Psalms

There is safety and security in the one who abides in the Lord.  This Psalm may have been written with the army in mind that was approaching a battle.  Yet, because it doesn't define the perils, it speaks to everyone who has felt threatened in this life.  The Sovereign God has not forgot His people.  The Sovereign God is in control.  Some believe this Psalm was written by Moses and is companion to Psalm 90.  While Psalm 90 dealt with the difficulties and frailty of life, this Psalm deals with the dangers of life.

Safety of Abiding in the Presence of God

¹ He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
² I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust."
This secret place is a personal dwelling place.  It is intimate in that it a person dwells their by invitation and choice.  No one else can bring you there.  It is abiding in the acknowledgement that He is my God and my Creator and my hope and salvation can only be found in Him.  When we abide there, we come to the knowledge and declare it with our mouth, "He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust."

³ Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler
And from the perilous pestilence.
⁴ He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

The snare of the trapper represents those unseen and hidden traps that threaten our life.  God will deliver you from these traps and from the pestilence that was as deadly as any trap.  We see the picture of a mother hen protecting her babies in the shadow of her wings.  It is a place of refuge and safety; a place where we find comfort from those things that threaten us.  He is our shield from that which threatens us.

⁵ You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
The terror by night can be as daunting as the real terrors of the day.  We can imagine all kinds of atrocities and awful things in the dark of night.  And those who have lived through battles relive those things when their eyes close.  God can take away that fear - both real and imagined.  The soldier feared the battle and the arrows flying, but also the pestilence and disease that was part of that life.  Our very real God can deal with these very real fears, but He can also deal with the spiritual fears or our spiritual battles.  Each of us have fought battles of one kind or another.  Our fears sometimes paralyze us and harm our faith.  The Lord will fight these battles and relinquish our fears.

⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.
⁸ Only with your eyes shall you look,
And see the reward of the wicked.
It's as if the destruction were only visible but not so close as to affect the righteous man of God. 

⁹ Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
¹⁰ No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
¹¹ For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
¹² In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
¹³ You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
What an incredible source of comfort and sense of protection.  Because we have made our dwelling place with the Most High we can know that we aren't at the mercy of any evil.  Evil will not befall us.  God has given His angels charge over us.   They will keep us and protect us.  How many times have they kept us, guarded us and smashed the evil attacks on our life when we aren't even aware?  How many times have they bore us up when we were unaware and felt 'lucky' when the threat passed?  How many times have we been moving toward a place where we would dash our foot when the wind blew, a bird called, a seemingly random event changed our direction for a split second.  And in that blink of an eye, our steps were guarded and we weren't even aware.  The power over our life is even beyond the threat of the lion and cobra.  Even those powerful and deadly threats are nothing in the eyes of the Lord.

¹⁴ "Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him on high, because he has known My name.

God is speaking in this section and He is talking to us.

To set our love on Him is to have that deep longing and clinging to God with all we have.  We humbly seek Him and He exalts us by delivering us and setting us on high.  He does this because we know his name, we give the glory to Him for all He has done.  Claiming we are lucky or skilled is to steal God's glory.

¹⁵ He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver him and honor him.
¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation."

What a great promise.  This brings to mind 2 Timothy 2:19.  The solid foundation of God is sealed in two ways.  "The Lord knows those who are His," and, "Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity."