Almighty who has the power to fulfill, to accomplish, to deliver on his word.
He is Yahweh, the covenant-keeping God,
who enters into relationship with his people.
And then he is my God, the psalmist says in verse 2.
He is my God, the one who created out of nothing.
The one who established the universe.
The one who is Alpha and Omega, beginning and end, ruler of all that there is.
He is personally connected to his people.
God is our shelter.
That's what's being promised here.
And it's being promised here in a very profound sense amidst the distress that Israel has been experiencing.
Psalm 91 is the second psalm in the fourth book of the Psalter.
The Psalter, I'm sure many of you know, is divided into five books.
And here is Psalm 91 in the fourth book.
A book that is in part an answer and a beginning of comfort for the people of God
in the midst of the terrible distress that they have experienced,
which is largely described for us in the third book of the Psalter.
We might think in particular of the anguished cries that we find in Psalm 79 from the third book of the Psalter,
which stand in such stark contrast to all of the promises that we read in this psalm, in the fourth book.
Listen to the beginning of Psalm 79.
Oh God, the nations have come into your inheritance.
They have defiled your holy temple.
They have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
They have given the bodies of your servants to the birds for food,
the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.
They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem,
and there was no one to bury them.
Here is difficulty that puts our difficulties to shame, doesn't it?
Here is calamity visited upon the people of God.
Jerusalem taken.
The temple defiled.
The people of God slaughtered in such number that there is no one left to bury the dead.
How does that relate to our psalm?
Aren't we promised in Psalm 91 that a thousand will fall on one side,
a thousand on another, but it will not come near you?
How do we hold these things together?
Although as Israel has experienced in her history,
they will lose capital.
They will lose land and temple and king.
They will not lose their God.
They may lose the habitation of the land filled with milk and honey.
They may lose the habitation of Jerusalem, the beautiful capital city.
They may lose even the presence of God manifested for them there in the temple.
They may lose the leadership of the king.
They may lose their lives in suffering.
And it may seem that all has gone to rack and ruin.
But what is the promise of Psalm 91?
The promise is they will not lose their God.
Psalm 90, which opens book four of the Psalter,
begins with that great declaration,
you, Lord, have been our dwelling place in all generations.
Long before any trouble, in fact.
From everlasting to everlasting, you are God.
And so Psalm 91 takes up that theme,
that theme of God, our dwelling place,
that he has made us for himself,
that he is near to us,
that he is with us.
That however difficult the circumstances of this life may be and become,
God will remain our dwelling.
That the people of God cannot be separated from him.
And it's in the context of God as shelter for his people
that this Psalm goes on to say,
and therefore you are safe in God.
The God who determines to keep you as his people
will protect you to accomplish the ends for which he sends you.
And though there may be dangers in this life,
we have very particular and personal dangers spelled out here.
The snare of the fowler,
a figure for the peril of one's life.
The hunter who goes out for birds,
but his arrow seems bent on hitting you.
Very particular and personal kinds of danger.
To expansive dangers of disease and warfare.
God says here, loved ones,
I am your God.
And I will give you all that you need.
You know, we are not guaranteed that when the earthquake comes,
the building won't fall on us.
That when disease comes,
it won't strike down heavily upon us.
That when affliction comes,
it won't bear upon us.
But we are guaranteed that when difficulty comes,
it will not separate us from the love of God.
It will not separate us from God,
who is our dwelling place,
our home,
our shelter,
our protection.
And I think also in this Psalm,
we are given a number of allusions to the Exodus.
Clear allusions in terms of plague and pestilence.
How could an Israelite read and sing about plague and pestilence
and not think about the Exodus
and the judgments God visited upon the people in Egypt,
bringing his own people out of bondage and slavery?
But there are subtler allusions here too.
The word abide in verse one,
I think has resonance with the Passover night.
The serpent in verse 13
has a certain kind of resonance.
Not the only reference,
but at least some resonance with Moses' staff
turned into a serpent.
Striking your foot against a stone
is the formula used for God striking Egypt.
And when Israel reads and sings
about seeing the recompense,
the punishment of the wicked,
how could they not look back to the Red Sea?
When Pharaoh and his hosts there
were plunged into the waters of the Red Sea,
and surely they beheld the recompense of the wicked.
You see, God is here assuring the safety for his people
in this essential way,
that they will remain his people.
Of all the promises here,
perhaps the most sweeping that we find in Psalm 91
is in verse 10.
No evil will be allowed to befall you.
Well, how can that be?
How can that be?
And yet, our Lord reiterates precisely that promise,
doesn't he,
in Luke chapter 10,
verses 19 and 20,
where Jesus there sends out the 72
to announce that the kingdom of God has come.
And we read,
Jesus saying to his disciples,
Behold,
I have given you authority
to tread on serpents and scorpions,
and over all the power of the enemy,
and nothing shall hurt you.
Nevertheless,
do not rejoice in this,
that spirits are subject to you,
but rejoice in this,
that your names are written in heaven.
