The Victory of Christ in Psalm 91

Introduction

One of the tragedies of modern evangelicalism is the loss of the Psalter. One of the important elements of the protestant reformation was the return of and the development of Psalm singing. The congregation was once again taught to sing. Liturgies were put into the common language of the people. Tunes for congregational singing were constructed. One of John Calvin’s lifelong projects was the creation of the Genevan Psalter. The French Protestants, called Huguenots, were marked by the singing of Psalms all throughout their lives and even to their deaths as they faced great persecution. The Scottish protestants gave us the 1650 Scottish Psalter, the Westminster assembly divines promoted it, and the first book printed on North American soil was the Bay Psalm Book printed in 1640. 

Today, many churches never sing Psalms, although I am glad to see that there is a return of Psalm singing making waves in certain parts of the reformed church in particular. I say that the loss of the Psalter is a tragedy not only because God commands us to sing the Psalms and that it is a wonderful song book for the Church from God, but also because the regular singing of the Psalms immerses us in all the experiences of the Christian life in this world and provide us with ammunition for the spiritual battles that we will face. The Psalms prepare us and equip us to face the spiritual battles that we will face in this life in this world. The Psalms are a much needed antidote to our modern materialistic and naturalistic world by showing us what the world is really like – there is more going on here than first meets the eye.

To display this to you, we will consider Psalm 91 that we have sung and read.

Christ is Our Shelter (v. 1-2)

Psalm 91 does not attribute this Psalm to any particular author, however, one tradition holds that if a Psalm does not attribute itself to any author, you would consider the author mentioned most recently before it as the author. In this case, the author of Psalm 90 is Moses, the man of God. Now this tradition may not be the case in every instance in the Psalter, but the contents of this Psalm really seem to be very Mosaic in authorship for two main reasons. The first, is that there are a number of similarities between Psalm 90 and 91 that recount God’s faithfulness to Israel. Psalm 90 starts out, “Lord you have been our dwelling place in all generations.” Psalm 91 starts out, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most high will abide in the Shadow of the Almighty.” 

In the second place, Psalm 91 reflects the same language and experiences of Moses and Israel. In verse 4, Psalm 91 speaks of the LORD covering His people in His wings. This comports with the Lord’s deliverance of Moses and the people in Exodus, as the LORD speaks from the Mountain in Exodus 19 saying, “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.”

Furthermore, we see very similar language in another song of Moses, in Deuteronomy 32. Israel is given the law, Joshua is commissioned to lead the people, Moses blesses them, and in the song, Moses speaks of God over and over as their Rock, the Rock of their salvation, and as spreading His wings over them. He also uses the same title of “Most High” as he does in Psalm 91, the Hebrew word “‘elyon,” meaning high above every other power. This title is used in Deuteronomy 32 to show the LORD as the one true God over the demons and false gods that he mentions some sacrificed to; just as here in Psalm 91, there are other interesting evil spiritual creatures mentioned.

In Psalm 91 there is mention of God commanding his angels concerning you, to guard you in all your ways, and for Moses in Israel, God, in their Exodus journeys sent angels to guard them, Exodus 23:20, 33:2, and other places.

So, Moses, in the life of Israel, in their Exodus battles and journeys, they fought more than just physical enemies. They engaged in spiritual battle and warfare. It was not just Pharaoh and the Egyptian people, but the gods of Egypt and the spiritual forces of evil in Egypt which God judged, defeated, delivered Israel from and showed His power over.

And so the first refrain of Psalm 91 is reflection upon the LORD, the Most High, being the shelter, protector, and defender of His people.

Christ Delivers us from Spiritual Forces of Evil (v. 3-10)

But what does the LORD deliver His people from in Psalm 91? Verse 3, “he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.” Now what is a fowler? A fowler is an old word we don’t use anymore. A fowler is basically a hunter, but one that hunts for game primarily using traps. It is a person who is a trapper of game, to eat and devour. He sets out the trap, and the animal comes along, unsuspecting, and snap! He is now dinner. Now this Psalm is not saying that God delivers us from literal fowlers, fowlers don’t hunt humans, though of course cannibals are a real thing. But this is one of the biblical images that the Bible uses to describe the schemes of the devil. This is the same imagery used in Psalm 124 which says, “We have escaped LIKE a bird from the snare of the fowlers.” This should make us think of the way Peter describes the tactics of the devil in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

So these are the schemes of the devil that God’s people are delivered from. So then the deadly pestilence from which we are delivered, should be seen as speaking to evil as much as literal plague – the deadly pestilence of sin and spiritual forces.

