Psalms 91

Psalms 90:106

Gordon Churchyard

My safe place!

Psalms 91

Jesus said, "Jerusalem, I often wanted to get your children together as a mother bird gets her babies under her wings" (Matthew 23:37). (A bird uses its wings to fly.)

In Psalms 91, many Bible students think that there are three people, or groups of people, that speak. We have shown this in the letters. This makes the psalm easier to study. The three are:

• A crowd of people (called the "chorus") in the usual letters: verses 1, 3 - 8, 9b – 13. (9b means the second part of verse 9).

• One person (called the "psalmist") in leaning letters: verses 2 and 9a.

• God himself in dark letters: verses 14 - 16.

Psalms 91

v1 Whoever stays in the secret place of the *Most High
will remain under the shadow of the *Almighty.

v2 I will say to the *LORD,
"(You are) my safe place and my strong *castle.
(You are) my God and I am *trusting in you".

v3 He (God) really will save you from the *trap that the *bird-catcher (hid).
And (God will save you) from illnesses that cause death.

v4 He will cover you with his *feathers.
You will be safe under his *wings.
(God) will do what he promised.
And he will be like big and small *shields over you.

v5, v6 Do not be afraid of:
• bad *spirits at night,
• or the *arrow that flies in the day,
• or illnesses that come when it is dark,
• or something bad that may destroy you at midday.

v7 A thousand (people) may die by your side.
Ten thousand (people may die) by your right hand.
But (the danger) will not come near to you.

v8 Your eyes will see it and watch,
while it destroys bad people.

v9, v10 For you, *LORD, make me safe.
(Because) the Most High is your home,
bad things will not happen to you.
And there will be no fighting near where you live.

v11 For (God) will tell his *angels what to do for you.
They will make you safe everywhere that you go.

v12 Their hands will give you help
so that you will not (even) hurt your feet on a stone.

v13 You will walk on the *lion and the *cobra.
The young lion and the *serpent will be under your feet.

v14 (God says) I will make the person safe that loves me.
Danger will not hurt him that knows (and trusts in) my name.

v15 He will pray to me and I will answer him.
When he has trouble, I will be with him.
I will save him and make him famous.

v16 I will make him happy with a long life.
He will enjoy what I will do for him.

The Story of Psalms 91

There is nothing in Psalms 91 that tells us who wrote it or when. It may be "words that Moses prayed", as Psalms 90. The two psalms do have the same feeling.

Jesus knew this psalm. He repeated words from it when his enemy (Satan) tried to tempt him. "Tempt" means "try to make someone do what they should not do". The story is in Matthew 4:11.

What Psalms 91 means

Bible students study this psalm as if three people are speaking.

• a priest (one of God’s servants in his house) speaks in verses 1, 3 - 8 and 9b - 13.

• someone praying to God speaks in verses 2 and 9a.

• God speaks in verses 14 - 16.

(9a means the first part of verse 9; 9b means the second part.)

There are 4 names for God in the first 2 verses of this psalm: Most High, Almighty, LORD and God. Some of them come again later. They are 4 different words in the Hebrew Bible. Hebrew is the language that the *Jews spoke when they wrote the psalms. Jews are people that were born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children. This is what the words mean:

• Most High means that God is more important than anyone else.

• Almighty means that God is more powerful than anyone else.

• LORD means that he will never die.

• God means that he decides what will happen.

The priest says that everyone will be safe with the Most High, who is the Almighty. The person that he says it to replies. He replies that the LORD is his castle. He trusts in God. A castle is a strong building where you are safe from your enemies. He does not mean that God is a castle. He means that God is as a castle. So, he trusts (or believes that he will be safe) in God.

The priest answers that God will make him safe. He puts this into picture language:

• a trap is what people catch birds in. The bird cannot see it. But God will not let anything catch his servant (verse 3a).

• God will not let illness destroy his servant (verse 3b).

• Verse 4 gives us a picture... of God as a bird! A bird has wings (that it flies with) and feathers (on its wings). It makes young birds safe under these feathers and wings. God does the same for his servants. He makes them safe. Another word for "make safe" is "protect".

• there are two shields in verse 4 also, big and small. Shields are what soldiers protect themselves with. God protects... or makes safe... his people. But the shield is only a picture. It is a picture of God’s loyalty. Loyalty means that you do not stop being a friend to someone. You do not stop giving them help whatever happens. Wings and feathers are pictures of big and small shields. Here is an example of Hebrew poetry. The *Jews wrote the psalms in Hebrew. Poetry is a special and beautiful way to use words. The *Jews said the same thing with two different sets of words!

In verses 5 - 10, we read about dangers, arrows, illnesses, bad things and fighting. Arrows are sharp sticks that bows shoot. Today we have guns! Bible students have two ideas about all these things:

• they are a plague. A plague is an illness that people catch from each other. If one person becomes ill, many other people that live near become ill also.

