The 91st Psalm. You know, some attribute this
Psalm to David, some to Moses. Moses wrote the 90th Psalm, and
maybe he wrote the 91st, but it doesn't make any difference
who wrote it. It's what it's about. It's about our Lord Jesus
Christ. It speaks of our Savior, our
Master. and the promise that God would
protect him in the safety and keep him in his humanity while
he is on the earth from diseases and evil spirits and wicked men.
In fact, angels are given charge over him. Look down at verse
11. For he shall give his angels
charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear
thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against the
stone. You remember when our Lord Jesus
was tempted of the devil forty days. This is one of the scriptures
that Satan used against our Lord. He said to have him up on the
tent pinnacle, and he said, If you be the Son of God, cast yourself
down. For it is written, He'll give
his angels charge over thee, to catch you lest you dash your
foot against the stone. And our Lord answered him by
saying, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Thou shalt
not tempt him." And so our Lord answered Scripture with Scripture. What this psalm is teaching is
this, our Lord Jesus Christ's victory over everything that's
against Him in His humanity, and of the victory and the accomplishments
in everyone that's in Him when He wins the victory. Everyone's
in Him, they win the victory. Everything Christ did, we did
in Him. And everything He overcome, we
overcome. And everything God promised him,
he promised us in him. So that's what this is about,
us being represented by him and being perfected by him. And all
of our Lord's dear people are under God's care and protection
of God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost. He said in
1 Peter 1, chapter 5, verse 7, Cast your care upon him, for
he cares for you. And we cannot begin to enter
into how much God cares for us. If He numbers the hairs of our
head, and we're worth more than 10,000 sparrows, and He said,
woe unto that man that would offend you, it'd be better for
him to have a millstone cast into, hung around his neck and
thrown into the sea than he should offend one of these little ones.
So our Lord Jesus Christ, He protects us. He says the name
of the Lord is a strong tower, a hiding place, a great fort
that you can get in, and the righteous run into it and are
safe. And so we have great care and
protection by God. But look here, I want to show
you how we are in Christ. Look at the dwelling place of
those who are believers. Look where they dwell. It says
here in verse 1, He that dwelleth, in the secret place of the Most
High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." The secret place of the Most
High? To be where God's secret place is? Now, where's God's
secret place at? Where did God dwell that other
men couldn't go? It was always behind the veil,
and only the high priest could go behind that veil. Now, in
our blessed Savior, Behind that veil, we get to go into the very
presence of God Himself, because that's where Christ is at. Not
only that, but the Apostle says that He had quickened us with
Christ, raised us up together with Christ, and seated us in
heavenly places in Christ. So you see, beloved, our Lord
Jesus, we're behind the veil, and that's where our anchor is
right now. It's behind the veil. So we dwell in the secret place
of the Most High. You know, they could see his
glory when he was coming out of Egypt and going through the
wilderness. But when he got set that tabernacle up, only one
place he dwelled, and that's at that mercy seat. That place
that nobody could go to. Now, that's where we live at.
We live and dwell in the secret place of the Most High. And so,
you see, beloved, we, by the blood and righteousness of our
Lord Jesus Christ, not only come into God's presence, but the
Scriptures tell us that that's where we dwell, that's where
we live. Look in Hebrews chapter 10 with
me just a moment. Hebrews 10. Hebrews chapter 10. Oh my, we by the blood and righteousness
of the Lord Jesus not only come into God's presence, but we dwell
there as far as God's concerned. You know, we go by our feelings
more than anything else. And beloved, what God says is
so, whether you feel like it or not. God's Word, you know, we don't
feel like we dwell in the secret place of the Most High, but that's
what God says we're doing. And what God says is so. That's
the way it really is. Not the way we think it is, not
the way we hope it is, not the way we feel it is. That's the
way it is. Now look what he said here in
verse 19, Hebrews 10. Having therefore, brethren, boldness
in the margins as liberty to enter into the holiest by the
blood of Jesus Christ, by a new and living way," now listen,
"...which he hath consecrated for us, newly made for us through
the veil." Now, they had a veil under the temple and a veil in
the tabernacle. Well, Christ's flesh was that
veil. And then, beloved, when that
flesh, when that body was crucified on the cross, that veil was taken
away once and for all, and having a high priest over the house
of God, Just like they had a high priest that went behind the veil.