So that is the first set from which we are delivered, and verse 4 says He will cover you with His pinions. The pinion is the feather, or the wing of the bird, and “under his wings you will find refuge.” So Christ shelters us in Himself, and His “faithfulness is a shield and buckler.” His faithfulness is a shield and buckler, a buckler is just a smaller shield, not a belt buckle. So the fact that Christ is faithful to His promises means He will not fail to protect and guard and keep us from evil. He remains steadfast in protecting us. We do not need to fear that He will change His mind and let us be devoured by the enemy. He is always our shield.

Now this should remind us of Ephesians 6 and the armor of God, which I think Paul probably has Psalm 91 in mind when he writes this part of Ephesians. Remember the context of the armor of God, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” And then he says, “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one…” So there is the shield of faith, which extinguishes the flaming darts of the evil one. The snare of the fowler, the pestilence are flaming darts of the evil one. And Psalm 91 even mentions the flaming darts nearly by name, in verse 5, we are not to fear “the arrow that flies by day.” So this spiritual armor of God is to be found covered and standing in the Lord Jesus Christ, “be strong IN the Lord and IN the strength of HIS might.” Christ is our armor, our shield and protector.

Psalm 91v5-6 mentions more evil from which we are protected, “You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.” The Septuagint puts it this way, “Thou shalt not be afraid of terror by night; nor of the arrow flying by day; nor of the evil thing that walks in darkness; nor of calamity, and the evil spirit at noon-day.” So this draws out the reality that these are not mere material dangers spoken of, but evil things. “The evil thing that walks in darkness…and the evil spirit at noon-day.” Perhaps in mind are particular night demons and noon demons. Indeed some traditions have prayed Psalm 91 as a prayer for when you lay down to sleep. Or maybe Israel would think of the Destroyer, the angel who brought death upon Egypt’s firstborn – yet, they who are under the blood of the Lamb are safe.

So verse 7, “A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you…” speaking of the pestilence. We need this encouragement today when we look around our world and we see evil all around us, people falling left and right to the schemes of the devil, or when we see God’s judgment falling all around us – “it will not come near you.” Christ is able to preserve and protect His people in the midst of great evil and death. We don’t take the black-pill. America could fall, the globalists could slaughter humans left and right through their various demonically inspired plans and schemes, but Christians cannot be touched – even if we suffer and die – we are good! The Church will be preserved, and not only preserved in the midst of such evil, but it will continue to be built and purified.

Verse 8, “You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.” How perfectly this is spoken of Jesus, the only in all purity and with all piercing eyes of fire, truly looks to see the recompense of the wicked, the repayment of the wicked, His look makes that wicked and evil right.

Do we not see Jesus doing this and these things in the gospels in His ministry, in His bringing and preaching of the Kingdom of Heaven? The demonic and evil spirits had such a grip on the land and many people; and left and right we see Jesus casting out evil spirits, casting out legion, casting out disabling spirits, freeing people from the bondage of evil, making things right, making recompense on the wicked. He was doing Psalm 91 things. He didn’t come indifferent to the suffering that evil brought, He didn’t come naive to the spiritual world – He is the ultimate warrior, He came to fight, and bring war on evil spirits and drive them out with authority – and they knew it. These Psalms were declaring hundred and hundred of years before Christ, the victory of Christ over the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of spiritual forces of evil – telling of the deliverance He would bring in His wings. These songs were sung telling evil of its defeat, and Jesus comes, and their defeat is now incarnate.

Christ and Satan in the Wilderness

In verse 11-12 we see that God commands His angels, and employs them in His service for His people – spiritual beings for spiritual battle. Today we typically don’t think much about demons and real spiritual forces of evil with which we battle, but we think even less about the good spiritual forces of angels. We are certainly warned not to worship them or be overly fascinated with them, but they are a spiritual reality in our world and in the Bible, and there are more good angels than fallen angels.

Now as you read verse 11-12, this should sound familiar to you. This is the very passage Satan used and twisted in tempting Jesus in the wilderness. The devil took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and said, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” And Jesus responds, “It is written, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”

It is as if Satan is trying to figure out if this really is the Son of God, the one he knows will crush him, as his first two temptations begin with this statement, “if you are the Son of God…” You see Satan knew these Psalms were true and knew they were about the Son of God, and Jesus, as He always does, does not answer how the questioner wants Him to answer, but Jesus does answer, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test,” Jesus identifying Himself as the LORD God. And Satan gets it, his third test he does not say, “if you are the Son of God;” he says, “worship me, and I’ll give you all these kingdoms of the world.” Jesus rebukes Him, the devil leaves him, and Matthew 4:11 says, “behold, angels came and were ministering to him [Jesus].” Psalm 91 fulfilled in the Son of God.

I love how Satan left out verse 13 of Psalm 91, which right after talking about angels bearing you up says, “You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.” Why didn’t He say, “If you are the Son of God, trample the lion and adder underfoot?” That would be too dangerous, for it speaks of his own demise. In the Bible the devil is compared to both a lion and a serpent, and a dragon, as the King James Version translates serpent in Psalm 91.

This is the Genesis 3:15 promise that the serpent would bruise His heel, but the seed of the woman would bruise, or crush the serpent’s head. That is the conflict of Scripture and the promise of the gospel set out in Genesis 3:15, it’s developed throughout the Bible, sung of in the Psalms, and fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

The amazing thing is that just as the believer is shielded by, and taking refuge in Christ in Psalm 91, as He crushes serpents, so the believer, in Christ, also has crushing authority over evil.

We in Him

Consider the episode in Luke 10 where Jesus sends out the 72. After they go out, they return to Jesus saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” And He said to them, ““I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.” This is Psalm 91! And in Psalm 91, the context is very clear that Jesus is not talking about authority to tread on mere creepy crawly things, but evil spirits. Interestingly, the septuagint translates Psalm 91 here as saying, “Thou shalt tread on the asp and basilisk: and thou shalt trample on the lion and the dragon.” The basilisk is considered as a legendary reptilian creature, that is called the “serpent king.” It was small but so venomous it left venom behind it as it slithered, and it was so deadly it was said it would bring death to anyone who looked it in the eye. Legendary creature or evil spirit may be the same thing here. Christ has authority over all evil and we in Him.

But right after this in Luke 10, Jesus says this very important word. He’s given them authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt them. Then He says, “Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” This is an important admonition from our Lord. We want to know and recognize the spiritual reality that we have in Christ, but our rejoicing and glory is not in the derivative authority we have, but it is in Christ, and His Kingdom, and that are names are written in heaven and that we have eternal life. The glory and joy is that there are pleasures forevermore at God’s right hand, and fullness of joy IN HIS PRESENCE. Spiritual battle is hard and difficult and it’s for a short time, but the greater thing, the reason for rejoicing is that one day the war will all be over and we’ll be with Jesus. This is the eschatology of Psalm 91 – the LORD is our shield and buckler in battle, but the end of the Psalm, verse 16 says, “With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation” – that’s eternity with Christ. That’s the telos, the aim, and the goal. We want to live forever with Jesus. If we don’t really rejoice in that, we will be devoured and destroyed by evil. But it’s because of where we’re going and what we want – Jesus Himself – that now, we trample the dragon underfoot to get there. And so Paul says, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” The God of peace crushes Satan under your feet. Because He is the prince of peace, He makes war and crushes Satan, even under our feet, so we have peace with Him forever. He makes peace not by tolerance, but by crushing evil.

Psalm 91 is fulfilled in the ministry of Jesus Christ and His ongoing ministry in His Church. It is the gospel of the kingdom. The promise of this Psalm is that Satan will not defeat you. Evil will not win. Christ is the Victor, and so is all IN HIM.

I love what Charles Spurgeon says, “The people of God are the real ‘George and the Dragon,’ the true Lion-Kings and serpent tamers. Their dominion over the powers of darkness makes them cry, ‘Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy word.’”

The Psalm are a Weapon in Spiritual Warfare

My desire is that this will help you to see that the Psalms are ever relevant for the people of God, the Church of Jesus Christ, as she continues on earth. And that we desperately need them, and that they are a fit tool and weapon in spiritual battle, which God has given us, and which we need to unsheath and use. I pray this whets your appetite for better understanding the Psalms for use in fighting against temptation to sin, for fighting against the flesh, for use against the devil, and for use against the world. And that singing them is a particular nuisance and kryptonite to the devil. He hates when God’s people sing God’s song of his defeat and the victory of Christ, the Son of God; and he loves when our voices our silent of singing, or we trade them for crumbs and pebbles of man-made toothless sing-songs. There is a real bite and sting to the Psalms, and may it be that at least one reason we see evil so flourish around us, and so many of us flail and struggle is because we do not sing the Psalms. We do not sing of Christ’s power and defeat of evil beings and spirits. We do not sing prayers of imprecation against wickedness and evil. If we would, I believe God may answer such prayers that were from Himself that He gave to put in the mouths and on the lips of His bride. For as it says, “When he calls to me, I will answer him…”