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Psalms 90-91

Thursday Evening Bible Study

November 17, 2016

Introduction

Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel preached? Does it address the person who is: Empty, lonely, guilty, or afraid to die?  Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision Is the church loved? Target 3300 words   Video = 75 wpm

Video:  Psalms Intro

The English word psalm comes from a Greek word that means “a poem sung to musical accompaniment”, or in particular, “stringed instruments”.

The Hebrew name is tehillim, which means “praises.”

The book of Psalms is the hymnbook of God’s people.

It’s also the “Him” book as well. It’s all about Jesus.

The writer of Hebrews quotes from Psalm 40:8 when he writes,

(Hebrews 10:7 NKJV) Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come— In the volume of the book it is written of Me— To do Your will, O God.’ ”
The author was talking about Jesus.
We’re going to see a lot of Jesus in the Psalms.

Soul Music

Music touches the soul. It’s “soulish” in nature. It touches the emotions.

We’re going to find every kind of emotion possible expressed in the Psalms.

For every sigh there is a Psalm.

For most of us, this is what makes the Psalms so wonderful. We can identify. We can relate.

If we were honest, even darkest most depressing Psalms describe the very things we go through day by day.
It is my prayer that as we continue on this journey through the Psalms, we won’t just look at these songs academically, with our mind, but that we may also grow as worshippers.

For most of us, this is what makes the Psalms so wonderful. We can identify. We can relate.

If we were honest, even darkest most depressing Psalms describe the very things we go through day by day.
It is my prayer that as we continue on this journey through the Psalms, we won’t just look at these songs academically, with our mind, but that we may also grow as worshippers.

Psalm 90 – Wise Faith

: A Prayer Of Moses the Man of God.

A Prayer Of Moses

Written by Moses, this is the oldest song in the book of Psalms.

This is not the only song Moses wrote.
Deuteronomy 32 is another song that he wrote.

If we look at the life of Moses, I think we can pinpoint a time when this Psalm may have been written. I believe it’s very likely that this song was written because of the events that took place in Numbers 13-14.

The children of Israel had been delivered out of Egypt. At Mount Sinai they received God’s Laws. The nation of slaves was being transformed into an organized army. Then God took them to Kadeshbarnea, right up to the doorway of the Promised Land. God instructed them to send twelve spies into the land to check it out and report back to the people.

At the end of forty days, the spies gave their report.  Caleb and Joshua reported that it was an awesome land and that they should go up at once.  The other ten spies gave a different report:

(Numbers 13:32 NKJV) And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature.

As a result of this negative report, the people rebelled against the idea of going into the Promised Land.

As a result, God told Moses that the people would be wandering …
(Numbers 14:34 NKJV) According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know My rejection.
At the end of the forty years, all the rebels would be dead.

Now we’re ready for the song…

:1 Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.

:1 our dwelling place

dwelling placema‘own – dwelling, habitation, refuge – a place of safety

Lesson

Safety is in God

What are you counting on for security?
For some people it’s having a nice income with a secure, well-paying job.  Others find security in their retirement accounts.  Others find security by keeping a baseball bat or gun near by.
Illustration
Safe Driver
A woman in her eighties was determined she would keep driving. Naturally her family was concerned about her slower reflexes. She would go out at night alone, so they were disturbed about her safety. They told her about muggings, kidnappings, and carjackings. They thought that it would keep her at home. But it didn’t. Instead, she went out and bought a gun - a .38 special. She didn’t know a thing about handling a gun, but she loaded it up and shoved it in her purse. She decided she would use it if someone gave her problems. Well, she was walking out of this store during the Christmas season with her packages. She looks over and sees these three guys in the car and they’re slammin’ the door. She thinks, “This is my moment:” So she reaches in her purse, pulls out her gun, walks right up to the car window and says, “Get out of my car! Get away from behind that steering wheel! You guys, move!” Three guys got out and ran in three different directions. By now a crowd had gathered and they were staring at her and smiling. She was feeling pretty proud of herself. So she put her gun in her purse and got her keys out and the keys didn’t fit. It wasn’t her car.
I do have some safety tips…
Illustration
FOR SAFETY'S SAKE...
Do NOT ride in automobiles: they cause 20% of all fatal accidents.
Do NOT stay home: 17% of all accidents do occur in the home.
Do NOT walk on the streets or sidewalks: 14% of all accidents happen to pedestrians.
Do NOT travel by air, rail, or water: 16% of all accidents happen on these.
Only .001% of all deaths occur in worship services in church, and these are related to previous physical disorders. Hence, the safest place for you to be at any time is church. Go to church! IT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE!
God has always been a place of safety for humanity.
In Moses’ day, whether it was the generation that rejected God’s plan, or the generation that conquered the Promised Land, true safety is found in trusting God.

:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

:2 Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God

God has always existed.

God will always exist.

God is eternal. Man is not.

God is eternal because He has always existed. If you went back in time ten thousand years, God was there. If you went back in time 100,000 years, God was there. If you went back a million years, God was there. He has always existed, He will always exist.

Man is immortal, but not eternal. Man has not always existed. But man was created with a soul that will never die.

Even after a man’s physical body ceases to function, the man’s soul will continue to exist.
At death, those who believe in Jesus will go immediately into God’s presence. Those who do not believe in Jesus will go immediately to hell. Forever.

:3 You turn man to destruction, And say, “Return, O children of men.”

:3 You turn man to destruction

destructiondakka’ – dust

This was a result of Adam’s sin:

(Genesis 3:19 NKJV) In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”

:4 For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it is past, And like a watch in the night.

:4 a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday

God lives outside our dimension of time.

A thousand years of our time is like a day to God.

Peter wrote,

(2 Peter 3:8 NKJV) But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

:5 You carry them away like a flood; They are like a sleep. In the morning they are like grass which grows up:

:6 In the morning it flourishes and grows up; In the evening it is cut down and withers.

:5 flood … sleep … grass

Man is not so “everlasting”

Man’s life is like a …

flood – a brief flash flood that quickly dries up.
sleep – a brief nap, you wake up and it’s over.
grass – it pops up one day and is cut down the next.

:7 For we have been consumed by Your anger, And by Your wrath we are terrified.

:7 we have been consumed by Your anger

The Israelites in the wilderness saw this.

Even though God would bring punishment for their disobedience, they kept rebelling over and over again.

Without Jesus, this is true of every person. But for those of us who have put our trust in Jesus, we should not be troubled about the wrath of God.

Paul wrote,

(1 Thessalonians 5:9 NKJV) For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

:8 You have set our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.

:8 You have set our iniquities before You

(Psalm 90:8 NLT) You spread out our sins before you— our secret sins—and you see them all.

Lesson

He sees

I may think that there are some things that I do that nobody knows about, but that’s simply not true.
Video:  Guilty Dog Trash
The Bible says,
(Hebrews 4:13 NKJV) And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
Sometimes God will even let others have a peek at what we do in secret.
The prophet Ezekiel had such an experience in a vision.  He was in Babylon while God gave him a glimpse of things happening in the Temple in Jerusalem.
(Ezekiel 8:10–12 NKJV) —10 So I went in and saw, and there—every sort of creeping thing, abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed all around on the walls. 11 And there stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in their midst stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan. Each man had a censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense went up. 12 Then He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols? For they say, ‘The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.’ ”
It almost sounds as if Ezekiel was getting a glimpse into the minds of the leaders in Jerusalem.
There is nothing hidden from God.
Help doesn’t come until you stop hiding your sin.
Help doesn’t come until you start admitting to God that you need help.
With some sins, I’ve been finding that help doesn’t come until you confess your sin to another person and ask for help.

:9 For all our days have passed away in Your wrath; We finish our years like a sigh.

:10 The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

:10 The days of our lives are seventy years

Some look at this as a general rule for the length of a person’s life.

With this idea, I’ve got perhaps ten years left of my life, perhaps twenty.
That’s a sobering thought.
How am I going to spend the next ten years?

If this was indeed written after the events of Kadesh Barnea, this is pretty heavy.

Moses is thinking about all the people that are going to die before reaching the Promised Land.

:11 Who knows the power of Your anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.

:11 as the fear of You, so is Your wrath

(Psalm 90:11 NLT) … Your wrath is as awesome as the fear you deserve.

God is just.  He will not allow sin to go unpunished.  Jesus said,

(Luke 12:4–5 NLT) —4 “Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot do any more to you after that. 5 But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, he’s the one to fear.
If you are not right with God, you ought to be very, very afraid. You are on incredibly shaky ground.

:12 So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

:12 teach us to number our days

Lesson

Find God’s Will

A wise person will realize that they are not going to be around forever, and they will learn to find out what God wants for their life.
Paul wrote,
(Ephesians 5:15–17 NKJV) —15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

The wisdom God wants us to have from learning to number our days involves knowing God’s will.

Just what is God’s will for me?
Salvation
(1 Timothy 2:3–4 NKJV) —3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
God’s will is that you know Him and are saved from your sin.
Spirit Filled
(Ephesians 5:18 NKJV) And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,

Right after Paul talks about knowing God’s will (Eph. 5:17), he says we must be filled with the Spirit.

Plans for me
(Ephesians 2:10 NKJV) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

The more we walk with Him, the more we study His Word, the more we grow in prayer, we will see His plans unfolded for us.

He has things specifically designed for each of us to do.

Want to know what to do with the days you have left?  Start with these things.

:13 Return, O Lord! How long? And have compassion on Your servants.

:14 Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy, That we may rejoice and be glad all our days!

:14 satisfy us early with Your mercy

earlyboqer – morning, break of day; of beginning of day

When you visit Israel, you learn to say “boqer tov” or “good morning” as a greeting.

What did Israel do in the wilderness early in the morning?

They gathered manna (Exodus 16)
For us, spend time with God in the morning. Pray and ask Him to be guiding you. Open the Bible and ask God to speak to you. Let Him feed you with the bread from heaven.

:15 Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us, The years in which we have seen evil.

:15 Make us glad according to the days …

God said they would wander one year for every day that the spies spent in the land – forty years for forty days. Here Moses prays for restoration, that God would balance each day of pain with one of joy.

:16 Let Your work appear to Your servants, And Your glory to their children.

:17 And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, And establish the work of our hands for us; Yes, establish the work of our hands.

:17 let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us

beautyno‘am – kindness, pleasantness, delightfulness, favor

Lesson

Restoration in Him

The beauty of the Lord is on us when we come to trust in Jesus. He brings true restoration.
Illustration
The Trouble Tree (Author unknown)
The carpenter I hired to help me fix up an old farmhouse had just finished a rough first day on the job. A flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric saw quit and now his ancient pickup truck refused to start. While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence. On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands. When opening the door, he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss. Afterward he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier. “Oh, that’s my trouble tree,” he replied. “I know I can’t help having troubles on the job, but one thing for sure, troubles don’t belong in the house with my wife and the children. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning I pick them up again. “Funny thing is,” he smiled, “when I come out in the morning to pick ‘em up, there ain’t nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before.”
We find the restoration in Jesus Christ.  It’s His “tree” that we need to learn to touch.  Our troubles are healed at the cross.
(1 Peter 2:24 NKJV) who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.

Trusting in Him brings restoration in our lives.

 

Songs

Everlasting

 

Chorus:

A

  From everlasting

E/G#             D       A

  To everlasting You are God

A

  From everlasting

E/G#             D       A

  To everlasting You are God

 

 

Verse 1:

   E

In holiness You stand secure

        Bm7                A

Through culture's shifting sands

  E                              D

Unchanged by all the vanities of man

    E

And as the nations rise and fall

     Bm7           A

Your sovereignty remains

F#m      E

You are.. You are..

D2                   E

You are the One True God

 

 

Chorus:

 

 

Verse 2:

   E

In faithfulness Your love extends

        Bm7           A

Through times of turbulence

 E                                D

Adopting those who call upon Your name

    E

And every generation joins

   Bm7               A

In songs of grateful praise

F#m      E

You are.. You are..

D2                   E

You are the One True God

 

 

Chorus:

 

 

Bridge:

 A       E/G#

Eternal Immortal

  D       A

Invisible God

 A       E/G#

Eternal Immortal

  D       A

Invisible God

 

 

Chorus:

 

 

Words & Music by Brian Doerksen & Matt Unruh

©2004 Integrity's Hosanna! Music

 

O God, Our Help in Ages Past

 

Chorus

        F#m

You are good

        E

You are faithful

D              Esus

Never changing God

   F#m

We endure

          E

The wilderness

   D        Esus    A

By trusting in Your love

 

 

  A        F#m     Esus A

O God, our help in ages past

    F#m      B        E

Our hope for years to come,

    A       Bm       F#m    C#

Our shelter from the stormy blast,

    D    Esus   A

And our eternal home!

 

  A       F#m    Esus   A

Under the shadow of Thy throne

      F#m    B       E

Still may we dwell secure,

  A        Bm       F#m  C#

Sufficient is Thine arm alone,

    D     Esus     A

And our defense is sure.

