Psalm 91:10 – Yes and Amen?

This is Joni Scott with “In the Secret” God makes bold promises in Psalm 91 about deliverance and protection! So great in fact, we may shy away from trusting His words are for us! We will be talking about that today as we examine Psalm 91:10. If you are new to the podcast I invite you to go back and begin at verse 1. I encourage you to  memorize and meditatie on this important Psalm. Today I am going to read Psalm 91:9-10. “Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High thy habitation.. (10) there shall no evil befall thee neither shall any plague come near thy dwelling. Lets read verse 10 again. Read it outloud with me, excpet where it is says “You” say “Me” “There shall no evil befall ME, neither shall any plague come near My dwelling!” I am not what is called a “name it and claim it” preacher. In fact, if you heard the devotional about verse 3, called “Surely” I explain that we must all come to grips with death. In fact, The Bible says “IT is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting, for death is the end of all things, the living should take this to heart.” The truth is, We will all pass from this earth to our eternal destination. When life is sunshine and roses, we are content to enjoy the day and not consider the future. We take eternity for granted, and put it on a back shelf.  Yet, when I am at a funeral, the people are talking about whether or not that individual is safe in heaven. Of sourse, they like to think and hope they are. Death and sorrow are inevitable, and thankfully, it brings many of us face to face with the imporatnt questions about Heaven, Hell, Jesus, and Life after death. Those are good questions. Ecclesiastes 12 tells us to “Remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not.” We are encouraged to be “Sober minded.” We should reconcile with God, not be flippant about His great grace. We are all doomed to an eternity if hell if we do not look at the cross and repent of our sin, and give God our lives. There is no guarantees in this world because it is fraught with sin. The bible makes it clear, this world is the devils domain. We can only escape the grasp of Satans talons by diving into the rock, which is JESUS. There alone can we fulfill the prerequisite to verse 10, which is verse nine. “Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation…” Therefore. Stop there. What is the last word “there for?” It is there to tell us the tunnel to safety is in the rock called Jesus. And then… we can declare the words of Psalm 91:10 “No evil shall befall thee, neither shall any plague come near thy dwelling.” Even so, I found myself thinking the way so many of us do: “But what about this person who died? This one who has a chronic condition?” And it seemed as though God swept into my thoughts and said “Do not make excuses for my promises.” He made a promise to those who seek Him here. Its there to reassure and comfort us. Today, lets take Him at His word. People often point out that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego told King Nebuchadnezzer that God was able to deliver them from the fiery furnace, but even if God did  not deliver them,  they would not bow to the golden image. Recently I made a note that not only did they say “God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, ” they added “and He will deliver us!” This threesome believed they would be delivered! They admitted this promise they declared may not happen, yet they equally believed deliverance was inevitable. How does that work? It comes back to Faith in God. Hiding in Him. choosing to trust our Father God despite the loud and rancous voices of woe in and out of our head. Make the promises of Gods Word yours! Look at the children of Israel in the book of Exodus as Darkness, Hail, boils, and locusts covered Egypt, but in the land of Goshen where Gods people resided, none of these terrors assailed them! In the end, the blood on their door protected them from seeing their first born put to death, as Jesus blood on the door of our heart protects us still today.  This story is here so we see that God does indeed know His children from those who do not call on His name! A few years back the youth group from our church, including my son, were heading back from a concert when the suburban they were in hit a patch of black ice and flipped a few times before leaving the road and  landing upside down. Thankfully, my son Joel crawled out safely and not a one the eight passengers was injured. It was,  of course, horrifying, to think what “might” have been. The next day, the wife of the man driving, Brad, went and took pictures of the scene. The drivers compartment, where her husband was sitting formed a perfect, “Brad shaped” dent. The damage literally stopped a millimeter from crushing his skull. There was no doubt, God protected them and this evil did not befall them! I could spend all day recounting the many stories I have known personally, showing Gods hand in delivering us from more evils and plagues than we have even known. So why not now? Why not you? Why do we assume Gods promises are for someone else somewhere else? For today, lets assume instead that this promise is yours. Like an elegantly wrapped gift that showed up on your doorstep. God says to you “Do not be afraid. It will not come near your dwelling. I am here with you.” I am feeling that this is the Hope God desires to breathe into your lungs today. 