Psalm 91 does not have a title that would give us
information on the writer of this wonderful passage of scripture that has been
a source of encouragement to hundreds of generations of God’s people who are
facing imminent danger in their lives. It has been called the “orphan Psalm”
because the writer is anonymous.
While people are divided as to the actual human author of
this Psalm, one interesting suggestion is that Moses wrote both Psalms 90 and
91, and that both are an exposition of Deuteronomy 33:27. "The eternal
God is thy refuge"—that is the theme of Psalm 90. It is the psalm of
the wilderness, the great psalm which contrasts the permanence of God with the
mortal frailty of man. The sentence of death had been passed on Israel at
Kadesh-barnea. Their sandglass of forty years was running out, but the eternal
God was their refuge. "Underneath are the everlasting arms". This
is the theme of Psalm 91. We can hide under the shadow of the Almighty!
One of the most interesting things about this psalm is that
Satan knew it, memorized it, no doubt hated it, but employed it (in the usual
distorted and devious way he ever handles the Word of truth) to try to tempt
the Christ of God from the path of obedience to His God (Matthew 4:1-11). On
the pinnacle of the temple Satan quoted from Psalm 91:11-12, when he tempted
Jesus to cast Himself down. We need to be aware of the devil tempting us with a
portion of a Scripture taken out of context in his attempt to get us to disobey
the Lord. By the way, Jesus responded by also quoting Scripture and we should
do the same.
Psalm 90 focused on dealing with the difficulties of life,
but the emphasis in this Psalm 91 is on the dangers of life. The anonymous writer
warns about hidden traps, deadly plagues, terrors at night and arrows by day,
stumbling over rocks, and facing lions and snakes! These are the dangers that
Israel faced in their wilderness journey. Today in our journey of life, we
might not face those specific dangers, but daily we have to deal with a host of
others. Such as terrorist attacks, snipers, reckless drivers, exotic new
diseases like covid, and Saturday night handgun specials, road rage, home
invasions, and many others. Yes, the
contemporary scene may be as dangerous as the one described in this Psalm.
The saints who abide in Christ (vv. 1, 9) cannot avoid
confronting unknown perils, but they can escape the evil consequences. Moses,
David, and Paul, and a host of other servants of God, faced great danger in
accomplishing God's will, and the Lord saw them through. However, Hebrews 11:36
cautions us that "others" were tortured and martyred, yet their faith
was just as real. But generally speaking, walking with the Lord does help us to
detect and avoid a great deal of trouble, and it is better to suffer in the
will of God than to invite trouble by disobeying God's will (1 Peter 2:18-25).
Psalm 91 describes the elements that are involved in living
the life of confidence and victory. Today we should remember to, “Set our
mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For we died, and our life is
hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then we also
will appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:2-4).
God bless!