 

Chorus

 

  A        F#m      Esus  A

Before the hills in order stood,

   F#m     B          E

Or earth received her frame,

     A   Bm      F#m      C#

From everlasting Thou are God,

   D       Esus      A

To endless years the same.

 

  A        F#m      Esus  A

A thousand ages, in Thy sight,

    F#m     B       E

Are like an evening gone;

      A      Bm         F#m      C#

Short as the watch that ends the night,

  D        Esus   A

Before the rising sun.

 

Chorus

 

 

  A        F#m     Esus A

O God, our help in ages past

    F#m      B        E

Our hope for years to come,

   A        Bm          F#m        C#

Be Thou our guide while life shall last,

    D    Esus   A

And our eternal home!

 

 

Chorus

 

 

Words by Isaac Watts, Richard Cathers / Music by William Croft, Richard Cathers/ ©Hymn is Public Domain, © (chorus) 2016 Richard Cathers / O God Our Help.doc

 

 

Psalm 91 – The Safe Place

We certainly know what it’s like to live in a world that’s driven by fear.

For the last fifteen years we are very aware of the presence of radical people who we call “terrorists” because their goal is to strike “terror” in people.

Even in our recent political climate, each party seems to want to motivate voters out of “fear” of what will happen if their opposing candidate is elected.

Jesus described the times just before He comes back like this:

(Luke 21:26 NKJV) men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

What do the numbers “911” make you think of?  It used to be we’d think of the number we’d call in an emergency. Now we think of terrorists flying airplanes into tall buildings. I hope we can learn to think of it in another way - Psalm 91:1

Where can we find safety?

:1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

:1 He who dwells in the secret place

secret placecether – covering, shelter, hiding place, secrecy

It’s a place of safety

The same word is used in:

(Psalm 27:5 NKJV) For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.

:2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”

:3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence.

:3 from the snare of the fowler

A fowler is a person who traps birds.

:4 He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

:4 He shall cover you with His feathers

The New American Standard reads,

(Psalm 91:4 NASB95) He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

:4 under His wings you shall take refuge

A mother bird uses her wings to cover and protect her babies.

Jesus used this same kind of language when He said,

(Luke 13:34 NKJV) “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!

Though this gives us a picture of protection, I think the “wings” God is talking about are not a bird’s wings.

This is a picture of the Mercy Seat, the solid gold lid to the Ark of the Covenant.  Molded onto this lid were two angelic beings with their wings stretched out, forming a canopy over the “mercy seat”.
(Exodus 25:22 NKJV) And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.
The Ark was a picture of God’s throne, and being under “His wings” speaks of being in God’s very presence.

Lesson

Stay close

True safety comes from being in that “secret place” with God.
Spurgeon:  The blessings here promised are not for all believers, but for those who live in close fellowship with God. Every child of God looks towards the inner sanctuary and the mercy seat, yet all do not dwell in the most holy place; they run to it at times, and enjoy occasional approaches, but they do not habitually reside in the mysterious presence. Those who through rich grace obtain unusual and continuous communion with God, so as to abide in Christ and Christ in them, become possessors of rare and special benefits, which are missed by those who follow afar off, and grieve the Holy Spirit of God.
Illustration
Jill Briscoe writes,
Though I was barely 6 years of age, I well remember sitting by a roaring fire on a Sunday during World War 2. Our family had fled the bombs that rained down on us one night, chasing us hundreds of miles away to the beautiful English lake district--William Wordsworth country.
The mists were gone, and a storm had broken over our heads. The rain, like giant tears, slashed against the window pane, and the thunder grumbled away as if it were angry it had to hang around all day. I didn't like storms, and I was old enough to understand that a bigger storm was raging, a war involving the entire world. But at the moment, it seemed far away. The fire was warm, and my father was relaxed, reading the paper, sitting in his big chair.
Suddenly, as if he were aware I needed a bit of reassurance, he put down his paper and smiled at me. "Come here, little girl," he said in his quiet but commanding voice. And then I was safe in his arms, lying against his shoulder and feeling the beat of his heart. What a grand place to be. Here I could watch the rain and listen to the thunder all day.
I've realized how my heavenly Father shelters me from the storms of life. When times of sorrow swamped me at my mother's funeral, I sought the reassurance of my Father's presence. When winds of worry whipped away my confidence as I faced gangs of young people in street evangelism, I glanced up to see my Father's face. When floods of fear rose in my spirit as I waited in a hospital room for the results of frightening tests, I sensed my heavenly Father saying, "Come here, little girl."
I climbed into his arms, leaned against his shoulder, and murmured, "Ah, this is a grand place to be."
And as I rest in that safe place knowing that my Father is bigger than any storm that beats against the window pane of my life, I can watch the rains and listen to the thunder, knowing that everything is all right. Here I can feel the beat of my Father's heart.

