“The one who lives under the protection of the Most High dwells in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the LORD, ‘My refuge and fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’” (Psalm 91:1-2 [HCS])
So often, when we read the Psalms we think something like this,
“David was such a faithful man of God.” Or, “David wrote all those psalms, but
my life isn’t like that. Real life isn’t like that.” As I read Psalm 91 yesterday,
it came to me like it hadn’t in a while, David didn’t write about himself; he
wrote about God and how He manifested Himself in his life. When we understand
this (the Bible is really all about God), then we can read each psalm looking
for how God revealed Himself in that particular situation.
Consider Psalm 91. The first two verses of this psalm are
the crux of the psalm. The last three are God’s response to David’s “ah ha.”
What did David say about God in verses one and two? He said God is Protector,
Most High, Almighty, Refuge, Fortress, and trustworthy. Did you get that? God
had revealed Himself to David over his life in these ways and David reminded
himself he could trust God because He is the Most High over all things and He
is Almighty. Nothing can go against God and defeat Him.
One thing stands out that so often people miss. I’ll admit I
missed it until last night. Consider the prepositional phrases of verse one-“under
the protection of the Most High,” and “in the shadow of the Almighty”.
Consider, too, the subject of the verse. The “one” in this psalm is the child
of God. How do we know this? Because God protects him or her. But there is more
to the relationship of the child and Father, just as there is in human
relationships. God isn’t just Protector. We must, if we truly are children of
God, activate the faith we profess (put our faith into action) and be
the child of God. Being the child of God means living in relationship with Him.
Being in a relationship means being close, not wandering off, not going before
or lagging behind because of fear. Living in a relationship is a closeness in
location, spirit, emotion, and mind. Does that ring a bell? Love the Lord your
God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength is what Moses taught in the
Old Testament and Jesus re-iterated in the New Testament.
What does this have to do with Psalm 91, you ask? Everything.
Yes, God is Protector, Almighty, and Most High. But, if we are not near Him, if
we do not let Him lead us, then we cannot be in His shadow (under His protective
watch). Consider shadows in our physical world. If the bird is above the tree,
the tree cannot provide a shadow or shade for the bird. If the bird is not near
the tree as the sun moves, the sun will not cast the tree’s shadow on the bird to
protect it from the heat of the day. Similarly, if we choose not to put our
faith into action and be near God in relationship, (location, heart, mind, and
spirit), then God’s shadow cannot be our dwelling place, our protection. We can’t
live in God’s shadow if we try to live without Him, above Him, or around Him.
He must be in His rightful place, above us. “He must increase and I must
decrease,” as the disciple, John, said in John 3:30. So this verse says of the “one”
who is a child of God, he or she will be “under the protection of the Most High”
and “in the shadow of the Almighty” because he or she is in a close, vibrant
relationship with God.
Many times in our life, we forget Who is almighty and all-knowing.
We forget Who has all-wisdom and is available to be near us if we will draw
near to Him. At those times, we drift away from God and His shadow (protection).
Not that God can’t protect us anywhere
we are, but when we walk away from God, He doesn’t always chase us to make us
return to Him. He calls to us, but His perfect love gives us free will and so
He waits for us to return to Him. Does it hurt Him when we get hurt because we
walked away from Him? Of course. But any wise parent knows that sometimes a
child must learn from experience and God allows experiences to help us grow. He’s
always there waiting for us to call to Him, to return to Him. He’s ready to
stretch out His wings for us to take refuge. God wants to protect His children
from terrors, plagues, pestilence, wickedness, and evil. He won’t force Himself
on us. We must want to be in a vibrant relationship with Him and “dwell in the
shadow of the Almighty.”
When we “dwell in the shelter of the Almighty,” we will see
the hunter’s net fail, the plague slip by, the wicked punished, and God’s
angels protect us in all our ways so we receive support, and don’t strike our
foot on a stone, and we will defeat lions and snakes. Most importantly, when we
choose to live in the shadow of the Most High God, we will devote ourselves to
Him and know His name, and He will deliver and protect us. God will answer us
when we call to Him. He will be our Protector and Savior, satisfying us with
long life with Him.
David learned from God’s response to his own faithfulness to
Him that God loves him and would be his Protector. God would provide shelter for
David to dwell in His shadow as he lived with Him in a close relationship. He
learned God takes care of His children and blesses them, as God stated in
verses fourteen through sixteen. This psalm is about God, and it’s about being
in a close, faithful relationship with Him. When I ask people if they go to
church or know Jesus, I often get the response, “Oh I took care of that a long
time ago. God’s got my back.” The problem with this statement is that we do
just that. We show God our backs and leave Him behind us. When we leave God
behind, we make God irrelevant for us and walk away from a close relationship
with Him. We no longer dwell in the shadow of the Almighty. We leave Him back
there somewhere.
Do you say “God’s got my back?” Or, is God a very real and
vibrant part of your life? Is He as close to you as your next breath? Can you
say with David that you “dwell in the shadow of the Almighty?”
“Oh Lord, You are my God; I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name: for You have worked wonders, plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.
For You have been a defense for the helpless, a defense for the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat.” (Isaiah 25:1, 4a [NASB])
Oh Lord, God, You haven’t
given up on me. Though I have wandered and walked away sometimes not realizing
I left You, You have not given up on me. You wait faithfully for my return. Lord,
Your love and grace have upheld me in the past, but I still tend to walk and
not realize I’ve left You. Please forgive me for neglecting our relationship.
Forgive me for wandering on my own paths. Lord, my life You’ve given to bring
You glory and I have failed You many times. Thank you for Your love and
forgiveness. Grow me closer to You and to be more like You. Make my life be a
testimony about You so that my life is like the Bible, all about You and You
alone. Amen.
