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PSALM 91
Psalm 90:1 - "Dwelling place in all generations"
Psalm 91:1 - "Whoever dwells in the shelter will have rest."
Psalm 91:9 - "Make the Most High your dwelling"
What does this mean? I was listening to someone who said that they were about to make an "educated speculation". That sounds too much to me like a "wild guess". We want to do better than that when figuring out what it means to "dwell in the Lord".
Two things will happen when we understand this:
I. I will say certain things - a confession of my lips.
II. I will see certain things - a metaphor for my life.
What is the metaphor? We must think of the birds! Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 23:37-39?
MT 23:37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, `Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.' "
The Lord does not guarantee that no evil will befall him (notice verse 15).
The Lord does guarantee that nothing happens outside His will (verse 10).
Where do we see this passage? In Jesus' temptation - Luke 4:1-13.
LK 4:9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written:
" `He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully;
LK 4:11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.' "
LK 4:12 Jesus answered, "It says: `Do not put the Lord your God to the test.' "
What does it mean for believers to dwell in God's shelter and under His shadow? Think birds!
If we look at the birds today, we will still see this picture.
I was showing a baby bird to my children. The poor thing had fallen from its nest but could not fly. Our cocker spaniel came up to take a look. The kids said, "No dad, don't let him." Our dog was so good and gentle that I said, "He just wants a sniff." To my surprise, our gentle dog took one bite and had that little bird completely in his mouth - little wings sticking out both sides. I was bonking the dog on the head saying "let go, let go!" The dog is looking at me and saying with his eyes, "Isn't this what I am suppose to do?" The kids are doing a complete melt down. I had to take a stick and pry my dog's mouth open to retrieve the poor wet and slobbery little bird. Fortunately, the Lord is not like a bird dog - rather He is like the mother bird.
The Lord wants to be my shelter - just like a mother bird. What a metaphor from both Old and New Testament.
What does this look like in my life?
1) We number our days (Psalm 90)
- Not a sadistic worshipers of death - Not fools ("eat, drink, and be merry") - Rather, worshiping God in Spirit and Truth, we will number our days in order to gain a heart of wisdom.
2) We say God is good (Psalm 118 and 136).
- Not with teeth clenched and eyes filled with suspicion.
- But with submissive understanding and our faith fully in tact.
- Not with full understanding (for that to be the case, I would have to be God).
- Not without feeling at times like I have no faith (this will happen!)
- But with the substance of hope, the evidence of things not seen, I believe that God is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).
3) We don't fear (I Peter 3:8-22 and Hebrews 13:4-5).
4) We don't worry (Matthew 6:25-27).
5) We walk and live in God's Spirit (Galatians 5:16-26).
The Psalms are showing to believers of all ages what it means to dwell in the Lord.
Can we each ask ourselves: What does it mean for me to dwell in the Lord?
There will be times of enormous testing and pain in our lives.
There will be enormous times of joy.
Will I make the Lord my shelter?
Yes, I think I will.
My thoughts go back this week to a very old lady who was my Sunday school teacher when I was middle school age. Mrs. Chaffee was at least in her 50's maybe 60's. No, actually she would have been in her 70's at this time. She would tell all of us boys to put the table top back down and say the 23rd Psalm with her. We would settle down and she would begin to lead us. It is a beautiful sight to me now - her eyes would close and she would confess with her mouth that the Lord was her shepherd and her shelter.
Mrs. Chaffee would drink so deeply, and I realize now that we didn't know it. But I wonder if she knew that some day many of us would? I think she did.
She is long gone now from her life on this earth. But I would still like to say "thank you to Mrs. Chaffee." The elderly lady that showed me what it was to "dwell in the Lord." |
