Great Prayers of the Old Testament
Part 30: The Blessings of Being Close to God
Psalm 91:1-16
Sermon by Rick Crandall
(Grayson Baptist Church - August 27,2017)
(Revised August 18, 2025)
BACKGROUND:
*James 4:8 makes a great promise to us when it says, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." And when we draw closer to God, He will bless us in amazing ways. Psalm 91 shows us some of those ways.
*John Phillips called this Psalm "The Hiding Place," and said that "We do not know who wrote it. Was it Moses, David, Hezekiah, Nathan the seer, or Isaiah the prophet? It was clearly intended to be a bookend to Psalm 90, the great "Prayer of Moses the man of God." Perhaps someone read that great wilderness song, and decided that it needed a partner to stand beside it in the Hebrew songbook.
*So, we approach this psalm with the knowledge that the human authorship is unknown, but we are equally sure that God wrote it. We know it contains truth that can work in our lives today. And we call this Psalm "The Hiding Place," for it is a good place to run when danger or disease come our way. (1)
*James Hastings called this the Psalm of "God's inner circle." And he wrote that "for every advance on man's part, there is an immediate and corresponding advance on God's part. When man goes out to seek God, God meets him more than half way. When he calls upon God, God will answer him. Loving faith on man's part will be met by faithful love on the part of God." (2)
MESSAGE:
*Christian author, William MacDonald had a remarkable testimony about this Psalm: He began by saying: "Psalm 91 is my Psalm. In 1922, in the Western Hebrides, a five-year-old lad was dying of diphtheria. A mucous membrane was forming across his throat, and breathing was becoming increasingly difficult. His Christian mother turned her back so she would not see him take his last breath.
*At that very moment, there was a knock at the door. It was her brother-in-law from an adjoining village. He said, 'I've just come to tell you that you don't have to worry about the child. He is going to recover, and one day God is going to save his soul.' She was distracted and skeptical. 'Whatever makes you say that?' Then he explained he had been sitting at his fire reading Psalm 91 when God distinctly spoke to him through the last three verses. And here they are from 'The Scottish Psalms:'
14. 'Because on me he set his love,
I'll save and set him free;
Because my great name he hath known,
I will set him on high.
15. He'll call on me, I'll answer him;
I will be with him still,
In trouble to deliver him,
And honor him I will.
16. With length of days unto his mind
I will him satisfy;
I also my salvation
Will cause his eyes to see.'"
*Then Willian MacDonald wrote, "I was that boy. God delivered me from death that night. He saved my soul thirteen years later, and He has satisfied me with long life. So you will understand why I refer to Psalm 91 as my Psalm. I usually add, with tongue in cheek, that I am willing to share it with others. But it is definitely my Psalm!
*Most theologians don't agree with me at all. They say that this is a Psalm about our Savior. And of course they are right. Its primary interpretation concerns our wonderful Lord Jesus Christ. And we are going to study it from that perspective. But remember that in a lesser way, we can take part in its precious promises: 'All the rivers of Thy grace, I claim; Over every promise write my name.'" (3)
*Christians: We can claim this Psalm as ours today, because God has promised to bless us in special ways when we draw close to Him.
1. FIRST: WHEN WE DRAW CLOSE TO GOD, HE WILL MOVE US TO THE ULTIMATE PLACE.
*The Psalmist describes this place in vs. 1. "He who dwells (that is, he who remains, sits down, or lives) in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." The best possible place we can ever be is "the place of the Most High God."
[1] NOTICE THAT IT IS A SECRET PLACE.
*God has secrets. That's easy to understand, because God knows all the mysteries in the universe. God has secrets. But the great news is that God loves to reveal his secrets to those who seek His face! And God's place is secret right now because the world cannot see it in a physical way.
*In John 14:15-19, Jesus was a few hours from the cross, and He told His followers:
15. "If you love Me, keep My commandments.
16. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever,
17. even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
18. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
19. A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also."
*God's place is secret right now because the world can't see it in a physical way. Hebrews 11:1 tells us that it can only be seen by faith, because "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
*God's place is also secret because lost people have been blinded by the devil. In 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, Paul said, "But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them."
*So yes, here in Psalm 91:1 God’s place is secret, but God loves to reveal his secrets to those who seek His face! And "he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."
*Now on the resurrection side of the cross we have an infinitely better understanding of God's secret place. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ suffered the cruelest death on the cross for our sins. And Jesus was buried, but 3 days later, Jesus rose again forever in victory over sin and death! Then in Acts 2, after Jesus rose again, ascended back into heaven, and was fully glorified, the Holy Spirit came in a new way on the Day of Pentecost. Now God's Holy Spirit comes to live in our spiritual hearts when we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
*But we were also put into the spiritual Body of Christ. Paul explained this truth in 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 where he said this about born again believers in Jesus Christ:
12. For as the body (that is, the human body) is one and has many (parts), but all the (parts) of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.
