Psalm 91:3-6, “3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence. 4 He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. 5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, 6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday”
My early years growing up in the farm, we kept chickens in our homestead. If there is anything about the mother hen (chicken), she is very sensitive to the presence of danger especially that of hawks. She has a way of sensing its presence and then alerting her chicks of the danger so that they come around her or hide. She opens her wings ready to fight for her chicks. God does the same, He alerts us of the dangers of life and brings us close to Him as He fights the snare of the fowler on our behalf. We are foolish and weak as poor little chicks, and are very apt to be lured to our destruction by cunning foes, but if we dwell near to God, He will see to it that the most skillful deceiver shall not entrap us.
The Lord who is our refuge and fortress, demonstrates it by what He will do for His children, Vs. 3 “Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence”. “Surely” is an absolute word, the psalmist who knew his God would not use any doubting words but rather assuring words. Assuredly no subtle plot shall succeed against one who has the eyes of God watching for his defense. Even when it looks like the enemy is winning, he has no chance.
Vs. “4 He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler”. Something interesting about the mother hen is gathering her chicks under her wings, sometimes you wouldn’t know that there are chicks hidden under her wings. The mother hen fiercely guards the chicks, and will brood them to keep them warm. She leads them to food and water; she will call them to edible items, and feeds them indirectly. What has God done with us, He has given us the truth of Himself to feed us, lead us, to keep us warm, and to shield us from danger. Jesus lamenting over Jerusalem tells us of how we would have wanted to treat them like a mother hen does to her chicks, He says “37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” Matthew 23:37
Vs. “5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, 6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday”. Such frail creatures are we that both by night and by day we are in danger, and so sinful are we that in either season we may be readily carried away by fear. The terrible things that happen in the night; as fire, storms and tempests, invasion of enemies, murders, thefts, and, robberies; a righteous man, when he has committed himself and his family to the care and protection of God by prayer and His word, has no reason to be anxious because he knows he is under God’s care. In addition, neither pestilence that walks in darkness nor destruction that lays waste at noonday creates terror to those who make the Lord their trust. Isaiah 59:19 verse among others gives us that assurances, “So shall they fear The name of the LORD from the west, And His glory from the rising of the sun; When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him”.
We live in a crazy world, we sometimes see dangers coming and sometimes we don’t. To be and to stay safe, we need to heed to His call to come under His wings. The care God has over His children is sufficient to defend them from all dangers but only when they respond otherwise they have no covering and the enemy takes advantage of that. Blessings, Ev
He Has Magnified His Word 