Psalm 91 explained
The shadow of the Almighty
Psalm 91:1-16 · World English Bible
“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.””
In short
Psalm 91 names God four ways in its first two verses, says deliver three times with three different Hebrew verbs (91:3, 91:14, 91:15), and ends with God himself speaking. Its lines about angels (91:11-12) are quoted in the Gospels by the devil, to Jesus, who answered, "You shall not test the Lord, your God" (Matthew 4:7).
What's really going on
Most High, Almighty, the LORD, my God
The psalm opens with a place to live: "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty" (91:1) (tap secret place, Most High, Almighty). Here is what almost everyone misses: in its first two verses the psalm names God four ways. Most High is Elyon, and Almighty is Shaddai (91:1). The next verse adds the LORD and "my God": "I will say of the LORD" (91:2), "He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust" (91:2) (tap refuge). Will rest in 91:1 is yitlonan, from the verb lun, which Brown-Driver-Briggs gives as "lodge, pass the night, fig. abide"; the chapter on Psalm 30 studies it. The first verse speaks of "He who dwells" (91:1); the second speaks as "I" (91:2).
Easily missed
Three *deliver*s, three verbs
The WEB has deliver three times in Psalm 91: "he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler" (91:3), "therefore I will deliver him" (91:14), and "I will deliver him, and honor him" (91:15). In Hebrew each is a different verb: natsal, palat and chalats (tap deliver in each verse).
Psalm 91:3 · Psalm 91:14 · Psalm 91:15
The Hebrew word behind it
סֵתֶרsetersay SEI-ter
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "covering, hiding-place, secrecy". Strong's: "a cover". "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty" (91:1). The Psalms have it ten times in Hebrew. "In the secret place of his tabernacle, he will hide me" (Psalm 27:5); "You are my hiding place" (Psalm 32:7); "You are my hiding place and my shield" (Psalm 119:114): each secret place and hiding place there is this word. The chapter on Psalm 81 has it of God himself: "I answered you in the secret place of thunder" (Psalm 81:7).
Talk about it
"I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.”" (91:2). The psalm says it out loud. What would it mean for you to say it about something you face this week?
Read all of Psalm 91 with Favor
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe