He who dwells and abides...

Psalm 90:1-6; 91 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.
² Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

³ You turn man back into dust And say, “Return, O children of men.”
⁴ For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it passes by, Or as a watch in the night. ⁵ You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep; In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew. ⁶ In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew;
Toward evening it fades and withers away…

91 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
² I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!”
³ For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper And from the deadly pestilence.
⁴ He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

⁵ You will not be afraid of the terror by night, 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, 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 the Lord, 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.

¹⁴ “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, 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.”

In John 14:18-24 Jesus says:   “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.”     Because He lives, we live also. That is a sentiment that is often thought of and shared on Easter, as we celebrate the resurrection, the fact that Jesus lives. But the reality that we live because of Him should be an everyday reality. Even more than that, we not only live, but Jesus Himself and the Father make their abode with us. Just prior, in John 14:16-17 Jesus says:  “ I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”     So along with the Father and Jesus, we also have another Helper, the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit who also abides with us and in us.  That is the promise of kingdom living that we have in Christ. No wonder then that Paul says in Romans 8:31:   If God is for us, who is against us?  

In today’s text, Psalm90-91, we see that David, the psalmist, even though he lived many years before the cross, understood kingdom living. He says:   Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Not only was God their dwelling place, but God’s promise to the Israelites in Leviticus 26:11-12 was:  Moreover, I will make My dwelling among you, and My soul will not reject you. I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.    So the people dwelled with God as He dwelled and walked among them, even before the cross. The psalmist continues to declare the benefits of this dwelling and abiding. In Psalm 91, he says:  He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!” For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper And from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark. You will not be afraid of the terror by night, Or of the arrow that flies by day; Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon. A thousand may fall at your side And ten thousand at your right hand, But it shall not approach you. You will only look on with your eyes And see the recompense of the wicked. For you have made the Lord, my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place. No evil will befall you, Nor will any plague come near your tent.   In verses 14-16, it becomes God Himself, speaking through the psalmist, saying:  “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. “With a long life I will satisfy him And let him see My salvation.”     So there are God ordained and stipulated conditions to the promises of protection and provision that come through abiding and dwelling in and with God. In Leviticus 26 God promised to walk with His people. In Leviticus 20:26, He says:  Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.   In Psalm 91, He says:  “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.” 

In John 14 Jesus confirmed the importance and the conditions of loving God and Himself to the promise of their abiding presence and our dwelling with them. He says:   “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.”   The abiding presence of God is conditional on love, His love for us and our love for Him. We cannot walk in the promises, the protection and the provision of God apart from love. God’s love for us was and is demonstrated in the cross of Christ. Romans 5:8 says:  God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  John 3:16 says:  God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  1 John 4:19 says:  We love, because He first loved us.       So our love for God is a response to His love for us, a love that was demonstrated through the cross of Christ. Jesus says our love for Him is demonstrated in that we keep His commandments and His word.

Under the Old Covenant, the people were to be holy because God is holy and for Him to walk and dwell with them there could be no sin, no unrighteousness. We too are to be holy, we too are to keep God’s commandments. We cannot abide and dwell with God if we walk in disobedience and sin. Fortunately for us, it is not our own holiness and righteousness, but rather Christ’s holiness and righteousness on which we depend. Still the promises, the protection and the provision of God is for the one who dwells and abides in God’s presence. We cannot think that we can live without Him for most of our day and come to Him with a quick prayer and have all that is promised for those who dwell and abide with and in Him. Jesus says: “Behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 7:21) All the promises of the kingdom of God are ours as we love Him, walk with Him and keep His word.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit thank You for Your presence with and in me. Thank You for loving me with a love demonstrated on the cross of Christ. Because of Your love, I can love You. Holy Spirit help me to demonstrate my love through my obedience to God the Father and Jesus. May I dwell and abide in the presence of God all the days of my life and may I walk in His promises, His protection, His provision and His power, may I love Him as He has loved me, through the cross of Christ.    Amen.