13. FOR BY ONE SPIRIT WE WERE ALL BAPTIZED INTO ONE BODY -- whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free -- and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
*Church: This is not just symbolic language. This is a mysterious, literal, spiritual truth. When we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are spiritually moved into God. We become a part of the Body of Christ. We are baptized or totally submerged into the spiritual body of Jesus Christ. And the water baptism we go through is symbolic of this spiritual baptism that God performs on every believer. The Holy Spirit of God does this work of putting us into the spiritual body of Christ. And from the moment we believe, we are literally in Christ.
*This spiritual baptism is highly important, and we know this because the phrases "in Christ," "in Christ Jesus" or "in the Lord" are used almost 100 times in the New Testament. For example, Romans 8:1 says, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are IN CHRIST JESUS, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." Then in Romans 16:7 Paul said, "Greet Andronicus and Junia, my countrymen and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were IN CHRIST before me." 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is IN CHRIST, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." And Ephesians 2:13 says, "But now IN CHRIST JESUS you who once were far off have been made near by the blood of Christ."
*Being in Christ is an amazing, miraculous place to be. We have a spiritual oneness with God, and each other in the Body of Christ. And every part of the body is important.
[2] GOD'S PLACE IS SECRET TO THE WORLD. BUT ALSO NOTICE THAT GOD'S PLACE IS SAFE.
*That's why vs. 2 can declare: "I will say of the LORD, 'He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.''' Now and forever we can fully put our trust in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We can trust in the LORD as our refuge from the storm. We can trust Him as our eternal protection from the enemy!
*Are you trusting in the LORD today as your refuge from the storm? Are you trusting Him as your protection from the enemy?
*About 35 years ago, our junior high age daughter Katie and I were pulling into Wal-Mart, when we saw the Jews for Jesus bus. You may know that they are a great group of Christian Jews who witness to other Jews all over the world. That day they had shared their ministry at the Senior Citizens Center, and they stopped at Wal-Mart on their way to Shreveport.
*I used to get their newsletter, so I pulled over to try to meet them. Katie and I had a good visit with a beautiful young lady from Israel. Her name was Rivka. I asked Rivka how she got saved. She told me it was through the prayers and witness of other Jewish Christians. Rivka finally realized that Jesus is the Messiah of the Jews, and she trusted in the Lord. She told me, "If you are praying for someone, don't give up! That man prayed for me for two years before I got saved."
*Rivka then told us of her plan to go back to Israel to start a Christian ministry with her fiancé. I asked her if she was nervous about it and she said: "The safest place that we can ever be is right smack in the center of God's will."
*Rivka had found the secret place, the safest place. Surely she would echo these words from vs. 1-2. "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, 'He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.'''
2. WHEN WE DRAW CLOSE TO GOD, HE WILL MOVE US TO THE ULTIMATE PLACE. AND HE WILL GIVE US HIS ULTIMATE PROTECTION.
*In vs. 3-4 the writer begins to speak to everyone who trusts in the LORD, and he promises amazing protection from the LORD:
3. Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence.
4. He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
*Next in vs. 5-6, God's Word promises to calm our fears:
5. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
6. Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
*"You shall not be afraid." God wants to calm our fears. Once I heard Pastor Bruce Rux speak at a funeral about God calming our fears. Bruce reassured the family with a story from his seminary days in Pittsburgh. One of the professors asked this question: "Which commandment from God is repeated most often in the Bible?"
*Those eager students tried hard to answer his question. Some thought it must have been "love the Lord with all your heart" or one of the Ten Commandments. They were all surprised when the professor told them that the most frequent commandment in God's Word is simply, "Fear not." -- "Do not be afraid!" I looked it up and those words are found 71 times in God's Word! Life will seem scary at times, but "Fear not!" "Do not be afraid" God wants to calm our fears.
*Next in vs. 7-10, the Psalmist promises more amazing protection from the Lord:
7. A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you.
8. Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked.
9. Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your habitation,
10. No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
*These are amazing promises, and no doubt that God has protected us in ways we cannot know or imagine. But the fact is that these promises will not be ultimately fulfilled until believers are in Heaven. There are more Christians being persecuted today than ever before. I once heard that there were more Christians martyred in the 20th century than in all of the first 19 centuries combined. And almost every day, Christians are being killed in some of the Muslim countries of North Africa, the Middle East, and in nations like Pakistan and Afghanistan.
*On top of this, we probably all know faithful believers who are suffering from serious accidents or illnesses or the inevitable ravages of old age. Listen to the Apostle Paul's resume of suffering from 2 Corinthians 11:24-28:
24. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one.
25. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep;
26. in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
27. in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness
28. besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.
*Judy Anderson grew up as a missionary kid in Zaire. As a little girl, she went to a day-long rally celebrating the 100th anniversary of Christian missionaries coming to that part of the country. After a full day of messages and music, an old man came before the crowd and insisted that he be allowed to speak. He said he soon would die, and that he had some important information to share.
