Psalm 91

Can you recall an incident in your life when God has kept you from something terrible?  Maybe it was a natural disaster, or an illness, or a financial failure.  

There are parts of scripture that I cling to in troubled times when circumstances look grim.  Most of us have been through tough times and have seen the Lord do wonderful things in our darkness, even if it wasn’t what we wanted or expected.  

The children of Israel demanded to know why God had led them out of Egypt into the desert to die—after He saved them from the Angel of Death, and rescued them from Pharoah’s army.  Sometimes I have said the same things to God.  

It’s helpful to remember when God has been good to us.  We can hang our hats on what scripture says, even when circumstances bely those words.  Once in a scary financial crisis I remembered the first few words of Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…”  I began repeating it to myself anytime I felt stress creeping in.  

Eventually God did deliver me from that crisis— in the nick of time— not because I had faith, but because He already had a plan.  Praying Psalm 23 kept me centered on His faithfulness while I waited.  It caused me to meditate on Him, on the images in the psalm, on what He had done for me in the past.  I prayed while I walked, did dishes, took care of alpacas, and drove the car. 

This short, repetitive prayer is a spiritual discipline sometimes called a “Breath Prayer”.

Breathe in: “The Lord is my Shepherd”; breathe out, “I shall not want”.

Psalm 91 speaks of the goodness and protection of the Lord.  We could make a Breath Prayer from almost any of the verses.  How about this one? 

(breathe in) “God is my refuge and fortress”; (breathe out) “In Him I will trust.”

Try one.  Fill your mind with God and feel the tension fade.

PSALM 91  (NKJ)

1 He who dwells 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 I will trust.”

3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler

And from the perilous pestilence.

4 He shall cover you with His feathers,

And under His wings you shall take refuge;

His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,

Nor of the arrow that flies by day,

6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,

Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,

And ten thousand at your right hand;

But it shall not come near you.

8 Only with your eyes shall you look,

And see the reward of the wicked.

9 Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,

Even the Most High, your dwelling place,

10 No evil shall befall you,

Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;

11 For He shall give His angels charge over you,

To keep you in all your ways.

12 In their hands they shall bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,

The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;

I will set him on high, because he has 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 honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him,

And show him My salvation.”


This is a beautiful song by the Gettys.  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsA_UPXnluw&feature=youtu.be