Psalm 91, there's our study this
evening. And I'm entitling the message
from the words found in verse one, the secret place, the secret
place of the Most High God, the secret place. Now, what is this
secret place that the believer continuously dwells and abides
in? It says there in verse one, he
that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide,
shall continue under the shadow or in the presence of Almighty
God. What is this secret place that
the believer continuously abides in or rather who is this secret place of the Most
High God that the believer finds his refuge in a time of trouble
in all of his salvation. Look at verse 9, because thou
hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High,
The most high is our dwelling place, our habitation. We lodge in him. There is no
other refuge, is there? Or righteousness that the Lord
has provided for us, but that righteousness of God in the gospel,
and that righteousness is the Lord Jesus Christ himself. He
is the Lord's provision for us. The Lord will provide. And he
provided that blessed Redeemer, the surety of the covenant to
Lord Jesus Christ. Only that which God has provided
will God accept. Believers do dwell in the secret
place, in the heart, the most high God, in God himself, in
Christ Jesus. Now this Psalm, like so many
others, is full of blessed and precious and great exceeding
promises of God. Revealed, made known and realized
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter talked about those
exceeding great and precious promises. And by these precious
promises, he's made us partakers of that divine nature in regeneration
and in the new birth. Now some think Notice in Psalm
91 there is nothing written under Psalm 91. A lot of the old commentators
think because Psalm 90 was a prayer of Moses, a man of God, some
think that Psalm 91 was also penned by Moses. Maybe, I don't
know. It doesn't really matter who
the penman was, does it? All scripture is given of God.
But if Moses is the penman, Moses was blessed to experience the
same hope that believers today have, the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Remember the Lord said of him,
Moses wrote about me. When Moses picked up a pen, being
inspired to write the Word of God, beginning in Genesis chapter
one all the way through Deuteronomy. He writes about the blessed Redeemer,
the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember what the Lord said
to the two men that walked on the road to Emmaus? And beginning
at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them and all
the things in all the scripture, the things concerning himself. Moses had one hope of salvation. It wasn't the law. It wasn't
the fact that he was a great leader and a prophet. It was
the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ was his savior, his redeemer,
his righteousness who put away his sin. Moses had the same blessed
hope that David had. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall
not want. The Lord is my shepherd. Now,
I'm gonna divide this psalm this evening, these 16 verses into
four different parts. Let me give you the four parts,
then we'll go back and look at each of them. In verses one and
two, we see the believer's dwelling place, the believer's dwelling
place. Secondly, in verses three through
eight, we see the believer's confidence, the believer's confidence. He shall deliver us. He shall
be our refuge. And then the third thing is verses
nine through verse 13, the believer's redeemer. The believer's redeemer
and refuge. And then the last point will
be this in verses 14 through 16, the believer's promise. of salvation. The last part of
verse 16, he says, I will satisfy him. Believers are satisfied
with the Lord Jesus Christ. But I've often said what is more
important than our satisfaction is the fact that God Almighty
is satisfied with him. and that he will show us, or
reveal unto us, salvation in Christ Jesus. Now let's see if
we can study this psalm with those four headings. First of
all, the believer's dwelling place, verses 1 and 2. Let's
read it again. He that dwelleth in the secret
place, the secret place of the Most High, The habitation of
the Most High shall, and here we see this word again, with
God Almighty, it's not if, maybe, perhaps, or could be. Shall,
shall abide under the shadow or the presence of Almighty God. I will save the Lord. He is my
refuge. He's my refuge. He's my fortress. He's my God. In Him, I will trust. I will trust. Now, remember from last week
in Psalm 90, verse one and two, the Lord says, Lord, thou hast
been our dwelling place in all generations. For the mountains
were brought forth, for ever thou hast formed the earth and
the world from everlasting to everlasting. He is our Redeemer. He is our dwelling place. By God's eternal purpose and
power and electing grace, He's made us to differ. He has made the Lord Jesus Christ
our dwelling place now and forever. We shall reside in Him Abide
in Him. Lodge in Him. In the secret place
of His love. In the secret place of His heart.
