psalms for the persecuted
a devotional

Day Nineteen
Psalm 91:1 – 2

Is there a difference between living somewhere and dwelling somewhere? You can live anywhere, it seems to me, but when you dwell somewhere, it’s a place “where you are at,” and you are sticking to that place.

It doesn’t mean you are chained to the place or a prisoner – you are there of your own free will. A dwelling is a place or a specific spot. I’ve never heard anyone say “welcome to my living place” as compared to “welcome to my dwelling place.”

A dwelling is a particular place. A spot. A location.

The unknown writer Psalm 91 has the specific spot/place of a dwelling in mind when they write in verse 1:

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. (ESV)

This place, called the “shelter of the Most High,” is where the psalmist “abides.” It is where she/he dwells. It’s a specific place.

What does this dwelling look like? Where is it? And is the key under the mat?

Verse 2 gives us more of a description of this dwelling place:

I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.” (ESV)

The dwelling place has four characteristics:

1. It is the shelter of the Most High

2. It is in the shadow of the Almighty

3. It is a Refuge

4. It is a Fortress

Even though I wouldn’t say I like a lot of the Disney Company’s policies, we still love going to Disney World. On one trip, we were in EPCOT and a typical summer downpour showed up. Not a rain or a sprinkle but a downpour and everyone was running for cover. We got all snuggly with a bunch of folks from Wisconsin in the women’s bathroom in Norway.

I didn’t really care that I was in the ladies’ room because it was shelter from the storm.

That’s the first characteristic of God, isn’t it? The Most High is the place/person where I run to when the downpour shows up. I am safe and away from all that is pouring down on me. If it were sprinkling I might be tempted to say I can tough this out. “Big deal. This light rain feels good on us and will cool us off”.

But when it comes down in droves, being in the shelter of the Most High God is a wonderful place to run. To dwell.

This second one, the shadow of the Almighty, speaks to me of rest. The Hebrew word here for shadow is the same word to describe what Jonah had under the gourd or plant God provided for him. We see it interpreted as “shade” in Jonah 4:6:

Now the LORD God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. (ESV)

When we dwell with/in the LORD Almighty, we see God taking care of us in a very practical way even though the circumstances around us are not pleasant.

Jonah was in the desert and burning up and would have much rather been a bunch of places (except maybe back inside that big fish), but while he was in that particular place – at that specific time – God provided shelter for him.

And God provided the shade even though Jonah needed a serious attitude adjustment and was sulking.

A refuge sounds nice, doesn’t it? This third place to dwell builds on the dwelling places of shadows and shelters. Think of everything around you being a buffer. I imagine being in a large house – maybe a mansion – and snuggling into a comfortable bed about to go to sleep and not worrying if I left one of 23 doors unlocked. I’m in a refuge. All the doors are locked and I’m safe and I can rest.

It’s why the word refuge is used for wildlife preserves. The animals can roam and run around and do their thing without the threat of poachers.

Shelters and shadows and wildlife preserves are comforting, but what about the direct assault? What about the missiles and heavy artillery coming right at you? Shade trees and ladies’ bathrooms aren’t always enough.

The fourth characteristic is God as our fortress. As we’ve studied before, a fortress is built to handle the attack. It is expecting bad stuff and bad people trying to tear it down.

We can expect bad stuff and bad people coming after us. The closer you are in your walk with God, you can expect it to be even more intense.

But God is our Fortress. He is the One we dwell in.

What does dwelling in God Almighty, the One who is the Most High look like?

Shelter. Shade. A refuge. A fortress.

As the great hymn by Martin Luther says: A mighty fortress is our God.