Home. Whatever is done our heavenly Father's will is done; and we have no reason to be afraid of that. I will set him on high (Hebrew: sagab), because he has known (Hebrew: yada) my name (Hebrew: sem) (v. 14b). Each guide incorporates extensive commentary, detailed observations on overriding themes, and probing questions to help you study the Word of God with guidance from John MacArthur, and each study includes an introduction that provides background information to each book of the Bible being studied and a . Cobras and serpents serve as a metaphor for smaller but equally deadly forces that appear suddenly, seemingly from nowhere. These verses include conditional promises. The Hebrew word seter means a secret place or hiding place. In that culture, as today, a persons name referred to the essential character of the personin this case, Yahweh. ), The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, 6 vol. He will be in peril; Psalms 91:12. Accordingly, we have updated our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions in order to comply with GDPR. No locks nor bars can shut out diseases, while we carry about with us in our bodies the seeds of them. Psalms for the Anxious - Grace to You Hardcover. Verse 1 "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty" "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. Life is filled with problems both small and big. and ten thousand at your right hand; Muggers would hide in recessed doorways and whack people whom they could reach easily. Yahweh is promising to bless the person who knows him in this intimate way. Pastor John MacArthur writes, Contemporary evangelicalism has been beguiled and sabotaged by a ruinous lack of confidence in God's Word. It would have served them well during the Babylonian Exile, when only the eyes of faith could see the possibility that they would ever again see Jerusalem. They are mighty (Psalm 78:25), and serve by doing Gods will (Psalm 103:1). They shall think it long enough; for God by his grace shall wean them from the world and make them willing to leave it. $30.00. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: Notice, that it is, He shall, and I will. The mighty grace of God shall make us pray, and the Almighty God of grace will answer our prayer: He shall call upon me, and I will answer him. How I love these glorious shalls and wills! I will set him on high, because he has known my name. The first of those meanings (deliver) has God pulling the person out of the troubled situation, a scenario where the troubled person plays only a passive role. The charge given to the angels concerning the saints. It is also under divine direction, and will hit where God appoints and not otherwise. 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. However, when I was a child in the 1940s and 50s, before the polio vaccine became available, I had friends who had suffered from polio. Seneca De Providentia. The word emet is usually translated truth. I will satisfy him with long life, and show him my salvation (v. 16). In Vietnam, our soldiers had to watch for punji sticks and trip wires. With his wing shall fence thy head; And his truth around thee wield, Strong as targe or bossy shield! That he will, in due time, deliver them out of trouble: I will deliver him (v. 14 and again v. 15), denoting a double deliverance, living and dying, a deliverance in trouble and a deliverance out of trouble. Such evil will never befall you. B. Lightfoot, Consummation of the pre-Messianic Age and the Parousia, Destruction of Jerusalem vs. - Bullinger, Rise Of The Theory Of Universal Restoration - Henry Constable, Universal Restoration Substituted for Eternal Torment, Absent From The BodyPresent With The Lord, Cross Purposes: Atonement, Death and the Fate of the Wicked. 2023 Grace to You. We may request cookies to be set on your device. 10 no evil shall happen to you, It denotes the great care God takes of the saints, in that the angels themselves shall be charged with them, and employed for them. BibleGateway.com- Commentaries Psalm 91 The Immortality of the Soul: A Protest - Joseph Agar Beet D.D. You will only look with your eyes, and see the recompense (Hebrew: sillumahpunishment) of the wicked (v. 8b). He shall cover thee with his feathers, The psalmist uses a wonderful metaphor when he ascribes feathers to God, and compares him to a hen, or some mother-bird, under whose wings her young find shelter. Click to enable/disable essential site cookies. O death! (2.) (3.) ), Mounces Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006), Renn, Stephen D., Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words: Word Studies for Key English Bible Words Based on the Hebrew and Greek Texts (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 2005), Richards, Lawrence O., Encyclopedia of Bible Words (Zondervan, 1985, 1991), Sakenfeld, Katharine Doob (ed. The principle, however, can be extended to fit any situation. What is Psalm 91 all about? It is the daytime equivalent of the night-stalking pestilence of verse 6a. Please see our Privacy Policy for cookie usage details. II. If I am in my way, then God will keep me. Jesus ChristUnique Savior or Average Fraud? View Psalm 91. As you may be aware, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into full effect on 25th May 2018. How could cholera or fever get into the secret place of the most High? (3.) quotation, for he left out the words in all thy ways. God will help us in our ways if we keep in his ways. Psalms 91 Commentary - John Gill's Exposition of the Bible However, the words shadow and shade also acknowledge that the faithful person dwells in a world that is sometimes dark. Oh, yes, he values the love of his people, for he knows where it came from; it is a part of his own love; the creation of his grace! Tagged as: Psalms Commentaries & Sermons | Precept Austin 2 TIMOTHY 2:15. God loves each of us as if there were only one of us"- Augustine. The imagery here is that of God being a protective parent bird like the eagle which covers His young under their wings and shades them from the elements and any prey that might attack them. When he calls to me, I will answer him;I will be with him in trouble;I will rescue him and honor him. Not only does He deliver His own from