To the extent that we can see our Lord there
providing a kind of commentary on Psalm 91,
what he's really saying to his disciples,
what really is the message of Psalm 91,
is that nothing shall harm you
in the performance of the calling
to which I have called you.
That is,
I will not fail to accomplish my purpose through you.
And in the accomplishing of my purpose,
no harm at all shall deflect you
from doing everything
that I have called you to do.
But do not ultimately rejoice in that,
as good as it is.
Do not ultimately rejoice
in the power of God to work in this way.
No, rejoice ultimately in the fact
that your names are written in heaven.
That God will forever remain your home
in Jesus Christ.
That is what this psalm is so assured about.
At the time of the Exodus,
Israel didn't have capital or land
or temple or king,
but God was their dwelling place.
God was their Lord.
God was their protector.
God accomplished his purpose through them.
Of course, this psalm, though,
doesn't only allude to the Exodus.
In many ways,
it's also an extended series of echoes,
a kind of fugue,
sort of meditation,
on its place in the Psalter
and in its imagery
on Deuteronomy 32 and 33.
Deuteronomy 32 and 33.
And that's so important
because Deuteronomy 32 and 33
come after Deuteronomy 31.
That's the kind of thing
we teach at seminary.
And Deuteronomy 31 says,
disaster will fall on the people
when they turn away from God.
That is the prophecy of Moses there.
But Deuteronomy 32 and 33 say,
after that suffering,
after loss,
after exile,
there shall come days
of great blessing for God's people.
I'll hear the words of Deuteronomy 33
from verse 27.
The eternal God is your dwelling place
and underneath are the everlasting arms.
And he, God, thrust out the enemy before you
and said,
destroy.
So Israel lived in safety.
Jacob lived alone,
that is, without enemies,
without suffering,
suffering,
in a land of grain and wine,
whose heavens drop down dew.
Happy are you, O Israel,
who is like you,
a people saved by the Lord,
the shield of your help,
the sword of your triumph.
Your enemies shall come fawning to you,
and you shall tread upon their backs.
And that is what we have in this psalm.
Extraordinary, personal,
wonderful promises of blessing
to God's people who are in need.
It's so interesting, isn't it,
how often we find in the scriptures
that we are called to consider the question,
what God is like our God?
Well, here we have a question to consider,
what people are like God's people?
What people are like us?
Because we belong to such a great God,
who does not leave us in our difficulty,
but will remember the promises that he has made.
That he made in the garden.
That he made to the nation of Israel.
That he made again,
and again,
and again.
that it is God himself
who brings forth the seed
who shall crush the head of the serpent.
Delivering us from evil.
Fulfilling the words of this psalm.
That in God,
in our Christ,
we too are more than conquerors.
For our names have been written
in the book of life.
What a God we have.
What a people he has made us to be.
In all circumstances then,
this psalm tells us
that God is our shelter,
that God is our safety,
and then at the end,
that God is our satisfaction.
Our satisfaction.
I think even when we know
the promises of God,
there are those times,
aren't there,
when they can seem like
they're just simply too good to be true.
Perhaps a little divorced from reality.
A little bit like daydreaming.
They don't exactly match our lives.
Certainly don't seem to match
every moment of our lives.
We don't always feel immune
from the terrors of the night.
We're not always free from sickness,
from distress,
from anguish.
And we can think,
well, maybe this is just
sort of nice poetry.
Maybe it's just a little bit
wishful thinking.
Sort of like the exaggerated words
of a teenage love song.
Maybe these things were true
then and there.
But we're modern people.
Maybe they don't have much
to say for us here and now.
When we're tempted to think that,
we should turn to the end
of Psalm 91.
Because in the last verses
of Psalm 91,
you'll notice there is a shift
in the psalm.
There is a new speaker
introduced to us in the text.
God himself comes to speak,
to address the psalmist directly.
To remind,
to comfort,
to remove doubts.
And he says to the psalmist,
and he says to us here
as his people,
don't you see,
don't you see that I am with you
in your trouble?
Don't you see that I am here
to protect you,
to deliver you,
that in your weakness
I am your strength?
That I am your dwelling place?
That I am your shelter?
That I am your safety?
And when you call on me,
I will answer.
When you call on me,
I will answer you.
Now that is a promise
worth holding on to,
isn't it?
That is a promise
worth committing to memory.
Because that is God's
covenantal pledge
to his people.
That he is our God
and we are his people.
That he has bound himself
to us by oath.
The mighty king,
the suzerain,
the great one,
enters into a covenant,
a relationship,
with a weak and needy people.
So you see,
God has entered
into a covenant with us.
The covenant of grace.
Promising salvation
when by grace
we call on him in faith.
And he says,
not only do I bid you
to call on me
in your distress,
but I give you
the very gift of faith
to do so.
Despite your failing,
despite your sin,
despite the chastisement
that shall fall upon you,
I am with you.
