Psalm 91, and I'm taking the
title for the message from what is said in verse 1. He that dwelleth
in the secret place of the Most High. The secret place of the
Most High. And we know that Most High is
the Most High God. Notice that word is capitalized. He that dwelleth in the secret
place of the Most High abideth under the shadow of the almighty
God. He's most high and he's almighty. You can't get any higher than
God himself. So the secret place here, what
is the secret place that the believer continuously dwells
in? Notice we abide or we lodge there
as the marginal reference has. What is this secret place that
we abide in? Rather, who is? the secret place
of the Most High that the believer finds refuge in. Look at verse
9. Because thou hast made the Lord,
which is my refuge, even the Most High thy habitation. He is our dwelling place. We
abide in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is none other This is none
other, it is none other than the refuge and righteousness
that the Lord has provided for us in the gospel. He called many
times our refuge. He's not a refuge of lies that
we hide in. He's a refuge of truth that we
hide in. The Lord Jesus Christ himself
is our hiding place. He is our refuge. He is our righteousness. In Genesis 22, we read about
the Lord will provide. You remember Abraham told young
Isaac, we're going to go and we're going to sacrifice unto
the Lord. We're going to worship the Lord.
And he said, where is that lamb? Where's the lamb? Abraham said
God will provide himself a lamb, and we know that is the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Lord will provide, and He
has provided for us a refuge. Think about this, only that which
God provides will God accept. Only that which He provides will
God accept. And we read in Ephesians chapter
1 that we are accepted in the Beloved, in the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Beloved. to the praise of the glory of
his grace. My God, Paul writes, my God shall
supply all your need according to his riches in glory. So we
have a secret place of the most high which we reside in, the
refuge and righteousness we have in Christ. This psalm, like so
many others, 150 psalms, they all have the same message. as this book, 66 books, has one
message. This psalm, like so many others,
full of precious, blessed promises, exceeding great and precious
promises, revealed and realized only in the Lord Jesus Christ. As David said, the Lord is my
shepherd. The Lord is my salvation. Now, if you notice Psalm 91,
a lot of times right under Psalm 91 or Psalm this or Psalm that,
there is a title of who wrote the Psalm. But notice Psalm 91,
there's nothing there. You see that? Now, if you look
back over to Psalm 90, It says there, a prayer of Moses, the
man of God. Now because Moses is accredited
in Psalm 90 of writing Psalm 90 out, many of the old commentaries
that I read after also give credit to Moses for penning the words
of this psalm. But Moses and David had the same
hope, whether it's David, whether it's Moses, they all had the
same hope as every believer does. The Lord our God is our salvation. So whether it's Moses or whether
it's David, We all have, believers do, have all the same hope. And really, it doesn't matter
who was the penman, whether it's John, Peter, or Paul, Matthew,
Mark, or Luke. All scripture given of God. All scripture is God-bred, God-given. Moses was blessed to experience
the same hope that believers have today. Remember, our Lord
said to those Pharisees, If you would have believed Moses, you
would have believed me. Moses wrote about me. Moses wrote
about the Lord Jesus Christ. Moses took up his pen and he
wrote the gospel in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy,
those first five books. What's that all about? It's all
about Christ. It's all about the gospel of
God concerning Christ. Our Lord told those two men on
the road to Emmaus, beginning of Moses and all the prophets,
he expounded unto them and all the thing in the scriptures concerning
himself. I'd love to heard that sermon.
They must have been there a long time. Expounded them and all
the scriptures and the prophets, Moses and the prophets. That
must have been a long sermon. I'd love to have been there.
But this evening, we consider for a moment this Psalm 91. I want to give it to you in four
parts. The first part is found in verse one and two, and I'll
give these to you, and then we'll go back and look at them. The
believer's dwelling place, we have a dwelling place in Christ. And then secondly, verses three
down through verse eight, We see the believer's confidence.
