Psalms 91: 1-16 The Passion Translation
“When you sit enthroned under the shadow of Shaddai, you are hidden in the strength of God Most High. He’s the hope that holds me and the Stronghold to shelter me, the only God for me, and my great confidence. He will rescue you from every hidden trap of the enemy, and he will protect you from false accusation and any deadly curse. His massive arms are wrapped around you, protecting you. You can run under his covering of majesty and hide. His arms of faithfulness are a shield keeping you from harm. You will never worry about an attack of demonic forces at night nor have to fear a spirit of darkness coming against you. Don’t fear a thing! Whether by night or by day, demonic danger will not trouble you, nor will the powers of evil have launched against you. Even in a time of disaster, with thousands and thousands being killed, you will remain unscathed and unharmed. you will be a spectator as the wicked perish in judgment, for they will be paid back for what they have done! When we live our lives within the shadow of God Most High, our secret hiding place, we will always be shielded from harm. How then could evil prevail against us or disease infect us? God sends angels with special orders to protect you wherever you go, defending you from all harm. If you walk into a trap, they’ll be there for you and keep you from stumbling. You’ll even walk unharmed among the fiercest powers of darkness, trampling every one of them beneath your feet! For here is what the Lord has spoken to me: “Because you have delighted in me as my great lover, I will greatly protect you. I will set you in a high place, safe and secure before my face. I will answer your cry for help every time you pray, and you will find and feel my presence even in your time of pressure and trouble. I will be your glorious hero and give you a feast. You will be satisfied with a full life and with all that I do for you. For you will enjoy the fullness of my salvation!
Every time I read the book of Psalms, I realize that more and more we need to be living in and making this book part of our lives. You might say, this has been written thousands of years ago. This is true, but God’s word is always a now thing and should be part of our lives so much that we can say — “These are the words I live by.”
We busy ourselves with the everyday routine that we don’t take time to spend in the word of God and in worship. Let’s get to the point that his word is as or more needed in our lives as a cup of coffee, tea or food. God’s word is food for our spirits as much as natural food is for the natural body. It causes us to grow. Also, a lot of people don’t even take time to read one scripture of the Bible but will sit for hours watching a show of no relevance to us that will benefit us. (I am not saying you should not watch TV, but what I am saying is that God’s word must be of utmost importance).
I was much like the above, years ago. I would sit for hours and watch gun smoke, John Wayne and other westerns or if I wanted to laugh, I would watch Bugs bunny, porky pig etc. Now I have set that all behind me and watch and listen to good word teachers and spend time reading God’s word. I make notes in my Bibles for future reference, so I am reminded of what God spoke to me when I was reading it. This is important to take and underline a scripture or more as you read. Write out in the open space what you see that that scripture means. When we see and realize how much the word of God is and should be part of our everyday lives, we will be a better person and we will see the results of it, and yes, prayer should be part of our lives as well.
You might say, well I just don’t see how I have time to sit and read God’s word. Well, if you ever get the revelation of how important it is for us, you will make time. Get up a little earlier every day and get into his word and in prayer. Start with a half hour at first and build up to more and more. Also tell yourself, this is as important to my living as food for the growth and health of my body. Now let’s look into Psalms 91: 1-16 This chapter as well as other chapters of Psalms should be turned into the way we live.
Question: Do you trust and believe in God? Is he as important or more important than anything or anyone in your life? If your answer is yes, then you are well on your way to growth and being what God said you should be.
Psalms 91: 1 —- (The Passion Translation)
When you sit under the shadow of Shaddai, you are hidden in strength of God most high. Psalms 91 is a book about trust and safety. It is a book of knowledge that when it is believed it will protect you from the works of the evil one. Let’s look at this again. When you sit under the shadow of Shaddai.
To be able to sit under is more real, if we look at it as sitting under a shade tree. The shade tree is a tree that is big enough to shade you from the hot sun and yet let’s the breeze pass over you and cool you. That shade tree is a protection from being scorched or over heated from the sun. Well staying under the protection of Shaddai, does the same. It will protect you from the elements or darts of the wicked one.