I am your satisfaction.
For I have made you
for myself.
And I'll give to you
great gifts of blessing,
of life in me,
of deliverance in my son.
And so even now
we hear the words
of this psalm,
also the words
of the prophet Zechariah,
fulfilled in our presence.
Zechariah 13, 9.
They will call on me
and I will answer them.
I will say,
this is my people.
And each one of them
will say,
the Lord is my God.
Or again in Psalm 145,
verse 18.
The Lord is near
to all who call upon him.
Or again in Joel 2, 32.
And Romans 10, 13.
All that call upon
the name of the Lord
shall be saved.
And so profoundly
is that displayed for us
in that great picture
of the new heavens
and the new earth
in Isaiah 65.
Before you call to me,
I will answer.
While you are yet speaking,
I will hear you.
That is the assurance.
That is the confidence
we have.
That God is so near
that he has bound himself
to us by oath.
A reality that the Israelites
knew only by type and shadow.
But we know it so much more fully
through our Lord Jesus Christ,
don't we?
Having been brought into
the new covenant
made by his blood.
As the Apostle Paul
thinks of this in Romans 8,
if God is for us,
if he did not spare
his own son
to deliver us,
but gave him up
for us all,
if we call on him
and he will answer us,
if nothing shall separate us
from the love of God
that is in Christ Jesus
our Lord,
what could possibly
be against us?
What could possibly
stand against us
as God's people?
If trouble,
if hardship,
if persecution,
if danger
comes to you
and loved ones,
these things will
come to you,
God shall remain
your dwelling place.
God shall remain
your dwelling place.
Because we have a city,
a home,
the new Jerusalem,
a city that doesn't
look altogether
like the cities
of this world
as we find them now.
All throughout history,
all throughout Scripture,
you see,
we have those
who want to build
their own cities,
who want to establish
their own homes,
who would raise
their own tower,
who would build
their own bridge
to find their way
to God,
to try to find
a dwelling place,
a point of fixed security
in this life.
This is the basic
instinct of us all,
all the way back
to the descendants
of Cain,
that ultimately
brings only futility.
And then there are
those who,
like Seth
in Genesis 4,
begin to call
upon the name
of the Lord.
And in that cry
for mercy,
for help,
God says to us,
not only have I
bridged the chasm
that you could not
in my son,
but I stoop down
to you
in your calamity.
I promise,
I vouchsafe to you
on my honor,
on my word,
so that if I go back
on my word,
I would not be God.
I shall give you
a home,
a dwelling place
with me in glory
forever.
That is what Eden
pointed to.
that is what
the glory cloud
pointed to.
That is what
the tabernacle
pointed to.
That is what
the temple
pointed to.
And so in verses
14 and 15
and 16
of this psalm,
Psalm 91,
here we find
some seven
glorious promises
in these verses.
And then God
says,
with long life,
I will satisfy
him.
I will satisfy
him.
Full
satisfaction
for the people
of God.
That is what
God promises us.
That is what
God wants us
to go forward
knowing.
That God
will satisfy
us with a
fullness
in his promises.
With the
fulfillment of
hope.
With provision.
With rest.
with peace.
The goal
of Emmanuel,
God
with us,
forfeited
by Adam,
forfeited
by Israel,
God's
intimate
presence
with his
people will
be fulfilled
for us
in the
Lord Jesus
Christ.
Think of
the refrain
of Revelation
chapter 21
verse 3.
Behold,
the dwelling
place of God
is with man.
The
consummation
of all
things where
we dwell
with our
Father in
heaven through
our Lord
Jesus Christ
forever in
glory.
So Psalm
91 then is a
psalm of great
assurance for
us as
pilgrims,
as sojourners
who have not
yet arrived at
that home,
but we have a
passport to it.
We have
guaranteed entry
to it.
We participate
in that
home life
even now
by the
power of
the Spirit.
It's a
psalm for
those who
find themselves
in the midst
of difficulties,
but who have a
great God who
shall satisfy
them,
who shall bring
them through the
terrors of the
night to be
with them as
their dwelling
place.
And so as we
go out this
evening and
into the new
week, go out
with these
promises, that
God is our
dwelling place,
that God will
remain our
dwelling place,
and that God
will protect us
from every
danger for the
accomplishment of
the calling to
which he has
called us, and
that God will
give us everlasting
life in Jesus
Christ our
Savior.
Amen.
Let's pray
together.
O Lord, our
God, our
Heavenly Father, we
thank you that
you are our
help in times
of need, that
you are our
satisfaction, that
you have provided
your Son to be
our Savior, the
Lord Jesus
Christ.
And we ask that
you would give us
hearts to receive
all of your
promises, to live
obedient lives of
gratitude for such
a great salvation.
We ask this in
Christ's name.
Amen.
Would you please
stand with me as
we sing our
final song of
praise, A Mighty
Fortress?
forward to
will Useэn real
prayer to
learn
tales to
love
And this is