Bible Reading: Psalms 90 and commentary

You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."

For he will rescue you from the snare of the fowler, from the destroying pestilence. With his pinions he will cover you, and under his wings you shall take refuge; his faithfulness is a buckler and a shield.

You shall not fear the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies by day; not the pestilence that roams in darkness nor the devastating plague at noon.

Though a thousand fall at your side, ten thousand at your right side, near you it will not come. Rather with your eyes shall you behold and see the requital of the wicked, because you have the Lord for your refuge; you have made the Most High your stronghold.

No evil shall befall you, nor shall affliction come near your tent, for to his angels he has given command about you, that they guard you in all your ways. Upon their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread upon the asp and the viper; you shall trample down the lion and the dragon.

Because he clings to me, I will deliver him; I will set him on high because he acknowledges my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in distress; I will deliver him and glorify him; with length of days I will gratify him and will show him my salvation.



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I love all the psalms, so I won't say this is another favorite, as they are all favorites! However, I will say I recommend to you the frequent reading of this one. It is one of the finest testaments of faith and God's protection to be found anywhere in the Bible. One cannot read this psalm and not be heartened and encouraged, and have one's faith strengthened, nourished and fortified.

It speaks for itself but I will point out a few things. The author (this is not one of King David's psalms) explains the security of being under God's protection in his own voice, and then the last few lines (where I changed the color of the text to dark blue) are spoken in God's voice. So God is reinforcing the promises that the psalm author describes.

Angel fans! Notice this is one of the places in the Old Testament that the well established faith in guardian angels for every person is mentioned. Here the psalm author observes that for the chosen faithful God will instruct the guardian angels to specifically protect them from any harm, expressing the analogy that you won't even stumble or bump your foot against a stone! The entire psalm is of course analogy, but as one can see it is meant to be believed and practical too. Basically the psalmist is saying that faith in God will see people through even the most dire of situations, such as war, disease and violence, even when it is all around you.

By the way, do not read anything into the use of plural "angels" as if that is implication that each person has multiple angels. Rather, that is the humility of true Bible authors who "leave the details up to God," and are not making specific statements about "how" God does things. Because angels are by their nature extensions of God's will, there is not a material separateness among angels in the way that people like to envision.

Notice that God is imaged as the refuge, connoting a place of safety. But to make the point further, this is not a physical place of safety, as if one has to be in a temple or "holy place" but it is the refuge wherever you are. This is imaged as God being a great eagle who will snatch this faithful out from amidst danger. Also, God protects the faithful even from what they cannot see, this being the image of "the terror of the night."

In the part where God's voice confirms this protection, notice that God makes very clear that this is both earthly protection and the eternal protection of salvation after one's death. Again, it must not be viewed as a numbers game, where long life means God is satisfied with the person, while those who die young failed in some way. This is not at all what God means in this place or anywhere in the Bible. After the fall in the Garden of Eden, all humans have been limited to a span of life of about one hundred and twenty years at the most. So to understand God be careful to note he says "with length of days I will gratify him." God is not saying that one is gratified by having x number of years added to their life. God is saying that God will ensure that the person is gratified with the time, the length of days, that they do receive.

To help you to understand, there are fewer greater examples of courage and grace than in those children who suffer from a disease, like cancer, at a young age, often dying, yet they set remarkable examples of what can only be described as a spiritual maturity. These children who we all read about in the paper or see on the news are often smiling and unresentful through many medical procedures, and even when all fails and they die at a young age. This is an example of how as the psalmist explains that God will "with length of days I will gratify him." God provides the grace that even a shortened life in hard conditions is one that is gratified, and that at the end of it God "will show him my salvation."

Not to disrupt the flow or to start a rant, but because it is so instructive I need to point out that humans tend to ignore the obvious and look for the made-up and complicated "reasons." Thus, when children such as I've just described, time after time show such remarkable and graceful maturity, so many who are secularists do not see the obvious of God's grace being available without blockage to every young child. Ill children are fully within God's grace and the constant presence and support of their guardian angel. This is why we see just about every child with a life threatening illness exhibit remarkable and mature grace, regardless of their religious, cultural or household background. Jesus explained that the guardian angels of children constantly face God. What some find as rationale for bizarre beliefs (the old canard "she's an old soul") is actually the opposite. No, the child is a young soul, one who is still innocent and open to full infusion of grace and spiritual protection by God and the child's guardian angel, and it is that infusion in their time of crisis that looks and feels so "mature." The "old soul" quality of one's child is your perception of his or her young (one and only) soul being infused with the eternal grace of God through their time of crisis. So this psalm is another resource for those of you who are still detoxing from occult types of beliefs, who think things like "reincarnation," when it's just your child, your one life lived, one soul given, fully loved child being infused with the grace of God and the constancy of their guardian angel's active support in their crisis and illness.

You can see why I think this is one of the most remarkably helpful psalms in terms of not only worship of God, which is the highest priority, but also strengthening, love and comfort, which is also what God fully intends.

I hope you found this helpful!