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.
Let’s use the following outline:
1. God’s Place in a Time of Crisis (91:1-2)
2. God’s Protection in a Time of Crisis (91:3-13)
3. God’s Pledge in a Time of Crisis (91:14-16)
I. God’s Place in a Time of Crisis (91:1-2)
First, let’s notice God’s place in a time of crisis.
The Psalmist writes in verses 1-2, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’ ”
The Psalmist begins with an affirmation of his faith. His faith is grounded in who God is.
In verse 1, he says that God is “the Most High” and “the Almighty.” He says that God is infinite in transcendence and power.
His God is not some created deity. His God is mighty above all.
In addition, the Psalmist affirms in verse 2 that his God is “the Lord.” He is Yahweh, the covenant God of Israel, the God who has bound himself to his people by an irrevocable bond.
Moreover, the Psalmist asserts that he “will abide in the shadow” of this God. He will find his rest and security in the supremely sovereign God of the universe.
Sometimes, young children see shadows in their room at night, which scares them.
Not so the Psalmist. He says that in God’s shadow, he finds that God is both a “refuge” and a “fortress.” A “refuge” is a place where one can hide. A “fortress” protects against danger.
Finally, the Psalmist affirms that God is “my God, in whom I trust.” His entire confidence rested in God alone.
He knew that he could depend on God in the most dangerous crisis that might come his way.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor and theologian during the Nazi regime.
Bonhoeffer was a prominent critic of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party, and he became actively involved in the Confessing Church. This movement opposed Nazi interference in the German Protestant church.
As the Nazis' atrocities grew, Bonhoeffer's commitment to his God and his resistance to the regime intensified.
He was eventually involved in a plot to assassinate Hitler, believing that such an extreme action was justified to stop the immense evil being perpetrated.
In April 1943, Bonhoeffer was arrested and imprisoned. Despite the constant threat of torture and execution, Bonhoeffer's trust in God did not waver.
He continued to write and minister to fellow prisoners, offering them spiritual support and encouragement.
His letters and papers from prison, later published as Letters and Papers from Prison, reveal his deep trust in God amidst extreme danger and uncertainty.
One particularly poignant example of his trust in God is a poem he wrote while imprisoned, titled "Who Am I?" In it, Bonhoeffer grapples with his identity and the fear and isolation he feels but ultimately reaffirms his faith in God's presence and sovereignty:
Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.
Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am Thine!
In February 1945, Bonhoeffer was transferred to the Flossenbürg concentration camp, and on April 9, 1945, just weeks before Allied forces liberated the camp, he was executed by hanging.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer's unwavering trust in God during his imprisonment and eventual execution is a powerful illustration of faith in the face of mortal danger. His legacy inspires Christians worldwide to stand firm in their beliefs, even under challenging circumstances.
So, let me ask you: Is God your God? Are you resting in the shadow of the Almighty? Is God your refuge and fortress? Is God the one you trust—even in a time of crisis?
II. God’s Protection in a Time of Crisis (91:3-13)
Second, let’s look at God’s protection in a time of crisis.
In the following eleven verses, the Psalmist changes from the first person to the second person pronoun. He addresses believers and assures them of God’s protection during a crisis.
The Psalmist uses bold imagery to illustrate God’s protection.
He speaks of God’s promise of deliverance “from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence”(v. 3).
God will defend believers as a mother hen hides her chicks under her wings (v. 4).
God’s faithfulness will be like a soldier’s shield to believers (v. 4).
So, what dangers will bring God’s protection to believers?
The Psalmist describes several dangers from which God will protect believers: “the snare of the fowler” (v. 3), “the deadly pestilence” (v. 3), “the terror of the night” (v. 5), “the arrow that flies by day” (v. 5), “the pestilence” (v. 6), and “the destruction” (v.6).
The Psalmist is describing literal dangers. However, some commentators suggest that the Psalmist is describing demons, perhaps from Babylonian sources.
Whatever is being described, the point is that God will protect his people from all evil.
“A thousand may fall” or even “ten thousand” (v. 7), and “the wicked” will be repaid for their sins (v. 8), but to those who have made the Lord their “dwelling place” “no evil shall be allowed to befall” them (vv. 9-10).