In Christ. Now let's look at Psalm 27. Psalm
27. Look at verse 5. For the time
of trouble, in the time of trouble shall he hide me, in the secret
of his tabernacle shall he hide me. Now that's not talking about
a building, that's talking about the living tabernacle, the Lord
Jesus Christ. In the secret of his tabernacle
shall he hide me, and he'll set me upon the rock. Rock Christ
Jesus. That's our dwelling place. What
a dwelling place God has provided for us. Again, verse nine, thou
hast made the Lord our dwelling place, our refuge, the most high,
the most high God. How high is God? I can't begin to describe how
high His power, how high His holiness, how high His eternality
from everlasting to everlasting. He's the most high God. He's
the almighty God. Because He is our dwelling place,
because we dwell in the presence The presence of the Almighty
God. The shadow of the Almighty God.
There's another reference here on that. Turn to Psalm 17, 18.
Psalm 17, eight rather. Psalm 17, eight. Keep me. Psalm 17, eight. Keep me as the
apple, the pupil of thine eye. Hide me under the shadow. The shadow, the presence. of
thy wings." That being so, and that being revealed to us by
the power of God, by the Holy Spirit, then this is the response,
verse 2, I will say of the Lord, for He is my refuge. He is my
hiding place. He is my secret place. He is
my fortress. He is my God. In Him, in Him,
in Him, the most high God, in Him will I hide. Now, no doubt
about it, the Lord is, can't you say that? The Lord is my
hiding place. He's my refuge. He's not a refuge
of lies. He is the foundation and the
refuge that God has provided for us. He is my refuge. He is my hiding place. Not only that, and notice how
he personalizes this. He just didn't say, the Lord
is a refuge. He said, he's mine. He's mine. Can't you say that in your heart?
The Lord is mine. I am his and he is mine. The
Lord is my refuge. Not only that, but He's my fortress. He's my fortification. He is
my strength. Now this reference here, if you
want to turn to Isaiah 26, Isaiah 26, the Lord is our strength,
our hiding place. Our foundation, our refuge, our
strong city, our fortification. Isaiah 26 verse 1, In that day
shall this song be sung in the land of Judah. We have a strong
city. Salvation will God appoint for
walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates that the righteous
nation which keepeth truth may enter in. that will keep him
in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed upon thee, because
he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever. For the Lord Jehovah, he is our
everlasting strength. So he's our refuge, he's our
fortification, our strength. He's the strength of our refuge,
the strength of our hiding place, the strength of our secret place.
And then he says, in verse two of our text, he's my God. He's my God. Now, I like confession
that Thomas made. When the risen Lord appeared
to the disciples, you know, Thomas wasn't there the first time.
