Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; for He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
Psalm 91:9–13
Whether the language is literal or figurative, this psalm of Moses is rich with encouragement, hope, and valor. It is also replete with instruction in that it begins with a key word: because (in the Hebrew, kee). The use of this word to introduce the sentence makes clear the relationship between action and outcome. It is “because” we have made the Lord our refuge and dwelling place that His angels watch over us, plagues won’t come near us, we’ll be kept in all our ways, and on the list continues.
However, knowing that over the course of history, great plagues have struck many countries, including ours, and that many Christians have died during these plagues, some might question the validity of these conditional promises. Furthermore, since Moses authored this psalm, what did he mean by the word plague? The bubonic plague, plagues of flu, or even the H1N1 virus of our day were not yet known. Clearly Moses was referring to the plagues God had brought upon Egypt when His people lived as slaves there. In Exodus 8:23, as the plague of flies was about to descend on the land of Egypt, the Lord told Moses to tell Pharaoh these words: “I will make a difference between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall be.” The next day, just as God had promised, there were no flies in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel dwelt, but Egypt was covered with them.
So what does this mean to us today? Because we have chosen to follow God and make Him our refuge, we will be delivered from the wrath that is to come (Rom. 5:9) and will be spared the foretold consequences of rebelling against the plan of God. Let’s put it like this: The person who follows the plan of God regarding sexual relations will be spared the consequence of STDs. The person who is generous and remembers the poor will be spared the “piercing through with many sorrows” (1 Tim. 6:10) that the love of money brings. Those who are content with God and their possessions will not suffer the plague of discontentment and the constant nagging fear of always being one step behind the neighbors. Neither will they be devoured by the lion of envy or bitten by the cobra of jealousy.
If we see these conditional promises as literal, they are magnificent and self-explanatory; if we see them as figurative, they are tremendous truths. If we remember that Moses wrote them by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, then we can look back on his life and know that both are true. They are literal and figurative. Nothing can harm us until the Lord says it’s time to come home, and nothing can hinder us when we make the Lord our refuge and dwelling place. Go out with this confidence today as you tell others about our soon coming King!
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