Psalm 91 is one of sixteen psalms that are called Messianic Psalms; they are prophetic psalms revealing the Messiah (Christ Jesus) to come. Psalms 2, 8, and 22 are three that you may know.
Psalm 22 for instance has the following familiar words.
“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me [Jesus on the cross], and from the words of My groaning?” Psalm 22:1.
Messianic Psalms are recognized by their prophecies of the Messiah, Christ. Sometimes the reference to the Messiah may be only a verse or two, other times there may be a whole psalm or a paragraph within one.
All but three of these Messianic psalms are quoted in the New Testament. The three psalms quoted only in the Old Testament are Psalm 24, 72, and 89. The entire list of sixteen is as follows: Psalm 2, 8, 16, 22, 24, 40, 41, 45, 68, 69, 72, 89, 91, 102, 110, and 118.
Psalm 91 is one of these Messianic psalms.
“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.’” Psalm 91:1-2.
It is easy to look at this Psalm and assume that since it is Messianic, it does not apply to us. To some degree this is true because only Jesus continually dwelt “in the secret place of the Most High”.
J. Vernon McGee stated that though he was there (“in the secret place of the Most High”) sometimes, he felt more like he was staying in a motel for a day or two, so quickly was he in and out of that place.
Indeed, many of us may well feel like we were in a parking space, so short was our stay. But for those of us who have been there, it is beautiful.
Though Psalm 1 is not a Messianic Psalm, it is a good example of Christ being the only one who could fulfill the first three verses therein completely, though we are all urged to do the things spoken of there.
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.” Psalm 1:1-6.
The Christian should not be discouraged since this psalm seems to make a godly life seem impossible.
It is the Holy Spirit who helps us to keep these things, and even though we may not be able to keep them to perfection, God knows our heart and will care for us as promised if we truly strive toward the mark.
I believe Psalm 91 holds the same promise.
“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High…” Psalm 91:1a.
The secret place is God’s heart, His bosom, the place where Jesus was continually during His sojourn here on earth and should be for the believer also. This is a very real place in which those who practice the presence of God dwell.
Therein lies the rub; we may draw near to God and feel His presence for a time, but too often there are places that we do not want to take Him.
“Excuse me Father; I will be back in an hour or two, or perhaps a day or two, um, unless I am delayed longer. Here I will just shut this door, don’t worry I will be okay.”
And then behind a closed door between us and an omniscient God, we engage in whatever it is that we desire for ourselves; whether it be anger and bitterness toward others, lusts, drugs, drunkenness, or just blending in with an ungodly crowd in our need to be accepted by the world.
And like the prodigal son, when we come to our senses we return to God. Over and over, and over again, but do not worry, God will never cease to love us and will receive us back if we return with a humble and contrite heart and confess our sin.
But beware; the loss is yours, either by losing your life, your health, or your family while you are engaged in some gross sin, the very minimum loss will be the peace of residing in the bosom of the Father.
“Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You, which You have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence of the sons of men! You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the plots of man; You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.” Psalm 31:19-20.
That this type of relationship is available to us is revealed by Jesus Himself.
“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.’” John 14:23.
“…shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalm 91:1b.
If we place ourselves in the bosom of the Father we will see ourselves as being under the protection of the Almighty.
The idea of a shadow conjures up a couple of visions; first it has the image of finding shade in a desert land, anyone who has stood in the shade of a tree or rock when the temperature is 102 degrees will attest that it is a place to rest.
The second thought is one of standing within the shadow of one who is dedicated to protecting you, such as an eagle which God has compared Himself to. That you are in their shadow indicates that they are near enough to help.
“The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them. The Lord preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.” Psalm 145:18-20.
“I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.” Psalm 91:2.
A refuge is a shelter, a place of safety to run into in time of trouble.
“My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah.” Psalm 62:5-8.
A fortress is also a place of security, with the addition of thick walls able to take the battering of the enemy in their furious attempts to get to those within.
The omnipotent God is an impregnable fortress, strong enough to withstand the combined wrath of man, Satan, and all the demons of hell.
“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.” Psalm 18:2-3.
“…my God, in Him will I trust.” Psalm 91:2b.
Those who have been in this secret place, have abided under the shadow of the Almighty, have seen the security of their refuge within the fortress of the Lord, have no trouble trusting, for they have tested the Lord God and found Him trustworthy.
One of the strongest indicators that Psalm 91 is for all believers is that there are four different names for God found in these two verses.
If this had just concerned the Christ, the name Yahweh would most likely be the only name necessary, but that is not the case here.
The first name for God here is Most High, El Elyon, which emphasizes God’s strength and sovereignty and is used mostly in reference to Gentiles.
“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High…” Psalm 91:1a.
The second name Almighty, Shaddai, translates to the all-sufficient One, the provider.
“…shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalm 91:1b.
Lord, YHWH, possibly pronounced Yahweh, is the third one and means, the covenant making and covenant keeping God.
“I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress…’” Psalm 91:2a.
Yahweh, is the, I AM name God gave to Moses when He sent him to the enslaved Israelites in Egypt, see Exodus 3:14 below.
“Then Moses said to God, ‘Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you,” and they say to me, “What is His name?” what shall I say to them?’ And God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you.”’ Moreover God said to Moses, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: “The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’”” Exodus 3:13-15.
I AM is also the same name Jesus used to describe Himself to the Jews.
“Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.’” John 8:58.
The Jews response to this statement in the next verse showed that they clearly knew that Jesus was claiming to be I AM, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and here in Psalm 91.
“Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.” John 8:59.
This attempt to murder Jesus for blasphemy occurred again in John chapter ten, this time for calling God His Father.
“I and My Father are one [a unity, or one essence].” John 10:30.
“Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, ‘Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of these works do you stone Me?’ The Jews answered Him, saying, ‘For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.’” John 10:31-33.
The last name is God, Elohim, meaning, the creator.
“…my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.” Psalm 91:2b.
See also Genesis 1:1.
“In the beginning God [Elohim] created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1.
If you take the time to go back and plug these names in, these verses will become more meaningful.
As an aside I would like to point something out to you about the name YHWH.
The reason no one knows exactly how to pronounce this name is that devout Jews felt the name was too holy to say aloud, so they would substitute the word Adonai, meaning “my Lord” whenever coming across the name YHWH.
There are verses in the Scriptures where the word lord is used without being a substitute for the name YHWH.
Since this can become confusing, many versions of the old King James Bible, the New King James Bible, New American Standard Version, and other newer translations have devised a way to know when the name is the covenant name of God, YHWH (or Yahweh).
If the word used has the meaning lord, it will be written just as you see it here. However if the word Lord is used as a substitute for YHWH, the word LORD will be in all caps, except the letters ORD will be in a smaller type but still all caps.
Check your Bible, the word for YHWH in Psalm 90:17 and 91:2 should be the word LORD in the all caps format; my apologies to you because I do not know how to type LORD in such a fashion.
You will have to read the verses carefully in your Bible to see which meaning of the word lord is meant, whether the LORD, YHWH, or just lord a title of respect which can be used to address a man.
“Thus says the Lord [YHWH], the King of Israel, and his [Israel’s] Redeemer, the Lord [YHWH] of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no God [Elohim].’” Isaiah 44:6.
My Refuge and My Fortress, Part 1 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 9-23-15, updated on 10-15-23.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.