trouble, He honors them and satisfies them, promises them long life and how long is the life that comes when He shows us His salvation? That is worth noting. The Hebrew word sadday means almighty or the Almighty. It is he that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High, who, by Gods help, treads upon the lion and adder, and of whom it is written, The young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.. neither shall any plague come near your dwelling. We can put down our foot on truth, and it will prove solidwont collapse under our weight. In this verse, pestilence is portrayed as walking at nightan unseen and deadly threat. But God says, I will deliver him, and honour him.. Can any comfort be surer? Thank you. A thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy right hand. 15 He will call on me, and I will answer him. These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience. Please respond to confirm your registration. (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979-1988), Brown, Francis; Driver, S.R. lin) in the shadow (Hebrew: sel) of the Almighty (v. 1b). (1.) The other is that God often wills for his children to suffer, but forbids that the suffering hurts them in the end. For example, in Psalm 1, we are not to spend all our time just meditating on the Word, but become busily involved as Jesus was in the lives of others, p. 3. In my father's house there are many mansions, one needs not crowd another, much less crowd out another. MacArthur is a fifth-generation pastor, a popular author and conference speaker and has served as pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California since 1969 . Salem Media Group. If God proportions the degree and continuance of our troubles to our strength, 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. 2. Our church recently experienced a norovirus that sickened 54 of the 60 people present for worship that Sunday. Fifteen Words of Hope 2 Corinthians 5:21 Be Part of the Family A believer needs not fear, and therefore should not fear, any arrow, because the point is off, the poison is out. The Hebrew word sel means shadow of shade. One is that often God amazingly delivers them physically when others around them are falling. Our website uses cookies to store user preferences. The angels keep the charge of the Lord their God; and this is the charge they receive from him. Observe, I. . God Himself becomes like a mighty refuge and fortress for the believer. Psalm 91 continues to be a source of strength, hope, promise and encouragement for every generation. 14 Because he has set his love on me, therefore I will deliver him. 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, Ruth 2 12. For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.. I'm reading this passage twice a day as a prescription instruction from a Bishop. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. It would have served Israel well during Davids reign, when Israel was beset by many enemies. A. Some churches today cite Mark 16:17-18; Luke 10:19; and Acts 28:1-6 to justify the handling of deadly snakes as part of their worshipand some people die while doing that. This is unfortunate, since his works contain priceless gems of information that are found nowhere except in the ancient writings of the Jews. Many think that to Christ, as Mediator, these promises do primarily belong (Isa 49 2), not because to him the devil applied one of these promises (Matt 4 6), but because to him they are very applicable, and, coming through him, they are more sweet and sure to all believers. Observe, [1.] It goes beyond head-knowledge to heart-knowledge. 2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. 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. In Hebrew thought sel is most often welcoming shade from noonday sun or protection afforded by the shadow of Yahwehs wings (Psalm 17:8). Strength and mastery may be united. To the extent that we believe that, it will allay our fear. nor of the arrow that flies by day; We are all, by nature, God's enemies, and we deserve His wrath. With death all around them God tells them that it will not even come near them because they are not looking at all the dead bodies but their eyes are looking at the Lord Who is recompensing or paying back those who are the enemies. The pestilence is something that you cannot see. Psalms 91:13. With the greatest power and efficacy. Those of us who live in first world countries have almost forgotten the dangers of deadly diseases that spread rapidly and kill large numbers of people. Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. However, we are familiar with traps of other kinds: Spam callers try to get us to get us to reveal our credit card numbers. ; and Briggs, Charles A., The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1906, 2004), Doniach, N.S. Yahweh (Hebrew: YHWH or yahweh). The MacArthur Bible Studies provide intriguing examinations of the whole of Scripture. 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." 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. . The Immortality of the Soul: All rights reserved. If Jehovah be our God, our refuge, and our fortress, what can we desire which we may not be sure to find in him? where is thy sting? That he will not only keep them from evil, but from the fear of evil, v. 5, 6. Observe, 1. The blessing of His preservation: And show him My salvation. 3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. 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. He is my refuge and my fortress: The one who lives intimately with God knows the greatness of His protection. I am old, and expect to die within a few years. Therefore the psalmist is probably saying more than he understooddeliverance from trouble and salvation to eternal life. That the powers of darkness shall be triumphed over by them (v. 13): Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder. That believers shall be kept from those mischiefs which they are in imminent danger of, and which would be fatal to them (v. 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. 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. The Problem of Psalm 91, Part 2 - Proclaim & Defend II. 13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.