DiscipleDeck
Get started
Bible Commentary

Psalms 91:1-16

The Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 91:1-16

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

The man that trusts in God.

I. WE HAVE HIS DESCRIPTION.

1. He dwells in the secret place, etc.

2. He abides under the shadow of the Almighty.

II. HIS CONFESSION OF FAITH (.) The Lord is his Refuge, Fortress, the Joy of his soul, his God, his constant Confidence.

III. HIS COMMENDATION OF GOD TO OTHERS. (.)

1. As a sure Deliverer from the hidden foe and from the devouring pestilence.

2. As Protector; like that of the mother bird over her young; like that of shield and buckler to the soldier.

3. As the Inspirer of confidence. (.) Against the midnight attack—the terror by night (cf. 7:1-25.). Against open war, when the flight of arrows almost darkened the sky. Against secret disease () and sudden death—the sickness that wasteth at noonday.

4. As rescuing from the very jaws of death. Thousands falling all around, but God's servant kept unharmed (). Seeing only, but never experiencing, the awful recompense of the wicked ().

5. He gives the reason of this. (.) He made the Lord his Refuge and his Habitation; there no evil could come, nor any plague.

6. He tells of the angelic ministries through which God thus guards his people; they keep and they upbear, so that no hurt shall come. Still more, they render the man invulnerable (). Forces terrible as the lion and subtle like the adder cannot harm. Thus, from his own experience, the man that trusts in God commends him to his fellow man. And next—

IV. THE DIVINE APPROVAL AND DELIGHT IN BOTH THE MAN AND HIS TESTIMONY. At God begins to speak.

1. Declaring his mind towards his faithful servant. We may regard these verses (14-16) as a Divine soliloquy, in which God, well pleased, meditates what he will do, and why, for his servant. He will deliver, exalt, answer, keep near to, honour, satisfy with long life, and reveal to him the fulness of his love.

2. Endorsing the testimony in the mind of him to whom it has been given. Making him feel that it is all true, and that much more is true. Thus does God deal with his faithfully witnessing servants, and for and through them to others. This psalm is as true for today as for the day when it was written. Let us but thus trust in God, confess, and commend him.—S.C.

Recommended reading

More for Psalms 91:1-16

Continue with other commentaries and DiscipleDeck content connected to this verse, chapter, or topic.

Other commentaries

Matthew Henry on Psalms 91:1-8Psalms 91:1-8 · Matthew Henry Concise CommentaryHe that by faith chooses God for his protector, shall find all in him that he needs or can desire. And those who have found the comfort of making the Lord their refuge, cannot but desire that others may do so. The spiri…The Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 91:1-16Psalms 91:1-16 · The Pulpit CommentaryEXPOSITION THIS psalm, like the majority in the present Book, is without a title. Jewish tradition, however, ascribed it to Moses—a conclusion which Dr. Kay and others accept as borne out by the facts, especially by the…The Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 91:1Psalms 91:1 · The Pulpit CommentaryHe that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High (comp. Psalms 90:1). He who has his thoughts always on God is said to "dwell in him"—to "make his abode with him"—to "sit down in his secret place." He has the Almig…The Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 91:1-3Psalms 91:1-3 · The Pulpit CommentaryAbiding under God's shadow. In order to understand this most precious promise, inquire— I. WHAT IS THE SECRET PLACE OF THE MOST HIGH? The idea of this "secret place" is frequently met with. 1. Sometimes it tells of some…The Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 91:1Psalms 91:1 · The Pulpit CommentaryOur place of safety. The construction of this psalm is peculiar (see exegetical notes). Ewald gives the best suggestion concerning its structure. Partly the poet expresses his own feelings as from himself, and partly as…
commentaryMatthew Henry on Psalms 91:1-8He that by faith chooses God for his protector, shall find all in him that he needs or can desire. And those who have found the comfort of making the Lord their refuge, cannot but desire that others may do so. The spiri…Matthew HenrycommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 91:1Our place of safety. The construction of this psalm is peculiar (see exegetical notes). Ewald gives the best suggestion concerning its structure. Partly the poet expresses his own feelings as from himself, and partly as…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 91:1-3Abiding under God's shadow. In order to understand this most precious promise, inquire— I. WHAT IS THE SECRET PLACE OF THE MOST HIGH? The idea of this "secret place" is frequently met with. 1. Sometimes it tells of some…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 91:1-16EXPOSITION THIS psalm, like the majority in the present Book, is without a title. Jewish tradition, however, ascribed it to Moses—a conclusion which Dr. Kay and others accept as borne out by the facts, especially by the…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 91:1He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High (comp. Psalms 90:1). He who has his thoughts always on God is said to "dwell in him"—to "make his abode with him"—to "sit down in his secret place." He has the Almig…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 91:2My God. These words come as a climax to all that profession of faith which the former part of the verse contains. It is good to say of the Lord, "He is my Refuge"—to have gone to him, and found in him deliverance from a…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 91:2A sacred resolve. "I will say of the Lord." Consider— I. SUCH RESOLVES GENERALLY. It is good to make them; for: 1. They are really prayers. Underlying them there is the desire of the heart that God may give the help nee…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 91:2Many names for God. Finding various names is a common device of love. The names seem to express the many sidedness of our relationship. It must be specially true of God that we stand in various relations to him, and are…Joseph S. Exell and contributors