Psalms 91:12

91:9-16 Whatever happens, nothing shall hurt the believer; though trouble and affliction befal, it shall come, not for his hurt, but for good, though for the present it be not joyous but grievous. Those who rightly know God, will set their love upon him. They by prayer constantly call upon him. His promise is, that he will in due time deliver the believer out of trouble, and in the mean time be with him in trouble. The Lord will manage all his worldly concerns, and preserve his life on earth, so long as it shall be good for him. For encouragement in this he looks unto Jesus. He shall live long enough; till he has done the work he was sent into this world for, and is ready for heaven. Who would wish to live a day longer than God has some work to do, either by him or upon him? A man may die young, yet be satisfied with living. But a wicked man is not satisfied even with long life. At length the believer's conflict ends; he has done for ever with trouble, sin, and temptation.

They shall bear thee up in their hands,.... Which denotes the strength and power of angels to carry the saints in their hands; their tender care of them, such as a parent or nurse have of children; the helpless condition of the people of God, who are like infants, and need to be dealt with after this manner; the condescension of angels to take such an office on them, in submission to the will of God; the constant view they have of the saints, being always in their hands, and so in sight: thus they bear them, up in life, and at death carry their souls to Abraham's bosom: lest thou dash thy foot against a stone; lest they fall into sin, or into any calamity and distress; lest the least hurt or mischief befall them, or the least injury be done them; see Proverbs 3:23. The Targum interprets it of the evil concupiscence, or corruption of nature, which is like a stone; see Ezekiel 36:26.

Shall bear thee up in their hands; sustain or uphold thee in thy goings, as we do a child or a weakly man, especially in uneven or dangerous paths. Or, shall carry thee aloft, as upon eagles’ wings, when it shall be needful for thee. Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone; so as to hurt thy foot, or to cause thee to fall.

The first voice continues this ratification, and goes on weaving these promises still further: thou hast made the Most High thy dwelling-place (מעון); there shall not touch thee.... The promises rise ever higher and higher and sound more glorious. The Pual אנּה, prop. to be turned towards, is equivalent to "to befall one," as in Proverbs 12:21 ; Aquila well renders: ου ̓ μεταχθήσεται πρὸς σὲ κακία. לא־יקרב reminds one of Isaiah 54:14 , where אל follows; here it is בּ, as in Judges 19:13 . The angel guardianship which is apportioned to him who trusts in God appears in Psalm 91:11 , Psalm 91:12 as a universal fact, not as a solitary fact and occurring only in extraordinary instances. Haec est vera miraculorum ratio, observes Brentius on this passage, quod semel aut iterum manifeste revelent ea quae Deus semper abscondite operatur. In ישּׂאוּנך the suffix has been combined with the full form of the future. The lxx correctly renders Psalm 91:12 : μήποτε προσκόψῃς πρὸς λίθον τὸν πόδα σου, for נגף everywhere else, and therefore surely here too and in Proverbs 3:23 , has a transitive signification, not an intransitive (Aquila, Jerome, Symmachus), cf. Jeremiah 13:16 . Psalm 91:13 tells what he who trusts in God has power to do by virtue of this divine succour through the medium of angels.

The promise calls to mind Mark 16:18 , ὄφεις ἀροῦσι, they shall take up serpents, but still more Luke 10:19 : Behold, I give you power to tread ἐπάνω ὄφεων καὶ σκορπίων καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ ἐχθροῦ. They are all kinds of destructive powers belonging to nature, and particularly to the spirit-world, that are meant. They are called lions and fierce lions from the side of their open power, which threatens destruction, and adders and dragons from the side of their venomous secret malice. In Psalm 91:13 it is promised that the man who trusts in God shall walk on over these monsters, these malignant foes, proud in God and unharmed; in Psalm 91:13 , that he shall tread them to the ground (cf. Romans 16:20 ). That which the divine voice of promise now says at the close of the Psalm is, so far as the form is concerned, an echo taken from Psalm 50 . Psalm 50:15 , Psalm 50:23 of that Psalm sound almost word for word the same. Genesis 46:4 , and more especially Isaiah 63:9 , are to be compared on Psalm 50:15 . In B. Taanith 16a it is inferred from this passage that God compassionates the suffering ones whom He is compelled by reason of His holiness to chasten and prove. The "salvation of Jahve," as in Psalm 50:23 , is the full reality of the divine purpose (or counsel) of mercy. To live to see the final glory was the rapturous thought of the Old Testament hope, and in the apostolic age, of the New Testament hope also.

" Be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me. For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name sake lead me, and guide me." Psalm xxxi. 2, 3. THE RIGHTEOUS MAN'S HABITATION. PSALM xci. "1. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2. / will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress : my God, in him will I trust. 3. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler : and from the noisome pestilence. 4. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust : his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. 5. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night : nor for the arrow that flieth by day. 6. Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness: nor for the des- truction that wasteth at noon-day. 7. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand: but it shall not come nigh thee. 8. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold, and see the reward of the wicked. 9. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation. 10. There shall no evil b"fal thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. 1 1 . For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 12. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. 13. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder : the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.