He that dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
The secret place might be considered to be the place of prayer. However, this is unlikely. We know that Jesus referred to entering into a “secret place” for prayer. However, this secret place is an open secret for those of us who are born again. That person who sees you on the bus, or in the restaurant, does not realize that you are actually dwelling and abiding in Christ. They just see another person going about the business of the day. They do not know that you are a prince and that your life is hid with Christ in God. They have no understanding that you are a member of the real royal family. Even if you tell most of them, they will either think that you are mad, or they will simply not understand.
They cannot see the shadow of the Lord on your life either. But the spiritual world can. In the spirit, you are a marked man. Both the angels and the demons know the truth about you, and they marvel.
I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
This is an act of your will. You have a choice whether you say it or not. It is better to say it than not to say it. And one way we say it is to actually sing it. That is why we should sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs which we can believe. Sing songs with scriptural words. In their context, and you are doing yourself a lot of good. You also have a choice as to whether you do it or not. I know that there have been times in my life when really I have been lying. I have said that I trust in the Lord, but hidden away to everybody, except the Lord and myself, is fear and uncertainty. Sometimes my words have been cheap. I have said that I’m not worried, but really I am. That is the time when I need to go back to the Lord and see what His promises and assurances are.
Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
This is an ongoing deliverance. It is not something the Lord will do; it is something that He is doing. The word salvation is also the word deliverance. The Lord’s salvation is ongoing. Yes, He did save us. But He continues to save us. Our eternity is secure because of the Lord’s continuing deliverance. But He is also more than interested in our lives right now. That is why He has given us the Holy Spirit to work in our lives and to work with us during times of trouble.
The fowler, here, is the devil. He is constantly trying to cause us difficulty. He is trying to trip you up, or entrap you. However, the Lord is delivering us. It seems to me that often the Lord is delivering us and we don’t know anything about it. His angels are working on our behalf without us being conscious of it. Probably the things which actually get through their protection are just a very small percentage of his attacks.
“Noisome pestilence” can also be translated as “slanderous words” because the same Hebrew letters are used. It would seem that we can claim deliverance from both sicknesses (including bird-flu) and the curses anyone may bother to try to inflict us with. In the light of present day practice this is very encouraging. As we are constantly being exhorted to worry about disease and natural disasters we might do well to say that we do not need to be afraid of such things. The disease is bad enough, but we also have the constant barrage of words which are directed at us. They want us to worry; but the Lord wants us to be free from worry.
He shall cover you with his feathers, and under his wings shall you trust: his truth shall be your shield and buckler.
Again this is an ongoing protection. He is doing it. He is like a mother hen protecting her chicks. This is protection from both birds of prey and also from stormy winds.
Truth is not facts. Truth is Jesus. The buckler surrounds the soldier and carries His weapons. The shield is protective. The buckler is offensive. And all our weapons are Jesus. Take a look at Ephesians 6 and what do you notice about the armour and the weapons?
They are all Jesus. Truth for the loins is Jesus. The breastplate of righteousness is Jesus. The gospel of peace for our feet is Jesus. The shield of faith is Jesus. The helmet of salvation is Jesus. And the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, is Jesus.
But we feel as if we are failures. But, you see, God knew we could not make it on our own. As Spurgeon puts it: The apostle does not say, “You are faithful.” Alas! the faithfulness of man is a very unreliable affair; it is mere vanity. He does not say, “You have faithful ministers to lead and guide you, and therefore I trust you will be safe.” Oh, no! if we are kept by men we shall be but ill kept. He puts it, “God is faithful.” If we are found faithful, it will be because God is faithful.
You shall not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flies by day;
In this age of terrorism we need these promises and assurances. Terror exists all right. These problems are very real. It does not tell us to live in denial. It tells us that we do not need to be afraid of them. There are those among us who will not fly in an aeroplane because of the anticipated danger. When I am asked concerning this, I often reply, “An aeroplane is now one of the safest places to be.” Imagine how much security there is. But, even with all that my security is not in the pilot, the authorities or the metal scanners. My trust is in the Lord.
Nor for the pestilence that walks in darkness; nor for the destruction that wastes at noonday.
It does not matter whether the plans made against us are ones we are aware of (daytime) or ones which we never know about (nighttime) we do not need to live in fear. Jesus constantly warned His disciples not to be afraid. He told them, “Fear not.” Jesus knew that fear itself would be our real enemy. If the devil can get us to live in fear then he does not even need to do the things which he has suggested are possible. “When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. Be not afraid of sudden fear,” (Prov 3:24-25)
A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
Pestilence can account for a lot of people in a very short time. Something like a tsunami is quite horrendous and in a moment thousands are dead.
But what about the believers who died in such things? In one sense this is an impossible question to answer. We know that each of us must work out our own salvation. That means that we are responsible for our own lives. But, many have died without it being “their fault”. We have to admit that sometimes God knows something we don’t.
Only with your eyes shall thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
When we stand at the Great White throne judgment we will see, among other things, the wicked rewarded for their evil deeds. It will not be a great time. God, Hiumself, will not be hgappy at sending these men to eternal doom. And we need to remember that we should also have had to stand before that throne and receive the same dreadful condemnation. Whilst God will be vindicated, let us also realize that we have received mercy and that others can do so also. Jesus already paid the price for the sins of these wicked people, so let us tell as many as possible that He did it for them. Why should they pay the price when it has already been paid by the Lord Jesus Christ?
Because you have made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, your habitation;
We sing about entering the presence of God. Actually, according to this, we enter into God Himself. We dwell in Him, and he dwells in us. He is our Temple, and we are His temple. That gives us more of a reason to live as we should. We need to be knowing that your body really is a temple with two inhabitants: the Holy Spirit and the holy you!
In the Old Testament we see the establishment of cities of refuge. They were five cities set aside for those guilty of certain crimes to reside in free from harassment. They had to remain there until the death of the High Priest. It is very different for us. We were guilty. And we have escaped into the Lord as our refuge. We remain there, not until the death of the High Priest, but BECAUSE of the death of the High Priest.
There shall no evil befall you, neither shall any plague come nigh your dwelling.
Think about it. If He is our habitation how can plague come near Him? This is shows us how we are eternally safe. Jesus taught His disciples to pray “Deliver us from evil,” or “Deliver us from the evil one.” We don’t need to pray it in quite the same way because the Lord has already delivered us from evil. We have been delivered out of our own evil and also out of evil intended against us.
For he shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.
The angels are assigned top keep us in Jesus. He is our ways. When we sing, “Show me your way..” We are asking God to show us more of Jesus. His ways are not a set of principles, His way is Jesus. Jesus is God’s ultimate message to the world. He really does not have much else to say. Whatever the question we may have, the answer God gives is Jesus.
It is very good to know that the Lord has appointed a group angels to guard and protect us. We may joke about them, or treat them lightly, but they are actually warrior angels sent to fight on our behalf, and to minister to us as and when we need them.
They shall bear you up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone.
Jesus, Himself, was protected by the angels of God when the people from Nazareth wanted to throw Him from the cliff. (see Luke 4). To throw someone down was the beginning of stoning them. They would want to break the persons leg, or cause them such an injury that he would not be able to run away, or duck and dive. The angels ensured that Jesus would not dash His foot against a stone, or be injured by a stone in any other way. His time had not yet come.
You shall tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shall you trample under feet.
What appears to be above your head is really under your feet. Each of these four “beings” is a description of a satanic being. The devil is called a roaring lion, the old serpent, the red dragon. We are shod with the gospel of being at peace with God and so the enemy is easily trodden down.
Because he has set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he has known my name.
We may love Him because He first loved us, but with that love comes our salvation and our exaltation.
It is the name which is higher than any other that sets us into the blessing of the Lord. Everything we have is in that Name. Knowing the Name of God is not really the secret here. It is knowing the Person who owns the name which sets us free. Because we know the Person we also own the Name. We know it and can use it. We use it before the throne of grace to receive help in time of trouble. We use it in prayer and have an assurance that what we ask for we will receive. We also use that Name to overcome the enemy. The Lord’s Name must cause the devil and his cronies so much pain and anguish. The very Name “Yahweh saves” is a terrible reminder that we, God’s children, are saved, but the hoardes of hell have no chance of salvation.
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
This is another great promise from the Lord. But it is no longer a promise, it is a fact. We call upon Him; He answers us. He is with us in trouble. He does deliver us. And to our utter surprise, He does honour us.
With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.
You cannot get a longer life than eternal life. And eternal life is quality life.
The Lord is satisfied with us (Isaiah 53:11) and we are satisfied with Him.
