Original Meaning
A Determined Declaration of Faith (91:1–2)
WHOEVER DWELLS IN THE SHELTER OF THE MOST HIGH. Psalm 91 begins with a very strong echo of Psalm 90. The preceding composition began with the poignant reminder that God had been a “dwelling place” for the people throughout all generations. This call to remember God’s protection of his people from the time of Moses onward was in itself a response to the great crisis of Psalm 89 (see comments on Ps 90 above). Essentially, Psalm 90 served as a challenge to the hearer through encouragement to find true strength in and through relationship with Yahweh alone, regardless of how things looked on the world or local stage. The basic point being made in Psalm 90 is that God’s people should look away from the apparent crisis of their present political situation and see the ultimate security that is theirs because of their covenantal relationship with the Creator God. Psalm 91 continues that line of thought by painting a very vivid and graphic picture of the individual who chooses to trust in Yahweh above all else.
“Dwells” (yashab), “shelter” (seter), “rest” (lin), and “shadow” (tsel) in Psalm 91:1 echo the idea of God as a “dwelling place” seen in Psalm 90:1. Psalm 90 encourages its hearers consciously to find their rest and security in God, and Psalm 91:1–2 responds with a determined declaration to do just that. As so often in the psalms, Psalm 91 begins with a simple statement of faith in the opening verse, and this statement constitutes the primary or guiding thought that summarizes the basic content of the poem. Choosing to dwell in the shelter of God Most High leads to a position of rest under his protective care. Strictly speaking, the verb that is used in verse 1b for “rest” (lin) conveys the idea of staying or sojourning in a particular place, thus leading some scholars to suggest that Psalm 91 is a psalm of vigil or asylum in the temple. But as Terrien suggests, Psalm 91 reflects on “the consciousness of psychological security, not a geographical construction of public worship.”2
The ideas of dwelling and resting seen in this verse do, however, indicate a degree of permanence in the attitude displayed. The psalmist is encouraging the people to be consciously and constantly aware of God’s protecting presence.3
God is described as the “Most High” (’elyon) and the “Almighty” (shadday) in this verse, and both terms reflect Yahweh’s absolute authority and power, thus giving the reader reason to trust him.
I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress.” The effect of the abstract endorsement in verse 1 is doubled in verse 2 by the psalmist’s resolute declaration of his own personal determination to find protection in Yahweh. The descriptions of Yahweh as “refuge” and “fortress” give a military overtone to the protection he provides. The peoples of the ancient Near East lived under constant threat of military invasions by neighboring powers that were frequently brutal in their tactics, so the overtone of verse 2a is that Yahweh is able to protect his people from the very worst of their fears.4
But God’s shelter is guaranteed in the face of a wide variety of dangers (e.g., hunting, plague, and wild animals), thus broadening the potential areas of appropriation so that an individual could find encouragement from this poem regardless of the specific type of threat being faced.5
My God, in whom I trust. Verse 2b gets to the very core of the psalmist’s purpose. His desire in writing this poem is to engender trust among the people of God—to generate a deeply rooted and determined desire to find their ultimate security in relationship with Yahweh rather than in any external source of security. This response seems to address the great sense of loss that is apparent in Book 3 with regard to the removal of all the external signs of covenantal promise (Jerusalem, temple, and Davidic king). The clear point of Psalm 91 is that trust must have the right object. Zion, with its temple and king, was the external, visible sign of Yahweh’s presence on earth, but the removal of the sign does not equate with the removal of the reality. The signs of the covenant were never intended to be objects of trust in and of themselves—they all served to point people to the deeper reality that was to be found in relationship with Yahweh himself. So, the declaration of verse 2b is a clear statement of proper focus. It is not enough that the people have trust, for faith is not an abstract entity. It is the object of their trust that is important: God himself, and nothing less.
Bridging Contexts
PSALM 91 IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. One of the fascinating aspects of Psalm 91 is, of course, that it becomes the subject of a theological debate between Jesus and the devil in the Gospels. Both Matthew and Luke include a detailed account of Satan’s attempts to derail Jesus’ ministry before it really gets going (Matt 4:1–11; Luke 4:1–13). Satan can never be accused of being slow on the uptake, so—having been rebuked by Jesus, using Scripture—the devil attempts to deflect Jesus from the purposes of his Father by quoting Scripture, and it is Psalm 91:11–12 that he chooses for this purpose. Though the order of the verbal exchange is different in each of the Gospel accounts, the conversation surrounding Psalm 91 is essentially the same. Luke 4:9–12 describes this fascinating scenario in this way:
The devil led [Jesus] to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written:
‘He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ ”
Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
One of the interesting things about this exchange is that, on one level, the devil’s use of Psalm 91 seems quite appropriate. Clearly, the basic message of this poem is that God protects his people from harm, and superficially this protection seems to be the object of his challenge to Jesus. But Jesus’ rebuttal of Satan’s argument shows clearly that Christ views the devil’s use of Scripture as a perversion of the real intent of Psalm 91. Jesus responds by quoting from Deuteronomy 6:16. The broad context of this passage revolves around the challenge to love God above all else, and the particular expression of devotion to him should be displayed in trusting him even when circumstances do not look good.14
Interestingly, the following verses of Deuteronomy 6 focus on the importance of obedience to God’s command and leading as an expression of the people’s love for him. And this obligation of obedience seems to be the essence of Satan’s deliberate misinterpretation of Psalm 91.
