Psalms 91:1-16 ESV (quoting only first 6 verses)
“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.’
“For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.”
Have you ever struggled with what Psalms 91 says? I have! Why? Because on a surface read it sounds as though it is saying that if we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, and our hope is truly in him, and if we are in daily fellowship with him, walking in his ways and in his truth, that nothing bad will ever happen to us. We will never get sick, we will never be attacked, we will never be abused, and no evil will ever be done against us, etc.
Yet if we compare that to the New Testament teachings, it doesn’t add up. For in the New Testament we are told clearly that if we choose to make the Lord our trust that we are going to be hated, persecuted, beaten, abused, falsely accused of wrong, called crazy, accused of being of Satan, and have people attacking us and trying to trip us up with our words on a regular basis. We are going to be tried with fire and go through trials and tribulations. And our Lord is going to discipline us, and it will be painful.
Doesn’t that sound the opposite of all the comforting words in Psalms 91?
I just wonder how all the people in foreign countries who are going through severe persecution for their walks of faith in Jesus Christ take these words in Psalms 91, for I hear many Americans take it as a promise from God that they will never have to suffer. But we are told in the New Testament that we are called to share in the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings, becoming like him in his death. And Jesus told us plainly that if we follow him with our lives that we will be hated and persecuted for the sake of his name.
So, how do we reconcile Psalms 91 with what the New Testament teaches us on the subject of suffering and persecution and our fiery trials and painful discipline? I believe we have to not take it so literally to say we will not have to suffer, but that in our suffering he will be there for us and he will keep us safe spiritually and even emotionally, but not necessarily physically. He will protect our hearts and our minds if our trust is in him, so that when we have to suffer that we do not fall, and so we don’t get discouraged and give up.
I think this has to be more of a spiritual protection rather than a physical protection, for otherwise this would be saying the opposite of what we are taught in the New Testament. For I do believe in divine protection, but I believe it is more on a spiritual and emotional level than necessarily on a physical level, though I do believe God does sometimes deliver people out of physical pain and suffering, and I believe in divine healing, but he doesn’t always heal, and he doesn’t always deliver, or not always immediately.
Take for example Job and his sufferings and Paul and all that he suffered physically and all the time he spent in jail. And Paul, when he asked God to be delivered from his “thorn in the flesh,” which appeared to be some physical ailment, perhaps his blindness, was told by God that God’s grace was sufficient for him for God’s power is made perfect in weakness so that when Paul was weak, he was strong in the Lord and in his strength (see 2 Corinthians 12:1-10).
And please don’t suggest that Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” was some kind of addictive sin. Not possible! Not if you understand this context and if you know the life of Paul and his walk of faith in Christ Jesus. For we are not going to be given a sin addiction by God to keep us humble, and God’s power is not made perfect in our sin, and we are not made strong in the Lord and in his strength through our sinful practices. Just had to say that.
Now, I do believe that we should not fear whatever might befall us in this life. We should not be afraid to suffer for the sake of the name of Jesus, and for the sake of righteousness, and for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ. But we are told that we are to rejoice in our sufferings, actually, for God is doing his work of grace in our lives in conforming us to the likeness of the character of Jesus Christ. He is pruning us, and purifying us, and making us holy, and molding us into the people he wants us to be through what we suffer for the sake of our walks of faith in Jesus Christ.
So, please don’t get discouraged when you read Psalms 91 when you are going through difficult trials which test your faith, and then end up feeling abandoned by God because you were not delivered from your suffering. Please know that if you are in genuine fellowship with Jesus Christ, and you are indeed putting your faith and trust in him to guide and direct your life, that he is not going to let anything touch you but what he allows it, and he allows it for his purposes and for your ultimate good, even if it doesn’t feel good while you are going through it. Job is a good example of this.
And for those of you who are claiming Psalms 91 literally for your lives and believe that God is not going to allow you to suffer, then please read the New Testament, because he promises us BIG TIME that we will suffer. And if you have not yet had to face much suffering in this life, that is great, I am happy for you, but please know that things are getting much worse in this world of ours and evil times are coming upon us, so please prepare your minds and hearts for much suffering yet to come.
Suffering, hated and persecuted: [Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]
Songs in the Night
An Original Work / December 18, 2013
“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84
Lord, I praise You forevermore.
You, my Savior, I now adore.
Hope in heaven awaiting me,
Because You died at Calvary.
I have been forgiven,
And I’m bound for heaven.
Jesus set me free from
All my sin, I say.
I will praise Him always!
Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:
Overcame death, my vict’ry won!
Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!
I rejoice in His love for me.
I will walk in vict’ry!
My sin is but hist’ry!
I am free to please Him
With my life today.
I will love Him always!
Lord, I thank You for giving me
A new life bought at Calvary.
Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.
Tender mercies now flow within.
Lord, I am so thankful;
Through my Lord, I’m able
To sit at His table;
Fellowship with Him.
I will thank Him always!
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