April 24: Is Psalm 91 a blanket protection for all believers?
Psalm 88, 91, 95, 108, and 109
Psalm 91
Amplified Bible (AMP)
Psalm 91
1 He who [a]dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty [Whose power no foe can withstand].
2 I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust!
3 For [then] He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.
4 [Then] He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you trust and find refuge; His truth and His faithfulness are a shield and a buckler.
5 You shall not be afraid of the terror of the night, nor of the arrow (the evil plots and slanders of the wicked) that flies by day,
6 Nor of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor of the destruction and sudden death that surpriseand lay waste at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you.
8 Only a spectator shall you be [yourself inaccessible in the secret place of the Most High] as you witness the reward of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the Lord your refuge, and the Most High your dwelling place,
10 There shall no evil befall you, nor any plague or calamity come near your tent.
11 For He will give His angels [especial] charge over you to accompany and defend and preserve you in all your ways [of obedience and service].
12 They shall bear you up on their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13 You shall tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the serpent shall you trample underfoot.
14 Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he knows and understands My name [has a personal knowledge of My mercy, love, and kindness—trusts and relies on Me, knowing I will never forsake him, no, never].
15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him and show him My salvation.
"In the year 1854, when I had scarcely been in London twelve months, the neighbourhood in which I laboured was visited by Asiatic cholera, and my congregation suffered from its inroads. Family after family summoned me to the bedside of the smitten, and almost every day I was called to visit the grave. I gave myself up with youthful ardour to the visitation of the sick, and was sent for from all corners of the district by persons of all ranks and religions. I became weary in body and sick at heart. My friends seemed falling one by one, and I felt or fancied that I was sickening like those around me. A little more work and weeping would have laid me low among the rest; I felt that my burden was heavier than I could bear, and I was ready to sink under it. As God would have it, I was returning mournfully home from a funeral, when my curiosity led me to read a paper which was wafered up in a shoemaker's window in the Dover Road. It did not look like a trade announcement, nor was it, for it bore in a good bold handwriting these words: - “Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.” The effect upon my heart was immediate. Faith appropriated the passage as her own. I felt secure, refreshed, girt with immortality. I went on with my visitation of the dying in a calm and peaceful spirit; I felt no fear of evil, and I suffered no harm. The providence which moved the tradesman to place those verses in his window I gratefully acknowledge, and in the remembrance of its marvelous power I adore the Lord my God." C.H. Spurgeon
This next article is very interesting!
GOD’S PROTECTION IS NOT AUTOMATIC!
"Peggy Joyce explains that this covenant of protection is not automatic. “There are things we must do ourselves to obtain protection. As we read the first two verses, we see that we must dwell in the secret place of God, that place of confidence and restful trust. In addition, we must continually say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress—My God in whom I will trust.’ We must do both of these things to have all the covenant protections.
“We are told in Psalm 91:4 that we may seek refuge under His (God’s) Wings. The Lord gave me a very vivid picture of what it means to seek refuge under His Wings. We live in the country and one spring our old mother hen hatched a brood of baby chicks. One afternoon when the little chicks were scattered all over the yard, I suddenly saw the shadow of a hawk overhead. Then I noticed something that taught me a lesson I will never forget. That mother hen did not run to those little chicks and jump on top of them to try to cover them with her wings.
“Instead, she squatted down, spread out her wings, and began to cluck. And those little chicks, from every direction, came running to her to get under those outstretched wings. Then she pulled her wings down tight, tucking every little chick safely under her. To get to those babies, the hawk would have to go through the mother.
“In the same way it is under His wings that we may seek refuge—but we have to run to Him. He does not run here and there, trying to cover us. He has made protection available. And when we run to Him in faith, the enemy will have to go through God to get to us. It is important to understand this.”
“We are told in Psalm 91:4 that we may seek refuge under His (God’s) Wings. The Lord gave me a very vivid picture of what it means to seek refuge under His Wings. We live in the country and one spring our old mother hen hatched a brood of baby chicks. One afternoon when the little chicks were scattered all over the yard, I suddenly saw the shadow of a hawk overhead. Then I noticed something that taught me a lesson I will never forget. That mother hen did not run to those little chicks and jump on top of them to try to cover them with her wings.
