THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Psalms: Living By Faith In God

XCI. Secure Living In A Perilous World

(Psalm 91:1-16)

Introduction: (To show the need . . .)

We face a lot of perils in today’s world, so we need to know how to live secure lives:

(1) We face perils in political leftists: (a) “Although Mr. Trump did not invoke the Insurrection Act in 2020 when left-wing riots resulted in two-dozen deaths and more than $1 billion in property damage, Connecticut’s own Sen. Richard Blumenthal is working on a bill that would limit Mr. Trump’s ability to invoke the act during a second term when more ‘domestic protests,’ as NBC put it, inevitably break out . . . Democrats are signaling that Round 2 is all but guaranteed in response to a second Trump presidency – and they want to hamstring his ability to protect civilians.” (“An unacceptable scheme,” Republican-American, January 22, 2024, p. 8A) (b) Conservatives sense such trouble from the left, too: Ben Shapiro’s piece, “Why Trump will win the GOP nomination” (Ibid., January 18, 2024, p. 6A) claimed, “(C)onservatives everywhere . . . feel that they are targeted for destruction by America’s most powerful institutions.” (c) Kimberly A. Strassel (“The Them-vs.-Us Election,” The Wall Street Journal, Jan. 18 as cited in “Quotable,” Ibid., January 20, 2024, p. 8A) noted more concerns about trouble from leftist elites, that “‘(t)wo-thirds say they’d prefer a candidate who said teachers and educational professionals, not parents, should decide what children are taught . . . Nearly 50% of elites believe the U. S. provides ‘too much individual freedom’ – compared with nearly 60% of voters who believe there is too much ‘government control.’ Seventy-seven percent of elites support ‘strict rationing of gas, meat, and electricity’ to fight climate change, vs. 28% of everyone else.’”

(2) We face perils in highway driving due to the legalization of recreational marijuana: “‘Cannabis use accounts for . . . a 30% to 40% increased risk of car accidents,” according to a Jan. 3 report by David A. Gorelick, M. D. of the University of Maryland.’” (“All risk, no reward,” Ibid., January 17, 2024, p. 6A)

(3) We face perils with regard to human sex trafficking: “Human trafficking experts indicate it’s happening all over the country, including in affluent neighborhoods, as teens and young adults are manipulated into trafficking scenarios.’” (Penny Nance, “Will Unmasking Epstein’s Clients Finally Wake Americans Up To Our Human Trafficking Crisis?,” The Federalist, Jan. 2 as cited in “Quotable,” Ibid., January 3, 2024, p. 8A)

(4) We face the perils of cyber criminals: “Cyber attacks will be significantly worse in 2024 . . . (S)cammers . . . send us multiple fake emails or texts that look . . . legitimate – spoofed emails from people we know or companies we do business with – hoping we click on the fraudulent links they embed” so they can “install” malicious codes in our computer to “root around” and “find login and password details to gain access to” our “banking or credit card accounts.” (Tom Purcell, “Becoming cyber-secure in 2024,” Ibid., January 3, 2024, p. 9A)

(5) We face perils in many leaders in evangelical realms: In the last six months, seven believers have shared with me concerns about oppressive theologically or spiritually errant leaders or their teaching in evangelical circles. Two have told of matters that have impacted them from leaders at the national level and five have expressed concerns about cases locally, with two people repeatedly interacting with me by email seeking insight and encouragement!

Need: So, we ask, “How can we enjoy security while living in a perilous world?!”

I. Psalm 91:1-16 describes the complete security and comprehensive blessings a believer experiences when he fully trusts and loves the Lord (H. C. Leupold, Exposition of the Psalms, 1974, p. 650):

A. If a believer expresses full trust in the Lord, he experiences ongoing, comprehensive protection, Psa. 91:1-13:

1. Psalm 91:1-2 claims that one has complete, continual security from harm if he fully trusts in the Lord:

a. The KJV phrase “He that dwelleth” renders the Hebrew participle yoshev, better, “Dwelling,” and the KJV phrase “shall abide” renders the imperfect verb yitlonan, better, “abiding,” for the change from the participle to an imperfect tense of the verb here does not break the chain of thought set by the participle. (Kittel, Bib. Heb., p. 1056; Ibid., Leupold, p. 656, citing GKC, Gesenius’ Heb. Gram., 1979, section 116x)

b. In other words, the one who says of the Lord in Psalm 91:2, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in Him will I trust” is the one who experiences ongoing dwelling in the shelter of the Most High and abiding under the protection of the Almighty as stated back in Psalm 91:1.

