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Psalm 91 – A Prayer for Protection

Psalm 91 covers almost every area of protection that we need in life. So in this blog post, we are going to break it down and look at how you can use it in your life.

The first thing I recommend is memorizing it. Yes, it is a long Psalm, but you have no idea how many times over my 30+ years of being a Christian, I have used it as a powerful weapon of protection. It is one of the ones I go to first when my mind is troubled, or fear starts to come upon me. So let’s take a look at it.

Verses 12 (All verses quoted are from the NKJV)

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”

The Psalm starts with where we should be with God and that is an intimate relationship with Him. The rest of the Psalm covers those who qualify under the first verse. How do you know if you qualify? If you are a saved, Child of God, then this applies to you.

The next verse is a declaration. Saying God’s Word out loud is a powerful weapon in terms of protection. In Proverbs 18:21 it says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” When we find Scriptures that apply to our situation and then speak them out loud, it brings them to life and gives them the power to act on our behalf.

Verse 3

Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler
And from the perilous pestilence.

The snare of the fowler are traps that are set up to harm you. They can be physical traps, but also things the enemy puts in your way to trip you and keep you from reaching your fullness in God. If you have a good relationship with Him and listen to His voice, He will tell what to avoid.

If it is His will, God can also save you from any disease. John G Lake went into Africa in the early 1900’s where the bubonic plague had broken out. He ministered to the sick and buried the dead. People thought he was crazy, but he knew the power of God. A doctor tested him. He took a live sample of the plague and put it on John’s hands and then look at it under a microscope and it was dead. John knew by God’s Word that no disease could touch him.

Verse 4

He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

He shall cover you with His feathers - Psalm 91

How does a mother bird protect her chicks? She hides them under her wings so that the enemy can’t see them. All they see is her. It is the same for us. God hides us when we believe His Word so that they enemy can’t see us. There were a couple of times in Scripture where the crowd wanted to kill Jesus, and He slipped right through them, and they couldn’t see Him. The Father sheltered Him until the appointed time for Him to die.

Verses 56

You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day, 
Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

Are you afraid of the dark? I used to be. I spent most of my nights curled up in the middle of my bed afraid to even put one inch of my skin over the bed because something might get me. Now when fear comes, I know that I am protected and can get rid of it very quickly.

You also don’t have to be afraid of attacks during the day, your property and things are protected too, and you are also safe from accidents. I could write pages and pages of how God has protected my family and me from car accidents that should have killed us.

In one case God caused me to be so-o-o-o-o hungry that I thought I was starving (even though I had eaten a full lunch just half an hour before), that we pulled over to get doughnuts and milk. In those 3 minutes, there was a 40 car pile up including huge trucks and we would have been right in the middle of it. There was no reason for me to be hungry, but God used it to save our lives.

Verses 7–8

A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.
Only with your eyes shall you look,
And see the reward of the wicked.

Did you know that you are also protected from calamities and weather as well? Jesus knew the power He had from the Father and was able to calm the storm, and we can use that same power.

A few years ago, we had a tornado and the aftershocks of an earthquake; both happened on the same day, and not a single person died. A big storm started to come in from the north and something didn’t seem right to my husband and me, so we began to pray for protection for not only ourselves but our family, friends and the geographic area around us.

We lived north of town, but as the storm reached town, it turned into a tornado that swept right through the centre of it. It followed one of my sisters-in-Christ down the main street. She prayed it wouldn’t touch her and it didn’t. It went through a very popular trailer park and only touched the section that was seasonal cottages with no one there. It missed the full-time section. A lot of property was destroyed, and with the exception of a few minor injuries, no one was hurt.

I later found out that many people were led to pray and believe God for complete protection and not one single Christian that I know of had anything happen and there was no damage. That same day in another part of Ontario (Ottawa) there was also an earthquake, with almost no damage and no one was hurt. My God is a good God. He can and will protect you if you trust Him.

Verses 910

Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;

One of the conditions of God’s protection is that you believe that He will. You must have faith that God’s promises are true and no matter how things look like; it will turn out good. Sometimes you have to stand looking at the storm coming towards you and know that it will not hurt you, even though everyone else says it will. You have to trust first and then see the miracle.

