Psa 91:5-6 | KingComments | STEP | In we hear a Person, namely Christ Himself, Who personally answers what the psalmist says in . Following Him, each individual believer of the remnant of Israel will so answer. Also, the writers and the reader of this commentary will each have to give this answer personally. It begins with the utterance of an open confession, a statement spoken aloud. It is the expression of what is in the heart. The believer says “to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust!”” Those who can say this with all their heart will, as it were automatically, gain the experience of . It is personal, first person singular, “my” and “I”. This is perfectly true with Christ. He is an example in this both for the faithful remnant of Israel in the future and for us. The teaching of faith trust is never collective, but personal. We see it, for example, in the parable of the five wise and five foolish virgins: you cannot give oil to another ( ). Likewise, in terms of faith, you cannot rely on the faith of another. Three times he uses the word “my”. This speaks of a personal relationship with “the LORD”, Yahweh, the God of the covenant with His people. He is, he says, “my refuge and my fortress”. A “refuge” is a temporary shelter from immediate danger for the time it lasts (cf. ). A “fortress” is a place of refuge because of constant danger. The Hebrew word matsuda refers to a safe place among rocks. This is not a particular structure that you can defend. It is a natural mountain fortress (cf. ). The two shelters reinforce each other. They represent the impenetrable protection and invincible strength against the attack of any enemy. This is “my God, in Whom I trust”. What peace and safe security speaks from this confession. We may well speak of an open proclamation of God’s protective power in the face of all possible enemies and trials. There is no stronger protection, rest and safety imaginable than to be aware of a personal relationship with God in complete trust in Him. What could still confuse or despair someone living in this relationship? Also , like , is perfectly true of the Lord Jesus during His entire life on earth. He came to earth to be accepted as Messiah by His people. But He was hated and rejected. His response to that is what this verse says. He says as a Man to the LORD, Yahweh, that He is His refuge and His fortress. He says to God “My God”, He lives in close fellowship with His God. He knows God as the One in Whom He can completely trust in all that He does. We hear the Lord Jesus as Messiah of His earthly people speaking to the LORD as His God. We hear the faithful remnant speaking to the LORD in imitation of Him. We who are the New Testament people of God, the church, speak to the Father. We also do so in imitation of the Lord Jesus, for He is also the Son of the Father. He has brought us into that relationship through His work on the cross ( ). Who God is as the LORD to His earthly people, God is as Father to His heavenly people. Beginning in , we hear the answer to the trust the Messiah expressed in His God. The answer is an enumeration of protection from all kinds of evil. The LORD Himself – “He”, emphatically – will “deliver” Him “from the snare of the trapper” ( ). This response also applies to the believer who has made this statement. In particular, this section is meant to encourage the remnant of Israel who will have to go through a very difficult period and severe persecution during the last year week spoken of by Daniel ( ). That this is specifically about the Messiah is evident from what is said in . How often, under the devil's instigation, men have tried to catch Him like a bird in a snare ( ; ; ). It all failed because He trusted in His God. That He was finally captured and even killed has nothing to do with a failure of protection, but with the plan of God. That plan continues, precisely through the capture and killing of the Messiah. God’s purposes for His own can never be undone by any snare. It is a trap, a net using a lure (cf. ). It is treacherous, but the LORD gives deliverance even from this dangerous trap ( ). In the same way, He will save the believer from people who are out to eliminate him (cf. ). God ensures that the testimony concerning Him continues by protecting His own. Even if they are taken captive, they are not prey to the enemy. He can bind their hands, but not the Word of God ( ). God delivers from the snare of evil intentions. People can harm and even kill the body, but not destroy God’s plan. Against their will, they help to fulfill that. God also saved Him “from the deadly pestilence”. The pestilence – a highly contagious, life-threatening