It is interesting that in both Matthew’s Gospel and in Luke’s account of the same story, the devil’s citation of verses 11–12 is incomplete. Matthew 4:6 omits the entire phrase “to guard you in all your ways,” and in Luke 4:10 the phrase becomes “to guard you carefully.” In both versions of the temptation account, the devil omits the phrase “in all your ways.” This omission is telling because in this phrase we encounter the essence of the promise of Psalm 91. As discussed above, the idea of “your ways” reflects the normality of everyday life and lifestyle. The wisdom language of “the way,” though possibly originating in a pilgrimage setting as far as Psalm 91 is concerned, is in later biblical Hebrew thought often used as shorthand for the way in which one lives one’s life. This usage nuances the all-encompassing promises of Psalm 91 since the assurance, therefore, seems to refer to divine presence and protection as we go about the business of living for God in our everyday routine.
Satan seeks evidence of God’s presence and protection in the spectacular. The underlying suggestion is that evidence is required in order to prove God’s presence and protection. Effectively, the devil attempts to sow seeds of doubt in the mind of God’s Son. Jesus’ response is telling because the context of the verse he quotes (Deut 6:16) recognizes that the claims of the nations regarding their gods may sow seeds of doubt in the mind of Israel. Whereas Israel failed and ran after the benefits promised by these foreign gods, Jesus stood strong because he trusted in the promise and character of his Father, thus requiring no spectacular affirmation of a reality he knew to exist.15
Effectively, Jesus believed the promise of Psalm 91 without requiring proof of its veracity. Accepting the devil’s challenge would imply that Jesus doubted his Father was really present and involved in the undertaking he was about to begin. Knowing his Father as he did, Jesus required no external verification of the reality of God’s presence and help:
It is not the content of the devil’s address that is wrong, but his aim is to “tempt God,” and this is not in accordance with the nature of the Son of God. Reading the context of Psalm 91 we find that the pious one who is searching for God’s protection (91:2, 9a) is the one who will be protected; protection is connected with piety and faith. Piety, faith and obedience . . . are evoked by quoting Deuteronomy 6. By refusing the aim of the devil, Jesus is characterized as the true Son of God who is obedient.16
The aim of Psalm 91 is to encourage all God’s people to employ a quiet and simple trust in him, regardless of how threatening our circumstances may feel. Psalm 91 is not the poetic meditation of a spiritual kamikaze; it is the call to trust in God’s presence and help even when everything around us screams that he is not real and not involved. Psalm 91 helps the believer to remember that God is both near to us and intimately engaged with our reality.
Contemporary Significance
WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE. The amazing claims of Psalm 91 are a challenge for any Christian believer who looks around his or her church congregation. At least these claims are a challenge for any honest observer of the life of faith. How can we reconcile the great promises of protection with the difficulties believers face in the reality of daily life? In the days that I write these lines, ten fieldworkers from an aid agency with a Christian ethos have been killed in Afghanistan—Psalm 91 seems to have been patently untrue in their experience. What of the suffering church in North Korea? What do believers tortured for their faith make of the promise that “no harm will overtake you” (v. 10)? And we all know fine Christian women and men of faith who labor under great suffering from illness or loss or a thousand different challenges in their daily reality. What can Psalm 91 mean in the light of the heart-rending human tragedies that people of faith from every background and culture face every day?
Such has been the challenge in reconciling the words of Psalm 91 with the reality of Christian experience that it has led some to question the continuing validity of the Old Testament for the Christian faith.17
Broyles is quick, and probably correct, to point out that the extent of the divine promise in verses 14–16 is more circumspect than the claims made by the poet in verses 1–13.18
Yet this observation does not ease the tension, for there is no sense in which the divine pronouncement corrects or denies the content of the preceding stanzas. Anyone reading Psalm 91 as a whole will naturally read it as an assurance of God’s protection and—far from minimizing the effect of this assurance—the effect of the prophetic oracle in verses 14–16 strengthens that prescription. So how can we reconcile Psalm 91 with the reality of our experience? Does the composition simply consist in poetic hyperbole?
Clearly a degree of hyperbole is implied in the language of this poem, but that implication, in and of itself, is not sufficient to provide a resolution to the tension we face in reconciling the theological content of Psalm 91 and the frequent bitterness of Christians’ human experience. In order to understand the core theological message of Psalm 91, we need to ground ourselves in the rhetoric of the poem. Picking up on the imagery of Psalm 90, the poet’s desire is to engender in the hearer an attitude of conscious refuge in God—an attitude of rest in God in the face of a turbulent present. The fact that the present experience of the reader/hearer of the psalm may be turbulent is clearly seen in the language and expectations of Psalm 90 but is also present in the multiplicity of threats that are outlined in Psalm 91 itself. Psalm 91’s promise ultimately is that God will be present, not that life will be easy. Yet the promise of deliverance and salvation is still there in verses 15–16, and clearly this experience is not universal for God’s people.
It is possible, and perhaps even necessary, to spiritualize the promise of absolute protection so that it becomes entirely about the ultimate salvation that is the reality for all believers in Christ. Yet it is not clear that Old Testament believers had such a strong sense of certainty regarding life after death. The Old Testament points to a confidence in God’s ultimate justice, but the whole question of “life after death” was shady and uncertain before the coming of Christ and his resurrection. So how then can we reconcile Psalm 91 with Christians’ experience of hardship?
