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David Stellwagon
"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the
shadow of the Almighty." (Psalms
91:1) What a wonderful psalm the 91st Psalm is. When reading
through it there is such comfort.
The first verse sets the tone for the whole psalm. The one who
lives in the shelter or, as it says in the KJV, the Secret Place of
the Most High has the benefit of the second part of the verse. What
is the shelter of the Most High? How do you enter into it to live?
For the answer to what, this next verses will shed light.
"You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the
conspiracies of man; You keep them secretly in a shelter from the
strife of tongues."
Psalms 31:20; "For you have made … Even the Most High, your
dwelling place."
Psalms 91:9 The Lord himself is the shelter. He is the secret
place. It's that intimate place with Him that we can dwell in.
Jesus put it as…"that they may all be one; even as You, Father,
are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us…."
John 17:21 It's not a physical place but a spiritual place. A
place where you walk with God and commune with Him. It is a place
where you know Him as Father and He knows you as His beloved child.
It is a place that you enter, not through some physical door, but by
surrender of your will and strength to a Person. Through faith and
trust in Him.
Many people run to a shelter of a love relationship or of riches
or of some other thing which they place their confidence in. They
live in this shelter looking for some benefit, only to be left
empty. But to those who believe on the Lord Jesus, they enter into a
secret dwelling which affords them the fullness of the benefits they
came expecting. What benefits? The remainder of Psalm 91 gives us
many of the benefits.
"For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper And
from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions, And
under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield
and bulwark. You will not be afraid of the terror by night, Or of
the arrow that flies by day; Of the pestilence that stalks in
darkness, Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon. A thousand
may fall at your side And ten thousand at your right hand, But it
shall not approach you. You will only look on with your eyes And see
the recompense of the wicked. No evil will befall you, Nor will any
plague come near your tent."
Psalms 91:3-8, 10
And then …"He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be
with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With a long
life I will satisfy him And let him see My salvation."
Psalms 91:15,16
We see protection from various enemies of man. Whether it be
human or from nature, God becomes a refuge, a shelter of defense. We
see honor. As a child in the home of a man has the honor of that
man, so God has bestowed on His precious children the honor of being
His. And we all know the longevity of life we have in Him. "But that
none should perish but have everlasting Life." But there is also
abundance of that life.
"How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of
men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They drink their fill
of the abundance of Your house; And You give them to drink of the
river of Your delights. For with You is the fountain of life…."
Psalms 36:7-9 You are filled to overflowing with the fullness of
His life. There is no empty place left. There is no parched ground
or deadness left in yourself for "… In Your presence is fullness of
joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever."
Psalms 16:11 You are filled to overflowing with His Joy and
peace that you find being with Him.
Now as believers in Jesus, we have all experienced these benefits
and do so every day. Yet I believe that sometimes we try to live in
the shelter of other things. We forget where the abundance of all we
need and want are and we seek for them in other houses, in other
tents. Then we find our enemies overwhelm us. We find our hearts
becoming to desert lands. It is then we need to remember and say
with the Psalmist, "I will say to the LORD, "My refuge and my
fortress, My God, in whom I trust!""
Psalms 91:2
Let's continually dwell in the shelter of the Most High. For only
then can we continually drink of the fullness of His house and enjoy
all the benefits His house affords.
David Stellwagon and his wife Kathy were missionaries to Japan
for 11 years. David is the son of life-long missionaries to Japan
and David and Kathy's three sons were also born in Japan. David and
Kathy returned to the states in 2000. David currently teaches Sunday
School and the New Testament Bible Survey in our School for
Christian Workers.
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