Psalm 91

 

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God Promises, and Promises, and Promises Some More 

What God promises to us far outweighs our profession of faith in Him

Psalm 91

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • February 16, In the year of our Lord, 2014

 

Prelude: 

  1. How many are the promises of God? 
    1. I found a Psalm in the Bible that lists many of His promises, yet,
    2. you will notice that the psalmist did not include many others.
      1. It made me wonder just how much has God promised us?
      2. Why or what moves Him to make endless promises to us?
        1. What is man that God makes innumerable promises to us?
        2. Who is God that He would do such things?
  2. The amazing Psalm I discovered is Psalm 91. 
    1. This Psalm presents many dangers, but
    2. the beauty of the Psalm is how God deals with us during those dangers.
  3. See everyone of the dangers in Psalm 91 as attacks from Satan. 
    1. Satan attacks us aggressively,
      1. nothing stopping him,
      2. except for the Lord God Himself.
        1. For this reason, you need to listen carefully to this Powerful Psalm.
        2. You will see God promising, promising, and promising some more.

Persuasion: 

  1. Psalm 91.1 – His Privilege

    1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
    Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
    (Psa 91.1)

    1. He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
      1. chose to dwell with Him, because
      2. it is a phenomenal privilege unmatched by anything else.
    2. It is a secret, but
      1. we can find the place, otherwise
      2. this Psalm would not be in the Bible.
    3. How can we find it? What or where is it?
      1. As the psalmist continued,
      2. he will show you what it means
        1. to dwell in the secret place of the Most High, and
        2. to abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
    4. Think of abiding under the shadow of the Almighty.
      1. What do you picture?
      2. He is bigger than us.
        1. You do not take shade under a dandelion, but
        2. under a tree.
      3. He overshadows us
        1. as a protection against our enemies and because
        2. He is so grand He dominates over them.
      4. He shelters us from the hot sun.
  2. Psalm 91.2 – Our Profession

    2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
    My God, in Him I will trust.”
    (Psa 91.2)

    1. If I dwell in the secret place of the Most High and live in His shadow,
      1. then by all means
        1. He will be my everything,
        2. He will be my all.
      2. What more do I need?
    2. We have to say of the Lord
      1. that He is our refuge,
      2. that He is our fortress,
      3. that He is our God in whom we trust.
        1. He is our refuge because danger exists in this world and in the spirit.
        2. He is our fortress because someone attacks us daily.
        3. Do we then truly trust Him?
    3. Do not make the government, a job, insurance, retirement, money, whatever,
      1. your refuge, fortress, and trust, because
      2. they will fail sooner or later.
        1. God uses those things to bless us, but
        2. let our national motto, be our personal motto,

          “In God, We Trust!”

          “In God, I Trust!”

    4. Believers find a home with God.
      1. They go to Him for everything.
      2. They want to be with Him whenever possible.
        1. That being the case,
        2. watch what He does for them.
  3. Psalm 91.3–8 – His Promises: Part 1

    3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler
    And from the perilous pestilence.
    4 He shall cover you with His feathers,
    And under His wings you shall take refuge;
    His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
    5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
    Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
    6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
    Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
    7 A thousand may fall at your side,
    And ten thousand at your right hand;
    But it shall not come near you.
    8 Only with your eyes shall you look,
    And see the reward of the wicked.
    (Psa 91.3–8)

    1. See the profusion of dangers arrayed against us:
      1. The snare of the fowler,
      2. perilous pestilence,
      3. terror by night,
      4. arrows by day,
      5. pestilence in darkness,
      6. destruction at noonday, and
      7. people falling all around us.
        1. Danger arrives at all times and in all ways.
        2. However, the Most High, the Lord Almighty,
          1. sees the darkness coming and
          2. wants us under His shelter.
            1. He wants us with Him.
            2. He wants us to want to be with Him.
    2. See the plethora of God’s promises to you:
      1. Deliverance from the snare of the fowler and from pestilence,
      2. cover under His feathers,
      3. refuge under His wings,
      4. shield and buckler, protection in His truth,
      5. fearlessness night and day,
      6. security while others fall, and
      7. witness to the reward of the wicked.
    3. When you read verses 7–8, think of
      1. Noah’s generation,
        1. that although he had to live among them,
        2. he also saw their destruction.
      2. Think of Lot living in Sodom and
        1. distressed over their ungodliness, but
        2. he saw the destruction of their city.
      3. Think of Israel after crossing the Red Sea and
        1. the water collapsing on the Egyptians, and
        2. Israel saw their former masters dead on the seashore.
      4. Think of Christians who escaped the destruction of Jerusalem.
        1. They had lived among haters of Jesus and
        2. suffered persecution, but
          1. they saw the Roman armies approach and
          2. they left as the Lord had directed,
            1. not experiencing the destruction, but
            2. seeing it from afar.
    4. Regardless of when and what attacks us, the Lord is with us,