Now we have a Christ and His flesh was that veil and in that
death, we have a high priest over the house of God. So let's
draw near. Right now, draw near with a true
heart and full assurance of faith. having our hearts sprinkled from
an easeful conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."
Oh, you see, he says, dwell there, come boldly, come with great
liberty. And look back over here in Hebrews,
I mean, Psalm 91. You see, it is said here, we
that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide
under the shadow of the Almighty. You see that word abide there?
That word abide means you lodge. So we get there and we just go
stay. That's where I will stay, don't
you? Right under the shadow of the
Almighty, lodge there. Lodge there. Anyplace else I've
ever lodged, I've had to pay for it. Even my house, I had
to pay for it. Stay in a motel, if you get lodging, you've got
to pay for it. This here has already been paid for by the
blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we lodge there. We abide
there like chickens under His wings. Look at Psalm 17 with
me just a moment. Oh, the shadow. We dwell under
His shadow. In Psalm 17, in verse 8 and 9,
look what it says. Oh, my. Look what the psalmist said here,
keep me as the apple of the eye. You know we talk about people
being the apple of the eye. He said, keep me as the apple
of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings. Not only
love me, but take me and keep me under the shadow of thy wings.
And doing that from the wicked that oppress me from my deadly
enemies who encompass me in doubt. Hide me under that wing. Hide
me under that wing. And so, beloved, that's what
we do. That's where we dwell. We dwell in the secret place.
Dwell under the wings. Lodge under the wings. Abide
under the wings. So who can harm us? Back over
in our text. Who can harm us? Look what it
says in verse 2. And I will say of the Lord, He
is my refuge and my fortress. If He's our refuge and our fortress,
who in the world is going to harm us? The gates of hell will
prevail against us. Who shall separate us from the
love of God that's in Christ? Who's going to come and take
us out from under the shadow of those wings? Who's going to
come and destroy us? Who's going to come and take
our assurance away from us? Who's going to come when Christ
died for us and gave us eternal life and laid down His sheep
for us, calls us by our names? And that's why He said, The Lord
is our refuge and our fortress. I don't care how big the forts
are. I don't care how mighty they
are. But there's not been a fort on the face of this earth that's
not been under assault and oftentimes been overrun. But in this fort,
in this place, when you get in this fort, in this refuge, there
ain't nobody gonna come in and get you. Huh? Oh my, and our
assurance and confidence is only as described in him by four names. Look what he said here. I will
say of the Lord, this is what I'm going to say about the Lord
there in verse 2. This is what I'm going to say about him. I'm
going to say the Lord, first of all, he's the most high there
in verse 1. He's the most high. I'm going
to say of the Lord, he's the most high. He's the high and
holy one that inhabits eternity. I'll say about him, he's the
most high God. High and holy and lifted up.
And then you know what else I'm going to say about Him? It says
down again in verse 1, He's the Almighty. You know what that
means? That nobody else got any power
but Him. No, but He's the Sovereign. Nobody
else got no power. He said He's the Almighty. And
then look what else we rejoice in His salvation because He says,
I will save the Lord. That word Lord down there means
that Jehovah. But Jehovah, the Old Testament,
is the Jesus of the New. And it says here, I will say
of the Lord, He is Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is
the Most High. And I will say of the Lord, He is Jehovah. And
then what else it says about Him? It says, I will say of the
Lord, in the last part of verse 2, My God. He's the Most High. He's the Almighty. He's Jehovah. And then He's My God. Oh, what
a refuge. That's what we say about the
Lord, ain't it? And so we trust Him as my God. How did He become our God? By
eternal election. He gave me a little old thing
somebody had on one of their bulletin boards or signs that
says, you know, I loved you when time began. Christ loved us before
time began. God gave us to Christ before
there was ever a star put in the heavens, before the sons
of God ever shouted for joy, before there was anything but
darkness upon the face of the deep. Our Lord Jesus Christ loved
us before anything ever happened in this universe. That's why
God created everything to put His people on the face of this
earth and manifest His blessed grace and salvation and righteousness
in saving His people in this world. And oh, we're His. He's my God by eternal election.