2 Corinthians 1:20 says “For all the promises of God in Him are yes and in Him AMen!” Notice again.. In HIM. Live and dwell and be IN HIM. When you are, you will see His promises fulfilled in your life. If you are not IN HIM things wont make sense, and you may be angry and frustrated at this ethereal being called “God.” That will be Because you do not know HIM. Dwelling in Him causes us to know His character, and His perfect Love for us puts us at ease. 1 Peter 1:4 says “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature.” By what? By the promises. Keeping Gods word and His promises close enables us to navigate the dark waters we go through.  Then we also can partake of His divine nature, much the same as growing up in a healthy, loving family, causes us to believe and strive for a good life in our adulthood. Hebrews 11, which is called the “Hall of Faith” has a lot to say about promises. It says that “Through faith” people “subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, and stopped the mouth of Lions.” The promise was obtained? Yes. It was fought for! There it was… waiting to be claimed, but at times a battle was waged to get to it. Father abraham is a great example. He is in this Hall of faith for “wavering not”  at the promise he would have an heir born to him. Interestingly, when I read the story of Abraham in Genesis, I see quite a bit of wavering. When God spoke to him about his own flesh and blood becoming a nation he cried out about his handmaids child “Oh that Ishmael, would live before thee.” Cant you just see Gods giving Himself a face slap? (I mean, that is if you think God touches His face during the Covid 19 crisis) But I picture God like “Oi vey! You STILL don’t understand? Despite ALL the times I promised you this?” In the end we know that despite having a son was completely, utterly, ridiculously impossible, Abrahams wife Sarah bore Him Isaac, who became the head of a whole new nation. Hebrews 11:13  Also ays something interesting about Gods promises. It says some saints “died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and welcomed them from afar.” The promises of God are true. Apparently, sometimes we are moving towards the promise, fighting for it, and sometimes our fight is for another who will come after us. Sometimes the answer will not look the way we thought it should. But fight! For goodness sake! Fight for the promises of God! Then you will be in heavens “Hall of Faith!” God will say “Well done! Good and faithful servant.” Faithful because we believed His promises. Faithful because we stewarded  them well by using them. Not just putting them on our wall as decorations, but actually acting like we believe them. Sure, talk to God about it when you are confused, but dont let His promises go. I think that’s why Abraham still made the Hebrews 11 honor roll. He doubted in the flesh, but he kept believing in His soul. It was a battle to keep believing at times, but nonetheless, he held the promise close to His heart. Ready? Lets read the promise of Psalm 91:10 again with emphasis on Me and MY Therefore, No evil shall befall ME neither shall any plague come near MY dwelling! Your dwelling is the secret place with God, where no weapon formed against you can prosper! Be well and protected under His wings! PSalm 91:11 Angelic Encounters It was the third day of the school year and I was on a new bus route.  I rumbled down a dark side street at 6:30 am,. Normally the road was empty, but this morning , other cars quickly turned  in behind me, having been diverted by construction. The sudden glare made it dificult to see as I pulled alongside a waiting student, following the bus drivers protcol to safely provide entry for them. I then shut my door, looked in my side mirrors and prepared to move forward. “Joni, joni Joni” A dissembodied  voice spoke with both urgently and calm, into my left ear. It made me stop and look. Just then I noticed there was another student, running to my door. I had not seen them in the glare of car lights against the mirror. But who called my name to tell me. No. Warn me? It made me shake. I looked behind me. A teen sat slumped against his window in sleep, oblivious to the voice I just heard. Was tragedy averted? Would the second student getting on at that stop been injured in some wayif I continued forward? Why else would an angel have warned me? Yes, I believe the voice I heard had to be an angel. FOr me, there is no other explanation that makes sense. Today we are going to talk about these amazing assistants of the most High God.