2. The realms of God’s protection are described in Psalm 91:3-13 (as follows):

a. The psalmist enjoys God’s protection from his enemies, Psalm 91:3a, 5b, 7-8.

b. He also enjoys God’s protection from deadly diseases, Psalm 91:3b, 6.

c. The psalmist experiences God’s protection from fear, Psalm 91:5a.

d. He also experiences God’s protection from natural disasters, Psalm 91:10.

e. The psalmist even enjoys God’s physical protection by means of God’s guardian angels, Psalm 91:11-13.

B. If a believer expresses total trust in God and loving devotion to Him, he experiences great blessings, v. 14-16:

1. The KJV words “he set his love upon” in verse 14a translates the Hebrew verb hashaq, literally “he exercises an attached love,” the kind of love a man has for a beautiful woman (B. D. B., A Heb. and Eng. Lex. of the O. T., p. 366). Thus, the psalmist has attached himself to the Lord in devotion to Him.

2. Consequently, the psalmist enjoys God’s deliverance, protection, answers to prayer, God’s companionship in times of trouble, honor, and a long life, Psalm 91:15-16.

II. However, since Psalm 91 was written under God’s rule of the Mosaic Covenant in contrast to our dispensation of the Church, we must modify the APPLICATION of this psalm for us today (as follows):

A. In the Mosaic Covenant, God promised believers like the author of Psalm 91 health and wealth if they obeyed Him while they spiritually trusted in Him and loved him with an attached kind of love. (Deut. 28:1-14)

B. However, in the era of the Church, God does not always give even godly believers health and wealth, but He does fully meet some needs and what health and wealth believers must have to fulfill God’s calling for them:

1. In the dispensation of the Church, even the godly apostles suffered afflictions in life, 1 Corinthians 4:9-16.

2. Nevertheless, their fellowship with Christ gave them deep-seated inner fulfillment, Philippians 4:10-18.

3. Furthermore, God provides what health and material needs a godly believer has so that he can fulfill God’s calling for him, Philippians 4:19. (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, footnote to Philippians 4:19)

Lesson: If a believer today fully trusts in God and attaches himself in loving devotion to Him, God fully meets his need of spiritual wellbeing and supplies the health and material items he must have to fulfill God’s calling for him.

Application: (1) May we trust in Christ Who died as our Atoning Sacrifice for sin that we might receive God's gift of eternal life, John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. (2) May we trust, obey and attach ourselves in loving devotion to the Lord for sustained inner wellbeing and the physical health and material needs required to fulfill God’s calling.

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message and provide additional guidance . . .)

God’s provisions in our era of the Church regarding the issues of concern in our introduction are as follows:

(1) Significantly, (a) almost all of the issues of concern noted in our introduction fit the theme that we have often taught from our pulpit – that Christ in Revelation 3:21 with 7:17 implied that in our era, we would face leaders in the government-business-academic-religious world complex who were full of intrigue and who would oppress their subordinates akin to how the antichrist will function after the rapture during the Tribulation. The ideology that is guiding many leaders to converge into an oppressive world complex is Marxism: planning to riot if Mr. Trump wins the 2024 presidential election, the use of powerful institutions to harm their foes, the use of the government to oppose the role of parents in educating their children, limiting individual freedoms, rationing gas, meat, and electricity to address the false ideology of catastrophic climate change that violates God’s Genesis 8:22 pledge to keep the climate habitable for us, legalizing recreational marijuana, laxness on human sex trafficking and even oppression by many evangelical leaders at the national level conform to the goals of “The Communist Manifesto” (“Goals, ‘Communist Manifesto,’ learn-usa.com/transformation_process/hdn003.htm) Brannon S. Howse’s work, Marxianity, 2018, p. 251, reported that “today within evangelicalism . . . communists and cultural Marxists have co-opted countless pastors and once biblically sound evangelical organizations to carry out an information operation promoting left-wing Christianity that will support Neo-Marxism. When a religious Trojan horse invades evangelicalism as it has, it can become confusing for people to know what to think or believe when names they have trusted . . . invite in the Trojan horse.” (b) The presence of oppressive leaders at the local level of churches in our area is usually not apparently related to Marxism, but this local problem fits Christ’s prediction of oppressive leaders arising who afflict people in selfishness.

(2) The solution is to heed Scripture: (a) Galatians 5:16, 22-23 tells us to rely on the Holy Spirit to produce love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control that handle what we face from oppressive leaders. (b) We must also apply Psalm 91:1-16 to obey God and love Him and see Him provide protection from foes, from deadly diseases, from fear, from natural disasters, and from physical harm, and bless us with answers to prayer, His fellowship in times of trouble, honor, and long life to the degree we need to fulfill His calling for us.

May we trust in Christ Who died as our Atoning Sacrifice for sin that we might receive God’s gift of eternal life. May we then trust, obey and attach ourselves in loving devotion to the Lord for sustained inner fulfillment and all the health and material needs required for us to fulfill God’s calling for us.