Dwell with the Lord; Psalm 91, Proverbs 5

May the mumbling commence!

I have a special place in my heart for Psalm ninety-one.  I hold this psalm dear because it was so important to one of the prayer warriors who prayed me into relationship with Christ.  Minnie was my next door neighbor when I was growing up in my parent’s home. 

I still hold her dear – many years after she has gone to be with Jesus.  I remember the honor of being one of her pallbearers at her funeral.  I still have the ornate cross necklace that she gave me – the one that used to be her husband’s.  And I know that Psalm ninety-one was dear to her heart.

And this psalm has much to teach us on its own about our need to choose to dwell in the Way of the Lord.  And, because Satan quotes from it (Verses 11-12), it also teaches us in a most tangible way that it is easy to quote Scripture out of context and make it say things that it does not truly say.  Look at those verses in the context of the verses that come before them:

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 

I will say of the Lord,

             "He is my refuge and my fortress;

My God, in Him I will trust." 

Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler

And from the perilous pestilence. 

He shall cover you with His feathers,

And under His wings you shall take refuge;

His truth shall be your shield and buckler. 

You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,

              Nor of the arrow that flies by day, 

Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, 

              Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. 

A thousand may fall at your side,

And ten thousand at your right hand;

But it shall not come near you. 

Only with your eyes shall you look,

              And see the reward of the wicked. 

Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,

Even the Most High, your dwelling place, 

No evil shall befall you,

Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; 

For He shall give His angels charge over you,

To keep you in all your ways. 

In their hands they shall bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone. (Verses 1-12)

These promises that we read in Psalm ninety-one are contingent on some important actions.  Without embracing these actions, we would be on thin ice claiming any of these promises.  Actions that do not become dwelling with the Lord, accepting the wisdom of the Lord alone, and abiding in God for our hope and trust, may not result in the claiming of these promises. 

In fact, sometimes the Lord will allow us to reap what we sow when we wander – in hopes that we might return to trust God and the safety inherent in following the Way of the Lord, which Christ made clear for us.  Doubt that we may reap what we sow?  Look to Proverbs chapter five and how it talks about wandering with immoral women.

For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey,

And her mouth is smoother than oil; 

But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,

Sharp as a two-edged sword. 

Her feet go down to death,

Her steps lay hold of hell. (Verses 3-5)

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out