What a day we are in! An online post proclaimed, “We are living in the last of the last days!” Some might say, “But earthquakes, wars, and pestilences have been occurring for millennia.” Yes, but Jesus said they would increase in the latter days, just as birth pangs come faster and closer together. (Matthew 24:8) He also said, in Luke 21:28, “Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
Whether this is really the beginning of the very end, or not, is up to the Sovereign God to determine, but Jesus told us to “watch therefore and pray always, that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” Luke 21:36. He said He is coming for those who “love His appearing.” (II Tim. 4:8)
He has given us promises of protection in His Word that are not meant to be read as just “pretty poetry.” One of the main scripture passages to read, to personally claim as a covenant to each believer, to memorize and pray aloud, to choose to believe, is the “Soldier’s Psalm,” or Psalm 91. People for centuries have turned to this portion of scripture in faith, believing God for His protection in every catastrophic circumstance that could happen in life on this present earth.
I watched the movie Dunkirk recently and was so moved by the situation in WWII, with thousands of soldiers at risk of just being mowed down by the enemy, trapped on the French shore of the English Channel, with officers scraping everywhere for ships or boats to remove them to safety over into England. The end result was that many thousands escaped, yet thousands were killed or captured.
One miracle not reported in the movie concerned a group of more than four hundred of those soldiers who were stranded on a stretch of that beach, like “sitting ducks,” when sixty German aircraft strafed these men, pinned down without any place to take cover. According to the book Psalm 91, God’s Shield of Protection, by Peggy Joyce Ruth, quoting a war correspondent, C. B. Morelock, “Although the men were repeatedly attacked by machine-guns and bombed by enemy aircraft, not one single man of that four hundred was hit. Every man in that group left the beach without a scratch.” Morelock, having been told by Navy men who picked up those particular survivors from Dunkirk, reported, “…the men not only recited Psalm 91, but they shouted it aloud at the top of their lungs!”
I have become convinced that the Church, the Body of Christ, must lean on the promises of this chapter of the holy scriptures, as well as many other passages. The first verse gives our part, the condition we must fulfill, as it states, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” (Psa. 91:1, ESV) How does one do that? It is the place of intimate fellowship with the Lord God, Creator of the heavens and the earth, Savior of the world through the sacrificial death, burial and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.
We must do what II Chronicles 7:14 states: “If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” We must seek God with all our hearts, repent of our sins and those of our country, set our hearts to love Him and submit to Him, obey His Word, even as we pray for forgiveness when we fail.
As chicks run to hide under their mother hen’s wings from the hawk, we also have to run to take refuge under the sheltering wings of God’s protection, our hiding place. A U.S. Navy man from Texas had agreed with his mother to quote Psalm 91 at a certain time every day. On a war ship, with a torpedo headed straight for them, he realized it was that time of day and began quoting the promises from the Psalm. At the last moment, the torpedo swerved, passed the stern and disappeared. A second torpedo came and did the same thing, while the submarine left without firing another shot. (p. 11, Psalm 91, God’s Shield of Protection)
The second verse shows us how to appropriate the promise, with the words, “I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in Him will I trust.” (Psa. 91:2, KJV). We have to say what we believe, not just read, agree with, or hope. As P. J. Ruth comments in her book, “Joel 3:10 tells the weak to say, I am a mighty man.” (The ESV words it, “I am a warrior,” and the KJV version, “Let the weak say, I am strong.”) Psalm 91:2 makes it clear that our deliverance must come from God, our refuge, fortress, and our God, Who is in charge of everything, able to conquer every enemy that comes against His children.
Psalm 91:3 uses the word pestilence, meaning “any virulent or fatal disease; an epidemic that hits the masses of people.” (Webster’s New World Dictionary) Our Father declares, “Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.” This verse promises protection from more than one danger, with the “snare of the fowler” implying falling to a temptation offered by the enemy.
Verses 5-6 states, “Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night…Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness…” and in verse 10, we read, “There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling,” which gives me hope of the promise applying also to my family, as I choose to believe for them.
What does the New Testament say about our protection? When Jesus was being tempted in the wilderness, Satan used a verse in Psalm 91, but Jesus said we were not to put God to the test. We are not to be presumptuous concerning His promises, but we must seek Him for His will in every instance, use common sense, and obey the government.
In John 10, Jesus told us that He is our Shepherd, able to protect us from every foe, if only we will look to Him in faith. And Hebrews 12:2 says we are, “…looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith…” Finally, Acts 4:12 assures us that, “Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
See the end of Psalm 91, verses 14-16 for more comforting words, results of our own heart’s desires and actions, as in verse 14: “Because he hath set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him…”
Live for Jesus! He’s coming soon!
You may contact me at lagnesrussell@gmail.com or 601-635-3282.