Remember what Thomas said, I won't believe until I see him myself. And when the Lord appeared to
him, remember what Thomas said, my Lord, my God. That's a good confession. My
Lord and my God. He's my God. He's the God of
all grace, the God of all mercy, the God of all peace, the God
of all comfort, and the God of all salvation. He's my refuge. He's my Lord. He's the strength,
the fortress. He's my God. Now with all that
being so, it leads to this conclusion. In Him, Him, in Him, I trust. In Him, I will trust. You know what's pretty safe to
trust Him? Isn't it? It is absolutely certain and
sure salvation is in Him. We can trust Him. We can trust
Him. He cannot fail. When are we to
trust Him? You remember Psalm 62? Trust
Him at all times, all times. The Lord is our refuge, my refuge,
my fortress, my God. I'll trust Him, I'll trust Him. What a blessed place God has
given us to dwell in the secret place of the presence of the
Almighty God. Now, verse three through eight,
we see the believers' confidence. Surely, surely he shall, surely
he shall deliver, redeem from the snare of the fowler and from
the noisome pestilence and plague. Surely he shall cover thee with
his feathers. Under his wings shalt thou trust. His truth shall be shield, shield. and buckler. You ever notice
how many times in the scriptures, the Lord uses the word shall
and will. Someone said, I love the shalls
and wills of God. I will be their God and they
shall be my people. I will be their God, they shall
be my people, and they will not depart from me. The shalls and
wills of God. There are no uncertainties connected
with the gospel of God. It's ordered in all things, ordered
of God. and it's certain and sure. All
the promises of God in Christ Jesus are certain and sure, yea
and amen and in Him. Our confidence of salvation then
rests totally in Him, in the Lord Jesus Christ. Can't we say
with the Apostle Paul that we are the true Israel of God, having
been circumcised with the operation of God in the heart, we are the
true Israel of God which worship God in the spirit that rejoice
in the Lord Jesus Christ and that has no we have no confidence
in the flesh you remember what Jeremiah said about the man who
trusted the flesh cursed is that man that trusteth in the flesh
our confidence of salvation rest totally in His work, His person,
His representation, His redeeming blood, His righteousness. Therefore
we shall say and can say, surely He shall deliver us. He shall deliver us. You remember
from reading Romans chapter 11 recently, the Lord Jesus Christ
is called the deliverer. He is the Redeemer who delivers
us. He's delivered us from the what?
What's He delivered us from? He delivered us from the curse
of the law, hadn't He? He redeemed us from the curse
of the law, delivered us from the curse of the law, being made
a curse for us. He's delivered us from the penalty
of sin, having taken our sin to himself, having
put away our sin by the sacrifice of himself. He's delivered us
from the wrath to come. He's not appointed us unto wrath,
but to obtain salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ. He has delivered
us from the, as it says there, from the snare of the fowler.
He's delivered us from the snare and the trickery and the connivings
of Satan himself. You remember when Peter bragged
to the Lord one day, and he said to all these other fellows, you
know, they're kind of weak. They'll forsake you, but not
me. Remember what the Lord said to
Peter? Peter, Satan had desired to sift
you like wheat, but I prayed for you that your faith fail
not. He's delivered us from the snare
of the devil. And he delivered us from the
last enemy that will be destroyed, and that is death. Our Lord said,
because I live, you shall live. He shall deliver thee. What a blessing we have in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And then it says in verse four,
he shall cover thee. Now we need a covering. and we
need a covering. He shall cover thee with his
feathers. Now this is symbolic language,
isn't it? He shall cover thee with his
feathers and under his wings you'll trust, thou shalt trust. His truth shall be shield and
buckler. Have you ever done this when
you were a kid? found a little bird nest, and
then maybe saw those little bird eggs in there, and then you kinda
snuck around and watched Mama Bird, and watched Mama Bird sit
on the eggs, and one day them little baby birds kinda pecked
their way out, and when they came out, they just looked naked,
didn't they? Didn't have any feathers on them,
did they? No feathers. They looked naked. They needed
to be desperately covered under their mother's wings, didn't
they? You know, that's us. By nature,
we're naked before God, naked in our sin and filthy in our
sin. We need a covering so desperately
before God. And the covering that God Almighty
has provided for us is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. He
has clothed us, we're gonna see Isaiah 61 in a week or so. He
has clothed us with the garments of his salvation. He has dressed
us in the robe of his righteousness. His wings, it says in Malachi
4.2, his wings provide healing and his wings provide hiding
and covering. Under his wings. I tell you,
we're safe under his wings. Turn over here to Isaiah 32. He shall cover thee with his
feathers. Under his wings shalt thou trust. Isaiah 32, look at verse two. You remember this from our study?
