The Hope of Psalm 91
Psalm 91 King James Version (KJV)
91 He that dwelleth 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 will I trust.
3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
9 Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath 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 honour him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.
This morning we attended the funeral of a dear sweet cousin that passed away last Friday. I was able to spend a few hours with her and her son in her final days last week. She was frail and not the woman I remembered from my youth as she could not respond to us in her weakened state. As I sat with her, I looked back over the pages of time and reminisced with my cousin days gone by. You see she was old enough to be more of an aunt and in many ways a second mother to me as I played with my second cousin, her son, continually and he was more like a brother to me than a cousin. My thoughts went to those days long ago as I recalled the smile she always wore, and her laugh that was so comforting. She had been through many hard times throughout her life but she always wore that smile and found a way to bring joy to everyone she met. She was gentle and kind in her manner and I will never forget her comforting way when we scraped our knees or got some kind of a play related cut or bruise. She always would care for us and somehow make everything ok. In mourning the grief of her loss and helping my cousin through his time of sorrow, I tried to follow my own writings in my blogs to reach out to him and help him focus on the memories that we shared.
I had been in the ministry for several years and as such, I have been a part of being there with the family and trying to share their grief as well as comfort them. I sang for many funerals from junior high through my college years and then through my years in the ministry. Through all these years, I have not been to a funeral service that was so beautiful and full of hope than the one for my cousin this morning. The pastor (her pastor) chose to use Psalm 91 from a list of passages her son had given to the pastor. This could not have been more fitting for her and for friends and family. He shared memories of her that touched my own recollections of times past and more importantly, he shared parts of her own testimony of accepting Jesus as her Lord and Savior when she was 70 years of age.
The passage in the Psalm above was penned by King David and clearly demonstrates the hope and peace that she knew and experienced. For us as believers, as the pastor said, these are verses for us to lean upon and claim as our own when we face our own troubles and trials. The Psalmist tells us in verse 3 and 4 that God is like that of a bird that protects His children under His wings and watches over us. This was how my cousin was to us when she looked over us and took care of us as children. But as believers we know that God is our refuge and our salvation no matter what we may face. Hope is the most important element in our life to help sustain us during times of sorrow or trials and tribulations we face. The hope of Christ is our shield and buckler of defense against whatever we may face.
With the loss of Stephen, our dear son in March of this year, this message of hope was exactly what I needed in this moment. Death and its associated pangs of grief are some of the hardest for us to face, but we can KNOW that our God is big enough, and strong enough, and loving enough to sustain us with hope of being with him and seeing our loved ones some day, if we know Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior. Do you KNOW that refuge and salvation that comes from inviting Christ into your heart and life? It does not matter how old you are, but please consider the hope and peace that Christ brings to us if we only reach out to Him.
About The Author
Shelby Cooper
Shelby Cooper is a retired IT professional that worked in the oil industry for 33 years. He is a former minister of music/youth and religious education where he served Baptist churches in Oklahoma. He is also an amateur radio operator and also enjoys photography and writing.