*The old man explained that when Christian missionaries had first come a hundred years before, his people thought the missionaries were strange and their message unusual. The tribal leaders decided to test the missionaries in a cruel and harsh way: They slowly poisoned them to death. Over a period of months and years, missionary children died one by one. Then the old man said, "It was as we watched how they died that we decided we wanted to live as Christians." (4)
*That sad story had gone untold for one hundred years. And God worked all things together for good, just as He promised in Romans 8:28. "We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." That Scripture is always true! But those faithful missionaries and their children did not find the LORD's ultimate protection until they got to Heaven. And neither will we.
3. WHEN WE DRAW CLOSE TO GOD, HE WILL GIVE US HIS ULTIMATE PROTECTION. AND HE WILL SHOW US HIS UNFOLDING PROPHECY.
*This Psalm generally applies to everyone who trusts in the Lord, but it looks forward to our Savior in at least 5 ways.
[1] FOR EXAMPLE, VS. 9-12 SAY THIS TO THE PROMISED MESSIAH:
9. Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your habitation,
10. No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
11. For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.
12. They shall bear you up in their hands, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
*The first time most people hear those last words is not in this Psalm, but in Matthew 4:5-7, where Jesus was tempted by the devil:
5. Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple,
6. and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge concerning you,' and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"
7. Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'"
*Psalm 91 might have been written by Moses almost 1,500 years before Christ or by King David a thousand years before Christ. But here and all through the Old Testament, God was looking forward to the coming of the Messiah.
[2] THIS PSALM LOOKS FORWARD TO THE SAVIOR IN A SPECIAL WAY.
*Verse 13 is another example: "You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample under foot." I don't think that's talking about us. I'm not going to be treading on any lions or cobras anytime soon! -- How about you? -- No way. But Romans 16:20 tells Christians that, "the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly!"
[3] PSALM 91 LOOKS FORWARD TO THE SAVIOR IN A SPECIAL WAY.
*In Psalm 91, the Heavenly Father is speaking both to, and about His Son. In vs. 14, God spoke about the Son's love for His Heavenly Father. And God the Father said, "Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him."
*Jesus confirmed His love for the Father when He died on the cross. And in John 14:31 Jesus said this about dying on the cross, "But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here.
[4] NEXT, IN VS. 14, THE NAME OF GOD IS ANOTHER LINK BETWEEN GOD THE FATHER AND HIS SON.
*Here God the Father says this about the coming Messiah, "Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name." And before Jesus died on the cross, He focused on the Father's name. Listen to part of the Lord's prayer from John 17:5-7. There Jesus said:
5. "And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
6. I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.
7. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You.
[5] THIS PSALM LOOKS FORWARD TO THE SAVIOR IN A SPECIAL WAY.
*In vs. 15 we hear the Father promising to answer the Messiah's prayers: "He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him."
*And in John 11:39-44, Jesus talked about how God the Father always heard His prayers. Listen to what Jesus said just before He raised Lazarus from the dead:
39. Jesus said, "Take away the stone.'' Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.''
40. Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?''
41. Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.
42. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.''
43. Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!''
44. And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go.''
CONCLUSION:
*Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah and Savior that we see in Psalm 91. Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God and Lord we are to seek with all our hearts! Paul explained it so well in Philippians 2:5-11.
5. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
6. who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
7. but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
8. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
9. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
10. that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
11. and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
*And when we draw close to God, He will move us to the ultimate place, He will give us His ultimate protection, and we will continue to see God's prophecy unfolding all around us. Best of all in vs. 16, God will show us His salvation, the same kind of eternal life God the Father gave to God the Son, Jesus Christ after He died on the cross for our sins! "With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation."
*Have you seen God's salvation? -- The best place to see it is in the cross of Jesus Christ! The Lord dying for our sins, and rising again from the dead. The Lord taking the punishment for our sins, and giving eternal life to all who will trust in Him. Then one day taking us all to Heaven.
*Open your heart to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Put your trust in Him. Then keep drawing closer to the LORD God every day you are in this world, because He will draw close to you! And do everything you can to help other people see the salvation of God in the cross of Jesus Christ!
(1) Adapted from EXPLORING PSALMS by John Phillips, Kregal Publications, Grand Rapids - Psalm 91: "The Hiding Place" - Downloaded to "Bible Study 6" from Olive Tree Bible Software, Inc.
(2) THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE - Edited by James Hastings - Volume IV - p. 241
(3) "Believer's Bible Commentary" by William MacDonald - Edited by Arthur Farstad - Thomas Nelson Publishers - Nashville - Copyright 1995 - Psalm 91 - 18 - Downloaded to e-Sword by Rick Meyers - Copyright 2021
(4) Leith Anderson, Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Leadership, Vol. 15, no. 2. - Found in "Bible Illustrator for Windows" - Topic: Trust / Subtopic: In God / Index: 1214-1218 - Date: 7/1998.1876 / Title: Paying the Price of Evangelism
