Because he has loved Me, I will save him.

Psalm 91 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

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.”

In yesterday’s text and meditation, we saw what Jesus said it will be like before He returns at the end of the age. He warned us of the hard and difficult times we would face. As we hear or read news reports, it is easy to believe that we could be experiencing at least what He called the “birth pains,” the beginning of the tribulation that will come. As we see conflicts around the globe and within our own nation, it could be the nations against nations and kingdoms against kingdoms that Jesus says there will be. As we see the rejection in our society and culture against those who believe differently, we can envision the time that people will be persecuted for the name of Christ. Jesus says, “these things must take place.” It will happen as He has said it will. Jesus says that those who endure to the end will be saved. In John 16:33 Jesus says: “These things I have spoken to you so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

In Psalm 91, the psalmist shares the key to our enduring and overcoming in Christ. 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.  The protection of the Lord, the power and ability to endure and overcome with Him, is for the one who dwells and abides with Him. We cannot simply begin and end our days with a few minutes speaking to Him or meditating on His word and expect to overcome the tribulation of the world. We must remain under His wings and behind the wall of His faithfulness. 

The psalmist says: 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. Again, yesterday we saw that Psalm 23:4 says: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me. If we remain in Christ, if we dwell and abide in Him, then even if death should come, it is merely a shadow between this life and our eternal life with Him. In John 11:25 Jesus says: “I am the resurrection and the life; the one who believes in Me will live, even if he dies.”  We have nothing to fear from the world, because in Christ we overcome the world. 

We are more than just to endure the difficult times. The psalmist says: 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. We are to walk victoriously. In John 10:10 Jesus says: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly.”  In John 16:24 Jesus says: “Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.”  Our joy comes through abiding in Him. 

In yesterday’s meditation we saw that in Numbers 23:19 God says: God is not a man, that He would lie, Nor a son of man, that He would change His mind; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?  These hard and difficult times will come because He has declared it in His word. In today’s text though God speaks prophetically in response to 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.” Amen. 

In addition to the declaration of the psalmist, may the words of Romans 8:31-39 be our declaration and prayer today: What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? 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.  Amen.