God’s Protection in Times of Crisis
91 One who lives in the secret place[a] of the Most High
will lodge in the shadow of Shaddai.[b]
2 I will say to Yahweh, “You are my refuge and my fortress,
my God in whom I trust.”
3 For he will deliver[c] you from the snare of the fowler,
from the plague of destruction.
4 With his feathers he will cover you,
and under his wings you can take refuge.
His faithfulness will be a shield and a buckler.[d]
5 You need not fear the terror of the night,
or the arrow that flies by day,
6 or the plague that spreads in the darkness,
or the destruction that devastates at noon.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
and ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only look with your eyes,
and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 For you, O Yahweh, are my refuge.
You have made the Most High your dwelling place.[e]
10 No harm will befall you,
and no plague will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you,
to watch over you in all your ways.
12 In their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on lion and viper;
you will trample young lion and serpent.
14 Because he loves me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will protect[f] him because he knows my name.
15 He will call upon me and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue and honor him.
16 With long life[g] I will satisfy him,
and show him my salvation.
Footnotes
- Psalm 91:1 Or “shelter”
- Psalm 91:1 Often translated “the Almighty,” this is perhaps better understood as “God of the Mountain”
- Psalm 91:3 Hebrew “he, he will deliver” is perhaps emphatic, “He will certainly deliver”
- Psalm 91:4 That is, a small, round shield, or perhaps a surrounding bulwark
- Psalm 91:9 This is the most straightforward translation of the Hebrew, though the “you” of each line would refer to a different person. A more unusual rendering would be “Because Yahweh, my refuge, even the Most High, you have made your dwelling place …”
- Psalm 91:14 The sense is that of making something inaccessibly high, like a fortress
- Psalm 91:16 Literally “a length of days”