SHADOW OF THE ALMIGHTY Psalm 91:1-16 First Presbyterian ...

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SHADOW OF THE ALMIGHTY
Psalm 91:1-16
First Presbyterian Church of Georgetown, Texas
Dr. Michael A. Roberts March 22, 2009
Psalm 91:1-16
1 You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
2 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, or the arrow that flies
by day, 6 or the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or 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 punishment of the
wicked. 9 Because you have made the LORD your refuge, the Most High your dwelling
place, 10 no evil shall befall you, no scourge 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, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will
trample under foot.
14 Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name. 15 When
they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them
and honor them. 16 With long life I will satisfy them, and show them my salvation.
“1 You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of
the Almighty, 2 will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress; my God, in
whom I trust.”
The psalms are full of vivid imagery and this is one of the best examples in
Psalm 91. God is portrayed as a majestic mother bird whose large
outstretched wings provide comfort and protection for the little chicks. Under
those wings we find refuge and safety.
This is not the only time in the Bible where the bird imagery is used. In
Exodus 19 God’s redemption is portrayed this way: “You have seen what I
did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you
to myself. Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you
shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples.”

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Even Jesus uses the imagery when he grieves over Jerusalem: “ Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to
it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen
gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Luke 13:34).
This psalm is about God’s ongoing care for us. God provides shelter, a home
that provides comfort. God provides the shadow of the Almighty, the
peaceful, calm presence in God’s care. “He will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge.”
So this psalm highlights God’s care and protection. It also highlights our
trust in God. We entrust our lives to God’s care. We believe that God cares
for us.
All of us at some point face situations where we need to trust. Perhaps we
face a serious illness. Or we find ourselves out of work or in work that is not
enough for us. Perhaps our family life is turbulent right now. Or God seems
silent in the midst of our troubles.
The psalmist encourages us: “those who abide in the shadow of the
Almighty, will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress; my God, in
whom I trust.”
What follows in verses 3 to 13 of the psalm are very specific forms of God’s
care and protection. “ For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler (a
fowler by the way is a hunter of birds) and from the deadly pestilence…You
will not fear the terror of the night, or the arrow that flies by day, or the
pestilence that stalks in darkness, or the destruction that wastes at noonday.
A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will
not come near you…no evil shall befall you, no scourge come near your
tent.”
Most commentators take these dangers literally. Facing battle and plagues of
various kinds. There are others who think what the psalmist is describing are
demonic powers, especially the powers present in the Babylonian religions.
Either way, the main emphasis is on God’s consistent care, protection, and
support.
This care takes place during all parts of the day and night. From the earliest
days of the church, Psalm 91 was one of a very few psalms almost all agreed
should be prayed every day. The only question was when. In the Eastern
church, it was typically prayed at midday in response to the mention of “the
arrow that flies by day or the destruction that wastes at noonday.” In the

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Western church, this psalm typically was prayed in the evening so that “you
will not fear the terror of the night or the pestilence that stalks in the
darkness”(Ben Patterson God’s Prayer Book p. 231).
The psalm goes on to say in verse 11: God will “command his angels
concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear
you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.”
This is one of two biblical references in support of guardian angels, by the
way. The other reference is in Matthew’s gospel when Jesus says: “Take care
that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven
their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven.”
With only these two scriptural references and both somewhat indirect,
Protestants don’t emphasize guardian angels much. This is more developed
in the Catholic tradition of the church. The angel protects the body and soul
of the believer, it is thought, plus presents our prayers to God.
This psalm has an unusual distinction- it is the only scripture that we know
of that is quoted by the devil. If we had not read the story of Jesus’
temptations today, would you have remembered that Satan quotes this
verse to Jesus I am not sure that I would of.
Jesus is taken in his mind to Jerusalem, to the pinnacle of the temple and
asked to jump. The devil says: "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself
down from here.” The tempter quotes scripture to Jesus from the 91 st Psalm:
'He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,' and 'On their
hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a
stone.' "
“Jump Jesus and the angels will save you.” Claim the promise of the
scriptures. No one else can do it, Jesus. Just think how the people will flock
to you. Be the showman, be the miracle-worker, be the superstar."
Fortunately, Jesus can discern the inappropriate use of scripture. And the
appropriate use. So he recalls the words of Deuteronomy: "Do not put the
Lord your God to the test." Testing means taking for granted what God will
do for you. Expecting God to do certain things. Assuming certain actions.
Attempting to box God up rather than allowing God to be free.