That shadow becomes a stronghold for you. It is a protection for you. I think back at the stories my Dad spoke of during his time in World war two, how they hid under porches and in holes to hid themselves from the enemy. These areas were a protection as to speak and saved a lot of men’s lives. Dad, when he spoke of how God spared his life, he also spoke of men who did not trust God were wiped out and would be in the vicinity of his group and yet he and his buddies with him, had their lives saved.
Well God’s word is a hiding place for us if we learn to place ourselves in it. We can be confident that he will rescue you from every hidden trap of the enemy, but when you step out of God’s protection, the enemy’s darts can hit you. This brings me back to my Dad’s talk about the war, they were also taught to watch out for their buddies and their buddies would have confidence that their buddy was watching out for their protection. That is confidence!
You see, you must have confidence in your buddy as much as they had trust in you. Some of the buddies gave their lives to save a friend. Well, Jesus gave his life to save you and me and is why we must give thanks and trust in his protection. The Passion translation says that you can run under his covering of majesty and hide. This is much like a fox hole as they called some of the hiding places in the war, but God’s protection is better. It says his arms of faithfulness are a shield keeping you from harm. I want to say this, “ I put my trust in him and his word and he will protect me”. This only comes by really getting to know who your protector is and the only way you get to know him is by spending time with him. I used to think 15 minutes was enough but learned as I did this over and over that I realized more and more of his protection.
Look at it this way, you don’t make friends by just meeting someone for the first time. The first time you meet someone they are an acquaintance but not yet your friend because, you don’t know at this time, if you can trust them. However, the more time you spend with them, the more trust you put in them and the more trust you put in them, the more they become a friend. If they are a true friend, they will stay with you and protect you when you need it. Well, with Jesus, as your closest friend you can bet, he will protect you. Again, with God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit as your protector, you must trust them that they know what is best for you. You must rest in his promises.The only way you can learn to trust him is by spending time with him and his word. God sends angels with special orders to protect you wherever you go, defending you from all harm. If you walk into a trap, they will be there for you and keep you from stumbling. You will even walk unharmed among the fiercest power of darkness, trampling everyone beneath your feet!
Spending time with him causes you to know his voice and when obeyed will save your life, possibly from an accident or worse. The scripture goes on to say, “because you have delighted in me as my great lover, I will greatly protect you. Think about your spouse, children or grandchildren, would you not protect them from all harm? Sure, you would, I cannot imagine a loving earthly father or mother, saying I don’t care about you, get hurt if you want to. No, as a parent, husband or wife, you would do what it takes to protect those you love.
The passion translation goes on to say, I will answer your cry for help every time you pray, and you will feel my presence even in the time of pressure and trouble. It says that he will be your glorious hero and give you a feast. Wow! Look at that, he will be your hero and give you a feast. He goes on to say, you will be satisfied with a full life and with all that I do for you. For you will enjoy the fullness of my salvation! Do you see what God is saying? When you become his child at the time of salvation, these things he will do for you. We must call on him and trust him when trouble or sickness comes. I can also testify, that confession of his word daily, causes you to grow and put your trust in him that he will fulfill his word in you.
Confession is done until his word gets into our spirits and when that happens his healing, protection and other promises will take over. I have seen so much growth in my life in the past several years since I put more emphasis on him and his word. I don’t spend as much time watching westerns or Bugs Bunny etc. as I used to. I give more time in prayer and the study of his word, speaking it out-loud over and over. Let me be clear, I have not quit watching the shows I liked, but I do more in the word and pray than I used to. I put prayer and the study of his word first before anything else. I have pages of scripture from the word on healing, protection and prosperity of which I speak out-loud every morning before breakfast and I have set time to pray before going to sleep. My prayers are not selfish, for I pray for myself, my family and friends as well as pray that he will lead me to someone who needs salvation, for prayer, for healing or comfort. Learn to activate and pray in the spirit as well, for sometimes you don’t know how to pray, but as you do this, the Spirit of God will take it to the Father and be delivered to the correct person. Praying in the spirit is a no misfire prayer. In other words, you can’t make a mistake and your prayer will go to where it needs to go. Start now and set these times to pray, read and speak his word. (Very important —- Pray and speak his word out-loud.
Bill Lear
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