Reinhard
14 Prayer for Protection
Ps 91:11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
We can trust God to keep his angels encamped around us. We can purpose to abide under the shadow of the Almighty, simply by staying close to our great and chief Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ. We purpose to not get distracted or to wander away from his fold.
By God's grace, we purpose to walk in the fear of the Lord, that is, hating evil in our lives.
We purpose to be obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit. We go when we feel the liberty to do so. We stop and wait on God when we feel a check in the Spirit.
There have been many times, where being someplace at the wrong time would have meant serious injury. I am thankful to God for the many times, I was spared in the places I had to go for work or ministry.
Today, as I was driving home, someone cut in front of me changing lanes to pull into a driveway. I had to slam on my brakes and just barely avoided plowing into them. They apparently had not noticed me before making the turn. God spared me from an accident!
Psalm 91 has wonderful promises of protection that we can literally claim. We do our part by abiding in and setting our love on our Lord Jesus Christ. God promises to do His part, giving His angels charge over us in all of our ways.
Ps 91:1-8 He that dwelleth 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 will I trust. 3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. 4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. 5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. 7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. 8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
‘He that dwelleth’
Verse 1 starts out by saying ‘He that dwelleth’ We can choose to abide in our Lord Jesus Christ. First by being a Christian, that is, confessing Jesus as the Lord of our life and believing in our heart that God raised Jesus from the dead. The Bible says in Romans 10, that we are then saved. Second, we can dwell on the good things of the Word of God by praising and worshipping Him who is worthy of all our praise! That is not saying we have to be doing that every second, but we can have the attitude of graditude in our lives toward God.
There is the story told of the first officer of the ocean liner Titanic that sank. As the ship was sinking, he was in the water near the ship. Water was rushing into one of the ship’s smoke stacks. It looked like he was about to be sucked into the smoke stack. At the moment, he called out the phrase from Psalm 91, ‘he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways’ Just then, there was an explosion inside ship, and instead of being sucked into the ship, he was blown away from the ship near a lifeboat. He was picked up and lived to tell the story of his miraculous deliverance.
The Lord is my refuge and my fortress!
Verse 2 speaks of our confession. With our own mouths, we can declare who the Lord Jesus Christ is in our lives! We can say, ‘The Lord is my refuge and my fortress! My God, in Him will I trust!’ We can say from Psalm 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalm 103 lists among our benefits as believers in the Jesus Christ and His Word:
Ps 103:4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
We thank God for protecting us from the destruction of hell. And we thank God for protecting us from destruction in this life.
There shall no evil befall thee
God's promises are much better than an insurance policy. As we simply live God, we can claim His promises. We don't look to other people's experience above looking to God's unchanging Word!
Verses 9 through 13 of Psalm 91 are words we can pray and live over our lives. As we abide in Jesus, we claim that God's angels are keeping us in all of our ways.
9 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 nigh thy dwelling. 11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. 13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
Set our love on the Lord Jesus Christ
As Christians, we set our love on the Lord Jesus Christ. We show our love by obeying God's Word and the leading of the Holy Spirit. We thank God for delivering us out of any trouble. We thank God for a long life to share God's goodness with others!
14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. 15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. 16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.
Preserved from all evil – Psalm 121
Psalm 121 gives more powerful promises of God’s keeping power in our lives:
5 The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. 6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. 8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
As Christians, we purpose with God’s help to listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit and to turn away from ungodly counsel. We thank God for keeping us safe!
Quiet from fear of evil.
We thank God for His wonderful promises of protection from evil. We speak God's promises as we think on them and pray them!
Prov 1:33 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
Prov 12:21 There shall no evil happen to the just: but the wicked shall be filled with mischief.