When our girls were growing up we could not afford to take a vacation at resorts or hotels, so from the start we decided to camp. I remember our first major purchase of a cabin-style tent from Sears. It was luxurious with a place for a bunk-bed cot for the girls and a large air mattress for us. We never thought that we were deprived for not being able to afford expensive vacations. Those experiences are some of the best memories of our lives. Most of our experiences were very pleasant, but a few were frightening. At one point I took a permanent ink pen and wrote on the wall of the tent next to the door “Psalm 91:9-10.” It reads like this: “If you make the Most High your dwelling — even the Lord, who is my refuge — then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent” (Psalm 91:9-10). We trusted in the promise of that verse even though that trust was tested several times. We have been caught in very bad wind storms which tore the awnings off nearby camper trailers, and we have been in lightning storms that lit up the tent with each strike, and were so loud they sounded as though they struck the trees all around us. This psalm has been a comfort to us for many years, and we have proven the truth of it over and over.
The opening verse of this psalm have been quoted countless times and repeated in the hearts of God’s people even more frequently: “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” There are two striking imageries for God here. One is that of a large bird sheltering its young with his wings: “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge.” A majestic eagle comes to mind as he protects his young high on a craggy mountain ledge. He is the “most high” of all living creatures. The person being protected by God is pictured as a small bird in the nest. No predator comes near the nest because the father eagle is standing in the nest next to his young so that his shadow falls over them. This is a picture of extreme tenderness on the part of God. The young are lovingly cared for and protected. The other image is that of a military fortress: “I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’” And again, “His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.” So we have here both the tenderness and strength of God. Tenderness without strength would fail to give the kind of protection needed. But strength without tenderness would fail to be the kind of protection you would want. God’s strength provides our protection, but its motive originates in the heart of God and reminds us that we are cared for deeply.
But I want to go back to the verses from this psalm which I inscribed on our tent: “If you make the Most High your dwelling — even the Lord, who is my refuge — then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.” What if after writing that scripture on our tent, and praying for protection, we had been struck by lightning, or the wind had blown down a tree upon us? What then? Would this verse not be true any longer? Would our belief in God’s protection just be wishful thinking? There have been many Christians who have been the victims of natural disasters — things God could have controlled. Does that mean that he is not able to protect us or, worse yet, that he does not care?
There are several things we need to understand in this regard. The first is: What is generally true may not be always true. These general truths are not are not always true, but that does not make them any less true. If we say to someone, “If you work hard you will succeed in life.” That is true, but it is not true for everyone all the time. Even so, the statement is no less true. The exception to the rule is just that — an exception. “The exception proves the rule.”
Jesus understood that this principle did not apply in every case — even to him. In fact, the devil quoted from this very psalm in order to tempt Christ. He tempted Christ to not only believe this scripture, but to carry it to the extreme. Satan was trying to see if Jesus would fall for the trick he often plays on the people of God. He wanted to see if he would believe that since he was the chosen of God nothing could possibly happen to him. Satan quoted verses eleven and twelve which say: “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” And then he invited Jesus to throw himself off the high temple wall and fall into the Kidron valley to see if this promise of God was really true. Jesus wisely quoted the scripture which says in Deuteronomy 6:16: “Do not put the Lord your God to the test” (Matthew 4:7). I have known people that refuse to work saying that they are living by faith, when in reality they were putting God to the test to see if he would bless their poor planning or laziness. That kind of false trust is not what this psalm is speaking about.
The psalmist is inviting us to dwell in the shelter of the Most High and rest in the shadow of the Almighty. If we walk with him and trust in him then he will cover us with his wings and protect us. We can count on that! At the same time it does not mean that nothing will ever happen to us. There may be other parts to the equation of God’s plan for our lives.
This leads to the second point: God may have purposes of which we may not be aware. This is why it is important for us to always ask according to the will of God. The Bible says, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us” (1 John 5:14). God may be doing something about which we do not yet know, and it may be something which we could not understand if we were told. Jesus knew that God would not only allow his foot to strike a stone, he would allow his feet to be struck with hammer and nail to hold him on a cross. But he also knew that God had a higher purpose than his personal protection at that point. It was not something he was looking forward to, and he even pled that he would not have to go through it, but he resigned himself to carry out the will of God rather than his will. The purpose of God at that point certainly baffled Jesus’ followers, and they spent a long time wondering how God could have permitted something like the cross to happen. At the time, they could never have understood what God was doing, no matter how much he would have tried to explain. They had to go through it.