“Instead, she squatted down, spread out her wings, and began to cluck. And those little chicks, from every direction, came running to her to get under those outstretched wings. Then she pulled her wings down tight, tucking every little chick safely under her. To get to those babies, the hawk would have to go through the mother.
“In the same way it is under His wings that we may seek refuge—but we have to run to Him. He does not run here and there, trying to cover us. He has made protection available. And when we run to Him in faith, the enemy will have to go through God to get to us. It is important to understand this.”
A MOTHER SAVES THE LIFE OF HER CHILD
Peggy Joyce has taught many about our covenant of protection. One young mother was particularly glad she had learned it. “Her four-year-old son, Skylar, went over the side of a cliff after his bicycle got out of control. When his mother found him he was tangled in the wheel of the bicycle and lying on his stomach with his chin turned around over his shoulder. The situation was so urgent, that they could not wait for the ambulance, so the mother and her sister drove him to the nearest hospital. As they drove, they prayed aloud the promises of Psalm 91.
“The local hospital found an obvious break in the C-1 vertebra, so he was immediately airlifted to Cook’s Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas. The situation seemed grim. However, the two sisters never stopped claiming their protection covenant of Psalm 91 as doctors attended the little boy. Finally, the doctor at Cook’s Hospital came out of the room with a strange look on his face. He had the X-rays from the first hospital in one hand and the new X-rays that had just been taken in the other hand, and his words were, ‘We don’t know how to explain this, but we find no head trauma and no C-1 fracture.’
“These two sisters had trusted God completely and believed what He said in Psalm 91: ‘No evil will befall you, nor will plague or calamity come near your household.’ Since the day they left the hospital, Skylar has been a perfectly normal, healthy little boy with no side effects, whatsoever, from the accident.”
Peggy Joyce has taught many about our covenant of protection. One young mother was particularly glad she had learned it. “Her four-year-old son, Skylar, went over the side of a cliff after his bicycle got out of control. When his mother found him he was tangled in the wheel of the bicycle and lying on his stomach with his chin turned around over his shoulder. The situation was so urgent, that they could not wait for the ambulance, so the mother and her sister drove him to the nearest hospital. As they drove, they prayed aloud the promises of Psalm 91.
“The local hospital found an obvious break in the C-1 vertebra, so he was immediately airlifted to Cook’s Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas. The situation seemed grim. However, the two sisters never stopped claiming their protection covenant of Psalm 91 as doctors attended the little boy. Finally, the doctor at Cook’s Hospital came out of the room with a strange look on his face. He had the X-rays from the first hospital in one hand and the new X-rays that had just been taken in the other hand, and his words were, ‘We don’t know how to explain this, but we find no head trauma and no C-1 fracture.’
“These two sisters had trusted God completely and believed what He said in Psalm 91: ‘No evil will befall you, nor will plague or calamity come near your household.’ Since the day they left the hospital, Skylar has been a perfectly normal, healthy little boy with no side effects, whatsoever, from the accident.”
A YOUNG WOMAN ESCAPES FROM SEXUAL ASSAULT
“A young friend of ours, Julee, was getting ready for church when someone knocked on her door. As she opened the door, a strange man shoved his way in and attacked her. Remembering that God said in Psalm 91: 5-7, ‘You will not be afraid of the terror [what another person can do to harm you]…it will not approach you,’ Julee started quoting the Word of God to him as her defense.
“It took forty-five minutes of spiritual battle as the man came at her time after time, but her persistence in quoting these words brought confusion and immobility on him—thwarting every attempted attack. During one of those times when he had temporarily lost his focus, she was able to get out the door and escape unharmed.
“Later, after he was apprehended, she found that he had sexually assaulted numerous young women, and she was the only one of his victims who had been able to escape without harm.”
“A young friend of ours, Julee, was getting ready for church when someone knocked on her door. As she opened the door, a strange man shoved his way in and attacked her. Remembering that God said in Psalm 91: 5-7, ‘You will not be afraid of the terror [what another person can do to harm you]…it will not approach you,’ Julee started quoting the Word of God to him as her defense.
“It took forty-five minutes of spiritual battle as the man came at her time after time, but her persistence in quoting these words brought confusion and immobility on him—thwarting every attempted attack. During one of those times when he had temporarily lost his focus, she was able to get out the door and escape unharmed.
