Second Psalm of Moses

During the terrible Battle of London, people memorized and prayed the 91st Psalm while they hid in bomb shelters. This Psalm has always held a fascination for me and I have searched it in prayer for the Spirit of God to unfold the secrets of such incredible promises of safety - total and absolute - from every threat and danger.

This Psalm was composed by Moses and dedicated to the tribe of Levi. The tribe of priests spent their days in the "insulated and sacred environment of the Temple courtyard." (Radak) They "dwelled in the secret place of the Most High" by being in His presence constantly.

It is thought Moses composed this poem on the day he completed construction of the Tabernacle, and that it described Moses himself, who entered the Divine clouds and was enveloped in the presence of the Almighty.

Like the tribe of Levitical priests, the one who worships and ministers to God Himself lives this life of protection. To be a New Testament Priest is to enter the special provision and place of safety.  The protection lies in focus on God and relationship with Him, living IN Him as a very home of permanent residence. Moses is the picture.

The 91st Psalm
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

For all his rootless wanderings, Moses had a home:
a dwelling of his soul, an anchor in his tumult.
Moses found a secret place in the above-all
presence of the Most High . . .
close enough to come under
the shadow of God's nearness.

And there he lived . . .
in Sinai lostness,
Ex. 34:2,29
in Tent of Meeting constancy,
Ex. 33:7
Moses lived in abiding permanence . . . with God.
And Moses tells us how. 

I will say to the Lord,
"My refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust."

In exuberant worship I tell the Lord Eternal
my declaration of His place.
My God! You are my God by elimination of all lesser idols.
By that choice and resolve I rise into His strong tower
whose open door I must enter for myself.

God Himself IS the place to which I run
and He Himself the fortress of my hiding.
He does not give a place of refuge.
He is the refuge.

For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper
and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with His pinions (feathers),
and under His wings you may seek refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

The wicked hide an elusive trap,
Ps. 124
set to capture by surprise.
Ps. 10:8-10
But God knows where the trap is and He delivers
what we cannot see and never know . . . 
Our escape is executed by God.
But I must hide there.

Deadly pestilence . . . disease is not contagious to
the one under wings of the Almighty.
Deut. 7:15
Poison and contamination cannot reach there.

God's will is the place of His covering,
and entering His will is to find yourself
under the spread of His hovering presence.
Ruth 2:12
But I must journey there.

The mother hen perfectly hides her chicks
under the softest feathers of her tenderness,
but she is a vicious attacker to any threatening presence.
Just so, God would gather us under His fierce protection
and take on all the enemies of our frailty.
Matt. 23:37
But I must stay there.

God's Word and His Will are the two wings of
His great shelter. Under His will I place my very life.
Deut. 32:11
Beneath His Word I hide and cede my unruly mind.
Matt. 24:35
My fervent hope is in His covering alone.
Rom.15:4
But I must bow there.

The Most High's inviolate character is my shield and
His presence, the armor that envelops me.
Deut. 20:1
But I must run there.

You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
Or of the arrow that flies by day;
Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.

The night holds unknown fears,
disease wanders in darkness, seeking a host.
Arrows of evil, ruin and defeat fly in the day.

Under the wings of the Great Father,
listening to His Heartbeat above me,
I am unavailable and unaware . . . so not afraid.

A thousand may fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand
But it shall not approach you.
You will only look on with your eyes
And see the recompense of the wicked.
For you have made the Lord, my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place.
No evil will befall you,
Nor will any plague come near your tent.

Amazing safety,
outside of spreading death by being INside of God.
By the loss of self preservation, utterly preserved.

For He will give His angels charge concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.
They will bear you up in their hands
That you do not strike your foot against a stone.
 

Angels keep and carry. Guard and hold.
Assigned to those "abiding in their refuge, inside God."
The Almighty sends unseen servants
to His trusting "hiders" for a level of protection that
normal humanity does not enjoy . . . nor believe.
Heb. 1:14

You will tread upon the lion and cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.
 

All the poison of the Satanic serpent,
the terror of the human lion
lies under the feet of one who hides and abides in God.
What is walked on, trampled down is crushed and ruined.
It cannot rise to bite! It lies conquered . . . .

Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him
I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
The secret. The secret of Moses. The secret of hiding.
Love for God! 
John 14:21

Because he knows and understands my Name
(has a personal knowledge of My mercy,
love and kindness, trusts and relies on Me,
knowing I will never forsake him, no, never.)
Amplified Bible
To know God's name is to know Him,
by a personal journey, finding Him in every turn.

Moses named the names (verse 1) because Moses knew his God
by intimate and constant communion of following and listening:
Most High El Alyon Supreme
Almighty El Shaddai
My God Jehovah Triune God

He will call upon Me, and I will answer him
I will be with him in trouble (distress)
I will rescue him and honor him.
With a long life I will satisfy him.

Answered prayer, God's very presence in trouble.
Rescue and even honor!
Long life of satisfaction.
Such are the promises - great and exciting, beyond hope,
above imagination,
given to the lover of God!

True. Reliable. Magnificent. NOW!

Copyright © 2001 Martha Blaney Kilpatrick