No Harm (Psalm 91:9-16)

⁹ If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
¹⁰ no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
¹² they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

¹⁴ “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
¹⁵ He will call on 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.”

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The promises of this psalm are striking and comforting.  Sweeping assurances of protection and safety in the midst of danger and apparent harm.

But I can’t help but thinking about Satan’s use of these verses in trying to lure Jesus from the path to the cross.  Jesus rejects Satan’s attempts by pointing out that the promises of God’s protection are not to be an invitation to taking careless risks.  God is not to be put to the test.  I think at issue here is that such testing only appears to rise from true faith, seeing God as a safety net or insurance policy, rather than the Lord to whom we belong, and whose will we seek to follow.

But what does it mean when harm does come our way?  What does it mean when in the process of serving and following the Lord, the lion and the cobra do strike with deadly harm? I’m thinking about those facing persecution in the world today.  Has God failed?  Are these verses for them?  The answer is yes, because even such danger and harm cannot separate us from God’s love and the certain promises of resurrection and new creation in him.  This is the point that Paul makes so beautifully in Romans 8:28-39.    The worst that this life can throw at us cannot harm what really matters.

So my prayer again is for those facing danger for their faith in Christ. I pray for their faithfulness and protection as they trust in their Savior.

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