The answer to this difficult question is rooted in one of the many mysteries of the interface between spiritual reality and human life. It is perhaps best illustrated by the words of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah—or, as they are better known, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. In Daniel 3 (vv. 16–18), when these three men are confronted with the palpable human reality of being thrown into a furnace, they responded to the dictator, Nebuchadnezzar, in this manner:
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
God’s intervention into the affairs of humanity is invariably shrouded in mystery.19
The response of Daniel’s friends reflects an understanding that echoes the aim of Psalm 91. God saves. He does intervene in the reality of human affairs to help his people, but when and how he does so is entirely his choice and subject to his sovereign purpose. Effectively, Psalm 91 declares with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, “he is able to deliver us” (Dan 3:17; cf. Ps 91:3); but correct interpretation of this poem also acknowledges that sometimes, in accordance with God’s understanding, which is higher than ours, he chooses not to do so. Psalm 91, however, is clear that in every ultimate sense God saves his people. At times he evidences this salvation in human history.20
Sometimes he does not. But either way his people can be at rest and take refuge in him because they need not fear even the most difficult of human experiences (v. 5).
Faith that attempts. On the one hand, Psalm 91 sparks questions about the interface of our theology and our experience. But on the other hand, the intent of the psalmist who penned it was to instill great confidence into the hearts of all those who take up the words of this psalm as their own. Rowland Prothero describes the effect that singing Psalm 91 had in the life of Theodore de Beza, one of the second generation of Reformation leaders who faced great persecution in France:
In 1548, when he, for the first time, attended the service of the Reformed Assembly, the congregation was singing Ps xci, “Whoso dwelleth under the defence of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” He never forgot the effect of the words. They supported him in all the difficulties of his subsequent life; they conquered his fears, and gave him the courage to meet every danger.21
The effect that Psalm 91 had on Beza was precisely the type of effect that it should have on us. The great promises of Psalm 91 should give us great courage to step out in faith and attempt things for the kingdom of God. It is a poem that we should allow to permeate our beings, so that it gives us strength to witness with great courage and to speak with a prophetic voice even in a hostile world. William Carey, who is often described as the father of modern missions, once said: “Expect great things from God and attempt great things for God.”22
Psalm 91 gives us every confidence to do the former and great courage to do the latter.23
Original Meaning
Divine Protection in the Face of Trial (91:3–13)
FOLLOWING THE OPENING FOCAL STATEMENT of faith, the next two stanzas (vv. 3–8 and 9–13) outline in vivid detail the protection God provides for his people.6
Surely he will save you. Herein lies the overriding thought of verses 3–13—surely Yahweh, the God of the covenant, will rescue his people regardless of the danger that threatens them. The “he” of the sentence is emphatic. Again, the poet is being explicit about the correct object of one’s trust. He then goes on in verses 3–8 to paint a picture of a world full of a wide variety of dangers. The imagery speaks of “the fowler’s snare” and “deadly pestilence,” which suggest threat from the devious plotting of other people or from endemic disease. Either way, Yahweh ensconces his people under the protection of his wings (v. 4)—the imagery of a mother bird’s protecting her young from attack.
You will not fear the terror of night. Verses 5–6 elaborate the variety of dangers that can target the believer: the unnamed terrors of night or the arrows of military attack (v. 5) or the invisible danger of rampant and deadly illness (v. 6) that cuts a swath through the people (vv. 7–8). The point of this graphic imagery, of course, is that the life of the believer need not be spent in fear and worry. Although the future may well contain untold dangers, the believer’s trust is in the God who is Most High and Almighty. He is in control of every experience, so the individual who trusts in him need not live a life marked by fear of the future.
You will only observe with your eyes. Each of the two stanzas in this section of Ps 91 ends with a description of the believer’s status in the thick of surrounding turmoil. Verse 8a describes the one who trusts in Yahweh as an observer of the effects of tragedy on the world. Such is the extent of God’s protection of his people that the petitioner merely looks on as the events of divine judgment are worked out around him. The reason for this removal from the tragedies taking place seems to be explained in verse 8b. “And see the punishment of the wicked” seems to imply that the tragic events affecting so many people (v. 7) are all under God’s control because they are his interventions into the history of humankind. Because the person of faith has taken Yahweh’s side—and by implication lives in accordance with his ways rather than rejecting them—he is protected from God’s hand of punishment on those who refuse to live in line with their Creator’s sense of justice. As Zenger points out, we get an insight into the implied scenario in these verses: “The petitioner feels himself alone, persecuted, physically and mentally threatened in the midst of an environment experienced as hostile and criminal—and in this very environment he seeks strength and confidence in and with his God.”7
If . . . you make the Most High your dwelling. The second stanza in this section of Psalm 91 reprises the themes of the first with an even more elevated expression of divine protection. Although this verse is quite difficult to translate,8
its point is clear: God must be a dwelling place for his people, a refuge and place of security even in dark and troubled times. This act is a spiritual one—the adoption of an attitude of mind and heart that transcends all present circumstances. Schaefer points out that although this imagery may find its roots in the asylum afforded by the temple, verse 9 points to a spiritual reality that transcends the physical protection offered by the temple courts. “The image enlarges the horizon beyond time and space. Anyone who trusts in God has the right to asylum. Thus, any person within the faith community may be addressed. The sanctuary is transcended (v. 9); ‘the Lord’ and ‘the Most High’ is our refuge and support.”9
No harm will overtake you. Verse 10 goes beyond the suggested specifics of the previous stanza. Rather than implying that God protects his people from one type of harm or another, the poet states that no harm will befall the one who trusts in Yahweh, nor will it even approach that person’s home—a remarkably all-encompassing assurance.