      3 He will not allow your foot to be moved;
      He who keeps you will not slumber.
      4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
      Shall neither slumber nor sleep.
      (Psa 121.3–4)

  4. Psalm 91.9–13 – His Promises: Part 2

    9 Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,
    Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
    10 No evil shall befall you,
    Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
    11 For He shall give His angels charge over you,
    To keep you in all your ways.
    12 In their hands they shall bear you up,
    Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
    13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
    The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
    (Psa 91.9–13)

    1. Verse 9 goes back to the way the psalm started,
      1. since you made the decision to make the Lord your refuge, and
      2. since you made the decision to make the Most High your dwelling place,
        1. look at the privileged promises that He makes to you.
        2. You know these are not empty promises.
    2. You probably recognize verses 11–12 as what Satan quoted partly to Jesus.
      1. In Matthew 4, Satan took Jesus,
        1. put Him on the highest point of the temple,
        2. then challenged Him,

          6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:

          ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and,
          ‘In their hands they shall bear you up,
          Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”
          (Matt 4.6)

      2. However, Jesus immediately showed
        1. that the promises of Psalm 91
        2. cannot be used to contradict other passages,
        3. nor can we use Psalm 91 to test God,

          7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God’” (Matt 4.7).

    3. However, notice that God uses His angels for our sakes.
      1. Hebrews 1 reveals a hint of what God does with the angels for us,

        14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? (Heb 1.14).

      2. The God of heaven uses heaven to carry out His promises to us.
        1. He uses His angels, and on top of that
        2. He already sent Jesus to die for our sins that we might be forgiven.
    4. Next, God Himself speaks His promises.
  5. Psalm 91.14–16 – His Promises: Part 3

    14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
    I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
    15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;
    I will be with him in trouble;
    I will deliver him and honor him.
    16 With long life I will satisfy him,
    And show him My salvation.”
    (Psa 91.14–16)

    1. God interprets our intention
      1. to dwell in His secret place,
      2. to live in His shadow,
      3. to make Him our refuge,
      4. to make Him our fortress,
      5. to make Him our trust,
        1. as a decision to set our love on Him, and
        2. He will not let that go unrewarded.
    2. God promises
      1. to deliver that person, and
      2. to set him on high.
    3. Also, God interprets our love for Him
      1. to be a decision to know His name.
      2. Do you know His name?
    4. God promises even more, promising
      1. that when we call on Him,
      2. He will answer us.
    5. God promises that we shall have trouble, but
      1. that He will be with us in that trouble,
      2. that He will deliver us and honor us.
    6. He will even throw in
      1. the satisfaction of a long life, and
      2. we shall see His salvation.

Exhortation: 

  1. Live by the promises of Psalm 91. 
  2. Live by the power of God’s endless promises. 
  3. His privilege and His promises far outweigh our profession, but 
    1. we truly have to profess, and
    2. we truly have to practice what we profess.
      1. We cannot abuse His promises as Satan wanted Jesus to do.
      2. We have to ponder His promises.
  4. Why does God do these things? 
    1. He has pure, unadulterated, undefiled, uncorrupted love for us.
    2. However, He wants something in return from us:
      1. He wants us to dwell in His secret place, under His shadow;
      2. He wants us to make Him our refuge;
      3. He wants us to make Him our fortress;
      4. He wants us to trust Him;
      5. He wants us to love Him;
      6. He wants us to know His name; and
      7. He wants us to call upon Him.
  5. This psalm shows us that,

    “The abiding life (vv. 1–4) produces the assuring life (vv. 5–13), the life without fear, which leads to the abounding life (vv. 14–16), the life of victory and peace” (Warren Wiersbe, Bible Commentary: Old Testament, p. 366).
  6. Obviously, God desires eagerly to bless us. 
    1. He, likewise, desires eagerly to have our full commitment!
    2. Give Him lackadaisical commitment and you shall receive nothing in return.
  7. Generally speaking, if we do as the Psalm says, 
    1. we reduce our troubles immensely, but
    2. it is also true that we still have troubles in this life.
      1. The Lord sees the righteous through their troubles, but
      2. eventually the wicked fall because of their troubles.
        1. The news in all forms seeks to put fear in us.
        2. This Psalm shows the Lord putting a spirit of fearlessness in us.
  8. Psalm 91.16 – The Secret Place of Security

    Trust the Au-gust

    One who dwells in the shade of Au-gust*
    (not the month, but the Lord whom we trust)
    says, “Since He’s the Most High,
    I’ll not fear when I die.
    He’s my refuge, and raise me He must“.

    http://www.biblelimericks.com/?limerick=psalms-9116-the-secret-place-of-security

  9. Who is this Lord of whom the psalmist spoke? 
    1. His name is…Jesus of Nazareth.
    2. What this Psalm says about what you should do to the Lord,
      1. do to Jesus, and
      2. He shall be with you to the end.