My Refuge and My Fortress

Yesterday we introduced Psalm 91. There are three stanzas and they are marked by pronoun changes…I and my in verses 1-2, you or your in 3-13 and then I over and over in verses 14-16.

The first stanza hold some of my favorite verses and in them we find the Psalmist’s Personal Statement of Faith.

“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.’”

These are incredible verses…in the face of multiple dangers the Psalmist declares his trust in God and there is a laser focus on His divine charter.

Notice first the four divine names of God—Most High, Almighty, LORD, and God. In Hebrew the names are Elyon, El Shaddai, Yahweh, and Elohim.

These names speak of possession—the Most High possesses Heaven and earth;

They speaks of provision—El Shaddai not only possesses everything He is able to give all things for His glory.

Then we come to the name of Promise—Yahweh is the covenant name God gave to Moses, and that is followed by

Power—our God is the Creator God. He has all things, He can give all things, He makes promises through covenant that cannot be broken, and He is all powerful. That’s a pretty strong confession of faith. (alliteration from John Phillips! ?)

But the four divine names of God are accompanied by four words that speak of God’s protection. We are said to dwell in the shelter of the Most High, and to abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I love what Matthew Henry said, “They shall not only have an admittance, but a residence, under God’s protection; He will be their rest and refuge forever.”

Dwell, abide, and then in verse 2 God is our refuge and our fortress. Once again, a refuge is a place to flee for protection, and a fortress is a stronghold. It is one thing to say that you have a place to dwell and abide and that the place is a refuge and a fortress, but when you add to that the divine name…shelter of the Most High, abiding in the shadow of the Almighty, and your refuge and fortress are found in the LORD who is God…that changes everything.

I think Spurgeon was right when he bases the hope of these verses on the words dwell and abide. He said, “The blessings here promised are not for all believers, but for those who live in close fellowship with God.” When you are abiding in Him…you can trust Him…you can rest secure in Him because you know He is working in your life to conform you into the image of Jesus.