The Emergency Psalm 911

It's very easy to make fear into an idol. I make sacrifices to it. I sacrifice to it my joy and happiness, my peace of mind. I offer it my thoughts, my attention, my energy. So fear and worry begin to lay claim to my whole life. So I pray, I quote Scripture, I remember the Heidelberg Catechism question and answer #1.

Q: What is my only comfort in life and in death?
A: That I am not my own but belong body and soul in life and in death to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.

Someone said that when trouble comes, just call the emergency Psalm 911 (referring to Ps 91:1):

“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”

There is great comfort in that verse. But don’t stop there. Read the entire Psalm and make God your refuge.

1 Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
     will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
    he is my God, and I trust him.
3 For he will rescue you from every trap
     and protect you from deadly disease.
4 He will cover you with his feathers.
    He will shelter you with his wings.
    His faithful promises are your armor and protection.

5 Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,
    nor the arrow that flies in the day.
6 Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,
     nor the disaster that strikes at midday.
7 Though a thousand fall at your side,
    though ten thousand are dying around you,
    these evils will not touch you.
8 Just open your eyes,
     and see how the wicked are punished.

9 If you make the Lord your refuge,
    if you make the Most High your shelter,
10 no evil will conquer you;
     no plague will come near your home.
11 For he will order his angels
     to protect you wherever you go.
12 They will hold you up with their hands
    so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.
13 You will trample upon lions and cobras;
     you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!

14 The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
    I will protect those who trust in my name.
15 When they call on me, I will answer;
    I will be with them in trouble.
    I will rescue and honor them.
16 I will reward them with a long life
    and give them my salvation.”

On the surface, it sounds like God is promising that if you make him your refuge, nothing bad will happen to you. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? And if true, who wouldn’t want to follow Christ?

But as Jesus demonstrated, it can’t mean that. When Satan tempted him to throw himself down from the top of the temple, Satan quoted vv.11-12 saying that God would protect Jesus by sending angels to catch him, implying this would bring Jesus a great following when people saw it (Matt. 4:6; Lk 4:10-11). But Jesus—like Stephen, Paul, Peter, James, and others killed for their faith—didn’t understand the Psalm that way, either here or at his crucifixion. Instead, each made God their refuge by trusting in his love, wisdom, and sovereignty to give them whatever they needed to glorify God by doing his will in life … or death.

The key to reading and applying the Psalm is in vv.9-10a:

“If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you.”

The promise here is not that no harm will ever come to you or that you won’t die (even be slaughtered, Ps 44:22). It’s that despite all the harm that will certainly come to you, you won’t be ultimately defeated (destroyed). Paul comforts the church in Rome with the promise that nothing will separate them from the love of Christ, since through him we are more than conquerors (Rom. 8:35,37).

Yes, we have nothing to fear in the midst of the terrors of the night, arrows by day, the disease that stalks in darkness, disasters at midday, or the even evil that seeks to conquer us. In the refuge of Christ, we are more than conquerors. Satan cannot defeat us, even in death. For those who shelter in God, paradise awaits in the glory of Christ’s never-ending, death-conquering, joy-infusing, face-to-face presence.

So when fear threatens to invade your peace in Christ that passes all understanding, call the emergency Psalm 911: Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

Amen!