He's my God by redeeming blood. He bought me and purchased me
with the blood of His blessed Son. And we're complete in Him
who's the head of all principalities and powers. And then, beloved,
He's my God by life's choice. I wanted to be my God. He chose
me. Well, I chose Him too. But He
chose me first. And once He chose me and made
Himself known to me, I said, yes, that's my God. That's my
God. And oh beloved, He is my God
by effectual calling. He called me to Himself. And
I'll tell you something about Him. Once He becomes your God,
you say He's my God, you say these things about Him, He will
not let you ever have another God. He won't do it. He won't
let you have no idols. He won't let you lollygag with
very little. You know why? Because He's your
God. And you would not have Him any
other way. I will say of the Lord, this is what I'm going
to say about it. Then look at the confidence. Not only do we
dwell in the shadow of the secret place, dwell under His, abide
under His wings, we trust in Him. We say some things about
him, but look what confidence we have in him. Start here at
verse 3. I love the shalls and wills of
God's Word. And he says in verse 3, Surely
he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from
the noise and pestilence he shall cover thee with his feathers,
and under his wing shalt thou trust. His truth shall be thy
beckoning. You see, there's so many thousand
shales and wheels here. There's no maybes with God, no
perhaps with God, no uncertainty with God. The purpose and promises
of God in Christ Jesus are sure. And that's why David says, the
Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. And then I close that
song, said I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. And,
oh beloved, if God be for us, who can be against us? Now look
here in verse 3. The Lord shall. He said, surely
He shall deliver thee. Not that He might deliver you.
He'll make an effort to deliver you. He'll put forth some help
if you'll help Him. No, He said, the Lord shall deliver
you. What is He going to deliver you
from? The snare and the fowler. You know what that means? That
means a trap. Y'all ever try to catch a bird
when you was little boys and little girls? You set your box
out, and you set it up, and stick your stick under it, and put
your little stuff out, and if a bird got up there real close,
you got way off here, and got a string, and try to catch him
under there. Then when you caught him, you
didn't know how to get him out from under there. But anyway, that's what
this is talking about. That we have all kinds of snares
and fowls that translate for us. And God says here, the Lord
Jesus Christ said, He shall deliver thee from the snare of the cup,
from all the traps, hidden traps, hidden things that's for us.
But I'll tell you what I know He's delivered us from. He's
delivered us from the curse of the law. I mean, the law can't
curse us because He was delivered for our offenses and raised for
our justification, cursed for us. He's delivered us from the
penalty of sin. God will never ever charge us
with sin. If Christ suffered for my sin
and was penalized for my sin and died for my sin, then God
can't come and get me for the same sin. Because He delivered
me from the penalty of sin. He shall deliver us from the
wrath of God. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? If Christ had died, Oh beloved, and from all of our
enemies the Lord shall deliver you. All our enemies, visible
and invisible. I'll tell you what, even against
principalities and powers of the air that we can't even see.
And look what it says from the noise of pestilence. You know
what a noise of pestilence is? That's something that annoys,
that banishes you, that tries you, and makes you bear it. And
when you sometimes, old Bunyan would often talk about it, he
said, I don't know if it's my voice or the devil's voice. But
he said that would be these noises that come into his mind. Have
you ever had noises in your brain? Talks to yourself, talks about
God, talks about your fears, talks about your death, talking
about Lord, about, you know, these noise and pessimism, these
things that come into your mind that worry you and trouble you.
