Kaye Rollings FMI speaking at a confernce in England.

Psalm 91 Absolute Security Under God's Protection
By Kaye Rollings FMI

The scriptures tell us again and again that we abide in God's loving protection and that He is faithful and will never leave us. Psalm 91 makes such strong statements of our security under God's protection that we in Flame Ministries International have adopted it as our mission prayer. When any FMI overseas mission is undertaken, the words of this psalm are claimed in confidence and authority for FMI's ministers, for those to whom they impart the word of God and for those of us in the ministry who stay at home; we are the prayer base, the wind under the mission's wings.

However, the power in the words of Psalm 91 is not meant to be restricted to a particular sector of God's people, it reaches out as God's assurance to all of us that He holds us safely in the palm of His hand and will never let us go.

"You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, say to the Lord, 'My refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust. For He will rescue you from the snare of the fowler, from the destroying pestilence. With His pinions He will cover you and under His wings you shall take refuge."

Often scripture describes God as a rock or a mountain. A mighty mountain is awe inspiring and impressive in its grandeur. It is impregnable, impenetrable and immovable as its foundations are part of the living earth. God is our mountain and we dwell on the lee side, protected and safe from any storms. He is our refuge, we cling to Him and are safe. He is our God and the only one worthy of our trust.

The eagle is surely the regent of the skies, flying higher than any other bird, having amazing speed, precision sight and no natural enemies. Scripture often also describes God as a majestic eagle and, as the Song of Moses tells us in Deut 32:11, never lets us fall but spreads His wings under us to receive us and bear us up.

When it is time for its chicks to learn to fly, the eagle pushes them out of the nest then hovers beneath them to catch them on its wings and save them from falling. Sometimes, when God moves us out of a comfortable place, we may feel as if we are floundering or even free falling, but He is always there, ready to bear us up on His wings. He is our loving father 'with His pinions He shall cover you and under His wings you shall take refuge.'

"For He will rescue you from the snare of the fowler."

A hunter sets his trap where he knows the prey will go and disguises it, hiding evidence of its presence. When the unsuspecting quarry is caught, its struggle to escape gradually weakens and it gives up and dies through injury or exhaustion. Or, while the struggle is going on, the hunter may return and kill it.

The enemy sets traps for us and preys on our weaknesses, John 10:10 tells us that 'the thief comes only to steal, slaughter and destroy. I came that you might have life and have it to abundance.' The enemy can never succeed in bringing us down as God is our protector, He frees us from any bondage, including the power of sin in our lives, which the foe would use to cripple and destroy us.

"His faithfulness is a buckler and a shield."

To be faithful means to stand at your post without wavering, to be true to your promises. It means to keep doing the same thing over and over again even when there are no thanks or recognition forthcoming, just because you said you would.

God is faithful and that is what He does. He said that He would never let us go, that our names are carved in the palm of His hand and said this without any guarantee that we would ever care. His love for us is unconditional, even when we turn away He never gives up on us.

As a large shield hides us from the from the enemy's view, deflects his barbs and blinds him with reflected sunlight, the buckler, the small shield used in hand to hand combat, protects us at close range. God guards us, His children, fiercely at all times and in all ways. We must acknowledge this, have faith in Him and trust Him.

It is possible to have faith in God and yet not trust Him. We accept that He can work mightily in other peoples' lives but will He do the same for us? If we don't trust God we rob ourselves of His promised abundance; when we trust Him, our lives are thrown open for His power to work in and through us. Matt 18:14-21 tells of Jesus' disciples going to Him to ask why they had not been able to cast a demon out of a boy. Jesus cast the demon out, and then told the disciples they couldn't do it because they really didn't believe they could. All things are possible for the one who believes.

No more fear of the terror mongers - "You shall not fear the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies by day, Not the pestilence that roams in neither darkness nor the devastating plague at noon."

In John 12:35, Jesus tells his followers that he is the light and they must walk while they have the light, for whoever walks in the dark doesn't know where he is going.

If we don't lean completely on God, we can be overcome by things over which we have no control. Unseen terrors and evil things that happen under the cover of darkness can set us in bondage, terrorism - the holding of people and even nations to ransom through threats of violence, infestations of sin and depravity, life threatening addictions. Add to this the human fear that someone we love may be affected or harmed by any of these things and we are shackled by the terror of the night or the arrow that flies by day, the fear of a sudden strike of the enemy in our lives.

God fully understands the real dangers we face, the pestilence and the devastating plague -deadly and epidemic conditions - that the enemy would inflict upon us. However, fear in the face of hidden threats and evil will only serve to cripple us and make us more fearful, it won't stop the evil.

Colossians 1:13 says 'God has delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.'

Jesus is our strength in the face of danger, our redemption and salvation. We have power and authority through Jesus Christ over everything on this earth, including the spirit of fear. Jeremiah 1:8-10 tells us that we must 'have no fear before them because I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord. See, I place my words in your mouth, this day I set you over nation and over kingdoms, to root up and to tear down, to destroy and to demolish, to build and to plant.' In saying this, God has appointed us 'a prophet to the nations' ready to wield the Sword of the Spirit - His Word.

God does not mean us to be crippled by fear but to stand boldly; the book of Hebrews tells us 'to boldly approach the throne of grace.'

"Though a thousand fall at your side, ten thousand at your right side, near you it shall not come. Rather with your eyes shall you behold and see the requital of the wicked."

Why do people fall all around us while we continue to stand? Is it that they have taken their eyes off the Lord and His plans for their lives? Is it easy to stand in the face of a bitter and vicious attack from the enemy? In a battle, if we lose sight of our commander, we are without direction and in the ensuing confusion; we may fall and be lost. We must keep him in sight and follow his direction unwaveringly.

So it is with God. When we are under attack from the enemy, He is our only hope of safety. It may not be easy to stand in the face of an onslaught, but stand we will because He is our rock and salvation, our refuge in the storm. He will always protect us and never let us fall. Isaiah tells us that the joy of the Lord is our strength and those who wait on Him renew their strength.

Not only will we triumph in any adverse circumstance, we will also see the repayment of the wicked. John 12:31 'Now is the time for judgement on this world, now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself.'

We are not driven by a spirit of fear, rather we have a spirit of hope and joy. 1 Thess 5:18 tells us that we must 'in all circumstances give thanks' - this is not necessarily because of the circumstances, but in spite of them - 'for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.'

"Because you have the Lord for your refuge; you have made the Most High your stronghold. No evil shall befall you, nor shall affliction come near your tent."

These lines are a summary of everything that has already been said in the psalm, God is underling, confirming and affirming what He is telling us. He is assuring us that we stand with Him in the victory, totally protected.

"For to His angels He has given command about you, that they guard you in all your ways. Upon their hands shall they bear you up lest you dash your foot against a stone."

The book of Hebrews gives us great insight into the nature of God's angels. It states that angels are powerful 'ministering spirits, sent to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation.' [Hebrews 1:14] We, who are to inherit salvation, have been made 'for a little while lower than the angels' [Hebrews 2:7] and in fact, we will be called upon to judge the angels. Angels are God's 'winds, ministers who are fiery flames' [Hebrews 1:7] created to worship God [Hebrews 1:6] and to carry out His will.

Angels are with us constantly to guide, guard, minister and assist as God sees the need. We are told in Heb 13:2 that we may even unknowingly entertain angels who appear in human form.

The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce that she was to bear the Son of God, announced the birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah and appeared to Daniel [Dan 10] with a proclamation form God, saying that he had fought demonic forces in the heavens for 21 days before he was able to break through. The archangel Michael assisted in the battle and they would have to fight those same demons as they returned to heaven.

Angels are creatures, creations of God with intelligence and free will which they obediently subject to God's commands. The archangel Raphael exhibits God's healing power and the book of Tobit gives us insight into his personality. The book follows Raphael's mission from the time he appears in human form to carry out God's commands until he reveals his true identity and returns to heaven.

We are created in the image and likeness of God, angels are not and descriptions of their true appearance can be found in Ezekiel 1 and Revelation 4. In Rev 22:8, when John fell at the angel's feet in worship, the angel stated that he was a fellow servant of John and only God is to be worshiped.

It is to these powerful and remarkable creatures, the angels, that God has given command about us. They are our usually unseen ministers and many protectors, guiding us as God wills.

"You shall tread upon the asp and the viper, you shall trample down the lion and the dragon."

Empowered by the authority of Jesus and secure in the knowledge of God's protection, we can confidently claim Jesus' words in Luke 10:19 'Behold, I have given you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing shall harm you.'

The full force of the enemy would see us dead, removed from God's presence forever. We have the strength and authority through Jesus Christ to stand against and triumph over anything the enemy can throw our way, including the spirit of death. He has no power in the face of God's strength in us.

"Because he clings to me, I will deliver him. I will set him on high because he acknowledges my name. He shall call upon me and I will answer him; I will be with him in distress; I will deliver him and glorify him; with length of days I will gratify him and will show him my salvation."

The final verses of Psalm 91 are an affirmation of what has already been said; it's as if God can't tell us often enough just how much we mean to Him and how he longs to hold us close. He makes a similar statement to the above in Isaiah 41:10 - 'Fear not, I am with you, be not dismayed, I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you and uphold you with my right hand of justice.'

He sets us on high ground where we are safe from attack, but this is also a place of honour. He will be with us in all our trials, like the mother eagle hovering under her nestlings, ready to catch them on her wings if they falter in flight. He will deliver us from all that afflicts us and we will be glorified in His presence. Our lives will be secure in the knowledge of His salvation.

Jeremiah 29:11-14 "For I know well the plans I have in mind for you says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for woe. When you look for me, you will find me. Yes, when you seek me with all your heart, you will find me with you says the Lord and I will change your lot."