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Psalm 91 · a question people ask

Does Psalm 91 promise that nothing bad will ever happen to someone who trusts God?

In the text

The psalm's promises are strong: "A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it will not come near you" (91:7), and "no evil shall happen to you, neither shall any plague come near your dwelling" (91:10). The same psalm also speaks of trouble. It promises deliverance "from the snare of the fowler" (91:3), and when God speaks he says, "I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him" (91:15). And when the devil used 91:11-12 to tell Jesus, "throw yourself down" (Matthew 4:6), Jesus answered, "You shall not test the Lord, your God" (Matthew 4:7). Christians read the psalm's promises in more than one way, and the psalm itself doesn't say how each one is kept. These notes don't choose a reading, and they pass no judgment on anyone who holds on to these promises, or on anyone who has trusted God and still been harmed.

The verses

“For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly pestilence.”
Psalm 91:3 · World English Bible
“A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it will not come near you.”
Psalm 91:7 · World English Bible
“no evil shall happen to you, neither shall any plague come near your dwelling.”
Psalm 91:10 · World English Bible
“He will call on me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him, and honor him.”
Psalm 91:15 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Psalm 91

Psalm 91: The shadow of the Almighty

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).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions