Psalm 91

In this season, Psalm 91 is an incredibly popular passage. It has some amazing promises, but they are often misunderstood.

The Psalm begins with a statement about the people to whom the promise of the Psalm applies.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty (Psalm 91:1).

The Psalm is a promise to people who live in God’s shelter. To be in his shadow we need to be walking in faith in obedience to the leading of his Spirit. The promise is also for those who abide in his shadow. Jesus told us what it means to abide in him.

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing (John 15:4-5).

To be safe, we must abide in Jesus. He reminded his followers that his body is like a vine with many branches. To be linked to him, we must be linked to other followers of Jesus, who are linked to him and to others that are following him.

Abiding in Jesus means belonging to a body of people who are following him and who love each other as he loved us, serving each other, and submitting to each other. When we submit to each other in love, we give the members of the body close to us authority to pray into our lives and release the gifts of the Spirits toward us.

God promised made this promise to those who abide in the body of Jesus.

Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence (Psalm 91:3).

This is not a promise for people wandering around doing their own thing in isolation from other believers. It is for people who belong to a body that is living in obedience to Jesus in the power of the Spirit. They will be loving one another and submitted to each other, so they will have authority to stand against evil attacks on behalf of those that are joined to them. This body of believers will be able to receive the gift of healing and the gift of faith to pray in the power of the Spirit for people who are sick. They will stand together to enforce the victory over evil that Jesus achieved by his death and resurrection.

We are living in a time when the church has struggled to deal with sickness. Given what Jesus accomplished on the cross, we should be seeing far more healings of sick people than we are seeing. This means that we are not as well prepared to deal with the coronavirus virus as we could be. If I struggled to defeat the last attack of the common cold that struck me by standing against it in faith and the power of the Spirit, I am probably foolish to assume that I can defeat coronavirus by faith. We need to belong to a body that understands the gift of healing and the victory that Jesus achieved on the cross.

Psalm 91 is not a magic charm. It is a way of life in unity with other followers of Jesus. It is a promise to a body of believers who are serving together in the power of the Holy Spirit. The best protection against any pestilence is to be in a body of believers who are confident in releasing the gifts of the Spirit, especially the gifts of healing and faith.