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How Psalm 91 Speaks
to Your Coronavirus Fears
this
Psalm speaks God’s power, presence, intentions, and protection against fear - described
as a covering for His people, God’s comfort is a wing of security amidst this
world’s uncertainties and suffering
Lianna Davis
Psalm
91 bursts with assurances about the protection of God — replete with words like
shelter, refuge, fortress, shield, deliver, rescue, and satisfy.
At
this time of global pandemic with the novel coronavirus COVID-19, this Psalm speaks God’s power, presence, intentions, and
protection against fear.
Described as a covering for His people, God’s comfort
is a wing of security amidst this world’s uncertainties and suffering.
Will
God Protect Us from Pestilence?
Psalm
91 was used by Satan to tempt Jesus in the desert (see Matthew 4:5-7).
The
Devil said that surely Jesus could place Himself in the way of harm in order to
demonstrate the rescuing power of God.
But
Satan misused God’s Word, removing it from the context of the whole and unity
of Scripture.
Jesus,
honoring Scripture, responded that God is not to be put to the test.
Careless
behavior is not condoned by God — and neither is misuse of Scripture.
Learning
from Jesus, then, we also must handle Scripture well in our times.
That
God is our refuge, comfort, and shade amidst pandemic does not mean that if we
believe in Jesus Christ we have physical immunity to COVID-19 — all credible
commentators agree.
However,
verses in this Psalm do appear to promise present, bodily deliverance from
pestilence.
The
word pestilence means any sudden fatal epidemic or pandemic, and in its
Biblical use it generally indicates that these are divine visitations.
The
word is most frequently used in the prophetic books.
Consider, for example, verses 3 and 6: “For he will
deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence” and
“You will not fear . . . the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the
destruction that wastes at noonday.”
How
do we faithfully interpret those statements?
Israelite
Context
First,
we can remember God’s covenants with Israel, in which God promises abundance as
the nation is faithful.
As
listeners of this psalm commit themselves to God, He would give success in
their purpose of inhabiting the promised land and being God’s beacon to the
nations.
As
they trusted, no pestilence would keep the Israelite army from defeating its
enemies and from becoming the nation God promised.
Consider
Exodus 19:4-6a, which contains similar imagery to Psalm 91 of God’s protective
wing:
"You yourselves have seen what I did to the
Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now
therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be
my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you
shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."
The
psalm does not promise, then, that no Israelite would ever become ill.
God
promised that no pandemic would keep them from being the nation He foretold
they would become.
And
the ones who would become ill and pass from this life are not excluded from the
promises of God for Israel that will be fulfilled at the end of this age.
Other
Interpretive Considerations
Three
other interpretive notes can be considered concerning God’s deliverance from
pestilence.
Perhaps
this deliverance refers to a wide range of persistent attacks, including
spiritual — and not necessarily always referring to illnesses.
In
this case, pestilence would be “a figure for various evils” literally meaning
“plagues of mischiefs,” as stated in the Commentary Critical and Explanatory on
the Whole Bible.
The
deliverance promised can involve spiritual deliverance and protection for those
who trust the Lord in the midst of these outward difficulties.
As J. A. Motyer states, “the promise is not
security from but security in” (emphasis
in original).
The deliverance could also refer to future glory.
Tremper Longmann writes, “Christians can pray Psalm 91, knowing that God is
with them in the spiritual battle of this life and that, in Christ, God will
give them eternal life.”
What
Is God’s Deliverance?
To
apply this to deliverance amidst COVID-19, we can glean the following
principles:
1. We know from the wider testimony of Scripture that
God’s promised deliverance is spiritual in the present, while being spiritual
and bodily in the age to come.
2. We know that in God’s common grace in this world
and in His Fatherly love for believers, all bodily healing that does happen in
this life is from His generous hand.
3. We know that God’s plans for this world are secure —
His plans for Israel, as well as His plans for the Church and all believers.
What
Is the Message of Psalm 91?
In
the Israelite context of this psalm, a promise was made to a new nation that no
purpose of God’s could be thwarted.
In
our times, God has promised the believer that He has prepared good works for us
to do (Ephesians 2:10).
No
coronavirus can come between us and His plans. For the believer, being able to
glorify God with our lives is the ultimate hope and dream for this life.
Being
able to fulfill His will for us cannot be disrupted or cancelled.
Hear
God’s message to you that your life is beneath the shelter and shadow of His
wings.
He
is your life’s fortress, delivering you to spiritual strength now and certain
bodily strength as well in eternity.
