Living Under the
Shadow of the Almighty
Psalm 91 is such a precious, calming-to-the-soul Psalm to
each of us. But it especially resonates to the widow who may have no one else
to be her defender, her protector, her provider, or her calming agent when life
roars at her. We want to look at verses
9-16 today.
Verse 9 begins with the declaration: For Jehovah is my refuge. I choose the God above all gods to shelter
me. The preceding verses had spoken of a number of things that may occur to
cause someone to fear: darkness, wars, sicknesses, calamities and disasters.
When one is living alone, as most widows do, and the protection of their
husbands is no longer available, God here lovingly reminds them that He is
their protector and they don’t have to fear any of these things…if their trust
and faith is in Him. Verse 10 asks the question, “How can evil overtake me or any plague come near?
We hear and read a lot about angels these days – some of it
true to Scripture and a lot of it not remotely true. But here we read in Psalm
91:11 that God gives the angels orders to protect his children wherever they
go. The noted Bible commentator, Matthew Henry, reminds us that this is not an
order to the church in general, but to every believer in Christ
personally. This says a lot about the
personal, loving God that we serve. The charge that he gives to the angels
regarding you, dear widow, is to keep you in all your ways. Even when the
danger to you either physically, spiritually, or emotionally, isn’t even
evident to you; yet, the angels will protect you.
I love the personal attention that the Psalmist ascribes to
the angels as they go about their duties toward us: They will steady you with their hands to keep you from stumbling
against the rocks on the trail. It
seems to me that it is instinctive to a husband to reach out and touch the
elbow or arm of his wife when there is any danger of falling or stumbling.
Often my husband will reach for my hand as we cross a street, or walk up
stairs. I’m sure that many of you widows remember your husbands doing this to
you and you probably miss that tender physical touch. This verse reminds us of
the great ability, and power given to angels, yet also their great affection
for us. They are able to bear you up out of danger and they “do it with all the
tenderness and affection wherewith the nurse carries the little child about in
her arms,” comments Matthew Henry.
You widows know better than many the “rocks on the trail of
life” and how dangerously close some of you may have come to falling because of
them. Grief and loneliness are two conditions that can sink one into despair
quickly and permanently if one allows them to. I think these might be the
“lion” or “dangerous snakes” in your lives. I say this because death is so
final and no one is totally prepared for it. Your husbands were your life
partners, and some of you have eloquently stated how you felt that your “songs
had lost their tune” when you became a widow. I’m convinced that Satan, if
given the chance, will use these to defeat you. Yet, verse 13 states that the
angels will safely protect you and you can trample these beneath your
feet. Whatever the “lions” and “snakes”
are in your lives, you don’t have to fear them or succumb to them.
The last verses of this Psalm speak again of what God will
do to and for those who love Him. Everything that we have is because of His
great love for us. Because we know the person who owns the name God, we can use
that name when we need to. He will be with us in trouble, which indicates that
we will have some trouble as long as we’re on this earth, but He walks us
through it. Ultimately, He will rescue us and honor us with a full, long life.
As someone once remarked, “You can’t get a longer life than eternal life and
eternal life is quality life.” Those are the rewards for making Jehovah God
your God and trusting in Him to take your hand when you feel that you are
walking alone through life.
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| Message by Shari Hervold |
I pray that you will allow Psalm 91 be a constant reminder to you that you are precious to God and that He personally cares for you as a defender, provider, protector – and all that you need - as you traverse through life as a solo traveler.
