To whom is this promise addressed? Not to any and everybody indiscriminately, but only to those who dwell "in the secret place of," etc. (ver. 1). Therefore it was especially applicable to our Lord. Some have concluded, that, as this verse was made use of by Satan when he tempted our Lord, the psalm is to be limited in its application to him only. But this is an error. Satan quoted it; but, as he always does when he quotes Scripture - a not uncommon custom of his - he alters it; he left out the qualifying clause, "in all thy ways." It is not in
any ways that we can have the angels' care, but only in those that are right. The promise is for all God's people, as they go about their own proper and appointed ways. Next, let us ask, what is the meaning of the text? Our word "dash" is not a true rendering; the Hebrew word used is generally rendered as in
John 11., where our Lord speaks of a man not stumbling if he walks by day, but as sure to do so if he walks at night in the dark. It means that then he would be likely to strike against some stone in the way, and so be tripped up. There is no idea of violence in the word. When Satan used it, he meant to suggest to our Lord that if the promise was that he should not even stumble over a stone, how much more might he be sure of protection were he to cast himself down from the pinnacle of the temple! The word, therefore, points to a very small and ordinary matter - the being kept from falling over a stone, as a mother would hold up her child from such mishap. Now, the text teaches us -
I. ANGELS CONCERN THEMSELVES ABOUT SUCH LITTLE THINGS AS THESE. This is very wonderful. For think of who and what the angels are; how great, glorious, holy, blessed; how high and august the office they fill, and the employments in which they engage. And then think of their stooping to such work as this - the preventing of a man stumbling against a stone. We know they concern themselves about the salvation of the soul, for that is a great matter; the soul so precious, that Christ was content to die to redeem it. But that our feet may not even come in hurtful contact with a stone - surely that seems beneath and unworthy of them. But this same truth is told of in many other Scriptures; cf. "The very hairs of your head are all numbered;" "Not a sparrow falls to the ground without your Father," etc. Therefore it is true the holy angels have charge over the minute details of our lives, as well as over great events. The Lord's loving providence reaches down to all these little things, of which our life is mainly made up. How blessed this truth is! All our life cared for by the Lord!
II. BUT WHAT IS LITTLE IN ITSELF MAY NOT BE SO IN ITS CONSEQUENCES. How mighty are little things in the results that often flow from them! For the body, a slight stumble may have lifelong consequences. For the soul, men fall little by little, not by great crimes, but by a series of little sins. And so, too, for the rise of the soul. We do not leap into heaven; but we "grow in grace" - ever slight increase and advance.
III. OUR REAL DIFFICULTIES ARE IN CONNECTION WITH THEM. Otherwise angels would not be put in charge over us. Many can keep from great sins who allow themselves in little ones. "Take me the little foxes," etc. We either think we can manage the little affairs of life, or we neglect them.
IV. OUR STRENGTH AGAINST BOTH LITTLE AND GREAT PERILS IS IN CHRIST. (Adapted from the late Canon Melville.) - S.C.
Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder.
