Psalm 91
Lesson Focus
Psalm 91 calls us to patiently place our trust in God’s faithful and continued protection and salvation.
Lesson Outcomes
By the end of this lesson, students should:
Understand the context behind Psalm 91.
Understand that God invites us to find shelter and protection in God’s embrace.
Learn to live patiently through the times when it seems like God’s protection is absent.
Catching Up on the Story
Throughout history, humans have constantly experienced danger and hardship. In a way that’s hard for us to understand, the ancients, including the author of Psalm 91, were aware that forces of evil and chaos lurked around every corner. So much of how the world works, the weather, the stars, eclipses, etc., were complete mysteries. Today, however, we’ve uncovered much of the mystery behind events that would have left the ancients quaking in their sandals.
To a certain extent, vestiges of our common fear of the unknown or uncommon remain with us. Our fear of the dark might serve as an example. You might walk into a room with which you are familiar and still experience twangs of fear if the room is shrouded in darkness despite your familiarity. Though you might know the layout of the room and its furniture, in the darkness, untold threats abound. For our ancient (and not so) ancestors, protection from the forces of evil or the mysterious and unknown came from the hands of a god. And so, humanity has been calling on supernatural beings in various forms since the beginning of time. Ancient Israel was no different. Instead of picking a god to serve, Israel was chosen by the only true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Many of the psalms in the Bible are outright pleas for protection from a God whom Israel confesses is the only one capable of bringing about salvation from dangers of human-made or natural origin. In Psalm 91, the psalmist confesses unwavering trust in God’s salvation.
In the Shadow of the Almighty
The psalmist begins Psalm 91 by addressing his song to those who believe in Israel’s God, which he introduces using four different “names.” Verses 1-2 set the tone for the psalm. By beginning the psalm in the way he does, the psalmist describes those with faith only in relation to God. In other words, the main identifying trait of those being addressed is their closeness to the one who protects them. Israel is described as living in the shelter of God, abiding in the protecting shadow of God, and taking refuge in God’s faithful and capable hands.
While verses 1-2 describe the psalmist’s location relative to their God, 3-10 proclaim the things from which God will deliver his followers. Using a mixture of imagery, the psalmist describes God’s deliverance. Those who abide with God will be freed from being ensnared in destructive traps (the snare of the fowler or person who catches birds). From “deadly pestilence,” God will also deliver those who trust him. These images describe God’s deliverance after the danger has befallen a person.
In verse 4, the image shifts from God’s response to a preemptive stance to God’s faithfulness, described as a shield against evil. God is like a giant bird under whose wings we will be gathered and sheltered. God’s faithfulness drives away the fear of living in such a dangerous world. As the psalm moves on, the psalmist offers assurances of protection in battle (the arrow that flies in the day) and from sickness.
The phrase “the pestilence that stalks in darkness” is rather ominous. For a second, try and place yourself in the psalmist’s world, where nothing is known about the spread of disease. A human can erect a satisfactory defense against flying arrows using readily available materials. The same cannot be said for pestilence and sickness. Nevertheless, what humans cannot see or defend against is no match for Israel’s God.
You Will Not Dash Your Foot…
In the next section, God’s protection is defensive and somewhat stationary. In verses 11-13, the psalmist assures us of God’s protection as we journey through life. Angels will guard the paths we take. Should we fall while traversing a particularly high and dangerous terrain, God will send angels to catch us. Even deadly animal life, like lions and poisonous snakes, will pose no dangers as we will be empowered to trample them under our feet.
“I Will Deliver…”
In the final three verses, the voice of the psalm shifts from the psalmist to the one in whom the psalmist has faith. These verses act to confirm all that the psalmist has said. At first glance, we might assume that God only cares for those who “love me” or “know my name.” While I think a particular point is being made by phrasing God’s commitment this way, I do not believe the rest of Israel’s testimony about God and God’s relationship with the world will allow us to assert that God only loves those who love him or those who have been blessed to know God’s name. While Israel’s (and ours) relationship with God is reciprocal, the Biblical witness proclaims God’s love for all, even those who are ignorant of God or who willfully reject him.
So What?
