He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty (Psalm 91:1-2).
These words issue from a soul in grave danger. He feels hunted, like a bird who fears it might land in a trap at any time (3). A terrible plague is striking people all around him, slaying them in droves. Locked in a fierce battle, he sees his comrades falling dead, struck by arrows from the sky. It’s as if he is perched on a high peak, about to fall to his death. Deadly cobras hiss around his feet. Fierce lions roar, their hungry mouths gaping, eager to devour him. Wicked men conspire to destroy him (3-13).
Truly, he is “in trouble”! (15). What can he do?
“I will say of the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust’” (2).
And how does God respond to this cry of faith?
“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high [exalt him], because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation” (Psalm 91:1, 14-16).
The crafty devil quoted the promise, “He will give His angels charge over you…” in a futile attempt to entice Jesus to avoid the cross by a dramatic display of God’s loving care for him (Matthew 4:6).
But God protected him from the wiles of the ancient serpent by keeping his Son faithful to the end. By his obedience unto death and resurrection from the grave Jesus trampled upon the serpent and slew the lion. God then highly exalted him” (Ephesians 1:19-22; Philippians 2:9-11; 1 Peter 3:21-22). And now he lives eternally.
What about us?
Even when, following Christ, we walk through the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23:4), if we truly trust in Christ, we are “in him” (Ephesians 1:1, and often). Spiritually, we have died, and our “life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:1-4). We dwell – live, and move, and have our being – in him as our eternal refuge and home.
If we “abide [dwell] in him” by allowing his word to dwell in us and by calling out to him on prayer, he will answer us in our time of trouble, deliver us from temptation, and give us the ability to love as he has commanded us (John 15:4-5, 7-10).
We are safe.
Not only safe, but “more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).