This is Joni Scott with “In the Secret” God makes bold promises in Psalm 91 about deliverance and protection! So great in fact, we may shy away from trusting His words are for us! We will be talking about that today as we examine Psalm 91:10. If you are new to the podcast I invite you to go back and begin at verse 1. I encourage you to  memorize and meditatie on this important Psalm. Today I am going to read Psalm 91:9-10. “Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High thy habitation.. (10) there shall no evil befall thee neither shall any plague come near thy dwelling. Lets read verse 10 again. Read it outloud with me, excpet where it is says “You” say “Me” “There shall no evil befall ME, neither shall any plague come near My dwelling!” I am not what is called a “name it and claim it” preacher. In fact, if you heard the devotional about verse 3, called “Surely” I explain that we must all come to grips with death. In fact, The Bible says “IT is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting, for death is the end of all things, the living should take this to heart.” The truth is, We will all pass from this earth to our eternal destination. When life is sunshine and roses, we are content to enjoy the day and not consider the future. We take eternity for granted, and put it on a back shelf.  Yet, when I am at a funeral, the people are talking about whether or not that individual is safe in heaven. Of sourse, they like to think and hope they are. Death and sorrow are inevitable, and thankfully, it brings many of us face to face with the imporatnt questions about Heaven, Hell, Jesus, and Life after death. Those are good questions. Ecclesiastes 12 tells us to “Remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not.” We are encouraged to be “Sober minded.” We should reconcile with God, not be flippant about His great grace. We are all doomed to an eternity if hell if we do not look at the cross and repent of our sin, and give God our lives. There is no guarantees in this world because it is fraught with sin. The bible makes it clear, this world is the devils domain. We can only escape the grasp of Satans talons by diving into the rock, which is JESUS. There alone can we fulfill the prerequisite to verse 10, which is verse nine. “Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation…” Therefore. Stop there. What is the last word “there for?” It is there to tell us the tunnel to safety is in the rock called Jesus. And then… we can declare the words of Psalm 91:10 “No evil shall befall thee, neither shall any plague come near thy dwelling.” Even so, I found myself thinking the way so many of us do: “But what about this person who died? This one who has a chronic condition?” And it seemed as though God swept into my thoughts and said “Do not make excuses for my promises.” He made a promise to those who seek Him here. Its there to reassure and comfort us. Today, lets take Him at His word. People often point out that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego told King Nebuchadnezzer that God was able to deliver them from the fiery furnace, but even if God did  not deliver them,  they would not bow to the golden image. Recently I made a note that not only did they say “God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, ” they added “and He will deliver us!” This threesome believed they would be delivered! They admitted this promise they declared may not happen, yet they equally believed deliverance was inevitable. How does that work? It comes back to Faith in God. Hiding in Him. choosing to trust our Father God despite the loud and rancous voices of woe in and out of our head. Make the promises of Gods Word yours! Look at the children of Israel in the book of Exodus as Darkness, Hail, boils, and locusts covered Egypt, but in the land of Goshen where Gods people resided, none of these terrors assailed them! In the end, the blood on their door protected them from seeing their first born put to death, as Jesus blood on the door of our heart protects us still today.  This story is here so we see that God does indeed know His children from those who do not call on His name! A few years back the youth group from our church, including my son, were heading back from a concert when the suburban they were in hit a patch of black ice and flipped a few times before leaving the road and  landing upside down. Thankfully, my son Joel crawled out safely and not a one the eight passengers was injured. It was,  of course, horrifying, to think what “might” have been. The next day, the wife of the man driving, Brad, went and took pictures of the scene. The drivers compartment, where her husband was sitting formed a perfect, “Brad shaped” dent. The damage literally stopped a millimeter from crushing his skull. There was no doubt, God protected them and this evil did not befall them! I could spend all day recounting the many stories I have known personally, showing Gods hand in delivering us from more evils and plagues than we have even known. So why not now? Why not you? Why do we assume Gods promises are for someone else somewhere else? For today, lets assume instead that this promise is yours. Like an elegantly wrapped gift that showed up on your doorstep. God says to you “Do not be afraid. It will not come near your dwelling. I am here with you.” I am feeling that this is the Hope God desires to breathe into your lungs today. 2 Corinthians 1:20 says “For all the promises of God in Him are yes and in Him AMen!” Notice again.. In HIM. Live and dwell and be IN HIM. When you are, you will see His promises fulfilled in your life. If you are not IN HIM things wont make sense, and you may be angry and frustrated at this ethereal being called “God.” That will be Because you do not know HIM. Dwelling in Him causes us to know His character, and His perfect Love for us puts us at ease. 1 Peter 1:4 says “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature.” By what? By the promises. Keeping Gods word and His promises close enables us to navigate the dark waters we go through.  Then we also can partake of His divine nature, much the same as growing up in a healthy, loving family, causes us to believe and strive for a good life in our adulthood. Hebrews 11, which is called the “Hall of Faith” has a lot to say about promises. It says that “Through faith” people “subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, and stopped the mouth of Lions.” The promise was obtained? Yes. It was fought for! There it was… waiting to be claimed, but at times a battle was waged to get to it. Father abraham is a great example. He is in this Hall of faith for “wavering not”  at the promise he would have an heir born to him. Interestingly, when I read the story of Abraham in Genesis, I see quite a bit of wavering. When God spoke to him about his own flesh and blood becoming a nation he cried out about his handmaids child “Oh that Ishmael, would live before thee.” Cant you just see Gods giving Himself a face slap? (I mean, that is if you think God touches His face during the Covid 19 crisis) But I picture God like “Oi vey! You STILL don’t understand? Despite ALL the times I promised you this?” In the end we know that despite having a son was completely, utterly, ridiculously impossible, Abrahams wife Sarah bore Him Isaac, who became the head of a whole new nation. Hebrews 11:13  Also ays something interesting about Gods promises. It says some saints “died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and welcomed them from afar.” The promises of God are true. Apparently, sometimes we are moving towards the promise, fighting for it, and sometimes our fight is for another who will come after us. Sometimes the answer will not look the way we thought it should. But fight! For goodness sake! Fight for the promises of God! Then you will be in heavens “Hall of Faith!” God will say “Well done! Good and faithful servant.” Faithful because we believed His promises. Faithful because we stewarded  them well by using them. Not just putting them on our wall as decorations, but actually acting like we believe them. Sure, talk to God about it when you are confused, but dont let His promises go. I think that’s why Abraham still made the Hebrews 11 honor roll. He doubted in the flesh, but he kept believing in His soul. It was a battle to keep believing at times, but nonetheless, he held the promise close to His heart. Ready? Lets read the promise of Psalm 91:10 again with emphasis on Me and MY Therefore, No evil shall befall ME neither shall any plague come near MY dwelling! Your dwelling is the secret place with God, where no weapon formed against you can prosper! Be well and protected under His wings! PSalm 91:11 Angelic Encounters It was the third day of the school year and I was on a new bus route.  I rumbled down a dark side street at 6:30 am,. Normally the road was empty, but this morning , other cars quickly turned  in behind me, having been diverted by construction. The sudden glare made it dificult to see as I pulled alongside a waiting student, following the bus drivers protcol to safely provide entry for them. I then shut my door, looked in my side mirrors and prepared to move forward. “Joni, joni Joni” A dissembodied  voice spoke with both urgently and calm, into my left ear. It made me stop and look. Just then I noticed there was another student, running to my door. I had not seen them in the glare of car lights against the mirror. But who called my name to tell me. No. Warn me? It made me shake. I looked behind me. A teen sat slumped against his window in sleep, oblivious to the voice I just heard. Was tragedy averted? Would the second student getting on at that stop been injured in some wayif I continued forward? Why else would an angel have warned me? Yes, I believe the voice I heard had to be an angel. FOr me, there is no other explanation that makes sense. Today we are going to talk about these amazing assistants of the most High God.