disease – is given by God as a judgment to people who rebel against Him. This invisible judgment is at the same time a call from God to return to Him. But God preserved the Messiah from the deadly pestilence because He trusted in Him. Likewise, God is always near the believer when the “deadly pestilence” threatens him. Again, although a person may be felled by a severe disease, this in no way thwarts God’s purposes. The Lord Jesus healed the sick and thereby He took that sickness upon Himself. He was not sick, but He did identify Himself with the sick ( ). In doing so, He carried out God’s plan, for in that way He fulfilled one of the prophecies about Him ( ). The source of it, sin, He removed on the cross by being made sin. The consequences of sin, including sickness, He sometimes takes away or He helps us bear. God’s protection of His chosen Messiah and also of His chosen people is compared to a bird that shelters her young under her wings from imminent danger ( ). To that shelter the Messiah and His own take refuge. They take refuge under His protective wings (cf. ; ). His protection consists of “His faithfulness”. He is faithful to His covenant. For the believing remnant, and for us, His faithfulness is based on the blood of the new covenant. God is faithful on the basis of the work of Christ (cf. ). Every attack by the enemy is intended to lead the believer to question God’s faithfulness, or trustworthiness, or truth. Since Paradise that has always been the enemy’s tactic. He succeeded in doing so with Eve, and that is how sin came into the world. However, whoever has taken refuge under God’s wings will not doubt His faithfulness for a moment. God’s soft wings under which he dwells secure, safe and warm, have against the attacks of the enemy the power of “a shield and bulwark”. They are impervious to his infiltrations, whether cunning or violent. The shield is not a small shield, but a large shield behind which your body is safe. The bulwark is more of a surrounding shelter, a safe and secure area where you are communally safe. deal with various parts of the day. It talks about the night, the day, darkness and noon. It covers a twenty-four hour period and means always. We don’t have to be afraid of the unknown for a moment of the day or the night, of what awaits us, what may happen to us in terms of suffering and sorrow. In the night you have to deal with invisible dangers, during the day with visible dangers ( ). Pestilence is invisible, while destruction is visible through its ravages ( ). The night makes everything unrecognizable and has something frightening. Those who have to go out in the night are afraid of the dangers hidden in the dark. Those who are under God’s wings receive the assurance that they will not fear what is hidden in the future. Those who trust in God walk in the light, while in the world it is night. It is not only the night that harbors suddenly emerging suffering. In application, we can think of slander spread about us behind our backs. Visible things can also happen during the day that damage us. For example, there is “the arrow that flies by day”. Here we can think of a sudden confrontation with someone who accuses us of something to which we have no part. Those who take refuge in God do not need to be afraid of this. God is there and therefore they do not get excited or upset. They surrender it to God with confidence. He hears and will deal with it justly in His time ( ). Then again “the pestilence” is mentioned ( ; ), now as a disease “that goes around in the dark”. From this a threat emanates. It is present, but it is unknown when it will strike. There is also the threat of “destruction that lays waste at noon”. This is an overt, visible threat. These two threats will not frighten them because they trust in God. What can also cause fear is mass deaths of people immediately around them ( ). As the next verse says, these are wicked people. This is about the disciplining hand of God over Israel when the antichrist is in power. When the wicked are punished by God with all kinds of plagues, there is the assurance that this calamity will not come to the sealed God-fearing ones. They remain unharmed (cf. ). This magnifies the wonder of God’s protection. Only their eyes will partake of it, for they will see it ( ; cf. ). In the plagues that kill the wicked, they see God’s recompense to them (cf. ). God retaliates to the wicked for what they deserve because of their wicked behavior. It may seem so now, that the wicked can go about their business undisturbed and are not punished. Those who trust in God know that the moment of recompense will come when God will judge righteously (cf. ).

