“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust!’
3 For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper
And from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with His pinions,
And under His wings you may seek refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.
5 You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
Or of the arrow that flies by day;
6 Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.” (Psalm 91:1-6 NASB1995)
What can we learn from this Psalm, based on New Testament teachings?
Who are those who “dwell in the shelter of the Most High”? We are all who have
trusted in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives. By faith in Jesus
Christ we have died with Christ to sin, and we have been raised with Christ to
walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but now as
slaves to God and to his righteousness, in walks of obedience to his commands –
all in the power of God, by his Spirit, and by his grace.
Because we have surrendered our lives to the Lord, submitted
to his Lordship over our lives, and we are now walking (in conduct, in
practice) in obedience to his commands, and sin is no longer what we practice,
we are in genuine fellowship with God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy
Spirit. We know him intimately, and he knows us, and he calls us his sheep. He
watches over us, and he gives us guidance and direction in the way that we
should go, and so we follow him wherever he leads us, in his power.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John
6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1
Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32;
Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2;
1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
But this does not mean that nothing bad will ever happen to
us. For the New Testament Scriptures, and the words of Jesus Christ, and those
of his New Testament apostles assure us that, just as Jesus was hated,
mistreated, rejected, persecuted, and put to death for who he was and for the
things that he did and said, so will the same happen to us if we follow his
example. If we are living for the Lord, and if we are spreading the truth of
the gospel, we will be rejected and mistreated, even by other professing “Christians.”
We do not have to be afraid of what might happen to us, for
the Lord will give us all that we need to endure and to remain faithful to him,
even to the death. And if we submit to his will and purpose for our lives, and
if we trust him with all our circumstances, no matter what may come our way, he
will keep us from yielding to the flesh and to the enemy of our souls. But we
must cooperate with him, trust him, and not flee out of fear. He will give us
all we need to endure unjust suffering and to not give way to the enemy.
Now, there are many people today who are using this Psalm to
teach that God will not allow us to suffer, and that nothing bad will happen to
us at all if we put our trust in Jesus Christ. But that is contradictory to the
teachings of Jesus and of his New Testament apostles who assured us over again
that the Christian life is a life of suffering, which will include physical
suffering as well as persecutions and rejections and even beatings,
imprisonments, and death. For we must suffer with Christ if we are to live with
him for eternity.
[Matthew 5:10-12;
Matthew 7:13-14; Matthew 10:16-39; Matthew 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke
12:49-53; Luke 21:12-17; John 15:18-21; John 17:14; Romans
5:3-5; Philippians 3:7-11; 1 Thessalonians 3:1-5; 2 Timothy 3:12; 1 Peter
1:6-7; 1 Peter 4:12-17; James 1:2-4; Hebrews 12:3-12; 1 John 3:13; Revelation
6:9-11; Revelation 7:9-17; Revelation 11:1-3; Revelation
12:17; Revelation 13:1-18; Revelation 14:1-13; 2
Corinthians 1:3-11]
So, be careful that you don’t end up believing the lies
which teach you that will not have to suffer. And please do not believe the
lies which tell you that you don’t have to repent of (turn from, die to) your
sins, and that you don’t have to obey God, in practice, as part of believing
faith which saves, and which must continue to the end. For most all the
referenced verses in this writing will teach you that faith in Jesus Christ
involves suffering, both in death to sin and in being persecuted like Jesus was
for righteousness’ sake.
Based off
Various Scriptures
An Original
Work / December 7, 2013
Christ’s
Free Servant, Sue J Love
Blessed are
you when you’re persecuted
Because of
your faith in Jesus Christ.
Blessed are
you when people insult you,
And falsely
say what leads folks to doubt.
Rejoice and
be glad, for your reward is
Great in the
heavens. You’re not alone.
When you are
persecuted in one place,
Flee to
another. God will be there.
You will be
hated by all the nations
Because you
testify of God’s grace.
Many will
seize you and persecute you,
And put to
death the foll’wers of Christ.
Yet do not
fear what humans may do to you,
For I’m with
you all through the night.
I tell you,
love your enemies with my love,
And forgive
as I forgave you.
Pray for
those who do evil against you.
Rest in my
love and grace from above.
My Refuge and My Fortress
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