“Later, after he was apprehended, she found that he had sexually assaulted numerous young women, and she was the only one of his victims who had been able to escape without harm.”
GOD’S PROTECTION COVERS EVEN TORNADOES AND FIRES
“Once a tornado was headed for our house. A teen club was meeting at our house, and their vehicles were parked below the house while the members watched the tornado which had touched down and was headed in our direction. The sky was dark and had a peculiar, greenish glow. We could see a large funnel cloud headed straight for our house, way off in the distance.
“I’m sure a lot of people were rushing for their storm cellars at that moment, but my husband got us outside, speaking the promises of Psalm 91 directly to the storm as we marched around our house. When we went back inside, the radio announcer was just making the statement, ‘It is a miracle! The tornado which was headed south of the country club has suddenly disappeared.’ God gave us our miracle. Psalm 91 is our covenant we speak in the face of destruction (the category of evil over which man has no control).
“On another occasion the Lord saved our property from fire after relying on the promise in this 91st Psalm. My husband and our son, Bill, were burning brush in the back pasture of our ranch when an old underground gas well exploded. Fire raced across the field toward other houses. They fought the fire, but it was hopelessly out of control. There was little expectation that a fire truck could get there in time to do any good, but my husband raced off to the house to call them anyway. When he returned from calling the fire truck, to his surprise, the fire was out. One minute it was out of control; the next minute it was out! Jack said, ‘Bill, how did you do it?’ Remembering our covenant, Bill had called on God, and God had miraculously put the fire out.”
“Once a tornado was headed for our house. A teen club was meeting at our house, and their vehicles were parked below the house while the members watched the tornado which had touched down and was headed in our direction. The sky was dark and had a peculiar, greenish glow. We could see a large funnel cloud headed straight for our house, way off in the distance.
“I’m sure a lot of people were rushing for their storm cellars at that moment, but my husband got us outside, speaking the promises of Psalm 91 directly to the storm as we marched around our house. When we went back inside, the radio announcer was just making the statement, ‘It is a miracle! The tornado which was headed south of the country club has suddenly disappeared.’ God gave us our miracle. Psalm 91 is our covenant we speak in the face of destruction (the category of evil over which man has no control).
“On another occasion the Lord saved our property from fire after relying on the promise in this 91st Psalm. My husband and our son, Bill, were burning brush in the back pasture of our ranch when an old underground gas well exploded. Fire raced across the field toward other houses. They fought the fire, but it was hopelessly out of control. There was little expectation that a fire truck could get there in time to do any good, but my husband raced off to the house to call them anyway. When he returned from calling the fire truck, to his surprise, the fire was out. One minute it was out of control; the next minute it was out! Jack said, ‘Bill, how did you do it?’ Remembering our covenant, Bill had called on God, and God had miraculously put the fire out.”
GOD’S PLAN OF PROTECTION COVERS EVERY KIND OF HARM
“In Psalm 91, God lists all the things from which we are protected, and we can easily see that it covers all of the evils of humankind. It includes all the evils that come through another person, such as robbery, murder, terrorism or rape. It also includes epidemics and deadly diseases, and all natural disasters such as tornadoes, floods, hurricanes and other things that man has no control over. Verse seven plainly says, ‘A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, BUT IT SHALL NOT COME NEAR YOU.’ He even has angels standing by us to help us. This is God’s Covenant of Protection.”
“In Psalm 91, God lists all the things from which we are protected, and we can easily see that it covers all of the evils of humankind. It includes all the evils that come through another person, such as robbery, murder, terrorism or rape. It also includes epidemics and deadly diseases, and all natural disasters such as tornadoes, floods, hurricanes and other things that man has no control over. Verse seven plainly says, ‘A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, BUT IT SHALL NOT COME NEAR YOU.’ He even has angels standing by us to help us. This is God’s Covenant of Protection.”
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Peggy Joyce emphasizes that all contracts have two sides, so we must be careful to do our part. Here is what she teaches people to do:
1. Verse one tells us part of our responsibility: We are to dwell in the shelter of the Most High and abide in the shadow of the Almighty. We are to be like those baby chicks and learn to live under the wings of our Lord. We must root out our doubts and make up our minds to believe that these are not just words for emotional comfort, but a real promise to turn things around. You can examine yourself and ask God to help you accept this as the Truth.
