The opening verse of Psalm 91 has 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.’”
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.
In this wonderful Psalm we are invited 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.
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. 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.’”
In this wonderful Psalm we are invited 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.
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. 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 we 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 the Risen Lord, 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 left Jesus on the shore and headed 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 love the story of Jesus’ disciples when they left Jesus on the shore and headed 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 this has been the experience of Christians throughout the
ages. Just as their worst fears are realized; just as they think the storms of
life are going to overcome them and the waves swallow them; just as they think
they are going to perish, they hear 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.”
In Christ,
Brown
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