A man shall be a hiding place from the wind, a covering from
the tempest, rivers of water in a dry place, a shadow of a
great rock in a weary land." Who is this man? Well, it's none
other than the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. He shall deliver
us, He shall cover us under His person, under His righteousness. And then it says in the last
part of verse 4, His truth shall be our shield and our buckler,
His truth. His truth is our defender. How
do we shield ourselves from the attack of the enemies and from
the lies of Satan? How do we shield ourselves? By
our feelings, by our emotion, by our true grit. What is our
defense? What is our shield? Turn over here to Ephesians chapter
six. You remember when Paul gives
this description of the believer dressed up in the armor that
God has provided, above all things, taking the shield of faith and
the sword of the spirit, which is the word of truth. You remember
Ephesians chapter six, verse 16. Stand therefore, verse 14. Well, let's go back to verse
13. Wherefore, take unto you 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 girt about
with truth, having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet
shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all,
taking the shield of faith, wherewith you should be able to quench
all the fiery darts of the wicked. Take the helmet of salvation
and the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of Truth, the
Word of God. This holds forth the Word when
the enemies attack, when the enemies of the Gospel attack,
this holds forth the Word. That's why it's so important
for us as God's people to be familiar with His Word,
with His truth, committed to memory, Commit it to memory, commit it
to heart. And when you come under attack, pull out his truth, his
sword, which is quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword.
Now look at verse five. He said, thou shall not be afraid,
the terror by night, nor the arrow that flies by day. Verse
six, nor the petulance that walketh in the darkness, nor for the
destruction that wasteth at noonday. Thou shalt not be afraid. Turn
over here, and here's the reason why. Look at Psalm 27 again. The apostle writes, if God be
for us, who can be against us? The only remedy that God gives
us from fears, you know what it is? Faith in Christ. That's what it says here in Psalm
27, verse one, the Lord is my light and he's my salvation. Now whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my
life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even my enemies,
my foes came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
Though the host should encamp against me, my heart shall not
fear, though war should rise against me, in this will I be
confident that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the
days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire
in his temple. knowing our Lord is sovereign
the universe and in control of all things nothing comes our
way but by his decree and it is always working not against
us it's working for us it's for our eternal good. You remember
that scripture over in 2nd Corinthians 4 I often quote when Paul talked
about our light afflictions which are but for a moment worketh
for us in exceeding an eternal weight of glory." Now back to
the text. By faith in him, knowing that
the Lord is control of all things, he mentions there the terror
by night, men or devils, the arrow by day, wars or disasters,
the pestilence the disease and death that are among men, nor
this destruction that wasteth at noonday. And he's talking
here about final judgment. It says there are a thousand
shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy right hand, but
it shall not come nigh to thee. Now there is coming a great day
of judgment. It's called in the book of Revelation,
we're gonna see when we get over there to chapter 19, I believe
it is, the great white throne judgment of the Lord Jesus Christ. All judgment is committed into
his hand. But our judgment against our
sin has already taken place. We shall appear the judgment
seat of Christ, not to be judged, but to be shown off by the Lord
Jesus Christ as a trophy of his grace, his love and his mercy. No condemnation, no judgment
to those who are in the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse seven
and eight, a thousand shall fall at thy side. 10,000, thy right hand, but judgment
will not come near to you. The wicked will be rewarded with
wicked works. You remember in Psalm 73, where
God said that he sets them in slippery places, judgment will
come. The righteous in Christ, the
wicked will be rewarded for their wicked works. The righteous in
Christ will be rewarded for his perfect obedience. on the death,