Get you awake at night. That's what he says. He said,
I'll save you for that. And then look what he said in
verse 4. And not only shall he deliver us, but he shall cover
thee. Another shall. He shall cover thee with his
feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust. His truth shall
be your shield and buckler. Oh my, the Lord Jesus shall cover
you. What is he going to cover you
with, with his feathers? under His wings, and He covers us,
beloved, with His spotless robe of righteousness, with His glorious
wedding garment. I mean, beloved, with His spotless
garment on, I am as holy as God's own Son. He shall cover you,
and then look up under His wings. You know what is said in Malachi?
The Son of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings.
And, beloved, not only is there healing in His wings, but there
is hiding in His wings. Healing and hiding in the wings
of our Lord Jesus Christ. And look what else it says, that
His truth, His truth shall be our buckler. Oh, His truth, the
word of promise and faithfulness. Oh, the truth will preserve us
and keep us and turn our enemies away from us. Our Lord said,
know the truth and the truth will set you free. And how many
truths, how did the Lord Jesus turn away all the lies of the
devil when our Lord was taunted by him for 40 days and 40 nights
on the mountain? So He shall not only deliver
you, but He shall cover you. Be covered with Christ. You know, I know we've heard
this all so many years, but when God looks at us, wrap this moment
He don't see us as we are. He sees us as Christ. He sees
us with His... You know, He don't look at me
as Donnie Bell and the way I am in my flesh. He sees me with
Christ's righteousness on. And He hears me and receives
me like His own Son, because I am His Son. I'm in His Son.
I'm perfected in His Son. If I thought for a minute he
viewed me as me outside of Christ, that terrified me to death. Trying to get better, trying
to know why you can't get any better than what he has, what
he's made us to be. And then look what he says, so
he shall deliver us. I told you I love the shells
and wheels of God. Look what else it says here.
in verse 5 and 6. Because He's our Redeemer, we
shall not fear. Thou shalt not be afraid for
the terror by night. Any of y'all ever had any night
terrors? You woke up in the middle of the night, something just
scared you to death and wake you up? Afraid something's going
to happen? You know, you just have a horrible
dream or something like that, the terrors that come by night,
the things that you think could happen and your imagination runs
away with it. He said, I'll save you from those
things. Huh? And He says, we shall not fear.
Hebrews 13, 6 says this, Thou shalt never, no never, no never,
no never, no never, no never, five no nevers, leave you nor
forsake you. Huh? And oh, the terror by night,
men are devils. He said, I'll save you from them.
And then the arrows by day. The things that come by day.
All the things that come through the world, through ourselves,
through our minds, through the devil, through our friends, through
our families, all the arrows by day that stick in us and shoot
at us, all the wars and floods and accidents and earthquakes,
and all the things that come through the world of a day that
comes and sticks at us and throws arrows at us. And then look what
he says, nor the pestilence that walks in darkness. Oh my, things
you can't see. Things you don't know. How many
times do you imagine that the Lord has kept us from things,
and went before us and preserved us from things, and we look back
on it, and you can see where He's kept you. But the pestilence
that walks in darkness, diseases that we can't see, plagues that
we can't see, demons that we can't see, diseases and things
that we can't see, the pestilences that walks in darkness, And then
look what he says, the destruction that wastes at noonday. What
is that? That's these droughts and heat,
and right in the middle of the day. I was reading something
today. Mother got up that morning, went
and done her regular business, going to do all the things that
she'd done. She got home about two o'clock in the afternoon.
There's a fellow knocked on the door. Got news for you, son just
got killed. Days start out. Destruction come
at noon. He said, I'll save you from that.
I'll save you from that. And He does. He saves us from
those kind of things. And, oh, beloved, I do know this.
God has hedged His children in. You know, Satan said, if you
took down them hedges around Job, he said, I could get him.
God put a hedge around us, and the devil came in and get us. Death can't get us. You know
a fella's talking today. He said, God healed me. God's
healing me. And one way or another, He's
going to heal us. He's going to heal us either physically
in this world or heal us going into the next. But one way or
another, that noonday destruction ain't going to hurt us. Is that
not right? Ain't that a blessed hope? Oh,
what a glorious hope. And then look what he said in
verse 7 and 8. Oh my. See, this is what we have. This
is the protection we have in Christ. Our oneness with Him.