‏ Psalms 91:5-6

Protection in Danger

In Psa 91:2 we hear a Person, namely Christ Himself, Who personally answers what the psalmist says in Psa 91:1. Following Him, each individual believer of the remnant of Israel will so answer. Also, the writers and the reader of this commentary will each have to give this answer personally.

It begins with the utterance of an open confession, a statement spoken aloud. It is the expression of what is in the heart. The believer says “to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust!”” Those who can say this with all their heart will, as it were automatically, gain the experience of Psa 91:1.

It is personal, first person singular, “my” and “I”. This is perfectly true with Christ. He is an example in this both for the faithful remnant of Israel in the future and for us. The teaching of faith trust is never collective, but personal. We see it, for example, in the parable of the five wise and five foolish virgins: you cannot give oil to another (Mt 25:1-11). Likewise, in terms of faith, you cannot rely on the faith of another.

Three times he uses the word “my”. This speaks of a personal relationship with “the LORD”, Yahweh, the God of the covenant with His people. He is, he says, “my refuge and my fortress”. A “refuge” is a temporary shelter from immediate danger for the time it lasts (cf. 1Sam 22:3-4). A “fortress” is a place of refuge because of constant danger. The Hebrew word matsuda refers to a safe place among rocks. This is not a particular structure that you can defend. It is a natural mountain fortress (cf. Psa 71:3). The two shelters reinforce each other. They represent the impenetrable protection and invincible strength against the attack of any enemy.

This is “my God, in Whom I trust”. What peace and safe security speaks from this confession. We may well speak of an open proclamation of God’s protective power in the face of all possible enemies and trials. There is no stronger protection, rest and safety imaginable than to be aware of a personal relationship with God in complete trust in Him. What could still confuse or despair someone living in this relationship?

Also Psa 91:2, like Psa 91:1, is perfectly true of the Lord Jesus during His entire life on earth. He came to earth to be accepted as Messiah by His people. But He was hated and rejected. His response to that is what this verse says. He says as a Man to the LORD, Yahweh, that He is His refuge and His fortress. He says to God “My God”, He lives in close fellowship with His God. He knows God as the One in Whom He can completely trust in all that He does.

We hear the Lord Jesus as Messiah of His earthly people speaking to the LORD as His God. We hear the faithful remnant speaking to the LORD in imitation of Him. We who are the New Testament people of God, the church, speak to the Father. We also do so in imitation of the Lord Jesus, for He is also the Son of the Father. He has brought us into that relationship through His work on the cross (Jn 20:17). Who God is as the LORD to His earthly people, God is as Father to His heavenly people.

Beginning in Psa 91:3, we hear the answer to the trust the Messiah expressed in His God. The answer is an enumeration of protection from all kinds of evil. The LORD Himself – “He”, emphatically – will “deliver” Him “from the snare of the trapper” (Psa 91:3). This response also applies to the believer who has made this statement. In particular, this section is meant to encourage the remnant of Israel who will have to go through a very difficult period and severe persecution during the last year week spoken of by Daniel (Dan 9:27).

That this is specifically about the Messiah is evident from what is said in Psa 91:11-12. How often, under the devil's instigation, men have tried to catch Him like a bird in a snare (Mt 22:15; Mk 12:13; Lk 20:26). It all failed because He trusted in His God.

That He was finally captured and even killed has nothing to do with a failure of protection, but with the plan of God. That plan continues, precisely through the capture and killing of the Messiah. God’s purposes for His own can never be undone by any snare. It is a trap, a net using a lure (cf. Amos 3:5). It is treacherous, but the LORD gives deliverance even from this dangerous trap (Psa 124:7-8).

In the same way, He will save the believer from people who are out to eliminate him (cf. Psa 38:12). God ensures that the testimony concerning Him continues by protecting His own. Even if they are taken captive, they are not prey to the enemy. He can bind their hands, but not the Word of God (2Tim 2:9). God delivers from the snare of evil intentions. People can harm and even kill the body, but not destroy God’s plan. Against their will, they help to fulfill that.

God also saved Him “from the deadly pestilence”. The pestilence – a highly contagious, life-threatening disease – is given by God as a judgment to people who rebel against Him. This invisible judgment is at the same time a call from God to return to Him.