even the death of the cross. We have no need to fear judgment,
no need to fear our enemy since we fear God. We do not fear man. Turn over here to 2 Corinthians
10 for a moment. 2 Corinthians chapter 10, I want
you to look at this carefully. 2 Corinthians chapter 10. Look at verse three, 2 Corinthians
10 verse three. For though we walk in the flesh,
we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds,
casting down imaginations and everything that exalted itself
against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every
thought to the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. God's gonna
reward us for the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the
faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ. No need to fear judgment. The righteous in Christ shall
be rewarded with His perfect, blessed obedience. In him. Now, here's the third
thing. Look at verse nine down to verse
13. Psalm 91. It says in verse eight,
only with thine eyes shalt thou see the reward of the wicked. If you wanna draw a reference
there to Revelation 19 verse three, in that great day of judgment,
we're gonna say amen to the condemnation of the wicked. Matter of fact,
it says, when we see their smoke ascend up forever, the torment
of their smoke, we're gonna sing unto the Lord, hallelujah, amen. That's exactly what they've got
coming. They're getting exactly what
they deserve. Now, the believer's redeemer,
verse nine, down through verse 13. Because thou hast made, The
Lord, my refuge, even the most high. Thou hast made the Lord
our habitation, our dwelling place, and our secret place. He's the cause because thou hast
made the Lord. He's the first cause of our salvation,
isn't he? He's the first cause and he's
the last end. All of our salvation is his doing. All of our salvation is His doing. Because the Lord has made the
Most High, has made the Lord Jesus Christ our Redeemer, our
Deliverer, our Dwelling Place, our Savior, our Righteousness,
and our Refuge. He is made unto us. You remember
that scripture I often quote? But of Him are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us? Because thou hast made the
Lord, he is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. He's made him our habitation. All of his doing. Look at verse
10. There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague
come near thy dwelling. Because of all that the Lord
Jesus Christ has made unto us, Because Christ is all, because
we're complete in Him, there shall no evil, no plague come
nigh unto the believer. Now, we do experience the evil
of sin, because that's what we are in the flesh. We do experience
the evil of temptation, evil thoughts. We have evil thoughts,
don't we? We do experience the evil of
affliction, sickness of this body, but not the evil or affliction
of a punishment for our sin. That is already done and passed. Nor the plague or curse of our
sin against us. Christ has dealt with our sin
already. And as it says over here, turn
to Psalm 103, verse 10. He hath not dealt with us after
our sin, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the
heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward
them that fear him. As far as the east is from the
west, so far hath he removed our transgression from us. That's
mercy. That's mercy. No evil shall befall
thee. No condemnation, no plague of
sin shall come nigh thy dwelling. Our sin's been dealt with in
our substitute. Look at verse 11. Verse 11, 12, and 13.
For he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee
in all thy ways. We don't keep ourselves, do we?
How are we kept? Kept by the power of God. They
shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against
a stone, thou shalt tread upon the lion, the adder, the young
lion, the dragon, shalt thou trample under feet." Because the Lord gives his angels
charge over us, to keep us in the ways of the Lord. One of
the means the Lord has ordained to minister unto his saints is
a mighty army of angels. Now I've never seen an angel
and I don't know a whole lot about them. But I do know this,
while they bring great destruction upon the enemies of God, they
also bring great protection upon the believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ. In Hebrews chapter 1, he talks
about the angels are ministering spirits sent forth to minister
to them who are the heirs of salvation. Remember? We are told
in Scripture not to worship angels. We're going to see that in the
book of Revelation. At one point, John falls down before an angel.
As to worship the angel and the angel stopped and said, don't
worship me. I'm just a servant of God. You
worship God. But believers are hovered about
with God's protecting angels. They do serve God's purpose.
