Dear SixTen: Here are the notes from class last week on Psalm 91 – enjoy!
1. The peace you experience in your life depends on where you “live” (v1, v9).
2. We can singularly place and boldly attest to our faith in the living God (v2)!
3. “Surely” (NIV) means strong faith in the faithfulness of the LORD to you (v3-4)
4. You will not fear the most terrifying things (v5-6)!
5. You may see the ruin of all those around you, and you will see God’s judgment of wicked people, but neither will touch you (v7-8).
6. No harm (v10), no oversight (v11), no accident (v12), no charge/rush (v13), and no poison (v13) will effect you in a negative way.
Note: it’s not that harmful things will never happen to you; it is that harmful things will never come your way apart from God’s (good and ) sovereign decree, and that their effect upon you will not be permanent or destructive as to your relationship (living/dwelling) with Him. Read Romans 5:3-5 and see the note on suffering below. In Romans 5 Paul is not commanding us to rejoice as soon as something painful happens to us; he is testifying that we can reach the point where we realize that suffering accomplishes such good in our lives that we can actually, automatically rejoice in it.
7. God offers you a direct, personal, lifelong commitment inside a relationship with HIM (v14-16)!
Two more things to remember:
1. Suffering: we have all experienced it and most of us much more deeply and painfully than we have shared with others. People will mean evil toward you but God will turn it for good (Genesis 50:20); Bad things will happen to you but God will work them for the good (Romans 8:28); God will cause suffering in your life –to give you something in common, to share with Jesus- and you have the opportunity to entrust yourself to God and continue to do good (1 Peter 4:19).
2. Fear: when we are in need of deliverance, note how often God says to us, simply, “Do not fear.” See Exodus 14:10-14; 2 Kings 19:6ff; 2 Chronicles 20:15ff; Joshua 1:9; and Isaiah 41:10; etc. Read these texts and be encouraged!
