War in Europe. Shootings in schools and churches. COVID cases rising again, along with the price of gasoline, which, even when adjusted for inflation, is the highest it’s been in a century. Oh, and hurricane season is just getting started. To say that we have many reasons for fear is a bit of an understatement.

But the psalmist faced great dangers as well; he was no stranger to warfare (verses 5 and 7), or even to pestilence or disease (verses 3, 6 and 10). And yet in the face of all these things, he was determined to place his trust in God. He expected God to be his place of refuge (verse 2).

And in this psalm he urges us to do the same thing. He assures us that God will send His angels to protect us from all harm (verse 11). In fact, he even quotes God making the same sorts of promises to us: “I will deliver him. I will set him securely on high. I will answer him. I will rescue him” (verses 14-15). In the face of such promises, how can there be any room for fear?

Of course, it is possible to misuse passages like this. Satan quoted verses 11 and 12 to Jesus while He was undergoing a period of fasting and temptation in the desert. Satan thus urged Jesus to make a grand, public display of His power, hurling Himself off of the highest point of the Temple to prove to everyone that He was the Messiah – and thus to avoid the pain and the shame of the cross (Matthew 4:6). In the same way, some people still try to force God’s hand, announcing divine “authority” over their problems, “naming and claiming” blessings that they crave – and falling into disappointment or bitterness when their prayers go unanswered because their desires don’t line up with God’s will for their lives.

No, once again we must look to Jesus to understand the sorts of promises that God makes in this psalm. For we cannot doubt that the Father loves His only begotten Son. And we know that the Father eventually gave Jesus everything that this psalm describes – salvation and deliverance from His enemies, long life and honor (verses 14-16). Yes, Jesus even trampled down the very serpent who tempted him in the desert (verse 13). But Christ could only gain such victory and blessings, both for Himself and for all who trust in Him, by going to the cross.

So, let’s take a broader view of the promises God makes to us in this psalm. Yes, let’s trust in God to be our place of refuge, to save us and protect us and bless us – but in His way, and in His time. For even if His plan involves us going through some suffering along the way, we can be sure that salvation and eternal life are ours, because Jesus chose to go through so much worse for us.

Psalm 91 (NASB)

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, Lest you 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 behold My salvation.”