We find our help at God’s throne:

(Hebrews 4:16 NKJV) Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

:4 His truth shall be your shield and buckler

truth‘emeth – firmness, faithfulness, truth; reliability

(Psalm 91:4 NLT) …His faithful promises are your armor and protection.

God is faithful.  He will come through.  You can count on Him.

:5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day,

:6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays 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 with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked.

:5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night

This is what comes from being in God’s presence.  We don’t need to be afraid of the unknown.

:9 Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place,

:10 No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;

:11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.

:9 Because you have made the Lord

The Psalmist is talking to another person, us as the reader.

When we too have made God our refuge, we find that place of safety.

:10 No evil shall befall you

We may experience pain in this life, but the reality as believers in Jesus is that even if we die, we go to heaven.

Illustration

No one could say that George Smith didn’t have courage.  A daring jet test pilot in the 1950’s, back when the sound barrier was first being broken, he could face anything—until he had to bail out of a jet going 805 miles per hour (Guideposts 1958). Though he survived, he was afraid of ever flying again.  Then, during his hospital stay, a nurse gave him an antidote to fear. He took her words to heart: “Courage,” she said, “is knowing the worst—and discovering that, in God’s world, the very worst can’t really hurt you.”

:11 He shall give His angels charge over you

Lesson

God’s Angels

Angels are special beings created to serve God.
Angels do several things for those who follow God including:
Protection
When the king of Syria sent an entire army to capture Elisha, Elisha’s servant was freaked out until …

(2 Kings 6:17 NLT) Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.

Encouragement
When Paul was a prisoner on a ship caught in a deadly storm, God sent an angel to him,

(Acts 27:24 NLT) and he said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul, for you will surely stand trial before Caesar! What’s more, God in his goodness has granted safety to everyone sailing with you.’

Deliverance
When Peter had been thrown into prison, the church prayed.  God responded with a special envoy who unlocked Peter’s chains…

(Acts 12:8–10 NLT) —8 Then the angel told him, “Get dressed and put on your sandals.” And he did. “Now put on your coat and follow me,” the angel ordered. 9 So Peter left the cell, following the angel. But all the time he thought it was a vision. He didn’t realize it was actually happening. 10 They passed the first and second guard posts and came to the iron gate leading to the city, and this opened for them all by itself. So they passed through and started walking down the street, and then the angel suddenly left him.

These things are available to us because …
(Hebrews 1:14 NLT) Therefore, angels are only servants—spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation.

:12 In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

:12 Lest you dash your foot

Lesson

Risky business

Though angels can do miraculous things to protect us, there are limits as to what they will do.
When Jesus was being tempted by Satan in the wilderness, Satan quoted Psalm 91:11-12…
(Matthew 4:5–7 NKJV) —5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, “In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ” 7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”
It may not be God’s idea to deliver you from every difficult thing that you get yourself into.
Jesus said it would be “tempting” God, or “testing” Him if He were to jump.
Don’t presume God is going to bail you out of every situation. 
This promise isn’t an excuse for reckless living. 
They say, “Never drive faster than your guardian angels can fly”

:13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

:13 tread upon the lion and the cobra

This may be a hint at the victory that God gives us over Satan who is described both as a “roaring lion” (1Pet. 5:8), and as a serpent (Rev. 20:2).

I wonder why Satan didn’t quote this to Jesus?

:14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.

: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 I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.”

:14 Because he has set his love upon Me

God now speaks and assures the reader of His protection.

Lesson

Just Love God

All these blessings come on those who love God.
Deliverance
Calling and answering
God’s presence
Long and full life
Salvation
Paul wrote,
(Romans 8:28 NKJV) And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Do you want safety in scary times?
Stay close to God and love Him.

Songs

 

Psalm 91

 

       C

He who dwells in the shelter

       F    C

Of the Most High

      F           C

Will abide in the shadow

         G

Of the Almighty  (repeat)

 

        Am                 Em

He will cover you with His pinions

    G

And under His wings

             C

You may seek refuge

    Am                Em

His faithfulness is a shield

      G

And a bulwark

 

Chorus

 

written March 9, 1987

Psalm 91/ Words & Music by Richard Cathers / © 1987 Richard Cathers / Psalm91.doc