Relfections in Psalm 91

(A guest post from Alison - who I wish would write more guests posts and become a regular poster).

Psalm 91

¹ Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
   will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
² I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
   my God, in whom I trust.”

 ³ Surely he will save you
   from the fowler’s snare
   and from the deadly pestilence.
⁴ He will cover you with his feathers,
   and under his wings you will find refuge;
   his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
⁵ You will not fear the terror of night,
   nor the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
   nor the plague that destroys at midday.
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 observe with your eyes
   and see the punishment of the wicked.
 ⁹ If you say, “The LORD is my refuge,”
   and you make the Most High your dwelling,
¹⁰ no harm will overtake you,
   no disaster will come near your tent.
¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you
   to guard you in all your ways;
¹² they will lift you up in their hands,
   so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
   you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
 ¹⁴ “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him;
   I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
¹⁵ He will call on me, and I will answer him;
   I will be with him in trouble,
   I will deliver him and honor him.
¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy him
   and show him my salvation.”

This week has been filled with a lot of uncertainty in Bahrain.  Earlier, Josh and I sat down together to pray for the village behind our flat and afterwards we read this Psalm together.  This psalm has been meaningful me in many different situations and stages of life, and no less today. 

On days when terrors by night and arrows by day seem a little closer to home than usual, what a comfort to know that God is still absolute monarch over all the happenings of people.  I don’t interpret this psalm to mean that God will always spare me from every discomfort, disease, or even death.  But I do find refuge in the fact that God sees all the perils that come near me, and that no stone is allowed to dash against my foot but that an impenetrable God has allowed it to according to His good will. 

I am also reminded in this psalm of the Jesus, the great King who rules with all authority and power over kings of this world.  How his deliverance from the destruction of sin is complete and unending for those who make him their refuge.  I’m grateful in knowing that by calling on his name, he satisfies me with eternal life and shows me his salvation.