They did minister to the Lord Jesus Christ while he was in
the body of flesh as we read a moment ago. When he was tempted
of Satan in the wilderness there for 40 days and 40 nights, the
angels of God came and ministered unto the God-man Mediator. When
he was arrested in the garden, you remember Peter tried to defend
him with a sword? And the Lord told him, put up
your sword. And then he said, don't you know I could call 12
legions of angels? Can you imagine what 12 legions
of angels would do to those Roman soldiers? You remember one angel,
what one angel did to that Assyrian army? Killed 185,000 of them. When he prayed in the garden,
garden of Gethsemane, the Lord Jesus Christ, When his sweat
became great drops of blood, when that ordeal was over with,
the angels of God came and ministered unto him. Remember, the angel
was sent from heaven to Joseph in naming the child, called his
name Jesus. He shall save his people from
their sin. The angels appeared to the shepherd
in the field. And they sang glory to God in
the highest when the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man, came into
this world in the body of flesh. At his resurrection, the angel
of God descended at the tomb and rolled away the stone and
then sat on top of it and said to the women, why do you seek
the living among the dead? He's not here, he has risen. At the Lord's final ascension,
after he'd been raised from the dead for 40 days, before he ascended
back to glory, you remember the angel said, as the apostles watched
the Lord Jesus Christ ascend to glory, They said this same
Jesus, this same Jesus, whom you see go away will come again
in like manner. You see, all through his ministry,
at his birth, even before his birth, when he was named, through
his ministry, in an early part of his ministry in that temptation
in the wilderness, when he was in his agony in the garden, they
came and ministered unto him. At his resurrection, at his ascension, ministering angels minister onto
us even today you know it's interesting I was looking at this remember
from last week I read a scripture over Deuteronomy 34 verse 6 where
Moses was on Mount Pisgah and was able to look into the promised
land but God said you can't go in and the Lord took him home
to glory he died on that mountain and the Lord Buried him there. No one knew where his grave was. But you know over in the book
of Jude, it says that Michael the archangel contended with
the devil over the body of Moses. Evidently the devil had in mind
of taking the body of Moses and somehow making a fashion of an
idol with it. God wouldn't permit it. The angel
of God was dispatched to bury the body of Moses. You see, the
point I'm trying to make is this. Angels do minister under God's
servants by the express decree and command of God. over in the book of Hebrews it
talks about be careful and be wise to entertain strangers for
some thereby have entertained angels not even knowing that
they were sent of God. They appear as men. Now I've
never seen an angel but I know when the gospel of the Lord Jesus,
Peter said this in his epistle, when the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is preached that the angel desire to look into these things? It's an interesting thing to
think about and you really could bring a whole message. Look at
verse 11 again. He shall give his angels charge
over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. And one of the means that God
has graciously provided for us to keep us from harm is these ministering angels.
And it says, Thou shalt tread upon the lion, the hatter, the
young lion, the dragon, and shalt trample him under feet. Now look
at this reference here. I think it has reference to this.
Romans 16. Romans 16. Verse 20, the God of peace shall
bruise Satan under your feet shortly, and the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ shall be with you. Now, let me close by reading
back at the text, Psalm 91, verse 14, 15, and 16. Here's the promise
of salvation. Because the Lord has set his
love upon us, therefore he does deliver us, He does set us on
high. He has made us to know His name.
He set His love upon us. Now you
think about that. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called sons
of God. He set His love upon us, therefore He delivers us. He does set us on high. He does
make the Lord Jesus Christ our hiding place, our habitation.
We do know his name. God has given him a name above
every name. No other name under heaven given
among men whereby we must be saved in Christ. And we do call
upon him. Verse 15. And the Lord does answer. And
the Lord says, I will be with him in trouble. He's promised
to never leave us, never forsake us. He said, lo, I'm with you
always. I will deliver him. He says again,
I will honor him. Verse 16, with long life, long life. You know when God saves us, he
saves us with an everlasting salvation. He gives us eternal
life. With long life, I satisfy him
and I'll show him I'll show him, I'll show him my salvation. We do confess his name and we
do call upon him. And it says there, I will show
him my salvation. Now, it reminded me of this.
Turn over here to Luke chapter two. I will show him my salvation. The old man Simeon. ministering
in the temple remember Luke chapter 2 verse 25 there was a man in
Jerusalem whose name was Simeon same man was just and devout
waiting for the consolation of Israel and God the Holy Spirit
was upon him and it was revealed on him by the Holy Ghost that
he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ
He came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents
brought in the child, Jesus, to do for him after the custom
of the law, eight days old, they brought him to be circumcised
to honor the law of God. Simeon took him up in his arms
and blessed God and said, Lord, now let thy servant depart. Let
me die, but depart in peace according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
which thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a light
to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
Mine eyes have seen thy salvation. I will show him, show him. He has to show us. He has to
reveal himself unto us. He must command the light to
shine. and show us that the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed is our
salvation. Our salvation.