In the Shadow of the Almighty

In the Shadow of the Almighty
Psalm 91:1-16
March 16-17, 2025 

     Psalm 91 is one of the most quoted of all the Psalms. It is filled with amazing promises of God. It’s another one of the Psalms where you could dwell on each word and memorize it. Every verse is filled with great truths. Many books have already been written just on this Psalm alone.

     The theme is that your relationship to God is the bearing of your soul and has real-world impact on your life. In other words, the maturity of your spiritual life comes forth out of a relationship of intimacy and nearness to the Almighty. God then pours the promises of blessing and favor upon the one who draws near in intimacy and trust.

     This Psalm gives a depth of insight and understanding into what relationship with God can be.

     The introduction does not tell us who wrote this Psalm. Jewish scholars have traditionally ascribed it to Moses, who also wrote Psalm 90. Moses did understand the depths of relationship and intimacy with God.

     When Israel was camped at the base of Mount Sinai, Moses spent 40 days in the presence of the Almighty. He dwelt in the glory and the beauty of the nearness of God.

     Afterward, he made a tent some distance outside the camp. He called it the Tent of Meeting. Anyone who had the desire, could go to that tent of meeting, and meet with God.

     Whenever Moses entered the tent, all the people would arise and stand, each at the entrance of his tent, and gaze after Moses until he had entered. Whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent; and the Lord would speak with Moses face-to-face, just as a man speaks to his friend.

     We would do well to listen to the words of Moses. This Psalm is so powerful it could change your life if you took hold of the depth of what is written here.

I. May Your Soul Dwell in the Secret Place

• Verse 1 – “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.”
• The word ‘shelter’ is most often translated in biblical Hebrew as ‘secret place.’ He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. Absolutely beautiful words.
• Those beautiful words are the foundation of the entire Psalm. We need to understand what it means to dwell in the secret place of the Most High; to abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
• What this Psalm proclaims is that when you dwell in the secret place of the Most High, it will impact your real-world life because God’s hand will move in your behalf.
• God is looking to show Himself strong in your behalf when you abide in the shadow of the Almighty because you love Him.

A. God’s Presence is beautiful on the soul

• The secret place is a place of intimacy, of nearness to God.
•  At the tent of meeting, God would speak to Moses face-to-face as a man speaks to a friend. That’s beautiful. God wants that kind of relationship to you; He wants you to desire that kind of relationship to Him.
•  The contrast to that is stubbornness and hardness of heart, and self-focused selfishness. Those who resist God, those who are wandering in the wilderness determined to walk their own independent self-sufficient path will soon find themselves wrestling against God – and it never ends well.

Illus – At one point, at the base of Mount Sinai, while Moses was in the presence of God those 40 days, Israel grew impatient and sinned terribly by making a golden calf and then lewdly dancing before it. When Moses came down from the mountain, he became angry and smashed the tablets of the law before them.

             Later, God told Moses, “Lead these people to the land I promised them, but My presence will not go with you in your midst.” Moses responded, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us from this place.” In other words, if Your presence does not go with us, we’re not going anywhere.

• It’s as though Moses was saying, “It’s not Your purpose that drives me, I need your presence; that’s more important than anything else in my life.”
• God promised them a land flowing with milk and honey. Moses was essentially saying, “I don’t want the land without you.  I don’t want milk or honey or any other blessing unless you’re in the midst of it.”
• Moses then wrote Psalm 91 to describe the beauty of God’s presence, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.”

B. Nearness with God will transform you

• Verse 14 – “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.”
• You dwell in the secret place of the Most High and abide in the shadow of the Almighty because you love Him, because you have known His name. In other words, His name means something powerful to you.
• You want to know Him; you want to know His ways so you can be like him in your You are transformed in the secret place of His presence.

Exodus 33:13, “Now therefore, I pray, let me know Your ways that I may know you, so that I may find favor in Your sight.”

• When you abide in the shadow of the Almighty, you begin to understand His ways and His heart so that His ways become your

Exodus 23:4, “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering away, you shall surely return it to him.”

Exodus 22:26-27, “If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, you are to return it to him before the sun sets… For I am gracious.”

• God is gracious; that is His way. And we love that, especially when we’re the ones receiving it…

Illus – Like the time I was stopped for speeding…many, many years ago.

• Yes, we love to receive grace. But when you abide in the shadow of the Almighty, His way of grace will become your way of grace.
• How does a person become more loving? By dwelling in the secret place of the Most High. How does a person become more holy? By abiding in the shadow of the Almighty.
• God’s glory is beautiful on the soul; God’s glory is a transforming power.

II. When God is Your Dwelling Place…

• Verse 9 – “…For you have made the Lord, my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place.”
• That verse summarizes the rest of the Psalm. When you have settled this in your heart and have resolved that God is your dwelling place; that only in the secret place of the Most High will you find life, then out of that relationship, God covers your life with His protection and favor.
• The rest of the Psalm describe all the ways that God’s favor covers your life.

A. God will be your deliverer

• Verse 14 – “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him.”
• Verse 2-3 – “I will say to the Lord, “You are my God in whom I trust!” For it is He who will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.
• In those days a fowler would catch birds by setting traps. It’s much more effective than using a bow and arrow. They certainly didn’t have birdshot. It became a picture of spiritual warfare. The enemy sets his trap with the intent of snaring you in that trap and then defeating you – but it is God who delivers you from the snare of the trapper.

1 Peter 5:8, Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

• When lions are on the hunt, they prowl about looking for those who are weak, those who are separated from the group. In other words, they prefer to attack those who are most weak and vulnerable.
• When you abide in the shadow of the Almighty, your spirit is alert, there is strength of God in your soul.

James 4:7-8, Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

 B. His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark

• Verse 4 – “He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.”
• Here he uses the image of an eagle protecting its young under the cover of his wings where they seek refuge.
• Verse 4 – “His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark…”
• Here he uses the shield as a picture of God’s protection; similar to Paul’s description of spiritual warfare in Ephesians 6.
• Paul’s message to the church was like this Psalm; that the key to spiritual victory is what happens in the soul, in the inner man, when you abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

Ephesians 3:16-19, I bow my knees before the Father and pray… that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you may be able to comprehend the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

• This Psalm declares that God’s faithfulness is a shield. And Paul said to take up the shield of faith. In other words, by faith, trust and believe in God’s faithfulness to be a shield in your behalf.
• The Roman soldier of the first century would use a shield made of wood, covered with leather. It was held together with metal bands for added strength.
• It would be slightly curved to fit the shape of the body, about 4 ½ by 2 ½ in size, strapped to the left arm. Groups of soldiers would lock their shields together to form the ‘tortoise’ for great effect.
• Paul connects the shield to your faith, it’s the armor that protects when the enemy attacks in spiritual battle. One of the key strategies of the enemy is to attack your faith.

Illus – When Israel was set free from the captivity of Egypt they went into the desert, and they actually made a fairly straight run toward the promised land. As they drew near, they sent out twelve spies to consider the land and bring back a report. This they did, but when the spies came back their report struck fear in the heart of the people and their faith began to crumble, “We can’t do it, we can’t do it, we must turn back.”

•  Fear is the opposite of faith. Fear is the prison of the soul; you must not be taken captive by fear.
• Verse 5 – “You will not be afraid of the terror by night, or of the arrow that flies by day; or the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or the destruction that lays waste at noon.”
• What do we have to be afraid of? They could take my life; then I’ll be in the presence of my Savior, the apostle Paul responded. What if I’m persecuted and they bring harm to me? Then I’ll count it an honor to be persecuted for the name of Jesus Christ. What if I lose all my possessions? God is the strength of my life, and God is my inheritance.

2 Timothy 1:7, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind.

 Psalm 3:1-3, O Lord, how my adversaries have increased! Many are rising up against me. Many are saying of my soul, “There is no help for him in God.” But You, O Lord, are a shield about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head.”

C. He will guard you in all your ways

• Verse 11-12 – “Therefore He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone.”
• When Jesus was beginning His ministry, He went into the desert and fasted for 40 days, where He was tempted by the devil.
• In one of those, the devil took Him into the holy city and had them stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “Since You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written…” He then quoted from Psalm 91 these very verses.
• Jesus responded, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
• This is a very important understanding because there are some who apply this Psalm wrongly and believe in a “Jesus take the wheel” approach to life and put themselves in circumstances where God must prove Himself and save them.
• Notice that Psalm 91 says, “He will give His angels charge concerning you.”
• If you set yourself in a situation where God must prove himself, then you are commanding what the angels of God must do.

D. He will be with you in trouble

• Verse 14-15 – “Because he has known My name, he will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.”
• Notice that God will be with you in trouble; He didn’t say that you will never have troubles. Jesus said, “In this world you will have many troubles, but take courage, I have overcome the world.”
• All these promises are for those who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, who love Him, who know His name. In other words, His name means something wonderful in beautiful to you.