This promise refers not only to the reptiles and wild beasts of outwards evil, but also to evils in which the deadliness of sin is concentrated against our individual hearts — the evil thoughts and deeds and words and habits that assault and hurt the soul. The lion is that inward sin, that special impulse and temptation which has most power against you. It is the favourite vice against which you are weakest. Oh! let none of us shirk the momentous question. Are you, or are you not, wrestling with; have you, or have you not, conquered the sin which doth most easily beset you? Let a man but once give himself over to a besetting and unrepented sin, and all else becomes in vain. Therefore, as you love your lives, enter alone, and with awful resolution, the dark caverns of your own hearts, face once for all the lion who lies lurking there, lay aside utterly the fancy that he can remain there without destroying you, give up the idle notion that you can fence yourself round against him by reason, or by philosophy, or by prudential reserves, or by vague procrastinations of the struggle. Nothing will save you but desperate wrestling with all the gathered forces of your life intensified by grace and prayer. But notice that the more early this battle is undertaken the more surely is it won. Hercules in the legend, while yet an infant in the cradle, strangles the serpent sent to slay him. He who strangles serpents in his youth will slay monsters in his manhood; he of whom the grace of God has taken early hold, and who has early strength to conquer temptation is not likely later on to lose his self-reverence and his self-control; if in the flush of youth he has stood at the feet of the law he will be little likely to revolt afterwards. Victory is won more easily at fifteen than at twenty, and more easily at twenty than at thirty, and a hundredfold more easily at thirty than at sixty. And alas! which of us has not been in one way or another defeated? Which of us can encounter that poison-breathing lion in the dark cavern of his heart, and strangle it fearlessly as once he might have done? But, lastly, lest such thoughts should tempt any one to despair, let me add at once that it is never too late to fight, never too late to mend, never impossible to slay the lion within you, and to tread the young lion and the dragon under foot. Was not King David a murderer and an adulterer, and yet God gave him back the clean heart and the free spirit? Was not King Manasseh an apostate and a worshipper of Moloch; and yet did he not learn to know that the Lord was God? And was not
John Bunyan once a godless tinker; and did not he grow up to write the "Pilgrim's Progress"? If you have sinned with these, cannot you with these repent?
()
People
PsalmistPlaces
JerusalemTopics
Adder, Asp, Cobra, Crushed, Dragon, Foot, Lion, Serpent, Snake, Trampest, Trample, Tread, Treadest, UnderfootOutline
1. The state of the godly3. Their safety9. Their habitation11. Their servants14. Their friend; with the effects of them all.Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 91:13 4666 lion
4687 snake
Psalm 91:1-13
5058 rest, spiritual
Psalm 91:1-15
5942 security
Psalm 91:9-13
1330 God, the provider
Library
March 18. "Neither Shall any Plague Come Near Thy Dwelling" (Ps. Xci. 10).
"Neither shall any plague come near thy dwelling" (Ps. xci. 10). We know what it is to be fireproof, to be waterproof: but it is a greater thing to be proof against sin. It is possible to be so filled with the Spirit and presence of Jesus that all the shafts of the enemy glance off our heavenly armor; that all the burrs and thistles which grow on the wayside fail to stick to our heavenly robes; that all the noxious vapors of the pit disappear before the warm breath of the Holy Ghost, and we walk …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth September 26. "I Will be with Him in Trouble" (Ps. Xci. 15).
"I will be with Him in trouble" (Ps. xci. 15). The question often comes, "Why didn't He help me sooner!" It is not His order. He must first adjust you to the situation and cause you to learn your lesson from it. His promise is, "I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him." He must be with you in the trouble first until you grow quiet. Then He will take you out of it. This will not come till you have stopped being restless and fretful about it and become calm and trustful. Then …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth
Terror by Night
(Preached in Lent.) PSALM xci. 5. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night. You may see, if you will read your Bible, that the night is spoken of in the Old Testament much as we speak of it now, as a beautiful and holy thing. The old Jews were not afraid of any terror by night. They rejoiced to consider the heavens, the work of God's fingers, the moon and the stars, which he had ordained. They looked on night, as we do, as a blessed time of rest and peace for men, in which the beasts of …
Charles Kingsley—Discipline and Other Sermons
The Answer to Trust
'Because he hath set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known My name.' --PSALM xci. 14. There are two voices speaking in the earlier part of this psalm: one that of a saint who professes his reliance upon the Lord, his Fortress; and another which answers the former speaker, and declares that he shall be preserved by God. In this verse, which is the first of the final portion of the psalm, we have a third voice--the voice of God Himself, which …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture
The Sheltering Wing
'He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.' --PSALM xci. 4. We remember the magnificent image in Moses' song, of God's protection and guidance as that of the eagle who stirred up his nest, and hovered over the young with his wings, and bore them on his pinions. That passage may possibly have touched the imagination of this psalmist, when he here employs the same general metaphor, but with a distinct and significant difference …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture
What God Will do for Us
'He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. 16. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him My salvation.'--PSALM xci. 15, 16. When considering the previous verses of this psalm, I pointed out that at its close we have God's own voice coming in to confirm and expand the promises which, in the earlier portion of it, have been made in His name to the devout heart. The words which we have now to consider cover the whole range …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture
The Habitation of the Soul
'Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.'--PSALM xci. 9, 10. It requires a good deal of piecing to make out from the Hebrew the translation of our Authorised Version here. The simple, literal rendering of the first words of these verses is, 'Surely, Thou, O Lord! art my Refuge'; and I do not suppose that any of the expedients which have been adopted to modify that translation …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture
The Snare of the Fowler
"Satan, the fowler, who betrays Unguarded souls a thousand ways." "The prince of the power of this world, the spirit which still worketh in the children of disobedience," is like a fowler, always attempting to destroy us. It was once said by a talented writer, that the old devil was dead, and that there was a new devil now; by which he meant to say, that the devil of old times was a rather different devil from the deceiver of these times. We believe that it is the same evil spirit; but there is a …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 3: 1857
Under his Shadow.