• they are bad (or evil) spirits. An evil spirit is a servant of God’s enemy Satan. We cannot see them, but we can see what they do. They make people ill in their minds and their bodies.

These verses tell us not to be afraid! If we trust in God (ask God for help and believe that he will give it) then he will protect us from illness and evil spirits. It is important to know that the psalm does not mean the illnesses that we often get, like colds. It means plagues. Even if we become ill through a plague, God will protect us after we die. We will live with him in heaven, his home. And God will always protect us from evil spirits. In verse 7, "by your side" may mean "by your left side". In verse 9, it says "the Most High is your home". This is picture language while we live on earth. It means we can go to God any time and anywhere. We can pray to him and he will hear and answer us. As it says in verse 15. When we die and get to heaven then God’s home will be our home. But we must love and obey God for this to happen.

In verse 11, the angels are God’s servants. We cannot always see them, but they are always there to give us help. In verse 13, lions are animals that eat other animals. They even eat people! Cobras and serpents are snakes. When they bite you, they put poison into you. But "walk on" and "under your feet" mean that lions and snakes will not hurt us if we love and obey God. But this does not mean that we have to walk on snakes to see if the psalm is true. It means that if we walk on it without knowing that it is there, we will be safe.

The last three verses are words of God. "What I will do for him" in verse 16 means "the things I do to save him". We call this "his salvation". Salvation means "saving" or "making safe". In the psalm, it means while we are alive on earth. Christians believe it means after we die also.

Something to do

1. Get a group of people together. Make one of them be the priest and say verses 1, 3 - 8 and 9b - 13. Make another say verses 2 and 9a. Make the whole group say God’s words, verses 14-16.

2. Learn to say Psalms 91:2 by heart. (This means, without looking at the words.)

3. Study some verses from the psalms... any psalms. Look for Hebrew poetry. Hebrew poetry says the same thing more than once with different words. Or else it says the same thing twice, with words that are more powerful the second time.

4. If you have a Bible, read Revelation 12. Here is a story about people who were safe while they did what God wanted them to do. Then he took them to be with him in heaven.

Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke when they wrote the Psalms of David.
Jew ~ someone who was born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.'Most High ~ a name for God.
Almighty ~ has the power to beat all his enemies; is better than everyone else; the Lord of everything.
Lord ~ a name for God; it means he has authority, or "master"; Adonai in Hebrew. Look also at LORD below.
LORD ~ a special name for God that his people use. It is the covenant name of God. In Hebrew it is Yahweh or Jehovah. Look after Psalm 25 in Book 1 of the Psalms of David for more about the names of God.
Adonai ~ Lord or master (or better, my Lord or my master) in Hebrew.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke when they wrote the Psalms of David.
covenant ~ what God and his people agreed.
Yahweh ~ the covenant name for God. Most Bibles translate it LORD with 4 capital letters. It means something like "I am" or "always alive".
Jehovah ~ how some languages say Yahweh, one of the names of God in Hebrew.
Jew ~ someone who was born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
like ~ as.
Lord ~ a name for God; it means he has authority, or "master"; Adonai in Hebrew. Look also at LORD below.
LORD ~ a special name for God that his people use. It is the covenant name of God. In Hebrew it is Yahweh or Jehovah. Look after Psalm 25 in Book 1 of the Psalms of David for more about the names of God.
Adonai ~ Lord or master (or better, my Lord or my master) in Hebrew.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke when they wrote the Psalms of David.
covenant ~ what God and his people agreed.
Yahweh ~ the covenant name for God. Most Bibles translate it LORD with 4 capital letters. It means something like "I am" or "always alive".
Jehovah ~ how some languages say Yahweh, one of the names of God in Hebrew.
Jew ~ someone who was born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
like ~ as.
castle ~ a strong building where you are safe from your enemies.'trusting in you ~ looking to you for help.
trap ~ something that catches animals or birds.'bird-catcher ~ a person that catches birds.
feathers ~ what a bird has instead of hair.
wings ~ birds use them to fly.
shield ~ what a soldier holds over himself to stop things hitting him.
spirits ~ they are alive, but we cannot see them. Good spirits are usually called angels. Bad spirits do not live in heaven now, but in the air round us. Satan is their leader. They are the same as evil spirits, or demons.
angels ~ spirits that live in heaven with God.
heaven ~ the home of God.
Satan ~ the leader of the bad spirits. His other names are the Devil and Lucifer.
arrows ~ pointed sticks that you shoot with a bow.
angels ~ spirits that live in heaven with God.
spirits ~ they are alive, but we cannot see them. Good spirits are usually called angels. Bad spirits do not live in heaven now, but in the air round us. Satan is their leader. They are the same as evil spirits, or demons.
heaven ~ the home of God.
Satan ~ the leader of the bad spirits. His other names are the Devil and Lucifer.
lion ~ a large wild animal that eats smaller animals and even people.
cobra ~ a snake.
serpent ~ a snake.
Jew ~ someone who was born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.