Psalm
91: 7-13 Then a thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at
your right hand but it shall not come near you. Only a spectator
shall you be as you witness the reward of the wicked, inaccessible in
the secret place of the most high. Because you made the Lord your
dwelling and refuge, there shall no evil befall you, nor any plague
or calamity come near your tent. For he will give his angels special
charge over you, to accompany, defend and preserve you in all your
ways of obedience and service. They shall bear you up on their hands
lest you dash your foot against a stone; you shall tread upon the
lion and adder and the young lion and the serpent you shall trample
under foot.
The
first 6 verses center on the believer's trust in God. I believe that
trust-confident reliance on the nature, promises and attributes of
God is how man attains relationship with God. Self efforts at
righteousness fall desperately short of the requirement. The promises
based on trust alone are amazing. I've seen the results of unabashed
trust in my own life. I've also seen the results of pulling out and
trusting my own judgment, desires and strength.
Recently
I heard a sermon on the character of God: he is just -rigidly
righteous- in all he does. He is love -lavishly affectionate and
gracious to all he has created. Satan's tactic is to pit God's
righteousness against his love and make him choose one above the
other knowing that either choice would reduce him from being God.
But
God devised a way in which justice can be satisfied by faith and he
can justly show love to fallen man. Through his son's obedience and
sacrifice, the righteous debt is paid for all who believe. Faith is
counted for righteousness. Jesus is spoken of as the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the earth.
God's
love provided for man's fall before he created man. The sacrifice
was made, though it would play out in human hours and years. It was
a finished act and all it required of man was faith.
Thus
dwelling in shelter of the most high God is begun with an act of
faith. But mankind is easily distracted and drawn out from under the
shadow of God's wings where he comes under attack, in spite of his
faith.
The
next step in protective interference by God is to choose to live
there permanently. Ideally, faith would make this an easy choice.
Yet for most of us, it is a process of choosing, wandering out,
remembering and then choosing again to live in the shadow and
therefore the protection of the father. Yes, we walk in this world,
but we have the testimony of the protection, power and provision of
the Father and we choose to abide under his shadow. We don't just go
there for protection from the storm, we take up residence. If I
choose to live in trust and acknowledge him always, the wings spread
over every area of my life. They move as I move in trust.
There
is a boldness to the protection of the father.
The
reference is “secret place” in some translations. God is our
hideout. We are in a place unknown to the enemy. Sometimes he is a
bunker, the enemy knows where we are, but his shadow is impenetrable.
In either case we rest in trust. We are safe from the seen and the
unseen. We are safe from traps, snares, pestilence: fatal epidemic
disease. But also his faithfulness will be shield and rampart: the
defensive wall of a castle or city with a broad walkway and stone
parapets from which we can see the enemy, but he cannot reach us.
Because
of our humanity, it seems impossible to trust that disease and danger
are restrained, that the arrows- fiery darts of the wicked, the plots
and slander of wicked people, fall on the shield of faith: Ephesians
6. Whatever stalks in the darkness: evil surprises, attacks from our
enemy, are fended off. We can take on the lion or the serpent whether
defensively as we walk or offensively as we stomp him in the ground.
Our
human dwelling is referred to as a tent: vulnerable, transient,
destructible. Yet when we move in under the shadow of his wings, the
evil cannot reach our vulnerability. We are a spectator to the
consequences that fall on wicked people because we have made God our
dwelling place and refuge. We won't
even trip and stumble on rocks or stub our toes.
There
is a restraint to the protection of the father.
We
must stay in his shadow. First is the matter of patience with what
appears to be going on. 'Fret not.” appears time after time in
scripture. We work ourselves up over life and then start taking
things into our own hands. Sometimes knowing he is God is just a
matter of staying still. We don't have to answer Satan's attack.
Jesus did that for us. We must trust confidently in his goodness and
not doubt his protection even when things get scary.
He
must have the limelight. We must shine through him but not in his
place. I cannot assume the glory and live in his shadow. And yet what
a glorious place to live in these promises.
Confidence
in God, his power and his love, are part of the limitations and
conditions. We can reside in and concentrate on the covering and
protection of being "in Christ" at God's side. When we move
away, get out from under his shadow and begin to do it our way, we
take ourselves out of the amazing protection of Psalm 91.
We
start the relationship through faith. We continue it by moving in to
stay. My belief is that the relationship is forever. Eternal. Can't
touch this. Victory is through staying close under his wings. Am I
saying nothing bad will ever be your experience? Maybe. For I learn
that definitions change in God's presence and it's okay. Finding the
eternal view is part of residing under his shadow.
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