2. We must continually tell ourselves and others of this promise of protection as it says in verse 2, “I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress.”
3. We must seek God’s protection. We can do this by meditating on each verse and thinking about what it means. For example, as you meditate on verse two, begin to say from your heart, He is the Lord, the one to whom I will run first. Lord, You are my God in whom I trust. I know you want to be the Source of all my protection, therefore, I will refuse to look at all forms of Plan B.”
4. In addition to meditating on Psalm 91—read it out loud. Put your own or someone else’s name in it. Thank God for it; thank Him that He loved you enough to make this protection possible. Depend on Him to lead you through.
5. Finally, if there is any point of obedience that He expects out of you, ask Him to show you. The Psalm promises that if we meet the conditions, God will satisfy us with long life.
Peggy Joyce says, “When you pray this Psalm, tell God that you want to know Him intimately, and that you recognize Jesus as the only provision for your life that matters. I promise that if you read it over and over, and if you believe it and say it out loud, then fear will run away from you and you will begin to see real protection.”
She sums up: “It is awesome to think that we can be intimate with the Creator and that He will give us a purpose and a destiny. He provides angelic protection and gives us authority over the enemy. Greater power is in the Word of God than any fear or circumstance or situation in your life. Thirty-five years ago, my life changed from despair to victory, not because of anything special about me, but because of the power in God’s Word. You can do it too! Go for the Gold! It’s your time!”
Peggy Joyce has taught hundreds in her classes on living in God’s blanket of protection. Her husband is the senior pastor of the Living Word Church in Brownwood, Texas. She has written instructive books for adults and for youth that go into more depth about the 91st Psalm." Linda Josef
Peggy Joyce emphasizes that all contracts have two sides, so we must be careful to do our part. Here is what she teaches people to do:
1. Verse one tells us part of our responsibility: We are to dwell in the shelter of the Most High and abide in the shadow of the Almighty. We are to be like those baby chicks and learn to live under the wings of our Lord. We must root out our doubts and make up our minds to believe that these are not just words for emotional comfort, but a real promise to turn things around. You can examine yourself and ask God to help you accept this as the Truth.
2. We must continually tell ourselves and others of this promise of protection as it says in verse 2, “I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress.”
3. We must seek God’s protection. We can do this by meditating on each verse and thinking about what it means. For example, as you meditate on verse two, begin to say from your heart, He is the Lord, the one to whom I will run first. Lord, You are my God in whom I trust. I know you want to be the Source of all my protection, therefore, I will refuse to look at all forms of Plan B.”
4. In addition to meditating on Psalm 91—read it out loud. Put your own or someone else’s name in it. Thank God for it; thank Him that He loved you enough to make this protection possible. Depend on Him to lead you through.
5. Finally, if there is any point of obedience that He expects out of you, ask Him to show you. The Psalm promises that if we meet the conditions, God will satisfy us with long life.
Peggy Joyce says, “When you pray this Psalm, tell God that you want to know Him intimately, and that you recognize Jesus as the only provision for your life that matters. I promise that if you read it over and over, and if you believe it and say it out loud, then fear will run away from you and you will begin to see real protection.”
She sums up: “It is awesome to think that we can be intimate with the Creator and that He will give us a purpose and a destiny. He provides angelic protection and gives us authority over the enemy. Greater power is in the Word of God than any fear or circumstance or situation in your life. Thirty-five years ago, my life changed from despair to victory, not because of anything special about me, but because of the power in God’s Word. You can do it too! Go for the Gold! It’s your time!”
Peggy Joyce has taught hundreds in her classes on living in God’s blanket of protection. Her husband is the senior pastor of the Living Word Church in Brownwood, Texas. She has written instructive books for adults and for youth that go into more depth about the 91st Psalm." Linda Josef
"Dear God I want to live under Your blanket of protection at all times! I pray you would send your mighty warfaring angels to protect me and my family. I will say of You, Lord, You are my Refuge and my Fortress! Remove all doubt or fear from me, Oh God my Protector! I humbly bow before You and worship You and You alone! Thank You and praise You! In Your precious name, AMEN."
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