Our dwelling place in all generations.

Psalm 90-91 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

God’s Eternity and Man’s Transitoriness.

90 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. ⁷ For we have been consumed by Your anger And by Your wrath we have been dismayed. ⁸ You have placed our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your presence. ⁹ For all our days have declined in Your fury; We have finished our years like a sigh. ¹⁰ As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away. ¹¹ Who understands the power of Your anger And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You? ¹² So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom. ¹³ Do return, O Lord; how long will it be? And be sorry for Your servants. ¹⁴ O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness, That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. ¹⁵ Make us glad according to the days You have afflicted us, And the years we have seen evil. ¹⁶ Let Your work appear to Your servants And Your majesty to their children. ¹⁷ Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; And confirm for us the work of our hands; Yes, confirm the work of our hands.

Security of the One Who Trusts in the Lord.

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.”

One of the greatest causes or motivations of prejudice is that we tend to fear what we do not know or understand. Fear and lack of understanding leads to division, which leads to greater fear and less understanding. This is also true of those who do not know or understand God. They tend to judge Him based on their fear of what they do not know or understand. The psalmist says:  We have been consumed by Your anger And by Your wrath we have been dismayed. You have placed our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your presence. For all our days have declined in Your fury; We have finished our years like a sigh. As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away. Who understands the power of Your anger And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You?    Many people, who do not know and understand God, allow their sin to cause separation between themselves and Him. They see God as angry and full of wrath. They believe Him to be one who takes joy in pointing out sin. God does not take pleasure in that we fear Him. God wants us to know and understand His true character of love.

Like the psalmist, we need to know and understand God. He says:  Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.   God is eternal, a thousand years in His sight Are like yesterday when it passes by, Or as a watch in the night.  Man’s days are seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years.    We cannot, with our finite minds, locked in our finite time, fully comprehend the infinite and eternal God.  Yet the psalmist’s opening statement offers us insight into our relationship with God. Far from fearing God and keeping our distance from Him; God is to be our very dwelling place. Sin can separate us from God’s presence, but Jesus died to take away the power of sin from our lives so that we might be reconciled to God. In John 14:19-23 Jesus says:  “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.” Jesus died to redeem us from sin and reconcile us to God. Because He lives, we live also. If we love Him, we will keep His word and we will abide with God. He will be our dwelling place.

Look then at what the psalmist says in psalm 91. Look at the benefit we receive when sin no longer seperates us from God, but rather we dwell and abide with Him.    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. For He will give His angels charge concerning you, To guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, That you do not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread upon the lion and cobra, The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.   As we no longer let fear and sin separate us from God, but rather make Him our dwelling place; we become recipients of all of God’s promises, His protection and His provision. When we no longer judge God based on our fear and lack of understanding, but rather through Christ we draw near to Him, we not only no longer fear God, but we need not fear anything. In Psalm 27:1-4 the psalmist says:  The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread? When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell.
 Though a host encamp against me, My heart will not fear; Though war arise against me, In spite of this I shall be confident. One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LordAnd to meditate in His temple.  All of this confidence; all of the victory of Christ and the promises, protection and provision of God are not for those who fear Him. His protection and provision does not come to one who merely calls to Him from a far. The more we get to know God, abiding and dwelling with Him, the less anything of this world will have power over us.

Look at what God says through the psalmist:  “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.”

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit; thank You that You love me. You loved me so much that Jesus died so that I might be redeemed from sin and reconciled to You. May I never allow fear or sin to separate me from Your love. Rather, may I draw near to You. May I dwell and abide in You. May I know the confidence of loving You and keeping Your word. Because You are my salvation and because You live, there is nothing to fear. Like the psalmist I pray:  One thing I have ask, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord And to meditate in His temple. Thank You Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit. Amen.