fact that we find it also in the heathen mythology. The Greek type of a deliverer of the world was the hero Hercules. They saw, as we see, that he who would indeed conquer evil in the world must first conquer it in his own heart. The moral is finely conveyed in the legend of his conquest of the emæan lion. Every man’s emæan lion lies in the way for him somewhere. All future victories depend upon that. Kill it, and through all the rest of your lives what was once terrible becomes your armour; you are clothed with the virtue of that conquest. I. In the first place, this lion is to be fought in the darkness, and in the cavern, and with no earthly weapons.—The lion is that inward sin, that special impulse and temptation to evil, which is most directed against your individual heart. II. Observe the infinite superiority which Christ has granted to us in these days.— The Greeks had noble ideals, but their conduct fell as far short of these ideals as ours does. But often these ideals were grievously corrupt. Human strength and knowledge are at the best but perfect weakness. But it is the mercy of God that He
- 128. has given usin the life of our Lord Jesus Christ an ideal not human, but Divine. III. otice that the more early this battle is undertaken, the more surely it is won.— He who strangles serpents in his youth slays monsters in his manhood. He who has early had strength to conquer temptations will not be so likely later to lose his self- reverence and his self-control. —Dean Farrar. Illustration ‘Suppose one says that this psalm is not literally true, because many of God’s children have suffered from various ills! The answer is simple enough. Before any one of these could be quoted as proving the failure of these promises it would have to be shown that the suffering child of God had definitely appropriated the protecting care of the Father. Also the question would be whether apparent evil were not really good. “ othing can be evil which knits me more closely to God.” If the water which I have to drink, says one, is bitter, it is at least filtered water, out of which God has strained all the poison, though He may have left the bitterness, for bitterness is a tonic, and all things work together for good to them that love God.’