Lord, You have been our dwelling place

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
^[c]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,
^[d]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.”

The psalmist 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.   It is an important distinction that the psalmist makes. We live on earth. We have homes and places of work, but God is to be our dwelling place. In John 14:1-3 Jesus says:   “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”   In verses 15-27 Jesus makes it clear that this dwelling and abiding is not limited to our eternal dwelling in heaven after this life, but it is to be how and where we abide and dwell in this life. He says:  “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. 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. 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. These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”  If we will dwell and abide in the Lord we will have peace and we will not be fearful.  In Matthew 16:18-19 Jesus says:  “Upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”   If we want to dwell and abide with the Father and with Jesus, it is necessary that we have the keys to the kingdom. It is upon the rock, the solid foundation that Jesus is the Christ that the church is built. The revelation that Jesus is the Christ is a key to the kingdom of heaven. In John 14:15 Jesus reveals another key. He says if you love me you will keep my commandments. Obedience to God and Christ is another key to the kingdom and so to abiding with Christ. Then Jesus reveals another key saying:  “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. 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.”  The Holy Spirit abides with us and in us. The Holy Spirit is a vital key to our dwelling and abiding with God. To abide and dwell with God we need to walk in the Spirit. These three are necessary keys to the kingdom: Acknowledging that Jesus is the Christ – Showing our love for Him through obedience. – Walking in the Spirit.

In Psalm 91 the psalmist 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.   Those are just some of the benefits and promises for those who dwell and abide with God and in Christ. We need to recognize and understand that the peace and the protection of the Lord is not assured for those who only visit God’s dwelling place or who occasionally come near to Him.  His promises are to those who make Him their refuge; their dwelling place; for those who enter in with the keys of acknowledging that Jesus is the Christ; obeying Him in love and yielding to the Holy Spirit.

To those God 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. With a long life I will satisfy him And let him see My salvation.”   Amen. Thank You Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit.  Amen.