This
day, no arrows of evil or of disease can touch the meaning and purpose that God
is pulling from your life.
Make
the Lord your refuge, and nothing will be able to affect or infect you that
will diminish God’s purposes for you.
The
psalm ends with what is referred to by commentators as a divine oracle.
God
is speaking to His people. And He promises that those who call upon Him will be
answered; that those who hold fast to Him will be delivered; that those who
trust Him for who He is will be protected.
How
Can We 'Rest in the Shadow of the Almighty'?
Jesus
gives us words in Luke 21 that are parallel in theme to Psalm 91.
Hearing
them and receiving them into our spirits, we can receive the security that Psalm
91 promises to rest in our Almighty God.
In
Luke 21, Jesus is speaking about the signs of the end of times.
In
verse 10, He speaks of wars — of nation rising against nation.
In
verse 11, He speaks of earthquake, famine, pestilence, terrors, and signs from
heaven.
In
verses 12-17, He talks of persecution for Christians and times when we will be
delivered over to authorities for death.
He concludes in verses 18-19: “But not a hair of
your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives.”
Think
about this: Jesus says that in dying, not a hair on our heads will perish.
We
who believe are spiritually secure through Christ — never to face judgment. We
are eternally secure — headed to the place of no suffering or pain.
We
are presently secure in purpose — no event of the world can surprise,
overwhelm, or demote us from fulfilling God’s good works for us here.
And,
by Jesus’ words, we are to consider ourselves miraculously secure when meeting
the eruptive trials of this life.
God’s
protection is beyond our understanding. And so, my conviction is to read Psalm
91 exactly how it sounds — that nothing even of my body can be touched by the
coronavirus.
Though
I die, not a hair of my head will perish. Even if my body is touched by
COVID-19, it cannot be harmed.
In
the paradox is the hope. For, the age to come is not ever to be viewed by the
believer as a distant and abstract reality.
Touch
the hairs of your head — reach up and grab them.
Know
that you are the Lord’s and no evil or manifestation of evil in this world can
touch you, not even a strand you hold.
You
will suffer in this world. Yet, Jesus has overcome it.
So,
you being in Him, nothing can touch you. Whatever does touch you, His hand is
the closer layer abiding over you like a shadow of protection.
9
Ways We Can Take Comfort in God During Coronavirus Fears
Knowing
this God is our comfort. Psalm 91 describes Him as our shelter, shadow, refuge,
fortress, refuge, shield, buckler, dwelling, rescuer, and protection.
1. Shelter (verse 1): God is our
hiding place, covering us with His good purposes.
2. Shadow (verse 1): God is over and beyond us — seeing more than
we see and knowing more than we know. We can rest in His shadow.
3. Refuge (verse 2): He is a safe place for
us of security; we climb into Him.
4. Fortress (verse 2): He is
our defense whose promises cannot be inhibited.
.
5. Shield (verse 4): Resting in our God deflects the enemies of fear and doubt in times of trial.
.
5. Shield (verse 4): Resting in our God deflects the enemies of fear and doubt in times of trial.
6. Buckler (or, shield that completely engulfs)
(verse 4): He is a defense on every side. He knows every part of us and our
lives — no aspect is beyond His reach.
7. Dwelling (verse 9): God’s
protection is not fleeting; His protection serves for our continual habitation.
8. Rescuer (verse 14): He
leads us off with Him, drawing us to Himself and rescuing us from being
overcome by the world.
9. Protection (verse 14): In
His protection, He carries us to an elevated place — by trusting in Him, our
minds and hearts become inaccessible to the churning fears below.
As
believers, we have committed to Christ that our lives and times are in His
hands; our dream is that our days might bring Him eternal glory.
The
reality of God’s comfort and power to deliver us to eternal life is what gives
us the spiritual deliverance from being dominated by pandemic in these days.
The
promises of God – of life to come and of His divine purposes in this life –
shade, shelter, and satisfy us.
When
fears of the coronavirus and its impacts surround us, how much fiercer is the
security of an infinite God!
Psalm
91
Now,
read the psalm in full, and meditate on the truths of God’s comfort and
protection:
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
You will only look with your eyes
and see the recompense of the wicked.
Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place-
the Most High, who is my refuge-
no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
no plague come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the adder;
the young lion and the serpent you will trample
underfoot.
“Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver
him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
(Psalm
91)
Lianna Davis is author of Keeping the Faith: A Study in Jude and
Made for a Different Land: Eternal Hope for Baby Loss. She and her husband,
Tyler, live outside of Dallas, Texas and have two dear daughters.
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