Security of One Who Trusts in the Lord.

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

A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.

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 mortals back into dust
And say, “Return, you sons of mankind.”
⁴ For a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it passes by,
^[Or like a watch in the night.
⁵ You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep;
In the morning they are like grass that sprouts anew.
⁶ In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew;
Toward evening it wilts and withers away.

⁷ For we have been consumed by Your anger,
And we have been terrified by Your wrath.
⁸ You have placed our guilty deeds before You,
Our hidden sins in the light of Your presence.
⁹ For all our days have dwindled away 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 only trouble and tragedy;
For it quickly passes, and we disappear.
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, Lord; how long will it be?
And be sorry for Your servants.
¹⁴ Satisfy us in the morning with Your graciousness,
That we may sing for joy and rejoice 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 May the kindness 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 One Who Trusts in the Lord.

91 One who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will lodge 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 rescues you from the net of the trapper
And from the deadly plague.
⁴ He will cover you with His pinions,
And under His wings you may take refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and wall.

⁵ You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
Or of the arrow that flies by day;
⁶ Of the plague that stalks in darkness,
Or of the destruction that devastates 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 retaliation against the wicked.
⁹ For you have made the Lord, my refuge,
The Most High, your dwelling place.
¹⁰ No evil will happen to you,
Nor will any plague come near your tent.

¹¹ For He will give His angels orders concerning you,
To protect you in all your ways.
¹² On their hands they will lift you up,
So that you do not strike your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will walk upon the lion and cobra,
You will trample the young lion and the serpent.

¹⁴ “Because he has loved Me, I will save 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 I will satisfy him with a long life,
And show him My salvation.”

Moses was born in a household of slaves, raised in the home of Pharoah’s daughter. He became a shepherd of his father-in-law’s sheep , then lived in the wilderness with the Israelites for forty years. In Psalm 90, 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.  Regardless of time or place, regardless of circumstance or situation, God is God and wherever we are, He should be our dwelling place. David too was a shepherd in his youth. He later entered the service of the king and ate at his table. He lived in palaces and caves. In Psalm 91 he says: One who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will lodge 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 rescues you from the net of the trapper And from the deadly plague. He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may take refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and wall. You will not be afraid of the terror by night, Or of the arrow that flies by day; Of the plague that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that devastates 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 retaliation against the wicked. For you have made the Lord, my refuge, The Most High, your dwelling place. No evil will happen to you, Nor will any plague come near your tent. For He will give His angels orders concerning you, To protect you in all your ways. On their hands they will lift you up, So that you do not strike your foot against a stone. You will walk upon the lion and cobra, You will trample the young lion and the serpent.

Surely in the midst of the troubles and tribulations of our times, in a time when we count the number of those who die each day from sickness and from violence in our cities, towns, neighborhoods, schools and homes, we could benefit from knowing the security of dwelling and abiding in God. Regardless of our circumstance or situation, He is God. Romans 8:31 says: If God is for us, who is against us?  We can have confidence, even in the face of death, because with God, in Christ, we have eternal life.   In Psalm 23:4, David says: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me. Even death has no lasting power over us. It is merely a shadow between living with God and eternal life with Him, a shadow as we go from light into light. In Psalm 91 God speaks through the psalmist saying: “Because he has loved Me, I will save 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. I will satisfy him with a long life, And show him My salvation.”

How can we know the security of dwelling and abiding with God and in Christ? In John 14:1;15;21-24  Jesus says: “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me… If you love Me, you will keep My commandments…The one who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will reveal Myself to him… If anyone loves Me, he will follow My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him. The one who does not love Me does not follow My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.”   We cannot abide with God or make our dwelling with Him if we are not willing to keep His commandments. If we choose to dwell in darkness, we will not know the security of His light. Regardless of our situation or circumstance, if God is for us, there is nothing that can come against us.

Romans 8:33-39 says: Who will bring charges against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, but rather, was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or trouble, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? Just as it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We were regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

May the kindness of the Lord our God be upon us; And confirm for us the work of our hands; Yes, confirm the work of our hands. Amen.