For he will command his angels concerning you. The spirituality of the idea of refuge in God comes to the fore in the promise of angelic protection, and these verses are probably making a deliberate association with God’s protection of his people during the exodus from Egypt (Exod 23:20–23; 33:2). Of course, if Psalm 91 was written, or at least recited, during the period of the exile, these words would have been particularly poignant and seen as a promise of God’s protection on the long journey home to Jerusalem (“your ways,” “strike your foot against a stone”).10
But the concept of pilgrimage and journey had become largely spiritualized by the time the book of Psalms was finalized, so these promises were likely to be read as the assurance of divine help for the community of faith as they sought to live out Yahweh’s purposes on earth, even in an environment that had become hostile to his will and purpose. With this spiritualized concept of pilgrimage in mind, “your ways” came to be seen as a reference to lifestyle, and “striking feet against stones” would be seen as a metaphor for the obstacles one faces in daily life.
You will tread on the lion and the cobra. Just as verse 8 closed out the first stanza of this section with a statement of the petitioner’s status as observer, so also verse 13 concludes with the image of the believer as victor. The reference to “lion,” “cobra,” “great lion,” and “serpent” may, of course, simply refer to the types of natural danger that pilgrims would face on their way to Jerusalem. But references to wild animals in the Psalter frequently have metaphorical overtones—the serpent in particular often symbolizes the forces of chaos that threaten the created order (e.g., see the discussion of Ps 74:14 above). “The lions and serpents in verse 13 may be a symbolic representation of all actual and potential enemies and dangers.”11
Whether literal or symbolic, verse 13 presents the believer as triumphant over these troubles. The language of “treading” and “trampling” frequently symbolizes military victory, thus granting the one who takes refuge in Yahweh a particular status: he comes to represent “the one who fights against chaos.”12
So throughout verses 3–13 there is a transformation of the believer from one who is constantly buffeted by the dangers and misfortunes of life to one who triumphs over these selfsame challenges, thus bringing order out of chaos.
Bridging Contexts
PSALM 91 IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. One of the fascinating aspects of Psalm 91 is, of course, that it becomes the subject of a theological debate between Jesus and the devil in the Gospels. Both Matthew and Luke include a detailed account of Satan’s attempts to derail Jesus’ ministry before it really gets going (Matt 4:1–11; Luke 4:1–13). Satan can never be accused of being slow on the uptake, so—having been rebuked by Jesus, using Scripture—the devil attempts to deflect Jesus from the purposes of his Father by quoting Scripture, and it is Psalm 91:11–12 that he chooses for this purpose. Though the order of the verbal exchange is different in each of the Gospel accounts, the conversation surrounding Psalm 91 is essentially the same. Luke 4:9–12 describes this fascinating scenario in this way:
The devil led [Jesus] to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written:
‘He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ ”
Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
One of the interesting things about this exchange is that, on one level, the devil’s use of Psalm 91 seems quite appropriate. Clearly, the basic message of this poem is that God protects his people from harm, and superficially this protection seems to be the object of his challenge to Jesus. But Jesus’ rebuttal of Satan’s argument shows clearly that Christ views the devil’s use of Scripture as a perversion of the real intent of Psalm 91. Jesus responds by quoting from Deuteronomy 6:16. The broad context of this passage revolves around the challenge to love God above all else, and the particular expression of devotion to him should be displayed in trusting him even when circumstances do not look good.14
Interestingly, the following verses of Deuteronomy 6 focus on the importance of obedience to God’s command and leading as an expression of the people’s love for him. And this obligation of obedience seems to be the essence of Satan’s deliberate misinterpretation of Psalm 91.
It is interesting that in both Matthew’s Gospel and in Luke’s account of the same story, the devil’s citation of verses 11–12 is incomplete. Matthew 4:6 omits the entire phrase “to guard you in all your ways,” and in Luke 4:10 the phrase becomes “to guard you carefully.” In both versions of the temptation account, the devil omits the phrase “in all your ways.” This omission is telling because in this phrase we encounter the essence of the promise of Psalm 91. As discussed above, the idea of “your ways” reflects the normality of everyday life and lifestyle. The wisdom language of “the way,” though possibly originating in a pilgrimage setting as far as Psalm 91 is concerned, is in later biblical Hebrew thought often used as shorthand for the way in which one lives one’s life. This usage nuances the all-encompassing promises of Psalm 91 since the assurance, therefore, seems to refer to divine presence and protection as we go about the business of living for God in our everyday routine.