A third thing this psalm is telling us is: If God permits it, he can use it. Here is where it is important for us to be able to submit to the will of God, even when we do not understand what may be happening to us. God is the maker of all things and has authority over all that happens on earth. I think that the strongest message of the psalm is that we are not victims of the whims of the devil. All of us are affected by the evil that is present in the world. There is evil in the world not because God wanted it, but because we invited it in of our own free will. It began with Adam and everyone since Adam has issued their own invitation. When we sin we invite evil to come into the world, and this evil affects all our lives in ways that does not always make sense. There is an order to things which are good, but evil is random. There is a purpose in good, but evil is irrational. Good makes sense; evil does not make sense. But the message of this psalm is that even though we may be affected by evil, it is not caused by God, and God promises to redeem the situation by using it for his own purposes. It is not the result of something we have done wrong. God is not punishing us.
Sometimes our suffering is the result of our own foolish actions or poor choices. If you are driving at 90 mph in a 35 mph zone, don’t blame God when you crash. Don’t even blame the devil. Blame yourself. Sometimes we suffer because of foolish things we have done, and neither God or the devil had anything to do with it. But the great thing is that we have a God who takes the worst that happens to us — no matter how it happens — and uses it for his purposes when we turn to him. He can even use our dumb mistakes and redeem them. Even our greatest sorrows can have meaning. If God permitted it, he can use it.
A fourth thing this psalm teaches us is: All of life finds its meaning in a relationship with God. The psalmist wrote: “‘Because he loves me,’ says the Lord, ‘I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.’” If you have a love relationship with God then even the greatest disappointments in life have meaning and purpose — because all of life finds its meaning and purpose in him. Our relationship with God is the filter through which we look at all of life. That relationship helps us to interpret all the things which happen to us. We see him standing there in the midst of the situation we face holding out his arms to us.
I love the story of Jesus’ disciples when they leave Jesus on the shore and head out into the sea of Galilee. A terrible storm arose and they were straining at the oars just trying to survive. The wind was against them and it looked as though the sea was going to swallow them. But suddenly, something worse than the storm frightened them. Their worst fears were realized as they saw what they thought was a ghost floating across the waves. They did not realize it was Jesus walking on the water toward them. Screams of terror arose from the boat. But just as they thought they were going to perish, they heard a familiar voice say, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid’” (Mark 6:50). I believe that has been the experience of Christians throughout the ages. Just as their worst fears were realized; just as they thought the storms of life were going to overcome them and the waves would swallow them; just as they thought they were going to perish, they heard a familiar voice call out to them saying, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid. It is not disaster, it is me!” See him coming to you now. Hear him speak through the storm: “It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Hear him say through the psalmist: “Because you love me I will rescue you. Because you have acknowledged my name I will protect you. I will be with you in trouble. I will deliver you.”
Rodney J. Buchanan
June 25, 2000
THE SHELTER OF THE MOST HIGH
Psalm 91:1-16
“‘Because he loves me,’ says the Lord, ‘I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name’” (Psalm 91:14).
Psalm 91 tells us that:
1. What is generally true ____________________________
____________________________________________________ .
2. God may have purposes ________________________ ____________________________________________________ .
3. If God permits it, ________________________________.
4. All of life finds its meaning in _____________________
____________________________________________________ .
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION (June 25, 2000)
1. What was the main message of Psalm 91?
2. Read Psalm 91:10. How does God protect us? Does God always keep his people free from all trouble? How do you explain this?
3. Read Matthew 7:7-8. Have you ever asked and not received? If so, how do your reconcile this with this scripture?
4. Read Psalm 91:1. What does this beautiful verse mean for you personally in light of the previous questions?
5. Read Psalm 91:11-12. Now read Matthew 4:5-7. Were the psalmist’s words true for Jesus?
6. Read Isaiah 55:9. Is it possible that God has purposes and does things which are beyond our knowledge and/or understanding? How do we live with this tension?
7. Share how God has used some unwelcome event in your life for his ultimate purposes and/or your good.
8. What are some of the reasons that God might allow trouble in your life?
9. What is the difference between a person with a relationship with God and someone who does not have a relationship when trouble comes?
10. What is it that gives meaning to life? How can we best share that with others?
11. Why is it important for us to submit to the will of God?
