Ps. 91: Dwell in the Most High

Psalm 91:14 ""Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name."

So in spite of God's ability to just crush man and return them to dust, he has a genuine interest and love for man. In that context, the idea that God could love any person is sincerely mind blowing. This 91st Psalm speaks of the protection God would provide a person who trusts in him, the Most High. He will protect man from trouble. That is to say there will be trouble. God protects in the shadow of his wing. And this is faithfulness. He can be trusted to be our protector. Because of this, we have no cause to fear the terrors at night, and the arrow that flies in the daytime. And there will be terror. There will be arrows. There will also be pestilence and plague. The disease du jour is the misnomered "swine flu." Because of God's faithful protection, there is no reason to fear it. 

"What if I get swine flu? What if I get arrowed?" I don't know. God is still faithful and true. Is it total protection so that nothing bad will happen to you? I think not. Life isn't easy and life isn't a God-given guarantee. To expect that nothing awful will happen to you is not realistic. But to believe it's because God doesn't care is equally as unrealistic. He says so right here in the 91st Psalm. Continue to dwell in him, and God will be your shield.

I suspect the notion of "Guardian Angels" comes out of Psalm 91:11. Supernatural protectors that follow you around, making sure you don't trip on a stone. I wonder how far into illustration land the Psalmist going hear. Of course if you mess with a cobra, you'll likely pay with your life. Same with a lion or a serpent. I said a serpent. The point most likely is that you will be watched over. You will be protected from things without even you knowing. This isn't carte-blanche to go diving off a building because you dwell in the protection of the most high. It's little, insignificant things like redirecting a drunk driver down a different street, or having you go flood the school so a jet engine doesn't crush you in bed, or ... you know. You've seen "The Butterfly Effect." The idea that God has Guardian Angels in place because he can't be bothered with having to protect all the billions of people running amok on Earth or on the other planets he may have put life is simply not correct. Maybe there are, maybe there aren't guardian angels. I haven't seen any, and I can't think of any coincidences where I think, "Man am I glad I didn't get on Flight 11 out of Boston on 9/11."

The point is, salvation and protection come from a sincere relationship with God. From dwelling in the Most High.