Satan seeks evidence of God’s presence and protection in the spectacular. The underlying suggestion is that evidence is required in order to prove God’s presence and protection. Effectively, the devil attempts to sow seeds of doubt in the mind of God’s Son. Jesus’ response is telling because the context of the verse he quotes (Deut 6:16) recognizes that the claims of the nations regarding their gods may sow seeds of doubt in the mind of Israel. Whereas Israel failed and ran after the benefits promised by these foreign gods, Jesus stood strong because he trusted in the promise and character of his Father, thus requiring no spectacular affirmation of a reality he knew to exist.15
Effectively, Jesus believed the promise of Psalm 91 without requiring proof of its veracity. Accepting the devil’s challenge would imply that Jesus doubted his Father was really present and involved in the undertaking he was about to begin. Knowing his Father as he did, Jesus required no external verification of the reality of God’s presence and help:
It is not the content of the devil’s address that is wrong, but his aim is to “tempt God,” and this is not in accordance with the nature of the Son of God. Reading the context of Psalm 91 we find that the pious one who is searching for God’s protection (91:2, 9a) is the one who will be protected; protection is connected with piety and faith. Piety, faith and obedience . . . are evoked by quoting Deuteronomy 6. By refusing the aim of the devil, Jesus is characterized as the true Son of God who is obedient.16
The aim of Psalm 91 is to encourage all God’s people to employ a quiet and simple trust in him, regardless of how threatening our circumstances may feel. Psalm 91 is not the poetic meditation of a spiritual kamikaze; it is the call to trust in God’s presence and help even when everything around us screams that he is not real and not involved. Psalm 91 helps the believer to remember that God is both near to us and intimately engaged with our reality.
Contemporary Significance
WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE. The amazing claims of Psalm 91 are a challenge for any Christian believer who looks around his or her church congregation. At least these claims are a challenge for any honest observer of the life of faith. How can we reconcile the great promises of protection with the difficulties believers face in the reality of daily life? In the days that I write these lines, ten fieldworkers from an aid agency with a Christian ethos have been killed in Afghanistan—Psalm 91 seems to have been patently untrue in their experience. What of the suffering church in North Korea? What do believers tortured for their faith make of the promise that “no harm will overtake you” (v. 10)? And we all know fine Christian women and men of faith who labor under great suffering from illness or loss or a thousand different challenges in their daily reality. What can Psalm 91 mean in the light of the heart-rending human tragedies that people of faith from every background and culture face every day?
Such has been the challenge in reconciling the words of Psalm 91 with the reality of Christian experience that it has led some to question the continuing validity of the Old Testament for the Christian faith.17
Broyles is quick, and probably correct, to point out that the extent of the divine promise in verses 14–16 is more circumspect than the claims made by the poet in verses 1–13.18
Yet this observation does not ease the tension, for there is no sense in which the divine pronouncement corrects or denies the content of the preceding stanzas. Anyone reading Psalm 91 as a whole will naturally read it as an assurance of God’s protection and—far from minimizing the effect of this assurance—the effect of the prophetic oracle in verses 14–16 strengthens that prescription. So how can we reconcile Psalm 91 with the reality of our experience? Does the composition simply consist in poetic hyperbole?
Clearly a degree of hyperbole is implied in the language of this poem, but that implication, in and of itself, is not sufficient to provide a resolution to the tension we face in reconciling the theological content of Psalm 91 and the frequent bitterness of Christians’ human experience. In order to understand the core theological message of Psalm 91, we need to ground ourselves in the rhetoric of the poem. Picking up on the imagery of Psalm 90, the poet’s desire is to engender in the hearer an attitude of conscious refuge in God—an attitude of rest in God in the face of a turbulent present. The fact that the present experience of the reader/hearer of the psalm may be turbulent is clearly seen in the language and expectations of Psalm 90 but is also present in the multiplicity of threats that are outlined in Psalm 91 itself. Psalm 91’s promise ultimately is that God will be present, not that life will be easy. Yet the promise of deliverance and salvation is still there in verses 15–16, and clearly this experience is not universal for God’s people.
It is possible, and perhaps even necessary, to spiritualize the promise of absolute protection so that it becomes entirely about the ultimate salvation that is the reality for all believers in Christ. Yet it is not clear that Old Testament believers had such a strong sense of certainty regarding life after death. The Old Testament points to a confidence in God’s ultimate justice, but the whole question of “life after death” was shady and uncertain before the coming of Christ and his resurrection. So how then can we reconcile Psalm 91 with Christians’ experience of hardship?
The answer to this difficult question is rooted in one of the many mysteries of the interface between spiritual reality and human life. It is perhaps best illustrated by the words of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah—or, as they are better known, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. In Daniel 3 (vv. 16–18), when these three men are confronted with the palpable human reality of being thrown into a furnace, they responded to the dictator, Nebuchadnezzar, in this manner:
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
God’s intervention into the affairs of humanity is invariably shrouded in mystery.19
The response of Daniel’s friends reflects an understanding that echoes the aim of Psalm 91. God saves. He does intervene in the reality of human affairs to help his people, but when and how he does so is entirely his choice and subject to his sovereign purpose. Effectively, Psalm 91 declares with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, “he is able to deliver us” (Dan 3:17; cf. Ps 91:3); but correct interpretation of this poem also acknowledges that sometimes, in accordance with God’s understanding, which is higher than ours, he chooses not to do so. Psalm 91, however, is clear that in every ultimate sense God saves his people. At times he evidences this salvation in human history.20
Sometimes he does not. But either way his people can be at rest and take refuge in him because they need not fear even the most difficult of human experiences (v. 5).
