Psalm 91: My Refuge and My God

Today’s reading is Psalm 91.

Last week’s psalm claimed, “Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations” (Psalm 90:1, ESV). And then we get Psalm 91. What a magnificent promise to those who dwell in God.

When we dwell in God, we are protected and preserved. We are set apart and set above. Angels guard our paths. God rescues, delivers, satisfies, and shows us salvation. Why would we say anything else to the Lord but, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust”?

Well…because I recall all the others psalms. You know, the ones like Psalm 73, 88, and 89. I mean, these promises in Psalm 91 sound good, but I’ve been living life. I’ve seen others live life. I’ve read about other’s lives. And it just doesn’t work out the way Psalm 91 says. Even Jesus was ridiculed, mocked, beaten, and nailed to a cross. Honestly, this psalm sounds like the basis for the accusations Job’s three friends made against him. What’s this all about?

First, a subtle statement in vs. 15 gives insight to the rest of the psalm. God says, “I will be with him in trouble.” In other words, the rescue and deliverances and protection in the rest of the psalm is not an escape from hardship as if the person who claims refuge in God never experiences trouble. It is an escape through hardship, as when Paul taught the new Christians from his first missionary journey that we don’t enter the kingdom instead of tribulation, rather we enter the kingdom through tribulation (Acts 14:22).

Second, it’s also a matter of perspective. When we make God our refuge and our fortress, thorns in the flesh become to us instruments of grace (2 Corinthians 12:7-10), various trials become the path to perfection (James 1:2-4), suffering and hardship become the maturing discipline of a loving Father (Hebrews 12:3-11). When God is our refuge and our fortress, sometimes He rescues us from the fiery furnace and the lion’s den, but other times He rescues us through them. Recall, when Nebuchadnezzar threatened Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego with the fiery furnace, they knew God could deliver them from the furnace, but even if not, He would deliver them from Nebuchadnezzar. In other words, for them, even death in the fiery furnace was actually protection from evil, plague, pestilence, darkness, and deliverance from the fowler’s snare.

For those who take refuge in God and allow Him to be our fortress, when we face hardship, it is only because the hardship will provide greater blessing for us in the long run than ease and convenience would have. The difference between we who find refuge in God and those who don’t is not our lives are easy and theirs are hard. Rather, it is that God redeems our hardship and doesn’t theirs. Our hardship becomes a blessing and path to salvation; theirs is simply recompense for the wicked.

God works all things together for good for those who love Him.

Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 91.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Psalm 91 prompt or improve your praise of God?

Eternal Life or Eternal Punishment

Today’s reading is Matthew 25.

Jesus makes it clear. Whatever we think about which judgment He was talking about in the immediate context of Matthew 24-25, we are all facing judgment. When the judgment we face comes, we will be set apart for one of two eternal destinies. This division is real. This judgment is real. These destinies are real. Don’t ignore them. And don’t forget that everyone you know is marching toward one of these destinies as well.

Let’s notice how Jesus describes these two potential destinies.

On the one hand, the faithful, loyal, righteous, wise servants will be blessed by the Master, set over all His possessions (Matthew 24:46-47). These will go into the marriage feast (Matthew 25:10). They will be set over much and enter into the joy of their Master (Matthew 25:21, 23). They will have and be given an abundance (Matthew 25:29). They will be blessed by the Father, inheriting the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world (Matthew 25:34). Finally, they will go into eternal life (Matthew 25:46).

On the other hand, the slothful, disloyal, wicked, foolish servants will be cut in pieces and put with the hypocrites where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 24:51). These will be locked outside of the marriage feast (Matthew 25:10-11). Essentially told to depart (see Matthew 7:21-23). They will have the gifts given to them stripped away and give to those who used the Master’s gifts faithfully. They will be cast into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:28-30). They will be cursed and told to depart from the throne of the King cast into the eternal fire prepared not for people but for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). Finally, they will go away into eternal punishment (Matthew 25:46).

In the end, we see the contrasting destinies. One is a destiny of eternal life. The other of eternal punishment. There isn’t a third destiny. Please see that God didn’t prepare the eternal fire for any of us. He prepared that for the devil and his angels. For us, He prepared the kingdom. But those who miss the kingdom, get the same eternity as the devil and his angels. Don’t miss the kingdom. If you do, you will have missed all there is.

Next week’s reading is Matthew 26.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

Discuss the Following Questions with Your Family

1. What are your initial reactions to the chapter and the written devo above?
2. Which do you want, eternal life or eternal punishment? Why?
3. Thinking about the teachings Jesus gave in this chapter and the contrasts he made, why would anyone choose eternal punishment over eternal life?
4. How would you encourage people to live so they may have eternal life instead of eternal punishment?
5. What do you think we should pray for and about in light of this chapter and today’s post?