Psalm 91 part 2

You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. 

Psalm 91:5-8 

Life’s a battle. None of us escape the costs and consequences of being human, of living a life in which joy and sorrow, achievement and failure, wellbeing and suffering, safety and danger, all mix together in the everydayness of our stories. But around us and beneath us, above us and within us, is the God we have come to know in Christ. “Nothing shall separate us from the love of God!” We live under the shadow of the Almighty and Christ is our refuge and fortress. Whatever happens!

If you make the Most High your dwelling – even the Lord who is my refuge – then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.    

Psalm 91:9-10

Yes, bad things still happen to good people. This text is not a promise of immunity from pain and loss, suffering and hurt. But when life collapses beneath us, or we are in a hard place, we are held and surrounded by a Love that will never let us go. Jesus commanded his followers to “Abide in me”, to “Remain in my love”. That, for us is to “make the Most High our dwelling”. We are held safe in the power of the risen Lord in whom we trust, kept before the throne of God by our great High Priest who ever lives to make intercession for us.”

Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges 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.  With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation. 

Psalm 91:14-16

This is the Comprehensive Coverage offered to those who love and serve God, who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, and who live under the shadow of the Almighty. We love because he first loved us, and so affirm our faith: “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
 
Grace and peace, 

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation