Psalm 91 (New Living Translation) 

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High 
    will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 
2 This I declare about the Lord: 
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; 
    he is my God, and I trust him. 
3 For he will rescue you from every trap 
    and protect you from deadly disease. 
4 He will cover you with his feathers. 
    He will shelter you with his wings. 
    His faithful promises are your armor and protection. 
5 Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, 
    nor the arrow that flies in the day. 
6 Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, 
    nor the disaster that strikes at midday. 
7 Though a thousand fall at your side, 
    though ten thousand are dying around you, 
    these evils will not touch you. 
8 Just open your eyes, 
    and see how the wicked are punished. 

9 If you make the Lord your refuge, 
    if you make the Most High your shelter, 
10 no evil will conquer you; 
    no plague will come near your home. 
11 For he will order his angels 
    to protect you wherever you go. 
12 They will hold you up with their hands 
    so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. 
13 You will trample upon lions and cobras; 
    you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet! 

14 The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me. 
    I will protect those who trust in my name. 
15 When they call on me, I will answer; 
    I will be with them in trouble. 
    I will rescue and honor them. 
16 I will reward them with a long life 
    and give them my salvation.” 

This Psalm has become one of my favorites because several years ago on a Women’s Retreat, I was sitting with the ladies at my table and talking about prayers. One of the ladies at my table introduced me to Psalm 91by saying this Psalm and taking the pronouns (I, you, them) and replacing them into proper nouns and inserting your own (or someone else’s) name. This made the Psalm come to life for me. It made it personal specifically to me, and since that time, I have prayed this psalm over my husband and children, my grandchildren and others. This Psalm is not contributed to David, but it has been a special and meaningful one to me.  

When we look and read the psalm and in further study of Psalm 91, we will see there are three different voices we’ll hear in the psalm. The first voice we hear is the voice of the individual proclaiming trust in God. Verses 1-8 speak of trusting in God because of his goodness. For instance verse 2 says: “This I declare about the Lord, he alone is my refuge, my place of safety, He is my God and I trust Him.” If I’m replacing the pronouns with a proper noun it sounds a little like this: “This Melissa declares about the Lord, He alone is Melissa’s refuge, Melissa’s place of safety, He is Melissa’s God, and Melissa trusts Him.” 

In Verses 9-13 is the second voice in the psalm, the voice of the advocate. This voice comes from the ones who support and express God’s power back to you. Verse 11 says: “For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.” It shows the lengths God will go to reach out and protect us.  

And finally we hear from the third voice in the Psalm, this is the voice of God himself. In Verses 14-16 God acknowledges our expression of trust and love in Him and He responds with the promise to answer. “When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them.” Showing God’s desire to be with us in the good times and the not so good times. 

It’s been a long and trying week for us here in the Permian Basin. In all honesty, we’ve been encountering historical moments over and over in the past few months. We have crossed unprecedented territory and there’s no denying we are spent and weary…. But, as we continue to proclaim our trust in God, we will continue to see that God is still God, God is still with us and God has been and will continue to answer us… All because of his immense love for us.  

So my challenge to you is this, over the weekend, read this psalm, see if you recognize the three voices represented in it. Pray this psalm, pray it as it is, pray it by replacing the pronouns with your own name and pray it over your loved ones. I hope you find it come to life for you, I hope it helps you pray over others I hope it reminds you that God is good and in his timing, he will answer.