We have confidence not in ourselves, but in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And then the third part will be the believer's redeemer. We
know that's Christ. And the redeemer's and the believer's
refuge and righteousness is Christ. And then lastly, in verses 14
down through verse 16, we see the believer's promise of salvation.
the promise of salvation. With long life will I satisfy
him, verse 16, and show him my salvation. And then we get right
back to that central truth, don't we? Salvation of the Lord. Of the Lord. Now, let's look
at verse 1 and 2. He that dwelleth, dwelleth. We
abide in that secret place of the Most High shall abide under
the shadow The shadow of the Almighty being near unto our
God. Nearer, so nearer I cannot be
in the person of His Son. I'm as near as He, the old songwriter
put it. I will say of the Lord, I will
say of the Lord, He is my refuge. He is my fortress. He is my God. In Him, I'm going to trust Him. I'm going to trust Him for everything. everything, I'm going to trust
him. He is my dwelling place. If you look over at Psalm 90
for just a moment, Psalm 90 verse 1, Lord, thou hast been our dwelling
place in all generations before the mountains were brought forth
or ever thou hast formed the earth and the world even from
everlasting, thou art God. So he is our dwelling place. He is our hiding place. By God's
eternal purpose, by God's eternal power, almighty power, sovereign
power, by God Almighty's choice and electing grace, the Lord
Jesus Christ is our dwelling place. He's our dwelling place
now and forever. We're one with him. And that
union with Christ is an eternal union. We find out about it in
time, but we were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the
world. And we shall, because he wills, and we shall, or he
shall, he does will it, and we shall abide, reside, and lodge
in him as long as we hold out. No, as long as we're kept by
the power of God. Now that's what a lot of people
think. We're okay as long as we hold
out. The old question they used to ask around the workplace,
are you still saved? If God saved me, I am because
he saves us with an everlasting salvation. We shall abide, reside,
and lodge in him forever. in this secret place of his love,
and that secret place of his love is on his heart. We're on
his heart. In Isaiah 40, he shall feed his
flock like a shepherd. He shall gather them, gather
the land with his arm, and he carries them in his bosom. Now hold your place right here
and look back at Psalm 27. Psalm 27 for a minute. You don't
mind turning, do you? Psalm 27. And he talks about it here in Psalm
27, this secret place, verse 5. Psalm 27, verse 5. For in
the time of trouble, he shall hide me in his pavilion. In the
secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me. He shall set me upon
the rock. What is that secret of his tabernacle?
It's Christ. He tabernacled among us, and
we beheld his glory. The glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. What a dwelling place
we have in Christ Jesus. I wrote that down and I went
back and wrote this. What a perfect dwelling place
we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. What an eternal dwelling place
we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. That God has provided so graciously
for us. The Most High, the Almighty God,
We shall abide in him forever. Safely we shall abide. We sang
a moment ago. He that dwelleth in the secret
place of the Most High shall abide. We allage, we reside,
we remain under the shadow of the Almighty God. I will save the Lord, he's my
all, my all. Now it says there in verse 2,
the Lord, Jehovah, God my Savior, he is my refuge. My refuge. Now I looked this up in the book
of Psalms today, I don't think I've ever looked this up before.
But that word refuge is found 18 times in the book of Psalms. Christ is our refuge. Christ
is our refuge. Christ is our refuge. Turn over
here to Psalm 46, verse 1. Psalm 46, verse 1. This is one
of those 18 places. Psalm 46, verse 1. God is our
refuge and present God is our refuge and strength, a very present
help in trouble. You ever been in trouble? He's
our refuge and He's our strength in trouble. I stay in trouble
all the time. He is my refuge in trouble. He
is my help. And then it says here back at
Psalm 91, He's not only the Lord, I will save the Lord. I'll say
this because the Lord says this, He's my refuge. Not only that,
he's my fortress. He's my fortification. He's my
defense. Now turn back to Psalm 18. Psalm
18 for just a moment. I think we looked at this recently.