A BRIEF SACRAMENTAL DISCOURSE DELIVERED AT MENTONE TO ABOUT A SCORE BRETHREN."He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."--Psalm xci. 1. UNDER HIS SHADOW. I MUST confess of my short discourse, as the man did of the axe which fell into the stream, that it is borrowed. The outline of it is taken from one who will never complain of me, for to the great loss of the Church she has left these lower choirs to sing above. Miss Havergal, last and loveliest …
Charles Hadden Spurgeon—Till He Come
The Pinnacle of the Temple.
He was then taken to the pinnacle of the Temple, and the tempter said to him, "If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down; thou art sure of aid by a miracle from God;" and quoted, literally, in application, the words of Psa. xci., 11, 12, ";The angels shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone." But Christ arrays against him another passage, which defines the right application of the former: "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." (Deut., vi., 16.) As if he had …
Augustus Neander—The Life of Jesus Christ in Its Historical Connexion
The Cloister Garden
Gerhard Ter Steegen Ps. xci. 1 How good it is, when weaned from all beside, With God alone the soul is satisfied, Deep hidden in His heart! How good it is, redeemed, and washed, and shriven, To dwell, a cloistered soul, with Christ in heaven, Joined, never more to part! How good the heart's still chamber thus to close On all but God alone-- There in the sweetness of His love repose, His love unknown! All else for ever lost--forgotten all That else can be; In rapture undisturbed, O Lord, to fall …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others
Evensong
Gerhard Ter Steegen Ps. xci. 4 Take me, Jesus, to Thy breast; Folded close in warmth and rest, Keep me near to Thee; Silenced in the bliss profound Of the love that wraps me round, Every care shall be. Every breath for Thee alone, O my heart's beloved One; Comfort me in sleep. Still deep rest art Thou to Thine, Safely in Thine arms divine Thy beloved keep. …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others
God's Merciful Guardianship of his People. --Ps. Xci.
God's merciful Guardianship of his People.--Ps. xci. Call Jehovah thy salvation, Rest beneath the Almighty's shade, In his secret habitation Dwell, and never be dismay'd: There no tumult shall alarm thee, Thou shalt dread no hidden snare, Guile nor violence can harm thee In eternal safeguard there. From the sword at noon-day wasting, From the noisome pestilence, In the depth of midnight blasting, God shall be thy sure defence; Fear not thou the deadly quiver, When a thousand feel the blow, Mercy …
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns
Call Jehovah Thy Salvation
[1184]Trust: Felix Mendelssohn, 1840 Psalm 91 James Montgomery, 1822 DOXOLOGY Call Jehovah thy salvation, Rest beneath the Almighty's shade; In his secret habitation Dwell, and never be dismayed. There no tumult can alarm thee, Thou shalt dread no hidden snare; Guile nor violence can harm thee, In eternal safeguard there. God shall charge his angel legions Watch and ward o'er thee to keep: Though thou walk through hostile regions, Though in desert wilds thou sleep. Since, with pure and firm affection, …
Various—The Hymnal of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the USA
The Foundation of the Monastery Hindered. Our Lord Consoles the Saint.