Charles Spurgeon recounts the following story in his commentary:
In the year 1854, when I had scarcely been in London for twelve months, the neighborhood in which I labored was visited by Asiatic cholera, and my congregation suffered from its inroads. Family after family summoned me to the bedside of the obsessed, and almost every day, I was called to visit the grave. I gave myself up with youthful ardor to the visitation of the sick and was sent for from all corners of the district by persons of all ranks and religions. I became weary in my body and sick at heart. My friends seemed to be falling one by one, and I felt or fancied that I was sickening like those around me. A little more work and weeping would have laid me low among the rest; I felt that my burden was heavier than I could bear, and I was ready to sink under it. As God would have it, I was returning mournfully home from a funeral when my curiosity led me to read a paper wafered up in a shoemaker’s window in Dover Road. It did not look like a trade announcement, nor was it, for it bore in excellent bold handwriting these words [which are verses 9-10, quoted in the English Standard Version]:—“Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—the Most High, who is my refuge—no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.” The effect on my heart was immediate. Faith appropriated the passage as her own. I felt secure, refreshed, girt with immortality. I went on with my visitation of the dying in a calm and peaceful spirit; I felt no fear of evil, and I suffered no harm. The providence which moved the tradesman to place those verses in his window I gratefully acknowledge, and in the remembrance of its marvelous power I adore the Lord my God (C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 88-110, vol. 4 [London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers, n.d.], 92).
The Psalmist goes on in verses 11-12 to state how God uses angels to protect his own, “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.”
Did you know that this is the only recorded passage of Scripture that Satan quotes?
When the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness, he fasted for forty days and forty nights. After that time, Satan came to Jesus and tempted him three times.
Listen as I read to you from Matthew 4:5–6: “Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘ “He will command his angels concerning you,” and ‘ “On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.” ’ ”
Did you notice how Satan misquoted Scripture?
The devil left out the words “to guard you in all your ways.” The angels will guard God’s people in all the ways that God has marked out for them. He does not guard them when they go their own willful ways.
That was the point of the devil’s temptation. He wanted Jesus to follow his ways rather than trust in God and his ways.
That is why Jesus told the devil in Matthew 4:7, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”
Testing God by jumping off the pinnacle of the temple would not be going in the way God had given him to go.
It would be the very opposite of trusting God. It would be baiting God and putting God to the test, and doing that always results in disaster.
Most times, believers get into trouble because we go our own way and not God’s.
But going God’s way does not mean unconditional protection in every situation. God’s ways are not our ways.
That is seen supremely in his Son, Jesus. God allowed Jesus to be betrayed, falsely accused, wrongly sentenced, and die in his mid-thirties.
That seems wrong.
But it was right. God was working out his plan for Jesus, and he was working out his plan for believers for our eternal good.
Whatever God does is always good.
Do you believe that?
III. God’s Pledge in a Time of Crisis (91:14-16)
And third, let’s examine God’s pledge in a time of crisis.
Now, the Psalmist switches to express God’s word to the believer.
God says he will “deliver” the believer (v. 14a).
Why?
“Because he holds fast to me in love” (v. 14a).
Moreover, God says he will “protect” the believer (v. 14b).
Why?
“Because he knows my name” (v. 14b).
God is the supreme object of the believer’s love and faith. To those who love God, assurance is given that “all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28).
It is not that believers sit back and do nothing. No, they must trust God in all things.
Moreover, believers can be assured that he will answer them when they call out to God (v. 15a).
That does not mean that believers will escape trouble. But it does mean that God will be with the believer “in trouble” (v. 15b).
Finally, God pledges in verse 16, “With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”
Of course, the ultimate pledge is that eternal life and salvation are found only in Jesus Christ.
The person who repents his sin and trusts only in the Lord Jesus Christ will know the goodness of God for all eternity.
Conclusion
Andrew Brunson was serving as a missionary in Turkey when he was arrested in October 2016 during a widespread crackdown following a failed coup attempt.
Brunson was imprisoned for almost two years in several Turkish prisons.
He was accused of espionage and aiding terrorist groups, charges which he denied.
Despite these serious allegations, Brunson trusted in God. He consistently prayed and sought God's guidance and protection throughout his ordeal.
During his imprisonment, Brunson faced significant physical and emotional challenges, including periods of solitary confinement. However, he reported experiencing moments of divine intervention and encouragement.
He received widespread support from the global Christian community, including prayer campaigns and advocacy efforts.
In October 2018, after intense diplomatic pressure and negotiations between the United States and Turkey, Brunson was released and allowed to return to the United States.
Many saw his release as a result of persistent prayer and advocacy, highlighting God's protection in a time of severe danger.
His testimony inspires Christians worldwide to trust God's protection and faithfulness even in the most challenging circumstances.
Sometimes, a believer is allowed to suffer incredible hardships. Sometimes, believers even die for their faith in God.
What is going on, then?
Even then, we know that Romans 8:28 is still true: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Amen.