Psalm 18, can you find that? Psalm 18 verse 1. And this is
all through the scriptures. He is my fortress. He's my defense.
He's my fortification. He's my high tower. Psalm 18,
verse 1, I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock. He's my fortress. He's my deliverer. He's my God, my strength, in
whom I'll trust, my buckler. We're going to see that word
again in a moment. The horn or power of my salvation, and he's
my high tower. I'll call upon the Lord who is
worthy to be prayed. So shall I be saved from mine
enemies. He is our refuge, the most high
God now. We're not talking about a peanut
God. As Brother Mahan used to say, our God's no peanut God.
He's God. God who is God. God who is almighty. God who is most high. There's
none higher. There's none higher than God. And that being so, he's my God. He's the God of all grace. You
see that? He's my God. He's my God. He's the God of
all grace. He's the Father of mercies. We
have a good hope through the grace of God. We have peace,
my God. He gives us peace, comfort, and
salvation. He's the God of all grace. Remember
the words of Thomas, Thomas the Apostle? And he said the same
thing. Remember he confessed, my Lord
and my God, when the Lord, risen Lord, appeared to him? Remember
the first time Thomas wasn't there? I don't know where he
was. He was somewhere. But later on, the Lord appeared
again. Thomas, remember what he said? I won't believe until
I see the nail prints right there. And the Lord appeared and said,
Thomas, remember what he said? My Lord and my God. And then
remember the words of Mary, the virgin. She said, my soul does
rejoice in God, my savior. So the Lord is the almighty,
the most high, my refuge, my fortress, my God. And then that
being so, in him, last part of verse two, in him will I trust. In him will I trust. It's a good thing to trust the
Lord. For what part of salvation do you trust him for? All of
salvation. I trust him for everything. I
trust him for my wisdom, my righteousness, my sanctification and redemption.
I trust him for all salvation. I will trust him. You know why
it's a good thing to trust him? He can't fail. It's impossible
for God to lie. Everything he says is so. I will
trust, he cannot fail. Our God is the unfailing God. The unfailing, unfailing God. He is faithful. Remember from
last week, Psalm 92 verse 2. It's a good thing to give thanks
unto the Lord, to sing praises unto thy name. Oh, most high,
verse one. Verse two, to show forth thy
loving kindness in the morning and thy faithfulness. God's faithful
to his word. God's faithful to his covenant.
God's faithful to his people. He's the unfailing God. You remember
Isaiah 42, verse four, says he cannot fail. He cannot fail. We trust the one who cannot fail.
Now, if we trust someone who could fail, that wouldn't be
a good thing to do, would it? Don't put your trust in me or
any other man in whom there's no help, no salvation. Trust
Him alone for all things in salvation. So there's the believer's refuge. There's the believer's hiding
place, dwelling place we have in Christ. And then verse 3 down
through verse 8, we see the believer's confidence. the believer's confidence. Surely he shall deliver thee. He shall. He's called the deliverer. He's called our redeemer. He
is the redeemer who really redeems. He redeems all of his people
from all their sin. He shall deliver thee from the
snare or the trap of the fowler. I believe that's a reference
to Satan, who is a deceiver of men. You remember the Lord said
to Peter, Satan had desire to sift you like wheat, but I pray
for you that your faith fail not. He shall surely deliver
thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his
feathers, and under his wings thou shalt trust. Trust him. His truth shall be shield and
buckler. His truth. His truth. It's always about truth, isn't
it? It's always about truth. You shall know the truth, and
the truth will set you free. It'll set you free. Now, I love
reading in scripture the shalls and wills of God. the shalls
and wills of God. They shall be my people, and
I will be their God. God wills, God shall, and it
will be done. There are no uncertainties connected
with the gospel of God. It's ordered in all things, and
it is certain and sure. All the promises of God in Christ
are yes, and in him, and amen to the glory of God. You remember
the last words of David on his deathbed? David, the king of
Israel, God had made with me an everlasting covenant ordered
in all things, and sure, this is all my hope and all my desire. And then he said, although he
causes it not to grow. That's kind of a puzzling statement,
but to me, That means there's no room to improve it. It doesn't
get any better. It's ordered in all things, and
it's sure, and it does not change. We studied that Sunday, didn't
we, about I am the Lord, I change not, the same yesterday, today,
and forever. From everlasting to everlasting
thou art God. There are no uncertainties. Everything
ordered, all things are ordered and certain and sure in Christ.
Our confidence, therefore, of salvation rests totally in the
Lord Jesus Christ. When Paul write to the Philippians,
you remember he said, we are the true Israel of God, which
worship God in the spirit, that rejoice in Christ Jesus, And
we have no confidence in the flesh. Now we have confidence
in Him, but not in us. Not in us, but in Him. He shall,
verse 3, deliver thee. He's called In Romans 11, 26,
he shall redeem, the Deliverer shall come, the Deliverer shall
come, and it's capital D, Deliverer. He shall come and redeem all
his people from all their sin. He didn't fail. He shall deliver
us from the curse of the law. We studied that in Galatians
3 verse 13, remember? He redeemed us from the curse
of the law, being made a curse for us. He shall deliver us from
the penalty of sin. The penalty of sin is what? The
soul that sinneth shall die. The penalty of sin, the guilty
must die. The Lord Jesus Christ has delivered
us from the penalty of sin. Because He took our penalty. He took our sin. He took our
penalty. And He took the wrath of God
due our sin. And satisfied God's law and justice
for us. The Lord had delivered us from
the wrath to come. There's no more wrath for the
believer. No more wrath. The Lord had delivered
us from the snare of the devil. The Lord had delivered us from
the enemy of death. Our Lord said, because I live,
you shall live. Remember in Revelation 118, he
said, I am he that liveth and was dead. Behold, I'm alive forevermore. And because he lives, we live
and move and have our being in him. And then verse four, he
talks about being covered. Now we need a covering because
by nature we're naked. And even though Adam tried to
cover his nakedness with fig leaves, it didn't work, did it?
God had to kill an animal, substitute and cover. He shall cover thee. He covers us with his feathers. With his feathers. Now this is
symbolic language. And under his wings shalt thou
trust, and his truth, his truth, His shield, his truth, his buckler. He shall cover us with his feathers. Young birds, you ever looked
in a robin nest and you see them robin eggs in there, were they
blue? They're blue, weren't they? Robin eggs, blue, weren't they
blue? And then every once in a while,
you peek in that nest, and every once in a while, and then you
start to see them little beaks pecking out. They peck out, and
they get out of that eggshell. You ever look at them when they
come out of that eggshell? They're naked. They ain't got
no feathers. What does mama bird do? Mama
bird flies in there, she covers them with her wings. She covers
them up. She's got feathers. They don't
have any feathers. The Lord Jesus Christ covers
us with his righteousness to hide our, to cover our nakedness
before God. Does that make sense? We have
in Christ a robe of righteousness and the garments of salvation.
His wings not only provide covering, his wing provide healing. There's healing. in his wing. With his stripes we are healed.
Now here's the verse, Malachi 4 verse 2, but unto you that
fear my name shall the son of righteousness arise with healing
in his wings. His wings provide hiding and
covering before God. A man, you remember Isaiah 32,
Verse 2, a man shall be a hiding place from the wind, a covert
from a tempest, a shadow of a great rock in a weary land. The Lord
Jesus Christ. Nothing will eclipse his glory.
Nothing will eclipse his glory. His truth shall be our shield. His truth is our defender. How do we shield ourselves from
the attack of the enemies? How did the Lord shield himself
against the onslaught of Satan's attack? With the word of truth,
didn't he? That is our shield. That is our
shield. Remember, don't turn. Let me
read this to you. This is familiar to you. When Paul talked about
putting on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand
against the snares of the devil, And then he says, take the whole
armor of God that you may be able to stand in the evil day,
having done all to stand. Stand therefore, having your
loins girded about with truth, having on the breastplate of
righteousness, your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel
of peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you
shall be able to acquaint the fiery dart to the wicked, and
take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit,
which is the word of God. God has given us this covering. He's covered us. Under his wings,
he protects us. Mama Bird protects those little
birds, doesn't she? Those little baby birds. Mama
Bird just, oh, I tell you, you get around to robbing. When them
eggs are hatched out and you get around the nest, Mama Robin
will come after you. She'll dive bomb you. He's trying
to protect. But the Lord protects his people
under his wings. I want to be under his wings.
And we can trust him because his truth, his truth endures
forever. The truth of his word, it's our
shield, it's our buckler, it's our defense. When the enemies
try to assault us for the gospel that we believe, what do we use? We use the truth of the word,
don't we? You should know the truth. Sanctify them by the truth,
thy word is truth. The truth shall set you free.
Look at five and six, verse five and six. Thou shalt not, thou
shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that
flyeth by day. nor for the pestilence that walketh
in darkness, nor for the destruction that waiteth at noonday, a thousand
shall fall at thy side, 10,000 at thy right hand, but it shall
not come nigh thee. A day of judgment's coming, a
day of judgment's been set aside, but those resting in Christ whom
we trust, in the secret place, our refuge, our fortress, our
deliverer, our cover, our protection. It shall not come nigh thee in
that last day of judgment. There is therefore now no judgment,
no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Only with
thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
What is the reward of the wicked? The wage of sin is death. What
is the reward of the righteous? The gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord. We'll see that. We'll experience
that in Christ Jesus. Now, look down at verse 9 down
to verse 13. Because thou hast made the Lord,
which is my refuge, even the most high, He's our habitation. Here's the believer's redeemer
and refuge, and it's because, and that's the cause. You see
how verse nine begins? Because. All these things are
not gonna hurt us and harm us and do us any eternal damage
because thou hast made the Lord our refuge. The Lord is our refuge. and the Most High, the Most High
God, is our dwelling place. He's our habitation. That's where
we reside, in the Most High God. Therefore, he said, verse 10,
there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come
nigh thy dwelling, for he shall give his angels charge over thee
to keep thee in the way, in all thy ways. They shall bear thee
up in their hands, lest thou dash Thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion.
Satan is called a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. And
the adder, the snake, he's the serpent. And the young lion and
the dragon, thou shalt trample them under feet. Satan is a defeated
enemy. The Lord Jesus Christ had defeated
his power, his dominion. Our Lord said, the Lord said
unto my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make thine enemies
thy footstool. Reading in Romans 16, let me
read it to you. The God of peace shall bruise
Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you all. Amen, he says there. Thou shalt
tread upon the lion and the adder and the young lion because, it
all goes back to this reason, because thou hast made the Lord,
which is my refuge and my habitation, the most high. The most high
is our habitation and is our dwelling place. Is our dwelling
place forever and ever and ever. Now let me say something here
about these angels. He shall give his angels charge
over thee to keep thee in the ways. One of the means the Lord
has ordained to minister unto his saints is a mighty army of
angels. While they bring great destruction
upon the enemies of God, they bring protection to the believers
in the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't have a guardian angel,
we have many. angels who watch over us. You remember we studied in Hebrews
chapter 1 verse 14 that the angels are called ministering spirits
sent forth to minister to them who are the heirs of salvation. I've never seen an angel and
I don't know much about them, but they are real and they are
the elect angels. They do minister to God's people. according to his will. We don't
worship angels, we worship God, but he does send forth angels
to protect his people. They do serve God's purpose.
They did minister to the Lord Jesus Christ while he was in
the body, in his flesh, remember? There in Matthew chapter four
we read, when Satan was through assaulting the Lord Jesus Christ,
the angels came and ministered unto him. The Lord, when he was arrested
in the garden, remember, Peter whipped out his sword and cut
off the ear of that servant. He meant to cut off his head,
and that servant, and Peter got his ear. Remember what the Lord
said to him? Peter, put up your sword. Don't
you know I could call twelve legions of angels? What would
twelve legions, that's sixty thousand angels. Do you remember
one angel killed 185 Assyrians? What would 60,000 angels do? When he prayed in the garden,
the father said, my father, not my will, thy will be done. And
he bled out great drops of blood. The angels came and ministered
unto him at his resurrection tomb. There was a great earthquake,
and the angel of the Lord rolled the stone away and sat upon it,
and then told those women, why do you seek the living among
the dead? He's not here. He's risen. He's risen. And then at his ascension, we
studied in Acts chapter 1, after his resurrection, 40 days later,
he ascended to glory, remember? And the angels stood by and told
those disciples, this same Jesus whom you see go away, he'll come
again. This same one. This same one. They do minister unto us. No wonder we studied, be careful
to entertain strangers because some have entertained angels
unawares. Abraham did. Lot did. Others have as well. Now here's
the last thing, the believer's promise of salvation. Verse 14,
15, and 16. Because He has set His love upon
me. There's that because again. Because
thou hast made the Lord my refuge. Because the Lord has set His
love upon me. When did the Lord set His love
upon His church? From everlasting. You remember
Jeremiah 31? The Lord hath loved thee with
an everlasting love, therefore with lovingkind has he drawn
us to himself, because he hath set his love upon me, therefore
will I deliver him. We are delivered from sin, condemnation,
eternal death from all our enemies, because he set his love upon
us. Therefore, I will deliver him.
I will set him on high. You know, the forerunner is for
us, entered in, and he's seated in the heavenlies on the throne
of God. And you know what? We are seated already in the
heavenlies in Christ Jesus. It says that in Ephesians chapter
2. I will set him on high. I'm already there in my substitute,
having that vital living union with the Lord Jesus Christ. What's
true of him is true of us. Where he is, we are too in him. To be absent from his body is
to be present with the Lord. I will set him on high because
he hath known my name. God has given him a name which
is above every name, that at that name every knee will bow,
every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, because
he hath known my name. What's his name? Jehovah. Jehovah
Jireh, Jehovah Sidcanu, Jehovah Rapha, those seven names of the
Lord. He shall call upon me, verse
15, and I'll answer him. Notice how many times, therefore
will I deliver him. I will set him on high. He shall
call upon me and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. He said, what did we study? You
remember that scripture in Hebrews 13? He said, I'll never leave
thee. I'll never forsake thee. Therefore,
we can boldly say, the Lord is my helper. I shall not fear what
man shall do unto me. I will. Be with him in trouble? I'll be with him in trouble.
In this world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer,
I've overcome. The Lord doesn't say you won't
have trouble. The Lord says, and he promises grace for the
day of trouble. That he'll be with us in the
trouble. And I will deliver Him and I will honor Him. Those who
honor the Lord Jesus Christ by believing Him, He will honor
them because they honor Him. With long life, with long life. He's not talking about long life here in the flesh.
We're going to see In Psalm 90 verse 12, he said to teach us
to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. Number
our days. Three score and ten. I'm past
that. Three score and ten. With long
life, I will satisfy him and show him my salvation. This long
life here is eternal life. David said, when I behold thy
face in righteousness, I'll be satisfied. With long life, I
will satisfy him. I'm satisfied. I'm satisfied
with everything the Lord Jesus Christ is and what He's done.
But more importantly, God is satisfied. This is my beloved
Son, my well-beloved Son in whom I'm well-pleased. I will satisfy
Him and show Him, reveal unto Him my salvation. Again, we see that salvation
is of the Lord, don't we? Salvation is of the Lord.