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I like the way that scholar James Mays expresses it: “The temptation was to
take the promised protection of God into the control of his own will and act.
That would have shifted the power of the promise from the free sovereignty
of God to individual willfulness. Jesus saw that as a way to test God, not as a
way of trust. Real trust does not seek to test God or to prove his
faithfulness” (Psalms p. 298).
Jesus believed that his miracles had a purpose: to honor God and help
people. Jumping off the temple does neither. The miracles were not for
show. Not for jumping off buildings or zapping stones into bread. Jesus could
have attracted many to his ministry by using such showy methods. Instead,
he chooses to make disciples slowly, to teach people who are willing to hear,
to die upon a cross.
We too are tempted to manipulate God, often in very subtle ways. We are
tempted to box God up with our expectations. We do so when we expect
God to do too little or too much or for the wrong purposes. We are often
tempted to go “without a net” so to speak because God, we think, will surely
protect us or preserve us. We are tempted as a church to use the tools of
the marketplace when they may not be Christ’s ways at all. We are tempted
whenever we salute the big production more than small acts of kindness.
We are tempted whenever we applaud the spectacular, the showy, the
miraculous, at the expense of the disciplines of prayer, teaching, and humble
service. "Do not put the Lord your God to the test."
The inappropriate use of the psalm by the devil should caution us concerning
how we use the psalm. It is easy based on the middle section of the psalm
to claim that God will protect us from everything. And there is no question
that believers will sense God’s protection from time to time in their lives.
God will help us, God will heal us, God will watch over us.
There are also times, though, when we don’t seem protected at all. As a
pastor, I’ve been involved in people’s lives long enough to know that
troubles still come our way as believers in God. Christians do face serious
illnesses, they do die in battle, they do face terrible situations. Even this
psalm recognizes this in verse 15 when God speaks: “I will be with them in
trouble.”
We will face trouble as God’s people. So what we can’t do is interpret this
psalm in such a way that says God will protect us from all of life’s troubles
and difficulties. “We should not use Psalm 91 as a magical guarantee against
danger, threat, or difficulty” (New Interpreter’s Bible IV p. 1048).

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This is the way that God’s people have understood this psalm. A couple of
examples might illustrate the point.
In 1956 Jim Elliott went to Ecuador as a missionary. He was murdered along
with four other young missionaries- killed by the very people they came to
share the Good News with. Jim’s wife Elisabeth Elliot was left. She was a
young wife and a new mother, and now she was a widow. Could she still
trust the promises of Psalm 91 When she wrote Jim Elliot’s biography a few
years later, the title she gave it answered this question. It came from Psalm
91- Shadow of the Almighty. She understood that in spite of life’s difficulties,
we still abide in God’s shadow and care (Ben Patterson God’s Prayer Book p.
230).
I have also been helped in thinking about God’s providence by the writings
of John Calvin. We celebrate his 500 th birthday this year in 2009. He did not
have an easy life. His wife died at an early age. His only child, a son, died
in infancy. He suffered from many diseases. He was rejected more than
once by his followers, once being kicked out of Geneva by bodily force.
And yet Calvin’s writings shine forth with some of the most glorious praise
for God’s care. Calvin recognized the problems of God’s providence and
devoted thirty pages to it in his Institutes of the Christian Religion. Calvin
says we must acknowledge secondary causes for events as well as seeing
God as the primary overseer or superintendent for our world. These
secondary causes are often in conflict with the way that God would like to
work in our world. We live in a damaged world. These things will happen,
Calvin would say, and we need to recognize that they come as a result of
our damaged world not because God wills it.
Calvin also acknowledges that we will not be kept from all problems or evil.
He certainly wasn’t. The prophets or apostles were not. Jesus didn’t escape
it all. And neither will we. Calvin says rather that God’s care and protection
means that God’s presence in our lives will enable us to deal with the
difficulties that we encounter. In Psalm 23 there is a valley of death and yet
the psalmist trusts even still in the Lord as shepherd. Life has real problems
that Christians, like everyone else, will encounter. God’s providence means
that God’s presence and care will enable us to cope with them.
Calvin adds that when it is difficult to believe, that’s what faith is all about.
Sometimes we don’t know all the facts or have all the evidence but we trust
anyway. Sometimes it looks hopeless or as if God is asleep but we put our
fragile faith in his hands. We can do that because of past experience or by

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reflecting on how God has dealt with people in the past. But sometimes it
doesn’t seem like an easy thing to throw our lot in with God and yet we do.
We entrust our lives to God’s care. We are in God’s care. We believe that as
we live this life we are in God’s care and we believe that when we leave this
life we are also in God’s care. Yet, when we say that we are in God’s care,
we are not saying that problems and difficulties, even suffering will not come
our way.
What we affirm is that even in the midst of problems and difficulties and
suffering, God is still present with us- offering strength, guidance, comfort.
God still cares for us even when life is difficult. God is still ready to listen and
willing to help us. What we know is that ultimately, whatever the
circumstances may be, we are secure in God’s love.
There are many who have pointed out that Psalm 91 can be considered the
Old Testament equivalent of Romans 8:31-39.
The words of Romans ring true: “ 35 Who will separate us from the love of
Christ Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or
peril, or sword...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to
separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
We are in God’s care. We abide in the shadow of the Almighty. Nothing will
be able to separate us from God’s love. Amen.