I WILL SAY OF THE LORD

Psalm 91:2, Amplified Bible

I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge, and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust!

This verse involves you and me saying something.  We are to say that God is our Refuge and our Fortress.  He is our God.  We confidently trust in Him; we lean on Him; we rely on Him.  In The Message Bible we say:  God, You’re my Refuge.  I trust in You and I’m safe.  That is pretty concise.  God, I trust you for my safety.  That’s it!

What are we saying when we say that God is our Refuge and Fortress?  A refuge is a place where we are safe and protected.  It is an enclosure, a shelter of protection from all physical danger.  A fortress is our place of strength, our defense against all human enemies, our stronghold.  God is our stronghold.

There are many scripture references about refuge and fortress.  I will list a few in the Amplified Bible:  Psalm 16:1; Psalm 18:1-3; Psalm 46:1,7; Psalm 48:3; Psalm 57:1,2; Psalm 59:16,17: Psalm 62:5-8; Proverbs 30:5; 2 Samuel 22:2,3.

From a summary of all these scriptures I declare that the Lord is my Rock of escape, my Fortress and my Deliverer. The Lord of Hosts is with me as my Refuge, Fortress and High Tower.  He is the One in Whom I take refuge.  He is my Shield and the Horn of my salvation.  He is my keen and firm Strength (mighty and impenetrable to temptation); I am strong in Him.  He is my Stronghold and my Savior to save me from violence.  He is my High Tower.  I can call upon Him Who is worthy to be praised and I am saved from my enemies.  He is a very present and well-proved help in trouble.  The Lord has made Himself known as my Refuge, High Tower and Stronghold.  The God of mercy is my defense and refuge in the day of trouble.

“He only is my Rock, my Salvation, my Defense, my Fortress; I shall not be moved.  With God rests my salvation and my glory; He is my Rock of unyielding strength and impenetrable hardness, and my refuge is in God!  I trust in, lean on, rely on, and have confidence in him at all times.  I pour out my heart before Him.” (Psalm 62:6-8)  God is a Refuge, Fortress and a High Tower for me.

As my High Tower, the Lord lifts me high above all my enemies.  I look down on them from my position in Him, seated with my Jesus in the position of authority at the right hand of His Majesty, Father God.  I run to Him and I am safe and set high, aloft, above all that would harm me.

Psalm 57:1,2, Amplified Bible

Be merciful and gracious to me, O God, be merciful and gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge and finds shelter and confidence in You; yes, in the shadow of Your wings will I take refuge and be confident until calamities and destructive storms are passed.  I will cry to God Most High, Who performs on my behalf and rewards me [Who brings to pass His purposes for me and surely completes them]!

Proverbs 30:5, Amplified Bible

Every word of God is tried and purified; He is a shield to those who trust and take refuge in Him.

We can trust God and His Word to be the place of our protection.

CANOPY OF PROTECTION

Psalm 91 is our security system.  It is our Psalm of protection by the God of the universe.  This Psalm is a done deal because of the finished work of Jesus.

Psalm 91: 1, KJV and Amplified Bible

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High (El Elyon) shall abide, dwell, remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty (El Shaddai) [whose power no foe can withstand].

When we abide somewhere, we dwell there.  We are fixed unalterably, settled, set, firmly established, steadfastly dwelling in that place.  We take up residence there.

We are in the secret place of God, covered by Him, sheltered under His wings like little chicks are under the mother hen.  In Psalm 27:5 we read that in the day of trouble He hides us in His shelter; in the secret place of His tent He hides us; He sets us high upon a rock.  In Psalm 119:114 we read that He is our hiding place and our shield; we hope in His Word.

The shadow of the Almighty is His glory.  We read in Isaiah 4:5 that over all, (that means you and me) the glory shall be a canopy, a defense of divine love and protection.  His glory is our canopy of defense and protection.  His glory is His love expressed and revealed for all to see.  We can be here on this earth inside the glory of God, a protection over us and around us.  Yes, God is our protection.  His power no foe can withstand—-absolutely no foe.  No one can stand against Him or His children, when we stay fixed in Him.

The protection of His glory, of His presence comes as we worship Him.  We dwell in the secret place of the Most High God WHOSE SHADOW no foe can withstand.  Once again, I repeat; His shadow is His glory or His power as a canopy over us as His defense for us of His divine love and protection.  There is no enemy or foe that can stand against us in God’s Presence.  That is forbidden territory for the enemy.  He cannot even come near the Presence of God.

When we are in God’s Presence, through worshipping Him, we cannot be touched by the enemy.  Satan may try to deceive us and lie to us and tell us that we can be touched.  Oh, no, no, no.  That would be contrary to the Word of God that we have just read.  We are protected as we walk out our victory over whatever comes against us.

Two more scriptures seal our knowledge that we are protected by God.  1 John 5:18 makes this statement about those of us who are born or begotten of God:  God carefully watches over and protects us; Christ’s divine presence within us preserves us against the evil and the wicked one does not lay hold, get a grip on us or touch us.  In Luke 10:19 we read that Jesus said that He gives us power to tread on serpents and scorpions (demonic powers) and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means harm or hurt us.

We are protected by Almighty God.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Today is the day set aside in the United States of America to give thanksgiving for all we have.  But I say to you that every day should be a day of thanksgiving set aside to give thanks to God for every day is the day that He has made.  We are to rejoice and be glad in it.

Spend some time today with your family thinking of all that you have to be thankful for.  Even in the worst of circumstances, there is always something for which we can be thankful.  Did you know that thanksgiving is contagious?  It draws good things to you.  People who are thankful are people who are generally prosperous and healthy and live a long life.  I am told that the medical profession is now releasing information regarding the chemicals that are released in our human bodies from our brain when we are cheerful and uplifting and when we are depressed and down.  Different chemicals are released.  One set of chemicals enhances your health and leads to a full life.  The other set of chemicals tear down your body cells and lead to disease and death.

The key to long living is a life of joy, a life of thanksgiving.

Today we are going to read Psalm 150 together.  It is the last Psalm in the book of Psalms.

Praise the Lord!  Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in the heavens of His power!

Praise Him for His mighty acts; praise Him according to the abundance of His greatness!

Praise Him with trumpet sound; praise Him with lute and harp!

Praise Him with tambourine and [single or group] dance; praise Him with stringed and wind instruments or flutes!

Praise Him with resounding cymbals; praise Him with loud clashing cymbals!

Let everything that has breath and every breath of life praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord!

Hallelujah!