Psalm 91:9-16 “Because you have made the LORD your refuge, and the Most High your dwelling place, no evil shall happen to you, neither shall any plague come near your dwelling. For he will put his angels in charge of you, to guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, so that you won’t dash your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and cobra. You will trample the young lion and the serpent underfoot. “Because he has set his love on me, therefore I will deliver him. I will set him on high, because he has known my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him, and honor him. I will satisfy him with long life, and show him my salvation.”

Making the Lord your refuge means that you will be generally safer in this life, and certainly safer in the life to come! Take the book of Proverbs for instance. Proverbs gives us probabilities. If we listen to what it says, then we’ll live better lives because we stay out of a lot of trouble. That’s what following God does. Following God doesn’t mean that we’ll never have trouble; just that we’ll stay away from much of it! And we trust that God will also watch out for us because of our desire to serve Him. The absolute blessedness described here will happen in the new heavens and the new earth:

Isaiah 11:1-9 “A shoot will come out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots will bear fruit. The LORD’s Spirit will rest on him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. His delight will be in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by the sight of his eyes, neither decide by the hearing of his ears; but he will judge the poor with righteousness, and decide with equity for the humble of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked. Righteousness will be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his waist. The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, the calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf together; and a little child will lead them. The cow and the bear will graze. Their young ones will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play near a cobra’s hole, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.”

I would suggest that this passage engages in the rhetoric device of hyperbole: it exaggerates to make a point. The point being that following God is safer than not following God! Jesus even warns about the dangers of misunderstanding this passage:

Matthew 4:5-7 “Then the devil took him into the holy city. He set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “He will command his angels concerning you,” and, “On their hands they will bear you up, so that you don’t dash your foot against a stone.” ‘ Jesus said to him, ‘Again, it is written, “You shall not test the Lord, your God.” ’ ”

Putting ourselves in harm’s way simply because we think that God will keep us safe is not a correct reading of Scripture. In fact, we’re sometimes reminded that following God can bring trouble because of the hatred of the world around us.

John 15:18 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you.”

One absolute spiritual truth that should comfort us from this passage is the fact that once we are God’s, we are His forever! He guards us and keeps us in the palm of His hand.

John 10:27-29 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand.”

For additional worship: On Eagle’s Wings (Michael Joncas)

Psalm 91:1-8 “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, ‘He is 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 feathers. Under his wings you will take refuge. His faithfulness is your shield and rampart. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes, and see the recompense of the wicked.”

Where is the secret place of the Most High for us? It starts with knowing Jesus! When we know Jesus, then we don’t have to fear death, hell, or Satan anymore. But in our day to day lives we may still experience fear and distress. In order to stay in that secret place we need to study, praise, pray, and live for God. When we do these things we won’t grieve the Spirit in us, and we’ll be able to experience the fruit that comes from our relationship with Him!

Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control.”

For additional worship: O Love That Will Not Let Me Go (Indelible Grace)

Psalm 90:13-17 “Relent, LORD! How long? Have compassion on your servants! Satisfy us in the morning with your loving kindness, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen evil. Let your work appear to your servants, your glory to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be on us. Establish the work of our hands for us. Yes, establish the work of our hands.”

Can you see Moses composing this as they are getting near the promised land? They’ve wandered in the wilderness for 40 years as a result of their disobedience. They cry out for mercy and compassion, and ask to experience God’s glory, goodness, and blessing again.

While you may not feel far from God right now, or feel like you’re being disciplined by Him in some way, there are some very important reminds for all of us here. When we wake up each morning God should be on our minds, we should remember that we’ve already experienced His mercy through Jesus Christ, and we should go through our day with joy. We should ask Him to reveal His work in our lives, and to establish the work of our hands.

Ephesians 2:4-10 “But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus; for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.”

For additional worship: Take My Life and Let It Be (Reawaken Hymns)

Psalm 90:7-12 “For we are consumed in your anger. We are troubled in your wrath. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. For all our days have passed away in your wrath. We bring our years to an end as a sigh. The days of our years are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty years; yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for it passes quickly, and we fly away. Who knows the power of your anger, your wrath according to the fear that is due to you? So teach us to count our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

These verses teach us that life can be short and hard, so we should do everything we can to stay on God’s good side. And we shouldn’t think that we can keep anything from Him, because He knows all and sees everything!

Job 28:28 “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. To depart from evil is understanding.”

For additional worship: A Few More Years Shall Roll (Ancient Hymns Reimagined)

Psalm 90:1-6 “A Prayer by Moses, the man of God. Lord, you have been our dwelling place for all generations. Before the mountains were born, before you had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God. You turn man to destruction, saying, “Return, you children of men.” For a thousand years in your sight are just like yesterday when it is past, like a watch in the night. You sweep them away as they sleep. In the morning they sprout like new grass. In the morning it sprouts and springs up. By evening, it is withered and dry.”

These verses remind us that God is eternal and we are not. People have a physical beginning and end. We read here that man returns to destruction, which literally means humiliation, and some translations render as dust. This should remind us of Genesis and the fall, where mankind is punished with death because of sin. God is self-existent (aseity). He always has been and always will be (“from everlasting to everlasting”). That’s why He can continue to be the dwelling place of His people for each and every generation!

For additional worship: Everlasting (Brian Doerksen)

Psalm 89:46-52 “How long, LORD? Will you hide yourself forever? Will your wrath burn like fire? Remember how short my time is, for what vanity you have created all the children of men! What man is he who shall live and not see death, who shall deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah. Lord, where are your former loving kindnesses, which you swore to David in your faithfulness? Remember, Lord, the reproach of your servants, how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the mighty peoples, With which your enemies have mocked, LORD, with which they have mocked the footsteps of your anointed one. Blessed be the LORD forever more. Amen, and Amen.”

