God's Protection In Times Of Crisis Series

Introduction

Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch Christian who, along with her family, helped many Jews escape the Nazis by hiding them in their home. This act of bravery and faith eventually led to their arrest.

Corrie and her sister Betsie were sent to Ravensbrück, a notorious women's concentration camp in Germany. Life in the camp was brutal, and the conditions were inhumane.

Despite the danger and hardship, Corrie and Betsie found ways to share their faith and encourage other prisoners.

They held secret Bible studies and prayer meetings, using a small Bible that Corrie had miraculously managed to keep hidden.

The prison guards would often search the prisoners and their barracks for contraband, and having a Bible would have led to severe punishment or even death.

On one such occasion, the guards were conducting a comprehensive search. Corrie prayed fervently for protection, asking God to shield the Bible from being discovered.

Miraculously, when the guards reached Corrie's bunk, they passed by without searching.

The Bible remained hidden, and Corrie and Betsie continued to use it to offer hope and solace to the other women in the camp.

Betsie, who remained steadfast in her faith despite the suffering, eventually died in the camp.

Corrie was later released due to a clerical error, which she believed was part of God's plan.

After the war, she dedicated her life to sharing her story and the message of forgiveness and faith encapsulated in her famous book, The Hiding Place.

Corrie ten Boom’s story illustrates God’s protection in times of crisis.

Today’s Psalm teaches us how God protects believers in times of crisis.

We don’t know who wrote Psalm 91.

In his marvelous commentary on the Psalms, Charles Spurgeon writes:

The Jewish doctors consider that when the author’s name is not mentioned we may assign the Psalm to the last-named writer; and, if so, this is another Psalm of Moses, the man of God (C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 88-110, vol. 4 [London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers, n.d.], 88).

That may be so.

Nevertheless, Psalm 91 is one of fifty anonymous Psalms.

The author of Psalm 91 warns about snares, deadly plagues, terrors by night, arrows by day, stumbling over rocks, and facing lions and snakes.

That may seem like something only the ancients experienced.

But consider that today, we might experience terrorist attacks, mass murderers, drunk drivers, and COVID-19 (or whatever its successor might be called), and we quickly realize that our contemporary society is as dangerous as the one the Psalmist described in Psalm 91.

Just like the saints of old, so do we need to know how God protects believers today in times of crisis.

Psalm 91 is excellent. Spurgeon said of Psalm 91:

In the whole collection [of Psalms] there is not a more cheering Psalm, its tone is elevated and sustained throughout, faith is at its best, and speaks nobly (C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 88-110, vol. 4 [London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers, n.d.], 88).

Scripture

Let’s read Psalm 91:1-16:

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust.”

3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler

and from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with his pinions,

and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.

5 You will not fear the terror of the night,

nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,

nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,

ten thousand at your right hand,

but it will not come near you.

8 You will only look with your eyes

and see the recompense of the wicked.

9 Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—

the Most High, who is my refuge—

10 no evil shall be allowed to befall you,

no plague come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways.

12 On their hands they will bear you up,

lest you strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread on the lion and the adder;

the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.

14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;

I will protect him, because he knows my name.

15 When he calls to me, I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble;

I will rescue him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him

and show him my salvation.”

Lesson

Psalm 91:1-16 teaches us how God protects believers in a time of crisis.