Faith that attempts. On the one hand, Psalm 91 sparks questions about the interface of our theology and our experience. But on the other hand, the intent of the psalmist who penned it was to instill great confidence into the hearts of all those who take up the words of this psalm as their own. Rowland Prothero describes the effect that singing Psalm 91 had in the life of Theodore de Beza, one of the second generation of Reformation leaders who faced great persecution in France:
In 1548, when he, for the first time, attended the service of the Reformed Assembly, the congregation was singing Ps xci, “Whoso dwelleth under the defence of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” He never forgot the effect of the words. They supported him in all the difficulties of his subsequent life; they conquered his fears, and gave him the courage to meet every danger.21
The effect that Psalm 91 had on Beza was precisely the type of effect that it should have on us. The great promises of Psalm 91 should give us great courage to step out in faith and attempt things for the kingdom of God. It is a poem that we should allow to permeate our beings, so that it gives us strength to witness with great courage and to speak with a prophetic voice even in a hostile world. William Carey, who is often described as the father of modern missions, once said: “Expect great things from God and attempt great things for God.”22
Psalm 91 gives us every confidence to do the former and great courage to do the latter.23
Original Meaning
Divine Protection in the Face of Trial (91:3–13)
FOLLOWING THE OPENING FOCAL STATEMENT of faith, the next two stanzas (vv. 3–8 and 9–13) outline in vivid detail the protection God provides for his people.6
Surely he will save you. Herein lies the overriding thought of verses 3–13—surely Yahweh, the God of the covenant, will rescue his people regardless of the danger that threatens them. The “he” of the sentence is emphatic. Again, the poet is being explicit about the correct object of one’s trust. He then goes on in verses 3–8 to paint a picture of a world full of a wide variety of dangers. The imagery speaks of “the fowler’s snare” and “deadly pestilence,” which suggest threat from the devious plotting of other people or from endemic disease. Either way, Yahweh ensconces his people under the protection of his wings (v. 4)—the imagery of a mother bird’s protecting her young from attack.
You will not fear the terror of night. Verses 5–6 elaborate the variety of dangers that can target the believer: the unnamed terrors of night or the arrows of military attack (v. 5) or the invisible danger of rampant and deadly illness (v. 6) that cuts a swath through the people (vv. 7–8). The point of this graphic imagery, of course, is that the life of the believer need not be spent in fear and worry. Although the future may well contain untold dangers, the believer’s trust is in the God who is Most High and Almighty. He is in control of every experience, so the individual who trusts in him need not live a life marked by fear of the future.
You will only observe with your eyes. Each of the two stanzas in this section of Ps 91 ends with a description of the believer’s status in the thick of surrounding turmoil. Verse 8a describes the one who trusts in Yahweh as an observer of the effects of tragedy on the world. Such is the extent of God’s protection of his people that the petitioner merely looks on as the events of divine judgment are worked out around him. The reason for this removal from the tragedies taking place seems to be explained in verse 8b. “And see the punishment of the wicked” seems to imply that the tragic events affecting so many people (v. 7) are all under God’s control because they are his interventions into the history of humankind. Because the person of faith has taken Yahweh’s side—and by implication lives in accordance with his ways rather than rejecting them—he is protected from God’s hand of punishment on those who refuse to live in line with their Creator’s sense of justice. As Zenger points out, we get an insight into the implied scenario in these verses: “The petitioner feels himself alone, persecuted, physically and mentally threatened in the midst of an environment experienced as hostile and criminal—and in this very environment he seeks strength and confidence in and with his God.”7
If . . . you make the Most High your dwelling. The second stanza in this section of Psalm 91 reprises the themes of the first with an even more elevated expression of divine protection. Although this verse is quite difficult to translate,8
its point is clear: God must be a dwelling place for his people, a refuge and place of security even in dark and troubled times. This act is a spiritual one—the adoption of an attitude of mind and heart that transcends all present circumstances. Schaefer points out that although this imagery may find its roots in the asylum afforded by the temple, verse 9 points to a spiritual reality that transcends the physical protection offered by the temple courts. “The image enlarges the horizon beyond time and space. Anyone who trusts in God has the right to asylum. Thus, any person within the faith community may be addressed. The sanctuary is transcended (v. 9); ‘the Lord’ and ‘the Most High’ is our refuge and support.”9
No harm will overtake you. Verse 10 goes beyond the suggested specifics of the previous stanza. Rather than implying that God protects his people from one type of harm or another, the poet states that no harm will befall the one who trusts in Yahweh, nor will it even approach that person’s home—a remarkably all-encompassing assurance.
For he will command his angels concerning you. The spirituality of the idea of refuge in God comes to the fore in the promise of angelic protection, and these verses are probably making a deliberate association with God’s protection of his people during the exodus from Egypt (Exod 23:20–23; 33:2). Of course, if Psalm 91 was written, or at least recited, during the period of the exile, these words would have been particularly poignant and seen as a promise of God’s protection on the long journey home to Jerusalem (“your ways,” “strike your foot against a stone”).10
But the concept of pilgrimage and journey had become largely spiritualized by the time the book of Psalms was finalized, so these promises were likely to be read as the assurance of divine help for the community of faith as they sought to live out Yahweh’s purposes on earth, even in an environment that had become hostile to his will and purpose. With this spiritualized concept of pilgrimage in mind, “your ways” came to be seen as a reference to lifestyle, and “striking feet against stones” would be seen as a metaphor for the obstacles one faces in daily life.
You will tread on the lion and the cobra. Just as verse 8 closed out the first stanza of this section with a statement of the petitioner’s status as observer, so also verse 13 concludes with the image of the believer as victor. The reference to “lion,” “cobra,” “great lion,” and “serpent” may, of course, simply refer to the types of natural danger that pilgrims would face on their way to Jerusalem. But references to wild animals in the Psalter frequently have metaphorical overtones—the serpent in particular often symbolizes the forces of chaos that threaten the created order (e.g., see the discussion of Ps 74:14 above). “The lions and serpents in verse 13 may be a symbolic representation of all actual and potential enemies and dangers.”11
Whether literal or symbolic, verse 13 presents the believer as triumphant over these troubles. The language of “treading” and “trampling” frequently symbolizes military victory, thus granting the one who takes refuge in Yahweh a particular status: he comes to represent “the one who fights against chaos.”12
So throughout verses 3–13 there is a transformation of the believer from one who is constantly buffeted by the dangers and misfortunes of life to one who triumphs over these selfsame challenges, thus bringing order out of chaos.
Bridging Contexts
PSALM 91 IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. One of the fascinating aspects of Psalm 91 is, of course, that it becomes the subject of a theological debate between Jesus and the devil in the Gospels. Both Matthew and Luke include a detailed account of Satan’s attempts to derail Jesus’ ministry before it really gets going (Matt 4:1–11; Luke 4:1–13). Satan can never be accused of being slow on the uptake, so—having been rebuked by Jesus, using Scripture—the devil attempts to deflect Jesus from the purposes of his Father by quoting Scripture, and it is Psalm 91:11–12 that he chooses for this purpose. Though the order of the verbal exchange is different in each of the Gospel accounts, the conversation surrounding Psalm 91 is essentially the same. Luke 4:9–12 describes this fascinating scenario in this way:
The devil led [Jesus] to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written:
‘He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ ”
Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
One of the interesting things about this exchange is that, on one level, the devil’s use of Psalm 91 seems quite appropriate. Clearly, the basic message of this poem is that God protects his people from harm, and superficially this protection seems to be the object of his challenge to Jesus. But Jesus’ rebuttal of Satan’s argument shows clearly that Christ views the devil’s use of Scripture as a perversion of the real intent of Psalm 91. Jesus responds by quoting from Deuteronomy 6:16. The broad context of this passage revolves around the challenge to love God above all else, and the particular expression of devotion to him should be displayed in trusting him even when circumstances do not look good.14
Interestingly, the following verses of Deuteronomy 6 focus on the importance of obedience to God’s command and leading as an expression of the people’s love for him. And this obligation of obedience seems to be the essence of Satan’s deliberate misinterpretation of Psalm 91.
It is interesting that in both Matthew’s Gospel and in Luke’s account of the same story, the devil’s citation of verses 11–12 is incomplete. Matthew 4:6 omits the entire phrase “to guard you in all your ways,” and in Luke 4:10 the phrase becomes “to guard you carefully.” In both versions of the temptation account, the devil omits the phrase “in all your ways.” This omission is telling because in this phrase we encounter the essence of the promise of Psalm 91. As discussed above, the idea of “your ways” reflects the normality of everyday life and lifestyle. The wisdom language of “the way,” though possibly originating in a pilgrimage setting as far as Psalm 91 is concerned, is in later biblical Hebrew thought often used as shorthand for the way in which one lives one’s life. This usage nuances the all-encompassing promises of Psalm 91 since the assurance, therefore, seems to refer to divine presence and protection as we go about the business of living for God in our everyday routine.
Satan seeks evidence of God’s presence and protection in the spectacular. The underlying suggestion is that evidence is required in order to prove God’s presence and protection. Effectively, the devil attempts to sow seeds of doubt in the mind of God’s Son. Jesus’ response is telling because the context of the verse he quotes (Deut 6:16) recognizes that the claims of the nations regarding their gods may sow seeds of doubt in the mind of Israel. Whereas Israel failed and ran after the benefits promised by these foreign gods, Jesus stood strong because he trusted in the promise and character of his Father, thus requiring no spectacular affirmation of a reality he knew to exist.15
Effectively, Jesus believed the promise of Psalm 91 without requiring proof of its veracity. Accepting the devil’s challenge would imply that Jesus doubted his Father was really present and involved in the undertaking he was about to begin. Knowing his Father as he did, Jesus required no external verification of the reality of God’s presence and help:
It is not the content of the devil’s address that is wrong, but his aim is to “tempt God,” and this is not in accordance with the nature of the Son of God. Reading the context of Psalm 91 we find that the pious one who is searching for God’s protection (91:2, 9a) is the one who will be protected; protection is connected with piety and faith. Piety, faith and obedience . . . are evoked by quoting Deuteronomy 6. By refusing the aim of the devil, Jesus is characterized as the true Son of God who is obedient.16
The aim of Psalm 91 is to encourage all God’s people to employ a quiet and simple trust in him, regardless of how threatening our circumstances may feel. Psalm 91 is not the poetic meditation of a spiritual kamikaze; it is the call to trust in God’s presence and help even when everything around us screams that he is not real and not involved. Psalm 91 helps the believer to remember that God is both near to us and intimately engaged with our reality.
