‘I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust”…’ (Psalm 91:2)
Read Psalm 91
As Christians we are all called to bear witness to the Gospel message and to the love of our Lord, and one of the best ways in which we can do so, is not only to confess and live our faith as best we can, but also to evangelise, to share it with others and to call on them to look to God too. And when we look at Psalm 91, it is this kind of format that we find written there.
It begins with a wonderful confession of faith which picks up on a theme we see running through so many Psalms – that God is our refuge and our fortress, the One to whom we can all turn to in order to find security and comfort. The opening verses speak of the sheer majesty and power of God but also clearly state that He is a personal God in whom we can place our trust. Just read those two opening verses again slowly. Could this be our confession of faith – should it be our confession of faith?
As we then look at verses 3-13 we have this wonderful exhortation of the Psalmist for all people to put this same kind of trust in the Lord and to rest in His shadow, effectively saying the Lord has done this for me and He can do this for you too. The lesson for us here, surely, is how we too need to evangelise in this way. To let others know of what it means to know the Lord and have Him in our lives and to encourage others to come to seek and know Him for themselves.
But look how this Psalm ends, it’s almost as if the Lord is answering both the Psalmist and those of us reading these words today. Yes I will do all these things. Why? Because this person loves me. If we put our trust in the Lord and come to Him in prayer, with love for Him in our hearts, we will find refuge in Him. But there is even more wonderful news in the way this Psalm ends, with the promise of salvation. Today we believe with all our hearts that this salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ and by acknowledging Him as our Saviour. So let’s now do as the Psalmist does here and share that Good News with others.
Lord, we praise and bless You for the assurance, comfort and peace that the words of this Psalm bring to us, and especially of that final promise of salvation. Help us to put our faith and trust in You at all times and also to share with others the joy that they will discover if they do likewise. And all this we ask in Jesus name. Amen.
Question Of The Day: Why is Psalm 91 unique – not just in regard to the Book of Psalms, but in the whole of Scripture?