Verses 1113

For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

Even though this section is in prophetic reference to Jesus, it applies to us as well. Jesus tells His followers before He ascended back up to Heaven that we do greater things than He did. So anything Jesus did, we can do. We also have protection from attacks by animals. In Acts 28, the Apostle Paul is bitten by a poisonous viper. The people watching thought for sure he was going to die, but instead he shook it off and continued to go on with his business.

I had something similar happen. Quite a few years ago I was diagnosed to be deathly allergic to bee/wasp stings and should carry an Epipen. Since it was November when I found out, I just didn’t get it. I put the prescription into the Pharmacy and just left it there.

The next summer I was stung five times in five days. The first time I was more than a half an hour away from any medical help. I remembered what the doctor had said, but I also remembered what God said and kept calm. Over the next twenty minutes, I realized that I was still feeling good, though the area where I was stung started to swell, so I went on with life.

Over the next few days, I was stung several more times. Each time I claimed God’s word over myself and had people pray over me in faith when I could. I had gotten stung on my stomach, and it had swelled to the size of a small watermelon and no amount of antihistamines were taking it down, so I decided to see the doctor.

When I went to see him, he checked me over, said I was good and gave me a strong cream to take down the swelling. Here is the amazing thing. When he checked the report from the allergist, there was no mention of me being deathly allergic to bee and wasp stings! For me, that was just confirmation of how God had healed me!

Verses 1416

“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.
He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver him and honour him.
With long life I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation.”

When we know God, we can call on Him, and he will answer us. The last promise of protection is that we will have a satisfying, long life. You don’t have to be afraid of dying young. God wants you to live long and strong.God does not have favourites

Now you may be thinking to yourself, that I must be some special person for all these great things to happen to me and I AM NOT. I am just like you; the only difference is that I have learned to take God at His Word. When He says that He will do something, I have learned to trust that He will. God does not have favourites; we are all His favourites.

If you have never experienced any of this before, then I know it can be hard to believe. Ask God to show you how to apply this Scripture to your life. He will show you things you never expected, and the joy and peace you feel will be amazing. Trust God; you will never regret it.

~ By Kim Thompson-Pinder

 

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Comments(10)

  1. Reply
    Samarpan Thorat says

    Thank you for sharing this wonderful article. God bless you.

  2. Reply
    Samarpan Thorat says

    Thanks for this blog on Psalm91

  3. Reply
    Esther Lim says

    Love your postings. So Word based, easy to follow & faith building!

  4. Reply
    Grace says

    Thank you for helping me understand the meaning of Psalm 91 in a clear manner by providing examples of encounters you’ve endured.

  5. Reply
    sally says

    Very enlightened

  6. Reply
    I always pray,psalm 91 help me a lot says

    I love the Lord Almighty

  7. Reply
    Linda says

    Thankful for God’s power of protection over us.

  8. Reply
    Elsie Italia says

    Praise God for His provision for us not to be afraid of this pestilence of Covid 19. His Word and promises are true. I experienced it right now because I was fearful but God led me to this article and I recited it and received His healing! Praise the Lord!

  9. Reply
    Greg says

    Great I interpretation and enjoyed your experience. I’ve held psalm 91 as my daily go to. I’ve had similar blessing that it could have been only God to intercede.

  10. Reply
    Pete says

    Nice overview – but I would have (and do so now for emphasis), scream out that verses 14-16 is God Himself SPEAKING. Yep – that’s the Almighty speaking from His mouth a bunch of sure fire PROMISES!

    Our LORD makes 6 I WILL…. statements. So when He says I WILL He doesn’t mean maybe or if I feel like it on the day. I hope you get my drift.

    Please don’t view my emphases as some crackpot zealot.

    But if there’s ever a time, for anyone having trouble with faith, praying back to our Almighty His SPOKEN WORD, surely must give doubters a kick along. Remind Him of His 6 I WILL statements.

    God does NOT lie, ergo, that is what He’ll DO!

    How cool is that?!

    Pete

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