Contemporary Significance
WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE. The amazing claims of Psalm 91 are a challenge for any Christian believer who looks around his or her church congregation. At least these claims are a challenge for any honest observer of the life of faith. How can we reconcile the great promises of protection with the difficulties believers face in the reality of daily life? In the days that I write these lines, ten fieldworkers from an aid agency with a Christian ethos have been killed in Afghanistan—Psalm 91 seems to have been patently untrue in their experience. What of the suffering church in North Korea? What do believers tortured for their faith make of the promise that “no harm will overtake you” (v. 10)? And we all know fine Christian women and men of faith who labor under great suffering from illness or loss or a thousand different challenges in their daily reality. What can Psalm 91 mean in the light of the heart-rending human tragedies that people of faith from every background and culture face every day?
Such has been the challenge in reconciling the words of Psalm 91 with the reality of Christian experience that it has led some to question the continuing validity of the Old Testament for the Christian faith.17
Broyles is quick, and probably correct, to point out that the extent of the divine promise in verses 14–16 is more circumspect than the claims made by the poet in verses 1–13.18
Yet this observation does not ease the tension, for there is no sense in which the divine pronouncement corrects or denies the content of the preceding stanzas. Anyone reading Psalm 91 as a whole will naturally read it as an assurance of God’s protection and—far from minimizing the effect of this assurance—the effect of the prophetic oracle in verses 14–16 strengthens that prescription. So how can we reconcile Psalm 91 with the reality of our experience? Does the composition simply consist in poetic hyperbole?
Clearly a degree of hyperbole is implied in the language of this poem, but that implication, in and of itself, is not sufficient to provide a resolution to the tension we face in reconciling the theological content of Psalm 91 and the frequent bitterness of Christians’ human experience. In order to understand the core theological message of Psalm 91, we need to ground ourselves in the rhetoric of the poem. Picking up on the imagery of Psalm 90, the poet’s desire is to engender in the hearer an attitude of conscious refuge in God—an attitude of rest in God in the face of a turbulent present. The fact that the present experience of the reader/hearer of the psalm may be turbulent is clearly seen in the language and expectations of Psalm 90 but is also present in the multiplicity of threats that are outlined in Psalm 91 itself. Psalm 91’s promise ultimately is that God will be present, not that life will be easy. Yet the promise of deliverance and salvation is still there in verses 15–16, and clearly this experience is not universal for God’s people.
It is possible, and perhaps even necessary, to spiritualize the promise of absolute protection so that it becomes entirely about the ultimate salvation that is the reality for all believers in Christ. Yet it is not clear that Old Testament believers had such a strong sense of certainty regarding life after death. The Old Testament points to a confidence in God’s ultimate justice, but the whole question of “life after death” was shady and uncertain before the coming of Christ and his resurrection. So how then can we reconcile Psalm 91 with Christians’ experience of hardship?
The answer to this difficult question is rooted in one of the many mysteries of the interface between spiritual reality and human life. It is perhaps best illustrated by the words of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah—or, as they are better known, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. In Daniel 3 (vv. 16–18), when these three men are confronted with the palpable human reality of being thrown into a furnace, they responded to the dictator, Nebuchadnezzar, in this manner:
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
God’s intervention into the affairs of humanity is invariably shrouded in mystery.19
The response of Daniel’s friends reflects an understanding that echoes the aim of Psalm 91. God saves. He does intervene in the reality of human affairs to help his people, but when and how he does so is entirely his choice and subject to his sovereign purpose. Effectively, Psalm 91 declares with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, “he is able to deliver us” (Dan 3:17; cf. Ps 91:3); but correct interpretation of this poem also acknowledges that sometimes, in accordance with God’s understanding, which is higher than ours, he chooses not to do so. Psalm 91, however, is clear that in every ultimate sense God saves his people. At times he evidences this salvation in human history.20
Sometimes he does not. But either way his people can be at rest and take refuge in him because they need not fear even the most difficult of human experiences (v. 5).
Faith that attempts. On the one hand, Psalm 91 sparks questions about the interface of our theology and our experience. But on the other hand, the intent of the psalmist who penned it was to instill great confidence into the hearts of all those who take up the words of this psalm as their own. Rowland Prothero describes the effect that singing Psalm 91 had in the life of Theodore de Beza, one of the second generation of Reformation leaders who faced great persecution in France:
In 1548, when he, for the first time, attended the service of the Reformed Assembly, the congregation was singing Ps xci, “Whoso dwelleth under the defence of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” He never forgot the effect of the words. They supported him in all the difficulties of his subsequent life; they conquered his fears, and gave him the courage to meet every danger.21
The effect that Psalm 91 had on Beza was precisely the type of effect that it should have on us. The great promises of Psalm 91 should give us great courage to step out in faith and attempt things for the kingdom of God. It is a poem that we should allow to permeate our beings, so that it gives us strength to witness with great courage and to speak with a prophetic voice even in a hostile world. William Carey, who is often described as the father of modern missions, once said: “Expect great things from God and attempt great things for God.”22
Psalm 91 gives us every confidence to do the former and great courage to do the latter.23