Psalm 91 clearly describes Israel’s faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In a world where danger abounds at every turn, lurking in the dark, awaiting the opportune time to ambush an unsuspecting victim, God offers constant protection and guidance. As we’ve read the Psalms, however, it’s clear that trouble still gets past God’s protection. We don’t need the psalm to know that bad things happen to good people or that upright and faithful living is no guarantee that life’s troubles won’t find us. The world around us is broken, and at times, so are we.
So, what do we do with the confidence in God’s protection that oozes from Psalm 91? Is the psalmist misinformed about the way things work? Is God not as faithful as we’ve been led to believe God is? Have we not sought shelter with God in a pure enough way? Have we not loved God well enough for his protection to extend to us?
We won’t fully answer those types of questions anytime soon. However, we must read this psalm using Jesus’ life and teaching as an interpretive lens. As you read over this psalm, verses eleven and twelve might have sounded familiar. Those verses are the same words Satan uses as part of his attempt to tempt Jesus into sin (Matt. 4:5-7; Luke 4:10-11). Satan takes Jesus up to the highest part of the temple and tells him to jump off. If Jesus is who he says he is, then no harm will befall Jesus because angels will keep Jesus from stubbing his little toe on the rocks. Of course, Jesus rejects this temptation, quoting scripture to do so. In a way, Jesus asserts that “that’s just now how things work.”
At the heart of what Satan was tempting Jesus to do was to view God’s protection as a tool to be used for one’s benefit. One commentator says, “The temptation was to take the promised protection of God into the control of his own will and act. That would have shifted the power of the promise from the free sovereignty of God to individual willfulness. Jesus saw that as a way to test God, not as the way of trust. Real trust does not seek to test God or to prove his faithfulness” (Mays, 298).
Regardless of the difficulties of Psalm 91, what remains true is that, as finite humans, we must wait and trust in God. More than anything else, God promises to answer when we call and to abide with us during times of trouble. Certainly, Jesus understood Psalm 91 as a call to trust in God’s faithfulness, knowing all along that faith requires his willing sacrifice.
Patience seems to be key here as well. For reasons unknown to us, God does not always act in the way and at the time we desire. At times, our faith is tested (not by God, but by the fallen brokenness of the world around us) as we wait for God’s salvation to come. The testimony of Psalm 91, along with Jesus’ testimony, is that regardless of what transpires, God is with us, leading us to an ultimate place of safety.
Discussion Questions
Read the text aloud. Then, read the text to yourself quietly. Read it slowly, as if you were very unfamiliar with the story.
Why do you think people across time and place have believed in a god of some sort or another?
To whom is Psalm 91 addressed?
Reword verse 3 to sound a bit more contemporary. With what would you replace “the snare of the folwer” or “the deadly pestilence?”
What are the dangers of our current world from which we hope God will shelter us?
Psalm 91 is rather optimistic about the nature of God’s protection. How do you think ancient Israel reacted when they felt that God had not protected them as God had promised to?
Is Psalm 91 an explicit promise to protect us from all harm? If so, how does that track with your personal experience?
Verses 11-12 might sound familiar to you. Where else in the Bible are these words quoted, and what are the circumstances around their utterance (i.e., who says them and to whom are they said)?
In verse 14, the voice of the psalm changes from the psalmist to God. Why do you think this shift takes place? Reread the first thirteen verses in light of verses 14 and the following. Does your understanding of the first part of the psalm change after reading the last part of the psalm? If so, why?
It might sound like God only protects those who love God back. Is that what the psalm is saying? If so, what makes you think that? If not, why?
If our experience tells us that God doesn’t always protect us from what might harm us, what do we do with this psalm? Does this psalm have a place within a culture that struggles to see where God is amid all the violence and chaos? If so, in what way?
What was Jesus’ response to Satan after he used Psalm 91 to tempt Jesus?
Jesus rejected testing God’s promised protection even though he knew what suffering lay ahead. Nevertheless, he continued on his path to the cross, knowing that there was resurrection and vindication on the other side of death. As a community of faith, what things might we do to continue to live faithfully, knowing that our faith will not always shield us from danger and suffering?
Works Cited
Mays, James Luther. Psalms. Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1994.
Lennox, Stephen J. Psalms: A Bible Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition. Indianapolis, IN: Wesleyan Publishing House, 1999.
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