Ever feel hopeless and far from God? Don’t give up reaching out to Him!

Matthew 15:21-28 “Jesus went out from there and withdrew into the region of Tyre and Sidon. Behold, a Canaanite woman came out from those borders and cried, saying, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, you son of David! My daughter is severely possessed by a demon!’ But he answered her not a word. His disciples came and begged him, saying, ‘Send her away; for she cries after us.’ But he answered, ‘I wasn’t sent to anyone but the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ But she came and worshipped him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ But he answered, ‘It is not appropriate to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.’ But she said, ‘Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.’ Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is your faith! Be it done to you even as you desire.’ And her daughter was healed from that hour.”

But there is one who shall live and not see death. Jesus! And He is the one who will deliver us from the power of the grave.

Isaiah 53:10 “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him. He has caused him to suffer. When you make his soul an offering for sin, he will see his offspring. He will prolong his days and the LORD’s pleasure will prosper in his hand.”

1 Corinthians 15:20-23 “But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruit of those who are asleep. For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s at his coming.”

For additional worship: Glorious Day – Living He Loved Me (Casting Crowns)

Psalm 89:38-45 “But you have rejected and spurned. You have been angry with your anointed. You have renounced the covenant of your servant. You have defiled his crown in the dust. You have broken down all his hedges. You have brought his strongholds to ruin. All who pass by the way rob him. He has become a reproach to his neighbors. You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries. You have made all of his enemies rejoice. Yes, you turn back the edge of his sword, and haven’t supported him in battle. You have ended his splendor, and thrown his throne down to the ground. You have shortened the days of his youth. You have covered him with shame. Selah.”

We’re reminded here that sin and faithlessness bring God’s displeasure and discipline. What is amazing is the fact that, although Jesus was perfect and never sinned, He may have experienced something very similar to what this passage describes. But He did it for us!

Hebrews 4:15 “For we don’t have a high priest who can’t be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one who has been in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin.”

Matthew 27:45-46 “Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. About the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lima sabachthani?’ That is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ ”

1 Peter 2:24 “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness. You were healed by his wounds.”

2 Corinthians 5:21 “For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

For additional worship: O Happy Day That Fixed My Choice

Psalm 89:29-37 “I will also make his offspring endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven. If his children forsake my law, and don’t walk in my ordinances; if they break my statutes, and don’t keep my commandments; then I will punish their sin with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. But I will not completely take my loving kindness from him, nor allow my faithfulness to fail. I will not break my covenant, nor alter what my lips have uttered. Once I have sworn by my holiness, I will not lie to David. His offspring will endure forever, his throne like the sun before me. It will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky. Selah.”

David’s dynasty did fall on hard times because of sin, but God kept His promise:

Matthew 1:12-16 “After the exile to Babylon, Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel. Shealtiel became the father of Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel became the father of Abiud. Abiud became the father of Eliakim. Eliakim became the father of Azor. Azor became the father of Zadok. Zadok became the father of Achim. Achim became the father of Eliud. Eliud became the father of Eleazar. Eleazar became the father of Matthan. Matthan became the father of Jacob. Jacob became the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, from whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.”

We are a part of His spiritual kingdom now, and we can trust God to keep His promises to us. He is faithful!

2 Peter 1:1-4 “Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a like precious faith with us in the righteousness of our God and Saviour, Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, seeing that his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue, by which he has granted to us his precious and exceedingly great promises…”

For additional worship: God Keeps His Promises (Stephen McWhirter)

Psalm 89:19-28 “Then you spoke in vision to your saints, and said, ‘I have given strength to the warrior. I have exalted a young man from the people. I have found David, my servant. I have anointed him with my holy oil, with whom my hand shall be established. My arm will also strengthen him. No enemy will tax him. No wicked man will oppress him. I will beat down his adversaries before him, and strike those who hate him. But my faithfulness and my loving kindness will be with him. In my name, his horn will be exalted. I will set his hand also on the sea, and his right hand on the rivers. He will call to me, “You are my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation!” I will also appoint him my firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. I will keep my loving kindness for him forever more. My covenant will stand firm with him.’ “

“Saints” in verse 19 is literally “godly ones.” It could refer to Nathan and Samuel and God’s use of them to deliver His prophetic message. David was chosen to be the one to establish God’s kingdom and God promised that He would be his strength. The appointing of David as “firstborn” foreshadows the coming of Jesus Christ, and the promised everlasting covenant is fulfilled in Jesus too!

Revelation 1:5-6 “and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us, and washed us from our sins by his blood— and he made us to be a Kingdom, priests to his God and Father—to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

For additional worship: Jesus is King (Selah)

Psalm 89:14-18 “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. Loving kindness and truth go before your face. Blessed are the people who learn to acclaim you. They walk in the light of your presence, LORD. In your name they rejoice all day. In your righteousness, they are exalted. For you are the glory of their strength. In your favor, our horn will be exalted. For our shield belongs to the LORD, our king to the Holy One of Israel.”

Why should we rejoice in God? He is righteous and just. He is loving, kind, merciful and genuine. We find strength in His favor. We are saved through Jesus’ righteousness. He is our king and shield! We need to revel in our relationship with Him and follow Him with our lives.

1 Corinthians 1:30-31 “Because of him [God], you are in Christ Jesus, who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, that, as it is written, “He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.”

For additional worship: Christus Victor (Keith & Kristyn Getty)