But God preserved the Messiah from the deadly pestilence because He trusted in Him. Likewise, God is always near the believer when the “deadly pestilence” threatens him. Again, although a person may be felled by a severe disease, this in no way thwarts God’s purposes.

The Lord Jesus healed the sick and thereby He took that sickness upon Himself. He was not sick, but He did identify Himself with the sick (Mt 25:36a ; 40). In doing so, He carried out God’s plan, for in that way He fulfilled one of the prophecies about Him (Mt 8:16-17). The source of it, sin, He removed on the cross by being made sin. The consequences of sin, including sickness, He sometimes takes away or He helps us bear.

God’s protection of His chosen Messiah and also of His chosen people is compared to a bird that shelters her young under her wings from imminent danger (Psa 91:4). To that shelter the Messiah and His own take refuge. They take refuge under His protective wings (cf. Rth 2:12; Mt 23:37). His protection consists of “His faithfulness”. He is faithful to His covenant. For the believing remnant, and for us, His faithfulness is based on the blood of the new covenant. God is faithful on the basis of the work of Christ (cf. 1Jn 1:9).

Every attack by the enemy is intended to lead the believer to question God’s faithfulness, or trustworthiness, or truth. Since Paradise that has always been the enemy’s tactic. He succeeded in doing so with Eve, and that is how sin came into the world.

However, whoever has taken refuge under God’s wings will not doubt His faithfulness for a moment. God’s soft wings under which he dwells secure, safe and warm, have against the attacks of the enemy the power of “a shield and bulwark”. They are impervious to his infiltrations, whether cunning or violent. The shield is not a small shield, but a large shield behind which your body is safe. The bulwark is more of a surrounding shelter, a safe and secure area where you are communally safe.

Psa 91:5-6 deal with various parts of the day. It talks about the night, the day, darkness and noon. It covers a twenty-four hour period and means always. We don’t have to be afraid of the unknown for a moment of the day or the night, of what awaits us, what may happen to us in terms of suffering and sorrow. In the night you have to deal with invisible dangers, during the day with visible dangers (Psa 91:5). Pestilence is invisible, while destruction is visible through its ravages (Psa 91:6).

The night makes everything unrecognizable and has something frightening. Those who have to go out in the night are afraid of the dangers hidden in the dark. Those who are under God’s wings receive the assurance that they will not fear what is hidden in the future. Those who trust in God walk in the light, while in the world it is night.

It is not only the night that harbors suddenly emerging suffering. In application, we can think of slander spread about us behind our backs. Visible things can also happen during the day that damage us. For example, there is “the arrow that flies by day”. Here we can think of a sudden confrontation with someone who accuses us of something to which we have no part. Those who take refuge in God do not need to be afraid of this. God is there and therefore they do not get excited or upset. They surrender it to God with confidence. He hears and will deal with it justly in His time (1Pet 2:23b).

Then again “the pestilence” is mentioned (Psa 91:6; Psa 91:3), now as a disease “that goes around in the dark”. From this a threat emanates. It is present, but it is unknown when it will strike. There is also the threat of “destruction that lays waste at noon”. This is an overt, visible threat. These two threats will not frighten them because they trust in God.

What can also cause fear is mass deaths of people immediately around them (Psa 91:7). As the next verse says, these are wicked people. This is about the disciplining hand of God over Israel when the antichrist is in power. When the wicked are punished by God with all kinds of plagues, there is the assurance that this calamity will not come to the sealed God-fearing ones. They remain unharmed (cf. Rev 7:3). This magnifies the wonder of God’s protection.

Only their eyes will partake of it, for they will see it (Psa 91:8; cf. Isa 66:24). In the plagues that kill the wicked, they see God’s recompense to them (cf. Psa 37:34). God retaliates to the wicked for what they deserve because of their wicked behavior. It may seem so now, that the wicked can go about their business undisturbed and are not punished. Those who trust in God know that the moment of recompense will come when God will judge righteously (cf. Rev 6:10-11).