With so much going on with the fear of contagious virus I thought I’d write about the protection and safety we have in our loving heavenly Father.  One of the most widely taught and spoken verses for protection is Psalm 91.  The whole chapter talks about protection from various things.  As I was reading it this week, as I’m sure many other have also, the words in this Psalm bring peace to my heart concerning safety for me and my family, and my Country.  I’m just sharing from the first three verses; however, I strongly encourage you to read and meditate on the full chapter.

Psalm 91:1-3 – He that 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”.  Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence.

He – meaning anyone. Anyone willing to trust in the Lord is eligible to receive His protection.  Dwells – meaning where a person lives and how a person lives by giving attention to certain things.  It also means to write or speak insistently, which brings into play what we are confessing over our lives. There is life and death in the power of our tongue (words). (Proverbs 18:21)

To me the secret place is my faith.  This is where my peace is. Faith is what brings the promises of God into our lives. It isn’t secret in the way that others can’t have this faith also, it’s a secret place between one person and their God, and each believer has this secret place of their own – it’s called a personal relationship with Jesus as Savior, Redeemer, Healer, Counselor, and Lord.

The Most High is of course the Creator of the Universe, God Almighty, the only One True God.  Knowing Him and His Word, and believing His Word (the Bible) builds our faith to receive the blessings He as provided for us.

Abide refers to where we remain and endure.  In other words, to abide in Christ means to remain focused on His Word and speaking it over our lives, no matter what the circumstances are or the attacks that (seemingly) want to come against us.  To abide and endure mean to be firmly fixed by our faith in God to protect us and to heal us.

A shadow is usually thought of as a darken place where there is not much light, but a shadow is a representation of something larger, so the shadow of the Almighty is the representation of His Blessings going forth to cover and protection His children.  To follow and watch closely for His Shadow is the secret place of protection from sickness and disease.

A refuge is a shelter of protection from danger or distress, and a fortress is like a fort – we are covered around all sides.  But notice that these two things happen only when we are trusting God.  It is our faith in HIM that brings the protection to us.

To deliver means to set free and to save. A snare is a trap that often consists of a noose for catching a prey.  In regard to sickness and disease, the snare is fear. Fear works like noose choking out our breath of faith.  The fowler is of course the one who sets the trap, and sickness is the trap of the devil to bring destruction and death to us.  Now I must confess that before when I read about pestilence, I always thought about actual creepy-crawly bugs of different types.  However, do we not refer to the flu as a “bug”!!  Anyways, I decided to look the word up and guess what, the dictionary describes the word pestilence as a “destructive infectious swiftly spreading disease”. So, I’m thinking that pretty much covers the attack of colds and flu.  At any rate, God is able to deliver us from them all.

My purpose in writing on the protection of God is to help put at ease any fears you may be experiencing, and help you recognize the progression the devil uses by the use of fear; and to help build your faith to believe that God can, and wants, to keep you healed and in good health.  I encourage you to read Psalm 91 out loud and personalize it as a confession over your life, your family and home.   Have a great week.