And he said here in verse 7 and 8, A thousand shall fall at thy
side, ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh
thee, only with thine eye shalt thou behold and see the reward
of the wicked. And what our Lord is saying here,
evil may come near God's children, but it won't come upon them.
You know, when God's people, we have trials, we have troubles,
we have infirmities, we have our flesh, but all of those things
are by the will of God and the purpose of the Father. But they
shall die, but only when He decrees, never by any other reason. But here He talks about a thousand
shall fall. No matter what goes on, how many
people fall around you, God said, I'm going to keep you. You may
have trouble, but the plague ain't going to come nigh you.
Not going to come nigh you. And then he says there in verse
8, and you know what? He said, this is what's going
to happen with your eyes. With your own eyes, you're going
to behold and see the reward of the wicked. One of these days,
with our eyes, we're going to see the judgment of God upon
this evil generation, and we're going to agree with all of his
judgments and what he's going to do. I'll show you that in
Revelations. Old Barnard preached a message
on this years and years ago. Maybe some of you have heard
it. When the saints chant hallelujah when he sends men to hell. And
in Revelation 19, look what he says. We're going to sin. And
then we'll praise him for our deliverance. Evil may come. He says, you know, a thousand
shall fall at thy side, ten thousand at your right hand. But it will
not come to you. The plague that he talked about. You know, that
plague that killed the firstborn in Egypt come near the Israelites,
but not one of them died of that plague. Look what he said, and
after these things, Revelation 19, after these things, I heard
a great voice of much people in heaven say, Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and honor
and power unto the Lord our God, for true and righteous are His
judgments. For he hath judged the great
whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and
hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And again
they said, Hallelujah, and her smoke rose up for ever and ever.
And the four and twenty and elders and the four beasts fell down
and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen, Hallelujah. And a voice came out of the throne
saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear
him, both small and great. And I heard, as it were, the
voice of a multitude, and the voice of many waters, and the
voice of thunder saying, Hallelujah, the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. And that's when he is sending
folks to hell and the smoke starts going up. We say, Hallelujah,
the Lord God omnipotent reigns. Oh my. Now look back over in
our text again. Don't hurry. Look what it says
here now. Oh, what a Redeemer and what
a refuge we have in Christ. He says in verse 9, Because thou
hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most high
thy habitation. Oh my, you've made the Lord my
refuge and my dwelling place. This is the only reason we dwell
within the veil. Only reason we're delivered for
condemnation and covered with His righteousness, hidden under
His protective wings, and have no terror or fear hereafter is
because we've made Him our refuge, made Him our habitation. And
I tell you, beloved, there's no safety nor security but only
in Christ. The only place there's any safety
or security is only in Christ. There's not any safety or security
in religion, not any in the law, not any in works, not in morality,
only in Christ. And that's why we've made Him,
we want Him to be. That's where we want to dwell.
And that's why Paul says, you know, I'm crucified with Christ,
nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. The life I now live by the flesh. in the flesh. I live
by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself
for me. Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren,
that through this man, through Christ, through Christ is preached
unto you justification from which you could not be justified by
the law of Moses. And you see, beloved, it says
there in verse 9, we have made the Lord our refuge, our habitation. We willingly, sincerely made
Him, we want Him, and we need Him, and we do. You see, it says,
we came to Him because He first came to us. We love Him because
He first loved us. And we acknowledge Him to be
everything, and He's our refuge because we're His people. And
oh, beloved, because He's our habitation, our dwelling place.
Look what He says there. He's the one that called us to
faith, to God be the glory. And because no evil or plague
shall come nigh thy dwelling, because he's our refuge. You know, the world, what they
call evil, we say it's the Lord's doing. It's the Lord's hand.
It's the Lord that does these things for us. And then look
what he says about us there in verse 11 and 12. For he shall
give his charge angels over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot
against a stone." The angels, they're created spirits. They were made by the Lord Himself,
and they do His bidding, His command. And Hebrews 1.14 says
their ministering spirits sent forth to minister to His people.
Psalm 34 says that they have kept about the righteous. And
they're committed to the care of those that God saved by His
blessed grace. And you know that's what our
Lord Jesus says, these angels, their angels do always behold
their Father's face. They'll be rejoicing in the presence
of the angels over a sinner that repents. And you know our Lord
says the angels are coming, going to gather us together. So you
see, He said He gave His angels charge over you. Charge over
you. To keep you. To bear you up. To bear you up. You're not going
to get hurt. And then look what he says in
verse 14. Excuse me. Yeah, verse 14. Because He has set His love upon
me. Now God here is speaking of His
chosen ones. Because He has set His love upon
me, therefore will I deliver you. because He set His love
upon me. Not because they deserve mercy,
not because of all their imperfections, but He loved us. And because
of that, we love Him. We set our love upon Christ.
First there's His love for us, and then there's our love for
Him. Paul called it a Those that love the Lord Jesus Christ in
sincerity and in truth. Our love for Christ is sincere
and it's true. Sincere and it's true. And then
look what he says, Because he has set his love upon me, therefore
will I deliver him. I will set him up on high because
he hath known my name. You see, there is always a because
and then a therefore in law and grace. He says, because He has set His
up on me, therefore I will deliver Him. Because we sin, therefore
we die. Because Christ died for us, therefore
we live. Because we believe on the Lord
and love the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore I'll set Him on high. Therefore I'll deliver Him from
sin. I'll deliver Him from Satan.
I'll deliver Him from wrath, and I'll set him on high." Where
are you going to set him at? In Christ. You can't get any
higher than that. People talk about victorious
lives, living victorious lives, and getting set on higher ground
and all that. I tell you, you can't be any
higher than being in Christ. You can't get any higher than
that. And then look what he says in verse 15. He shall call upon
me. And guess what I'll do? I'll answer him. When he prays
and when he seeks mercy, I'll answer him. And he says, and I will deliver
him. I will do it. I'll set him on
high. I'll call. I'll answer him. I'll
be with him in his trouble. And then since he's not going
to have trouble, but I'll be with him in the time of trouble. And then look what he says there.
He said, I'll satisfy him with long life. That doesn't mean
long life here, because a lot of folks don't live a long life.
Some people are born, live a few hours, and they're gone. But
he's not talking about a long life in this world. He's talking
about that eternal life. We have an eternal life. And
then look what he says, and I'll show him my salvation. Show me
your glory, Lord. I'll have mercy upon whom I'll
have mercy, and I'll have compassion upon whom I'll have compassion.
And I know this, if a man ever sees the salvation of God, God
will have to show it to him, because he sure ain't going to
see it on his own. Is that not right? It's like sinning in the
temple. There's lots of babies in there
that day. Lots of infants in there that
day. And lots of people in there that day. But when the Lord let
him see that little infant that was in his mother Mary's arms,
he went over there and took him out of her arms and lifted him
up and says, Now mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Never seen
it before, but God told me he was going to see it. He wasn't
going to die until he had seen it. And that's the way it is
with us. God gives us eyes, and once we
see it, we say, I see it! This is the way God saves people.
Through His blessed Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, what a
wonderful, beloved place. What a gracious, glorious victory
we have in Christ our Lord. Our Father, oh, how gracious,
again, how gracious, how kind, how strengthening, how encouraging
is Your Word. I pray it was a blessing to You,
dear saints. Only You can make it a blessing.
Only You can make it profitable. Only You can make it effectual
in the heart. Give the hearing ear and the
seeing eye. And Lord, we trust that You will. God, keep and
preserve Your people till we can come and worship together
again. Thank You for them, those that have the needs. Lord, You know every need of
every heart in this building, every need of every home, every
need of every person that we know. So Lord, meet the needs
of your people. Not their wants, their needs.
And Lord, of all of our needs, our need of you is the greatest. And we acknowledge that in our
Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen.