I will say of Yahweh, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.”
For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his feathers. Under his wings you will take refuge. His faithfulness is your shield and rampart.
You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day,
nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that wastes at noonday.
A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it will not come near you.
You will only look with your eyes, and see the recompense of the wicked.
Because you have made Yahweh your refuge, and the Most High your dwelling place,
no evil shall happen to you, neither shall any plague come near your dwelling.
For he will put his angels in charge of you, to guard you in all your ways.
They will bear you up in their hands, so that you won’t dash your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and cobra. You will trample the young lion and the serpent underfoot.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13 In the second verse he repeats the truth which…
In the second verse he repeats the truth which he had already inculcated, showing at the same time that he speaks from his personal feeling and experience as a believer. This is very necessary in one who would be a teacher; for we cannot communicate true knowledge unless we deliver it not merely with the lips, but as something which God has revealed to our own hearts. The Psalmist accordingly gives evidence, that what he had taught in the preceding verse accorded with his own inward experience. Some read, I will say concerning the Lord, and the Hebrew prefix, ל, lamed, may be so rendered; but the other translation which I have given conveys the more forcible meaning. The believer does more than simply resolve to make God his fortress; he draws near in the trust of the Divine promises, and familiarly addresses God. This confidence in prayer affords an additional proof how securely the people of God can dwell under his shadow. This holy species of boasting constitutes the very highest triumph of faith, when we betake ourselves to God without fear under our worst trials, and are fully persuaded that he answers all our prayers, nay, that we have in him a sufficiency and a superabundance of help.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 11, 13 Being assured of this protection, he prayeth unto the…
Being assured of this protection, he prayeth unto the Lord.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv2–13 Psa 91:2 I will say of the LORD, [He…
Psa 91:2 I will say of the LORD, [He is] my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
Ver. 2. I will say of the Lord] I dare say it is so as I have said, said the psalmist (whom the Jews make to be Moses), and I will presently make proof of it in myself; Non verbis solum praedicans, sed exemplis. Some conceive that the believer having heard the former proposition, Psa 91:1, is here brought in professing his faith; and saying to the psalmist, Behold, I dwell in the secret place of the Most High, and shall I abide under the shadow of the Almighty? The answer follows.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv2–13 Upon that ground I will confidently commit myself and…
Upon that ground I will confidently commit myself and all my affairs to God.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v9 Here are more promises to the same purport with…
Here are more promises to the same purport with those in the foregoing verses, and they are exceedingly great and precious, and sure to all the seed.
I. The psalmist assures believers of divine protection, from his own experience; and that which he says is the word of God, and what we may rely upon. Observe, 1. The character of those who shall have the benefit and comfort of these promises; it is much the same with that, Psa 91:1. They are such as make the Most High their habitation (Psa 91:9), as are continually with God and rest in him, as make his name both their temple and their strong tower, as dwell in love and so dwell in God. It is our duty to be at home in God, to make our choice of him, and then to live our life in him as our habitation, to converse with him, and delight in him, and depend upon him; and then it shall be our privilege to be at home in God; we shall be welcome to him as a man to his own habitation, without any let, hindrance, or molestation, from the arrests of the law or the clamours of conscience; then too we shall be safe in him, shall be kept in perfect peace, Isa 26:3. To encourage us to make the Lord our habitation, and to hope for safety and satisfaction in him, the psalmist intimates the comfort he had had in doing so: "He whom thou makest thy habitation is my refuge; and I have found him firm and faithful, and in him there is room enough, and shelter enough, both for thee and me." In my father's house there are many mansions, one needs not crowd another, much less crowd out another. 2. The promises that are sure to all those who have thus made the Most High their habitation. (1.) That, whatever happens to them, nothing shall hurt them (Psa 91:10): "There shall no evil befal thee; though trouble or affliction befal thee, yet there shall be no real evil in it, for it shall come from the love of God and shall be sanctified; it shall come, not for thy hurt, but for thy good; and though, for the present, it be not joyous but grievous, yet, in the end, it shall yield so well that thou thyself shalt own no evil befel thee. It is not an evil, an only evil, but there is a mixture of good in it and a product of good by it. Nay, not thy person only, but thy dwelling, shall be taken under the divine protection: There shall no plague come nigh that, nothing to do thee or thine any damage." Nihil accidere bono viro mali potest - No evil can befal a good man. Seneca De Providentia. (2.) That the angels of light shall be serviceable to them, Psa 91:11, Psa 91:12. This is a precious promise, and speaks a great deal both of honour and comfort to the saints, nor is it ever the worse for being quoted and abused by the devil in tempting Christ, Mat 4:6. Observe, [1.] The charge given to the angels concerning the saints. He who is the Lord of the angels, who gave them their being and gives laws to them, whose they are and whom they were made to serve, he shall give his angels a charge over thee, not only over the church in general, but over every particular believer. The angels keep the charge of the Lord their God; and this is the charge they receive from him. It denotes the great care God takes of the saints, in that the angels themselves shall be charged with them, and employed for them. The charge is to keep thee in all thy ways; here is a limitation of the promise: They shall keep thee in thy ways, that is, "as long as thou keepest in the way of thy duty;" those that go out of that way put themselves out of God's protection. This word the devil left out when he quoted the promise to enforce a temptation, knowing how much it made against him. But observe the extent of the promise; it is to keep thee in all thy ways: even where there is no apparent danger yet we need it, and where there is the most imminent danger we shall have it. Wherever the saints go the angels are charged with them, as the servants are with the children. [2.] The care which the angels take of the saints, pursuant to this charge: They shall bear thee up in their hands, which denotes both their great ability and their great affection. They are able to bear up the saints out of the reach of danger, and they do it with all the tenderness and affection wherewith the nurse carries the little child about in her arms; it speaks us helpless and them helpful. They are condescending in their ministrations; they keep the feet of the saints, lest they dash them against a stone, lest they stumble and fall into sin and into trouble. [3.] That the powers of darkness shall be triumphed over by them (Psa 91:13): Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder. The devil is called a roaring lion, the old serpent, the red dragon; so that to this promise the apostle seems to refer in that (Rom 16:20), The God of peace shall tread Satan under your feet. Christ has broken the serpent's head, spoiled our spiritual enemies (Col 2:15), and through him we are more than conquerors; for Christ calls us, as Joshua called the captains of Israel, to come and set our feet on the necks of vanquished enemies. Some think that this promise had its full accomplishment in Christ, and the miraculous power which he had over the whole creation, healing the sick, casting out devils, and particularly putting it into his disciples' commission that they should take up serpents, Mar 16:18. It may be applied to that care of the divine Providence by which we are preserved from ravenous noxious creatures (the wild beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee, Job 5:23); nay, and have ways and means of taming them, Jam 3:7.
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II. He brings in God himself speaking words of comfort to the saints, and declaring the mercy he had in store for them, Psa 91:14-16. Some make this to be spoken to the angels as the reason of the charge given them concerning the saints, as if he had said, "Take care of them, for they are dear to me, and I have a tender concern for them." And now, as before, we must observe,
1. To whom these promises do belong; they are described by three characters: - (1.) They are such as know God's name. His nature we cannot fully know; but by his name he has made himself known, and with that we must acquaint ourselves. (2.) They are such as have set their love upon him; and those who rightly know him will love him, will place their love upon him as the only adequate object of it, will let out their love towards him with pleasure and enlargement, and will fix their love upon him with a resolution never to remove it to any rival. (3.) They are such as call upon him, as by prayer keep up a constant correspondence with him, and in every difficult case refer themselves to him.
2. What the promises are which God makes to the saints. (1.) That he will, in due time, deliver them out of trouble: I will deliver him (Psa 91:14 and again Psa 91:15), denoting a double deliverance, living and dying, a deliverance in trouble and a deliverance out of trouble. If God proportions the degree and continuance of our troubles to our strength, if he keeps us from offending him in our troubles, and makes our death our discharge, at length, from all our troubles, then this promise is fulfilled. See Psa 34:19; Ti2 3:11; Ti2 4:18. (2.) That he will, in the mean time, be with them in trouble, Psa 91:15. If he does not immediately put a period to their afflictions, yet they shall have his gracious presence with them in their troubles; he will take notice of their sorrows, and know their souls in adversity, will visit them graciously by his word and Spirit, and converse with them, will take their part, will support and comfort them, and sanctify their afflictions to them, which will be the surest token of his presence with them in their troubles. (3.) That herein he will answer their prayers: He shall call upon me; I will pour upon him the spirit of prayer, and then I will answer, answer by promises (Psa 85:8), answer by providences, bringing in seasonable relief, and answer by graces, strengthening them with strength in their souls (Psa 138:3); thus he answered Paul with grace sufficient, Co2 12:9. (4.) That he will exalt and dignify them: I will set him on high, out of the reach of trouble, above the stormy region, on a rock above the waves, Isa 33:16. They shall be enabled, by the grace of God, to look down upon the things of this world with a holy contempt and indifference, to look up to the things of the other world with a holy ambition and concern; and then they are set on high. I will honour him; those are truly honourable whom God puts honour upon by taking them into covenant and communion with himself and designing them for his kingdom and glory, Joh 12:26. (5.) That they shall have a sufficiency of life in this world (Psa 91:16): With length of days will I satisfy him; that is, [1.] They shall live long enough: they shall be continued in this world till they have done the work they were sent into this world for and are ready for heaven, and that is long enough. Who would wish to live a day longer than God has some work to do, either by him or upon him? [2.] They shall think it long enough; for God by his grace shall wean them from the world and make them willing to leave it. A man may die young, and yet die full of days, satur dierum - satisfied with living. A wicked worldly man is not satisfied, no, not with long life; he still cries, Give, give. But he that has his treasure and heart in another world has soon enough of this; he would not live always. (6.) That they shall have an eternal life in the other world. This crowns the blessedness: I will show him my salvation, show him the Messiah (so some); good old Simeon was then satisfied with long life when he could say, My eyes have seen thy salvation, nor was there any greater joy to the Old Testament saints than to see Christ's day, though at a distance. It is more probably that the word refers to the better country, that is, the heavenly, which the patriarchs desired and sought: he will show him that, bring him to that blessed state, the felicity of which consists so much in seeing that face to face which we here see through a glass darkly; and, in the mean time, he will give him a prospect of it. All these promises, some think, point primarily at Christ, and had their accomplishment in his resurrection and exaltation.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv2–13 I will say of the Lord,.... Or to the…
I will say of the Lord,.... Or to the Lord (p): these are the words of the psalmist, expressing his faith in the Lord in the following words, taking encouragement from the safety of the godly man above described: the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions, read, he shall say to the Lord; that is, the man that dwells in the secret place, and under the shadow of the Lord: the Targum is,
"David said, I will say to the Lord,''
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as follows:
he is my refuge: a refuge in every time of trouble, outward or toward; a refuge when all others fail; and is himself a never failing one, a strong refuge, which none can break through and into, and in which all that have fled thither and dwell are safe:
and my fortress; what fortifications, natural or artificial, are to a city and its inhabitants, that is God to his people, and much more; he is round about them, as the mountains were about Jerusalem; his salvation are walls and bulwarks to them; yea, he is a wall of fire about them, Psa 125:2, they are kept by his power, as in a garrison, Pe1 1:5,
my God, in him will I trust; his covenant God, his God in Christ, and who would ever continue so; and was a proper object of his trust and confidence, both as the God of nature, and the God of grace; who is to be trusted in, both for temporal and spiritual blessings, and at all times; to which his lovingkindness, power, and faithfulness, greatly encourage and engage: the Targum is,
"in his Word will I trust.''
(p) Domino, Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Musculus; "ad Jehovam", de Dieu.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv3, 5, 6, 12, 13 Pestilence - From the pestilence, which like a fowler's…
Pestilence - From the pestilence, which like a fowler's snare takes men suddenly and unexpectedly.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13 Verse 2. I will say of the Lord] This…
Verse 2. I will say of the Lord] This is my experience: "He is my fortress, and in him will I continually trust."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 13 Psa 91:2-3. I will say of the Lord, He…
Psa 91:2-3. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge — Upon that ground I will confidently commit myself and all my affairs to God. Surely he shall deliver thee — O thou believing, pious soul, who after my example shalt make God thy refuge, thou shalt partake of the same privilege which I enjoy. From the snare of the fowler — Which is laid unseen, and catches the unwary prey on a sudden; and from the noisome pestilence — Which, like a fowler’s snare, seizeth men unexpectedly, and holdeth them fast, and commonly delivers them up to death. “This promise,” saith Henry, “protects, 1st, The natural life, and is often fulfilled in our preservation from those dangers which are very threatening, and very near, and yet we ourselves are not apprehensive of them, no more than the bird is of the snare of the fowler. 2d, The spiritual life, which is protected by divine grace from the temptations of Satan, which are as the snares of the fowler, from the contagion of sin, which is the noisome pestilence. He that has given grace to be the glory of the soul, will create a defence upon all that glory.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv2–13 I will say of the Lord - I, the…
I will say of the Lord - I, the psalmist; I will take this to myself; I will endeavor to secure this blessedness; I will thus abide with God. In view of the blessedness of this condition, and with the hope of securing it to myself; I will adopt this resolution as the purpose of my life. It is what I need; it is what my soul desires.
My refuge and my fortress - “I will say of Jehovah, My refuge and my fortress!” I will address him as such; I will regard him as such. On the meaning of these terms, see the notes at Psa 18:2.
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My God - I will address him as my God; as the God whom alone I worship; as the only being to whom the name “God” can properly be applied; as being to me all that is implied in the word God.
In him will I trust - I will repose that confidence in him which is evinced by making my home with him, and seeking permanently to dwell with him.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13 2. I will say of the Lord—The Septuagint has…
2. I will say of the Lord—The Septuagint has it: “He shall say to the Lord,” but the author must be considered as speaking in his own person, from his own experience, though from the heart of the people.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 2. I will say unto Jehovah, My refuge and…
2. I will say unto Jehovah, My refuge and my fortress;
My God in whom I will trust.
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I can and will address Him thus in the language of faith. Cp. Psa_18:2; Psa_31:3; Psa_71:3.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 (3) Snare of the fowler.—The image of the net…
(3) Snare of the fowler.—The image of the net has occurred frequently before. (See Psa_10:15, &c) Here, as in Ecc_9:12, it is used generally of any unexpected peril to life.
Noisome pestilence.—Literally, pestilence of calamities, i.e., fatal. (See Psa_57:1, where the same word “calamities” occurs.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv2–13 I will say of the Lord. The general sentiment…
I will say of the Lord. The general sentiment is followed by a personal application. "I, at any rate," says the first speaker, "will place myself under this powerful protection." He is my Refuge and my Fortress. (comp. Psa_18:2 Psa_144:2) My God; in him will I trust. (comp. Psa_29:2 Psa_31:6 Psa_55:23 Psa_56:3 Psa_61:4, etc.)
A sacred resolve.
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"I will say of the Lord." Consider
I SUCH RESOLVES GENERALLY. It is good to make them; for:
1. They are really prayers. Underlying them there is the desire of the heart that God may give the help needed to fulfil such resolve.
2. They are a blessed stirring up of the grace of God that is in us. The will summons the soul to energy by means of such holy resolves.
3. They are well pleasing to God, for they are an actual endeavour to do his will.
II THIS RESOLVE.
1. See its nature. He would take the Lord as his "Refuge." It is a confession of need and of trust. And as his "Fortress." He would need help in his warfare; he would rely on the Lord for it. As his God, his soul"s Centre, Strength, and Joy.
2. He would do this now.
3. Openly.
4. Personally.
5. Habitually.
III WHAT LED TO THIS RESOLVE. The experience of God"s sheltering love of which he tells in the first verse. He was dwelling in the secret place, was abiding in Christ, and he found, as a fact of his experience, that he was sheltered from all evil.
IV HOW THIS RESOLVE WAS SUSTAINED. By going and telling others of what God had done for him, and would do for them. S.C.
"My God.
These words come as a climax to all that profession of faith which the former part of the verse contains. It is good to say of the Lord, "He is my Refuge to have gone to him, and found in him deliverance from all the guilt and condemnation due to our sin, which otherwise would have overwhelmed us. But it is better to have him as "our Fortress," so that, strong in his strength, we may fight successfully the great battle against all the might of the wicked one. But it is best of all, because a yet higher attainment, to be able to say of God, "He is my God," as the psalmist does here. All that is contained in the former declarations is included in this, and much besides. Blessed, indeed, is he who can say of the Lord, "He is my God." We all know what a charm belongs to that which we can call our own. Even a child delights in any gift far more if it can call what is given its very own. And it is the same with men. Possession enhances preciousness, and causes what is our own to be clung to with a tenacity that would be wanting were it not "our own." We know the poet"s challenge to our patriotic pride when speaking of "my own, my native land." And the man who will delight in God and cleave to him at all times is he who most of all is able to say of him, "He is my God.
I Let us EXPLAIN THE MEANING Of such saying.
1. It does not mean that any man can have a monopoly of God so as to exclude all others. It is so with many of our earthly possessions, but not at all so in our possession of God. On the contrary, he who says of the Lord, "He is my God," is generally one who has learnt to say this by the blessed influence of some other who himself has been able to say it. And he is always one who desires that all others should be able to say it likewise.
2. But it means that he has such conscious possession of and delight in God that he could not have more were God his God only, and not the God of any one else. As with the eye, it could not enjoy more of the light of the sun even if no other eye rejoiced in its light. The joy of the light is not lessened, but greatly increased by, yea, is largely dependent on, others enjoying it also.
II OBSERVE SOME OF THOSE WHO HAVE SAID THIS.
1. Jacob. At Bethel he had been made to feel his deep need of God, and hence he vows that if God would bring him back in peace, "then God shall be my God," etc. And this is the deep longing of every convinced soul.
2. Miriam and Israel at the Red Sea. They sang, "He is my God, and I will prepare him a habitation," etc. They knew of his redemption, and in the joy of it claimed God as "my God." It is the spontaneous utterance of the redeemed soul.
3. Nehemiah, and many others, who thus continually speak of God. They show how God is the abiding Trust of the believer.
4. Our Lord on the cross cried, "My God, my God," etc.! And in him we learn how this precious truth is the solid rock on which, in times of extremest distress, the soul rests itself.
5. And it is the seal of salvation. In the Apocalypse we read amongst the promises "to him that overcometh," there shall be written on him "the name of my God," as if the fact that he had so regarded and rejoiced in God were, as it is, the sure token of his belonging to the city of God. Thus from the dawn of the Divine life in man to its consummation in glory, the people of God have ever said of the Lord, "He is my God.
III WHAT IS INVOLVED IN SUCH SAYING.
1. The man feels it; he has the witness of the Spirit to the fact that God is his God.
2. He asserts it openly confesses and professes this truth.
3. He delights in it. It is no mere abstract proposition, but a perennial spring to him of peace, purity, and power.
4. And others recognize it. When no one but ourselves believes that that which we call ours is so, our possession of it is doubtful and insecure; but when all acknowledge our possession, then it is ours. And so with him who rightly says of the Lord, "He is my God.
IV HOW MAY ANY MAN COME TO SAY THIS? The steps are:
1. Conviction of your need, leading to fervent desire.
2. Consecration. This includes the renunciation of all that would displease God, and the prompt obedience to all his will so far as you know it.
3. Confession of this to God first, and then to man, that God is your God.
4. Confidence. You are to keep believing that God accepts the surrender you have made. And then comes:
5. Consciousness that it is so. The Spirit testifies to you. May we all make this blessed ascent! S.C.
Many names for God.
Finding various names is a common device of love. The names seem to express the many sidedness of our relationship. It must be specially true of God that we stand in various relations to him, and are helped by a variety of terms and names, which express those relations. There are four names given to God in vers. 1, 2. God the Concealer is the "inaccessibly High One." God the Shadower is the "invincibly Almighty One." God the Covenant maker is "Jehovah, the Lord." And God personally appropriated is "my God." Or it has been put in this way:
1. We commune with him reverently, for he is the Most High.
2. We rest in him as the Almighty.
3. We rejoice in him as Jehovah, or Lord.
4. We trust in him as El, the mighty God.
Perowne"s suggestion is more directly in harmony with the psalm. "God is "Most High," far above all the rage and malice of enemies; "Almighty," so that none can stand before his power; "Jehovah," the God of covenant and grace, who has revealed himself to his people; and it is of such a God that the psalmist says, in holy confidence, "He is "my God," in whom I trust.
Trying to find the thoughts which one so circumstanced as Moses would attach to the terms, we may say
I THE "MOST HIGH" IS ABOVE ALL EARTHLY CHANGES. Unaffected by them in such sense as can weaken his relations to them. We cannot interfere in disputes and difficulties without prejudice. Often we cannot keep calm to form good judgment. God can.
II THE "ALMIGHTY" IS ABLE TO DEAL WITH ALL EARTHLY CONDITIONS. They can never be so complicated that he cannot unravel them; never so desperate that he cannot master them. "With God all things are possible." If God does not interfere in a case, the reason must be that he will not, because he can if he please.
III THE "LORD, JEHOVAH" IS UNDER PLEDGE TO INTERFERE FOR HIS PEOPLE"S GOOD. The name "Jehovah" was taken as the sign and seal of the covenant, as the rainbow was taken as the sign of the nature covenant. God, as Jehovah, may be thought of as the "Faithful Promiser.
IV THE TERM "MY GOD" IMPLIES THAT GOD HAS BEEN, IN ACTUAL EXPERIENCE, WHAT THE PSALMIST FELT CONFIDENT THAT HE WAS. It is an important advance to be able to say, "I know not only what God is, I know also what he has been to me. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain On vv2–13 Ver. 2. I will say of the Lord, He…
Ver. 2. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress. To take up a general truth and make it our own by personal faith is the highest wisdom. It is but poor comfort to say `the Lord is a refuge, 'but to say he is my refuge, is the essence of consolation. Those who believe should also speak"I will say", for such bold avowals honour God and lead others to seek the same confidence. Men are apt enough to proclaim their doubts, and even to boast of them, indeed there is a party nowadays of the most audacious pretenders to culture and thought, who glory in casting suspicion upon every thing: hence it becomes the duty of all true believers to speak out and testify with calm courage to their own well grounded reliance upon their God. Let others say what they will, be it ours to say of the Lord, "he is our refuge." But what we say we must prove by our actions, we must fly to the Lord for shelter, and not to an arm of flesh. The bird flies away to the thicket, and the fox hastens to its hole, every creature uses its refuge in the hour of danger, and even so in all peril or fear of peril let us flee unto Jehovah, the Eternal Protector of his own. Let us, when we are secure in the Lord, rejoice that our position is unassailable, for he is our fortress as well as our refuge. No moat, portcullis, drawbridge, wall, battlement and donjon, could make us so secure as we are when the attributes of the Lord of Hosts environ us around. Behold this day the Lord is to us instead of walls and bulwarks! Our ramparts defy the leagured hosts of hell. Foes in flesh, and foes in ghostly guise are alike balked of their prey when the Lord of Hosts stands between us and their fury, and all other evil forces are turned aside. Walls cannot keep out the pestilence, but the Lord can.
As if it were not enough to call the Lord his refuge and fortress, he adds,
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My God! in him will I trust. Now he can say no more; "my God" means all, and more than all, that heart can conceive by way of security. It was most meet that he should say "in him will I trust", since to deny faith to such a one were wilful wickedness and wanton insult. He who dwells in an impregnable fortress, naturally trusts in it; and shall not he who dwells in God feel himself well at ease, and repose his soul in safety? O that we more fully carried out the psalmist's resolve! We have trusted in God, let us trust him still. He has never failed us, why then should we suspect him? To trust in man is natural to fallen nature, to trust in God should be as natural to regenerated nature. Where there is every reason and warrant for faith, we ought to place our confidence without hesitancy or wavering. Dear reader, pray for grace to say, "In him will I trust."
Ver. 2. My refuge, my fortress, my God. "My refuge." God is our "refuge." He who avails himself of a refuge is one who is forced to fly. It is a quiet retreat from a pursuing enemy. And there are trials, and temptations, and enemies, from which the Christian does best to fly. He cannot resist them. They are too strong for him. His wisdom is to fly into the refuge of the secret place of his God to rest in the shadow of the Almighty. His "strength is to sit still" there. Isa 30:7. "My fortress." The Psalmist says, moreover, that God is his "fortress." Here the idea is changed no longer a peaceful, quiet hiding place, but a tower of defence strong, manifest, ready to meet the attacks of all enemies, ready and able to resist them all. God is a Friend who meets every want in our nature, who can supply every need. So when we are weak and fainting, and unable to meet the brunt of battle, and striving against sin and sorrow and the wrath of man He is our safe, quiet resting placeour fortress also where no harm can reach us, no attack injure us. "My God." Now the Psalmist, as a summing up of all his praises, says "I will say of Him, He is... my God!" Is there any thing omitted in the former part of his declaration? Everything is hereall possible ascription of honour, and glory, and power to Him "as God" "God over all, blessed for ever, "and of love, reverence, trust, obedience, and filial relation towards him on the part of the Psalmist, as MY God ...when reflecting on the refuge and strength which the Lord has always been to him, and recalling his blessed experiences of sweet communion with Godwords fail him. He can only say (but oh, with what expression!) MY GOD! Mary B.M. Duncan.
Ver. 2. My God. Specially art Thou my God, first, on thy part, because of the special goodness and favour which Thou dost bestow upon me. Secondly, on my part, because of the special love and reverence with which I cling to Thee. J. Paulus Palanterius.
Ver. 2-4. If the severity and justice of God terrify, the Lord offereth himself as a bird with stretched out wings to receive the supplicant, Ps 91:4. If enemies who are too strong do pursue, the Lord openeth his bosom as a refuge, Ps 91:2. If the child be assaulted, he becometh a fortress, Ps 91:2. If he be hotly pursued and enquired after, the Lord becometh a secret place to hide his child; if persecution be hot, God giveth himself for a shadow; if potentates and mighty rulers turn enemies, the Lord interposes as the Most High and Almighty Saviour, Ps 91:1. If his adversaries be crafty like fowlers or hunters, the Lord promises to prevent and break the snares, Ps 91:3. Whether evils do come upon the believer night or day, secretly or openly, to destroy him, the Lord preserveth his child from destruction;and if stumbling blocks be laid in his child's way, he hath his instruments, his servants, his angels, prepared to keep the believer that he stumble not: He shall give his angels charge over thee; not one angel only, but all of them, or a number of them. David Dickson.
Ver. 2.
1. Observe the nouns applied to Godrefuge from trouble, fortress in trouble, God at all times.
2. Observe the pronouns applied by man"I" will say, "my refuge, my fortress, "etc. G. R.
Ver. 2. The power, excellence, fruit, reasonableness, and open avowal of personal faith.
Psalms 91:3*
Ver 3. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler. Assuredly no subtle plot shall succeed against one who has the eyes of God watching for his defence, We are foolish and weak as poor little birds, and are very apt to be lured to our destruction by cunning foes, but if we dwell near to God, he will see to it that the most skilful deceiver shall not entrap us.
"Satan the fowler who betrays
Unguarded souls a thousand ways",
shall be foiled in the case of the man whose high and honourable condition consists in residence within the holy place of the Most High.
And from the noisome pestilence. He who is a Spirit can protect us from evil spirits, he who is mysterious can rescue us from mysterious dangers, he who is immortal can redeem its from mortal sickness. There is a deadly pestilence of error, we are safe from that if we dwell in communion with the God of truth; there is a fatal pestilence of sin, we shall not be infected by it if we abide with the thrice Holy One; there is also a pestilence of disease, and even from that calamity our faith shall win immunity if it be of that high order which abides in God, walks on in calm serenity, and ventures all things for duty's sake. Faith by cheering the heart keeps it free from the fear which, in times of pestilence, kills more than the plague itself. It will not in all cases ward off disease and death, but where the man is such as the first verse describes, it will assuredly render him immortal where others die; if all the saints are not so sheltered it is because they have not all such a close abiding with God, and consequently not such confidence in the promise. Such special faith is not given to all, for there are diversities in the measure of faith. It is not of all believers that the psalmist sings, but only of those who dwell in the secret place of the Most High. Too many among us are weak in faith, and in fact place more reliance in a phial or a globule than in the Lord and giver of life, and if we die of pestilence as others die it is because we acted like others, and did not in patience possess our souls. The great mercy is that in such a case our deaths are blessed, and it is well with us, for we are for ever with the Lord. Pestilence to the saints shall not be noisome but the messenger of heaven.
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv2, 4, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13 I will say of the Lord, He is my…
Psa_91:2
I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust.
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The souls experience of God
I. A souls experience of God. The humblest child of God has as great a weapon forged for his defence of spiritual truths as has the most learned: they each have an experience of God, and that is a weapon which can never be blunted by any intellectual parrying.
II. The wealth of such a soul-experience of God.
1. He is my refuge--from trouble, sorrow, despair.
2. He is my fortress. The forces arrayed against the soul are not merely powers which need to be coerced if they are to yield their best, but some of the forces are in antagonistic opposition to the soul. At such times as these, what a fortress was to the people of ancient days--a place of secure defence--so God was to the psalmist.
3. He is my God. This is an advance upon the other two utterances. It is a grand thing to be able to say of any one, He is my refuge. It is a better thing to be able to say, He is my fortress, my protector. But it is the acme of happy experience to say, He is my friend, my companion, my confidant.
III. The result of his soul-experience of God. In Him will I trust! Trust, or faith in God, is the experiment of the soul in spiritual things, and the only way to a fuller knowledge and a more blessed experience. No longer need the scientist sneer at the faith, the experiment of the Christian, for the man who trusts God in all the circumstances of life is as rational, and proceeds from as rational a basis, as the scientist who, starting from the known, goes on by experiment to discover the unknown. Let your experience of God, of the Christ, of the Holy Spirit, never alter, except to be enlarged, purified, and intensified. This is the will of God concerning you. What are you to do in order to obtain that better experience? Why, this: you must experiment with God--In Him will I trust--along the lines He shall reveal. (W. A. Todd.)
My God.--
My God
To try and preach from this text is like trying to carry honey in your hands. Ere you can reach your friends to whom you would give it, you will find that a large part of it has oozed out between your fingers: or that you failed to convey to others what was so delicious to yourself. My text has been to my own heart sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. Have you been in the Alps, or in some other region where the scenery is peculiarly impressive, and where you have witnessed some transcendently beautiful and sublime view, have you tried to tell your friends what you have seen? How utterly you have failed, your words are all inadequate to give them any satisfactory idea of the glorious spectacle you have seen. Now, the unspeakable beauty of these two words is such that I feel I cannot fully convey it to you. I have seen in these two words such a wonderful display of the Lords condescension, of His favour to His chosen, and of the intense delight which springs therefrom, that I feel all incompetent to set it forth to you. However, may God the Holy Spirit give His help, and our meditation shall be sweet. Think--
I. Of these two words together. Now, to get at them, let us think of some of the special occasions in which Gods children have used them and have said, My God.
1. This is the young converts early confession. See Ruths word to Naomi--thy God, my God.
2. The statement of the Christian belief. There is one creed and confession of faith. See Thomas--My Lord and my God.
3. They have often been used to declare the determination of the believer when he has been surrounded by opponents and persecutors. See old Micaiah when the false priests were around him. As the Lord my God liveth.
4. They express the secret vow of the believer as he consecrates himself to the Most High. See Jacob at Bethel--then shall the Lord be my God.
5. They have been the deepest possible comfort to children of God in times of terrible trouble. See our Lord upon the cross, when all the waves and billows of judgment were going over His soul--My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?
6. And in times of great deliverance. Hear Miriams song--He is my God and I will exalt Him. Daniel to Darius--My God hath sent His angel, etc. May these words be the frequent language of our lips.
II. The first word, my. My God. How can I call God mine? How can I call that mine which I cannot even conceive? If my thoughts cannot compass it, my heart shall possess it. Love possesses what reason cannot even look upon. But this daring appropriation means--
1. That I own God to be my God.
2. That I do personally recognize him. He is not a god in cloudland to us; He is intensely real and true.
3. That we have come into personal relations with Him, and--
4. That we have appropriated Him to ourselves.
III. The last word, God--what does it mean? But that is more than I can answer. There is no defining the Incomprehensible One. Yet we can call Him My God. But reflect upon His being near as to--
1. His nature, His person, His essence.
2. His attributes.
3. In what He has done I do not know, but I seem to myself to have talked away and to have missed my aim and object altogether, compared with what I have felt in meditating in private upon these dear and blessed words, My God. It is a deep well, but the water is cool and sweet if you can draw it up. My God--there is more than satisfaction in the words. If you have no money, never mind; you are rich if you can say, My God If the husband is buried, if the children have Bone home to heaven, do not despair, thy Maker is thy husband, if you can cry, My God. If your friends have forsaken you, if the unkindnesses of men drive you to say, My God, you will be a gainer by them. Anything which weans from earth and leads to heaven is good. I saw yesterday a park in which they were felling all the trees, and yet there were the poor crows building on elms that were marked to be cut down. I thought to myself, You foolish birds to be building your nests there, for the woodmans axe is ringing all around, and the tall elms are tumbling to the ground. We are all apt to build our nests in trees that will be cut down. We get to love the creature, and to say, My this, and My that, and from this weakness our sharpest sorrows arise. If you build nowhere but on the tree of life, which can never be felled, your happiness will be eternal. For this you must be able to say, My God. (C. H Spurgeon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On vv4, 9
Psalms
THE SHELTERING WING
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Psa 91:4.
We remember the magnificent image in Moses’ song, of God’s protection and guidance as that of the eagle who stirred up his nest, and hovered over the young with his wings, and bore them on his pinions. That passage may possibly have touched the imagination of this psalmist, when he here employs the same general metaphor, but with a distinct and significant difference in its application. In the former image the main idea is that of training and sustaining. Here the main idea is that of protection and fostering. On the wing and under the wing suggest entirely different notions, and both need to be taken into account in order to get the many-sided beauties and promises of these great sayings. Now there seems to me here to be a very distinct triad of thoughts. There is the covering wing; there is the flight to its protection; and there is the warrant for that flight. ‘He shall cover thee with His pinions’; that is the divine act. ‘Under His wings shalt thou trust’; that is the human condition. ‘His truth shall be thy shield and buckler’; that is the divine manifestation which makes the human condition possible.
I. A word then, first, about the covering wing.
Now, the main idea in this image is, as I have suggested, that of the expanded pinion, beneath the shelter of which the callow young lie, and are guarded. Whatever kites may be in the sky, whatever stoats and weasels may be in the hedges, the brood are safe there. The image suggests not only the thought of protection but those of fostering, downy warmth, peaceful proximity to a heart that throbs with parental love, and a multitude of other happy privileges realised by those who nestle beneath that wing. But while these subsidiary ideas are not to be lost sight of, the promise of protection is to be kept prominent, as that chiefly intended by the Psalmist.
This psalm rings throughout with the truth that a man who dwells ‘in the secret place of the Most High’ has absolute immunity from all sorts of evil; and there are two regions in which that immunity, secured by being under the shadow of the Almighty, is exemplified here. The one is that of outward dangers, the other is that of temptation to sin and of what we may call spiritual foes. Now, these two regions and departments in which the Christian man does realise, in the measure of his faith, the divine protection, exhibit that protection as secured in two entirely different ways.
The triumphant assurances of this psalm, ‘There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling,’-’the pestilence shall smite thousands and ten thousands beside thee, but not come nigh thee,’-seem to be entirely contradicted by experience which testifies that ‘there is one event to the evil and the good,’ and that, in epidemics or other widespread disasters, we all, the good and the bad, God-fearers and God-blasphemers, do fare alike, and that the conditions of exemption from physical evil are physical and not spiritual. It is of no use trying to persuade ourselves that that is not so. We shall understand God’s dealings with us, and get to the very throbbing heart of such promises as these in this psalm far better, if we start from the certainty that whatever it means it does not mean that, with regard to external calamities and disasters, we are going to be God’s petted children, or to be saved from the things that fall upon other people. No! no! we have to go a great deal deeper than that. If we have felt a difficulty, as I suppose we all have sometimes, and are ready to say with the half-despondent Psalmist, ‘My feet were almost gone, and my steps had well-nigh slipped,’ when we see what we think the complicated mysteries of divine providence in this world, we have to come to the belief that the evil that is in the evil will never come near a man sheltered beneath God’s wing. The physical external event may be entirely the same to him as to another who is not covered with His feathers. Here are two partners in a business, the one a Christian man, and the other is not. A common disaster overwhelms them. They become bankrupts. Is insolvency the same to the one as it is to the other? Here are two men on board a ship, the one putting his trust in God, the other thinking it all nonsense to trust anything but himself. They are both drowned. Is drowning the same to the two? As their corpses lie side by side among the ooze, with the weeds over them, and the shell-fish at them, you may say of the one, but only of the one, ‘There shall no evil befall thee, neither any plague come nigh thy dwelling.’
For the protection that is granted to faith is only to be understood by faith. It is deliverance from the evil in the evil which vindicates as no exaggeration, nor as merely an experience and a promise peculiar to the old theocracy of Israel, but not now realised, the grand sayings of this text. The poison is all wiped off the arrow by that divine protection. It may still wound but it does not putrefy the flesh. The sewage water comes down, but it passes into the filtering bed, and is disinfected and cleansed before it is permitted to flow over our fields.
And so, brethren! if any of you are finding that the psalm is not outwardly true, and that through the covering wing the storm of hail has come and beaten you down, do not suppose that that in the slightest degree impinges upon the reality and truthfulness of this great promise, ‘He shall cover thee with His feathers.’ Anything that has come through them is manifestly not an ‘evil.’ ‘Who is he that will harm you if ye be followers of that which is good?’ ‘If God be for us who can be against us?’ Not what the world calls, and our wrung hearts feel that it rightly calls, ‘sorrows’ and ‘afflictions,’-these all work for our good, and protection consists, not in averting the blows, but in changing their character.
Then, there is another region far higher, in which this promise of my text is absolutely true-that is, in the region of spiritual defence. For no man who lies under the shadow of God, and has his heart filled with the continual consciousness of that Presence, is likely to fall before the assaults of evil that tempt him away from God; and the defence which He gives in that region is yet more magnificently impregnable than the defence which He gives against external evils. For, as the New Testament teaches us, we are kept from sin, not by any outward breastplate or armour, nor even by the divine wing lying above us to cover us, but by the indwelling Christ in our hearts. His Spirit within us makes us ‘free from the law of sin and death,’ and conquerors over all temptations.
I say not a word about all the other beautiful and pathetic associations which are connected with this emblem of the covering wing, sweet and inexhaustible as it is, but I simply leave with you the two thoughts that I have dwelt upon, of the twofold manner of that divine protection.
II. And now a word, in the second place, about the flight of the shelterless to the shelter.
The word which is rendered in our Authorised Version, ‘shalt thou trust,’ is, like all Hebrew words for mental and spiritual emotions and actions, strongly metaphorical. It might have been better to retain its literal meaning here instead of substituting the abstract word ‘trust.’ That is to say, it would have been an improvement if we had read with the Revised Version, not, ‘under His wings shalt thou trust,’ but ‘under His wings shalt thou take refuge.’ For that is the idea which is really conveyed; and in many of the psalms, if you will remember, the same metaphor is employed. ‘Hide me beneath the shadow of Thy wings’; ‘Beneath Thy wings will I take refuge until calamities are overpast’; and the like. Many such passages will, no doubt, occur to your memories.
But what I wish to signalise is just this, that in this emblem of flying into a refuge from impending perils we get a far more vivid conception, and a far more useful one, as it seems to me, of what Christian faith really is than we derive from many learned volumes and much theological hair-splitting. ‘Under His wings shalt thou flee for refuge.’ Is not that a vivid, intense, picturesque, but most illuminative way of telling us what is the very essence, and what is the urgency, and what is the worth, of what we call faith? The Old Testament is full of the teaching-which is masked to ordinary readers, but is the same teaching as the New Testament is confessedly full of-of the necessity of faith as the one bond that binds men to God. If only our translators had wisely determined upon a uniform rendering in Old and New Testament of words that are synonymous, the reader would have seen what is often now reserved for the student, that all these sayings in the Old Testament about ‘trusting in God’ run on all fours with ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.’
But just mark what comes out of that metaphor; that ‘trust,’ the faith which unites with God, and brings a man beneath the shadow of His wings, is nothing more or less than the flying into the refuge that is provided for us. Does that not speak to us of the urgency of the case? Does that not speak to us eloquently of the perils which environ us? Does it not speak to us of the necessity of swift flight, with all the powers of our will? Is the faith which is a flying into a refuge fairly described as an intellectual act of believing in a testimony? Surely it is something a great deal more than that. A man out in the plain, with the avenger of blood, hot-breathed and bloody-minded, behind him might believe, as much as he liked, that there would be safety within the walls of the City of Refuge, but unless he took to his heels without loss of time, the spear would be in his back before he knew where he was. There are many men who know all about the security of the refuge, and believe it utterly, but never run for it; and so never get into it. Faith is the gathering up of the whole powers of my nature to fling myself into the asylum, to cast myself into God’s arms, to take shelter beneath the shadow of His wings. And unless a man does that, and swiftly, he is exposed to every bird of prey in the sky, and to every beast of prey lurking in wait for him.
The metaphor tells us, too, what are the limits and the worth of faith. A man is not saved because he believes that he is saved, but because by believing he lays hold of the salvation. It is not the flight that is impregnable, and makes those behind its strong bulwarks secure. Not my outstretched hand, but the Hand that my hand grasps, is what holds me up. The power of faith is but that it brings me into contact with God, and sets me behind the seven-fold bastions of the Almighty protection.
So, brethren! another consideration comes out of this clause: ‘Under His wings shalt thou trust.’ If you do not flee for refuge to that wing, it is of no use to you, however expanded it is, however soft and downy its underside, however sure its protection. You remember the passage where our Lord uses the same venerable figure with modifications, and says: ‘How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not.’ So our ‘would not’ thwarts Christ’s ‘would.’ Flight to the refuge is the condition of being saved. How can a man get shelter by any other way than by running to the shelter? The wing is expanded; it is for us to say whether we will ‘flee for refuge to the hope set before us.’
III. Now, lastly, the warrant for this flight.
‘His truth shall be thy shield.’ Now, ‘truth’ here does not mean the body of revealed words, which are often called God’s truth, but it describes a certain characteristic of the divine nature. And if, instead of ‘truth,’ we read the good old English word ‘troth,’ we should be a great deal nearer understanding what the Psalmist meant. Or if ‘troth’ is archaic, and conveys little meaning to us; suppose we substitute a somewhat longer word, of the same meaning, and say, ‘His faithfulness shall be thy shield.’ You cannot trust a God that has not given you an inkling of His character or disposition, but if He has spoken, then you ‘know where to have him.’ That is just what the Psalmist means. How can a man be encouraged to fly into a refuge, unless he is absolutely sure that there is an entrance for him into it, and that, entering, he is safe? And that security is provided in the great thought of God’s troth. ‘Thy faithfulness is like the great mountains.’ ‘Who is like unto Thee, O Lord! or to Thy faithfulness round about Thee?’ That faithfulness shall be our ‘shield,’ not a tiny targe that a man could bear upon his left arm; but the word means the large shield, planted in the ground in front of the soldier, covering him, however hot the fight, and circling him around, like a wall of iron.
God is ‘faithful’ to all the obligations under which He has come by making us. That is what one of the New Testament writers tells us, when he speaks of Him as ‘a faithful Creator.’ Then, if He has put desires into our hearts, be sure that somewhere there is their satisfaction; and if He has given us needs, be sure that in Him there is the supply; and if He has lodged in us aspirations which make us restless, be sure that if we will turn them to Him, they will be satisfied and we shall be at rest. ‘God never sends mouths but He sends meat to fill them.’ ‘He remembers our frame,’ and measures His dealings accordingly. When He made me, He bound Himself to make it possible that I should be blessed for ever; and He has done it.
God is faithful to His word, according to that great saying in the Epistle to the Hebrews, where the writer tells us that by ‘God’s counsel,’ and ‘God’s oath,’ ‘two immutable things,’ we might have ‘strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.’ God is faithful to His own past. The more He has done the more He will do. ‘Thou hast been my Help; leave me not, neither forsake me.’ Therein we present a plea which God Himself will honour. And He is faithful to His own past in a yet wider sense. For all the revelations of His love and of His grace in times that are gone, though they might be miraculous in their form, are permanent in their essence. So one of the Psalmists, hundreds of years after the time that Israel was led through the wilderness, sang: ‘There did we’-of this present generation-’rejoice in Him.’ What has been, is, and will be, for Thou art ‘the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.’ We have not a God that lurks in darkness, but one that has come into the light. We have to run, not into a Refuge that is built upon a ‘perhaps,’ but upon ‘Verily, verily! I say unto thee.’ Let us build rock upon Rock, and let our faith correspond to the faithfulness of Him that has promised.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv2, 4, 11 (See Scofield "Psa 2:12").
trust
(See Scofield "Psa 2:12").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3, 5, 8, 10, 12 For he will rescue you from the snare of…
For he will rescue you from the snare of the hunter and from the deadly plague
The words that have been left out can be put in. AT: "For God will rescue you from the snare of the hunter and he will rescue you from the plagues that can kill" (See: Ellipsis)
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the snare of the hunter
"from the snare that the hunter has set to catch you"
He will cover you with his wings, and under his wings you will find refuge
God's protection is here referred to as "wings" which a bird uses to cover its' young from danger. "Cover you with his wings" and "under his wings" mean basically the same thing. AT: "He will keep you safe and protect you" (See: Metaphor and Parallelism)
His trustworthiness is a shield and protection
God's trustworthiness is here referred to as a "shield" which can protect people who rely on him. The abstract noun "trustworthiness" can be stated as "trust." AT: "You can trust him to protect you" (See: Metaphor and Abstract Nouns)
protection
No one knows for sure what this word means. Possible meanings are 1) a small shield strapped to the forearm that soldiers used to defend themselves against arrows and swords or 2) a wall of stones set in a circle inside which soldiers could hide and shoot arrows.
translationWords
die
plague
refuge
trust
shield
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 11 91:3-4 The psalmist invites the godly to trust in…
91:3-4 The psalmist invites the godly to trust in the Lord and find protection in him.
91:3 God protects the godly from deadly disease and even a destructive word.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.