1. When the matter was in this state--so near its conclusion, that on the very next day the papers were to be signed--then it was that the Father Provincial changed his mind. I believe that the change was divinely ordered--so it appeared afterwards; for while so many prayers were made, our Lord was perfecting His work and arranging its execution in another way. When the Provincial refused us, my confessor bade me forthwith to think no more of it, notwithstanding the great trouble and distress which …
Teresa of Avila—The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus
'Deliver us from Evil'
'But deliver us from evil.'--MATT. vi. 13. The two halves of this prayer are like a calm sky with stars shining silently in its steadfast blue, and a troubled earth beneath, where storms sweep, and changes come, and tears are ever being shed. The one is so tranquil, the other so full of woe and want. What a dark picture of human conditions lies beneath the petitions of this second half! Hunger and sin and temptation, and wider still, that tragic word which includes them all--evil. Forgiveness and …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture
That There is no Security against Temptation in this Life
"My Son, thou art never secure in this life, but thy spiritual armour will always be needful for thee as long as thou livest. Thou dwellest among foes, and art attacked on the right hand and on the left. If therefore thou use not on all sides the shield of patience, thou wilt not remain long unwounded. Above all, if thou keep not thy heart fixed upon Me with steadfast purpose to bear all things for My sake, thou shalt not be able to bear the fierceness of the attack, nor to attain to the victory …
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ
Christ's Messengers: their Equipment and Work
'After these things, the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before His face into every city and place whither He Himself would come. 2. Therefore said He unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth labourers into His harvest. 3. Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. 4. Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes; and salute no man by the way. 5. And into whatsoever …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture
The Wilderness: Temptation. Matthew 4:1-11. Mark 1:12, 13. Luke 4:1-13.
The University of Arabia: Jesus' naturalness--the Spirit's presence--intensity, Luke 2:45-51.--a true perspective--- the temptation's path--sin's path--John's grouping, 1 John 2:16.--the Spirit's plan--why--the devil's weakness--the Spirit's leading--a wilderness for every God-used man, Moses, Elijah, Paul. Earth's Ugliest, Deepest Scar: Jesus the only one led up to be tempted--the wilderness--its history, Genesis 13:10-13. 18:16-19:38.--Jesus really tempted--no wrong here in inner response--every …
S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks about Jesus
The Best Things Work for Good to the Godly
WE shall consider, first, what things work for good to the godly; and here we shall show that both the best things and the worst things work for their good. We begin with the best things. 1. God's attributes work for good to the godly. (1). God's power works for good. It is a glorious power (Col. i. 11), and it is engaged for the good of the elect. God's power works for good, in supporting us in trouble. "Underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deut. xxxiii. 27). What upheld Daniel in the lion's den? …
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial
Appendix 2 Extracts from the Babylon Talmud
Massecheth Berachoth, or Tractate on Benedictions [76] Mishnah--From what time is the "Shema" said in the evening? From the hour that the priests entered to eat of their therumah [77] until the end of the first night watch. [78] These are the words of Rabbi Eliezer. But the sages say: Till midnight. Rabban Gamaliel says: Until the column of the morning (the dawn) rises. It happened, that his sons came back from a banquet. They said to him: "We have not said the Shema.'" He said to them, "If the column …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life
How to Make Use of Christ as the Truth, when Error Prevaileth, and the Spirit of Error Carrieth Many Away.
There is a time when the spirit of error is going abroad, and truth is questioned, and many are led away with delusions. For Satan can change himself into an angel of light, and make many great and fairlike pretensions to holiness, and under that pretext usher in untruths, and gain the consent of many unto them; so that in such a time of temptation many are stolen off their feet, and made to depart from the right ways of God, and to embrace error and delusions instead of truth. Now the question is, …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life
Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament
Links
Psalm 91:13 NIVPsalm 91:13 NLTPsalm 91:13 ESVPsalm 91:13 NASBPsalm 91:13 KJV
Psalm 91:13 Bible AppsPsalm 91:13 ParallelPsalm 91:13 Biblia ParalelaPsalm 91:13 Chinese BiblePsalm 91:13 French BiblePsalm 91:13 German Bible
Psalm 91:13 Commentaries
Bible Hub
