PSALM 91 [1]

You will fear no bed bugs

Profession of faith/trust: Yahweh is My refuge (vv.1-2)

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High	Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to Yahweh, “My refuge and my fortress,	My God, in whom I trust!” [2]

What Yahweh delivers His Messianic Son and people from (vv.3-13)

3 For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper/fowler (cf. Psalm 124:7)		And from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with His pinions, (Dt.32:10-11)	And under His wings you may seek refuge; [3]		His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.
5 You will not be afraid of the terror by night, (SoS 3:8)		Or of the arrow that flies by day;
6 Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,		Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.
7 A thousand may fall at your side	And ten thousand at your right hand, (1 Sam.18:7; Ps.3:6)		But it shall not approach you.
8 You will only look on with your eyes		And see the recompense of the wicked.
9 For you have made Yahweh, my refuge,		Even the Most High, your dwelling place.
10 No evil will befall you,		Nor will any plague come near your tent.
11 For He will give His angels charge concerning you,		To guard you in all your ways.
12 They will bear you up in their hands,		That you do not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread upon the lion and cobra,		The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.

Yahweh’s promise concerning His Messianic Son (vv.14-16)

14 [4] “Because he has loved Me,	therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him securely on high,	because he has known My name.
15 “He will call upon Me, (Ps.89:26)	and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;	I will rescue him and honor him.
16 “With a long life I will satisfy him	And let him see My salvation.” (Luke 2:29-32)

[1] “In his later years, Calvin's colleague at Geneva was Theodore de Beza (1519-1605)…In 1548, when he, for the first time, attended the service of the Reformed Assembly, the congregation was singing Psalm xci., “Whoso dwelleth under the defence of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." He never forgot the effect of the words. They supported him in all the difficulties of his subsequent life; they conquered his fears, and gave him courage to meet every danger” (Prothero 183f.).

[2] 50 of the 181 occurrences of “trust” (batach) in the Old Testament are found in the Psalms.

[3] See also Ruth 2:12; Psalm 17:8; 36:8; 57:2; 61:5; 63:8.

[4] Yahweh is speaking in verses 14-16 which explains the translation’s quotation marks around these verses. Walter Brueggemann comments, “In this Psalm the last word belongs to Yahweh, and the last word is caring protection. It is the ground for confidence that the last word is not spoken by us, but to us (cf. John 6:68)” (The Message of the Psalms, 157). The next time Yahweh speaks directly in the Psalms is 95:7d-11.