Psalms 91:13

Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. THOU SHALT TREAD UPON THE LION AND ADDER; THE YOUNG LION AND THE DRAGON SHALT THOU TRAMPLE UNDER FEET. The lion represents the openly violent foes of the godly: the adder and serpent the crafty liers in wait. Satan can at one time be the "roaring lion," at another the subtle dragon and suddenly stinging adder. Allusion is here made to "that great and terrible wilderness wherein were fiery serpents and scorpions" (). God enabled His servants, Samson, David, and Daniel, to gain victories over literal lions (; ; ), a type of the spiritual vict...

13._Thou shalt walk over the lion and asp. _The same truth is here expressed in different words. He had already spoken of the obstacles which Satan throws in our course under the figure of a _stone. _Now he speaks of the formidable troubles to which we are exposed in the world under the figures of the _asp, lion, young lion, _and _dragon _So long as we are here we may be truly said to walk amongst wild beasts, and such as threaten us with destruction. And in this case what would become of us did not God promise to make us victorious over the manifold evils which everywhere impend us? None who seriously considers the temptations to which he is liable will wonder that the Psalmist, with the view of removing apprehension from the minds of the Lord’s people, should have adopted the language of hyperbole; nor indeed will he say that it is the language of hyperbole, but a true and exact repres...

9-16 Whatever happens, nothing shall hurt the believer; though trouble and affliction befal, it shall come, not for his hurt, but for good, though for the present it be not joyous but grievous. Those who rightly know God, will set their love upon him. They by prayer constantly call upon him. His promise is, that he will in due time deliver the believer out of trouble, and in the mean time be with him in trouble. The Lord will manage all his worldly concerns, and preserve his life on earth, so long as it shall be good for him. For encouragement in this he looks unto Jesus. He shall live long enough; till he has done the work he was sent into this world for, and is ready for heaven. Who would wish to live a day longer than God has some work to do, either by him or upon him? A man may die young, yet be satisfied with living. But a wicked man is not satisfied even with long life. At length t...

Verse Psalms 91:13. _THOU SHALT TREAD UPON THE LION AND ADDER_] Even the king of the forest shall not be able to injure thee; should one of these attack thee, the angels whom God sends will give thee an easy victory over him. And even the asp, (פתן _pethen_,) one of the most venomous of serpents, shall not be able to injure thee. The asp is a very small serpent, and peculiar to Egypt and Libya. Its poison kills without the possibility of a remedy. Those who are bitten by it die in about from three to eight hours; and it is said they die by sleep, without any kind of _pain_. Lord _Bacon_ says the asp is less painful than all the other instruments of death. He supposes it to have an affinity to _opium_, but to be less disagreeable in its operation. It was probably an this account that _Cleopatra_, queen of Egypt, chose to die by the asp, as she w

THOU SHALT TREAD UPON THE LION AND ADDER - Thou shalt be safe among dangers, as if the rage of the lion were restrained, and he became like a lamb, and as if the poisonous tooth of the serpent were extracted. Compare Mark 16:18. The word used here to denote the “lion” is a poetic term, not employed in prose. The word rendered “adder” is, in the margin, asp. The Hebrew word - פתן _pethen_ - commonly means viper, asp, or adder. See Job 20:14, note; Job 20:16, note; compare Psalms 58:4; Isaiah 11:8. It may be applie

EXPOSITION THIS psalm, like the majority in the present Book, is without a title. Jewish tradition, however, ascribed it to Moses—a conclusion which Dr. Kay and others accept as borne out by the facts, especially by the many close resemblances between it and Deuteronomy 32:1; Deuteronomy 33:1. Other critics, and they are the majority, trace in it a different hand, but regard it as suggested by Psalms 90:1. The subject is the security of the man who thoroughly trusts in God. This subject is worked out by an "antiphonal arrangement" (Cheyne)—the first speaker delivering Psalms

THOU SHALT TREAD UPON THE LION AND ADDER,.... Or be unhurt by such savage and poisonous creatures; as the Israelites, when they travelled through the wilderness, in which were serpents and scorpions; and many of the servants of God have been delivered from them, or have slain them, as Samson, David, and Daniel; and so Christ was among the wild beasts in the wilderness, and yet not touched or hurt by them; and his disciples had power given them by him to tread on serpents and scorpions, and to take up serpents, without receiving any damage from them; and when a viper fastened on the hand of the Apostle Paul, he shook it off, without being hurt by it; see Mark 1:13 Acts 28:5, it may be understood figuratively of Satan, who, for his voraciousness and cruelty, is compared to a lion; and, for his craft and subtle

A Psalm written for comfort, but it is not addressed to all mankind, neither I venture to say, to all believers, but only those who are described in the first verse. Psalms 91:1. _He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty._ It is not every worshipper that comes there who shall be thus privileged but those who dwell there, as Simeon and Anna dwelt in the temple. So there are some that abide in Christ and his words abide in them. They live near to God. They receive therefore choicer favours than those who do but come and go. «He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High.» He who has learnt to stand in the holy of holies, near the blood-besprinkled mercy-seat, to whom prayer is a matter of constant privilege and enjoyment-he dwells in the secret place. Such a man, living near to God, shall abide under the sha

Psalms 91 Christ, the Second Man __ 1. In dependence (Psalms 91:1) 2. In security (Psalms 91:3) 3. His triumph and exaltation (Psalms 91:9) This Psalm has no inscription. Its author is unknown, but we know it is the testimony of the Spirit of God concerning the second Man, our Lord. Satan knew this also for he quoted this Psalm to our Lord in Matthew 4:1, omitting the words “in all thy ways” (Psalms 91:11 and...

XCI. GOD PROTECTS HIS OWN. Psalms 91:1 f. Read perhaps Blessed is he that dwelleth, that abideth, that saith of Yahweh. Psalms 91:3. noisome pestilence: read, from the pit of destruction. The pestilence is mentioned with greater fullness (Psalms 91:6). Psalms 91:5. The ARROW may be a metaphor for the sun-stroke. Psalms 91:9. Read, For as for thee, Yahweh is thy refuge. We thus avoid an intolerable confusion of persons. Psalm