A manual of the book of Psalms · Martin Luther
PSALM XCI.
_The state of the godly.—Their safety.—Their habitation.—Their servants.—Their friends; with the effects of them all._ He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, _He is_ my refuge, and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, _and_ from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust; his truth _shall be thy_ shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, _nor_ for the arrow _that_ flieth by day, _Nor_ for the pestilence _that_ walketh in darkness, _nor_ for the destruction _that_ wasteth at noon-day. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; _but_ it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold, and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the LORD, _which is_ my refuge, _even_ the Most High, thy habitation. There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in _their_ hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the dragon shall thou trample under feet. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I _will be_ with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation. This is a most distinguished jewel among all the Psalms of consolation. The Psalmist highly exalts faith in God, and shews that it is an invincible strength against all evils, and against all the gates of hell. At the very outset, the Psalmist says, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, abideth under the shadow of the Almighty;” and such an one shall say unto the Lord, “Thou art my confidence, my protection, my fortress and my God,” that is, he that believeth and trusteth in God, and rests in his protection,—he shall find, though shaken on every side, by the devil, by sin, by the world, and by various and endless temptations, that the godly are proof and invincible against all these evils; that God is most high over all; that he is Omnipotent; and, in a word, that “greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world.”
Towards the conclusion, this Psalm contains, accumulated together, eight or nine promises of grace, which the Psalmist drew out of the first commandment, as out of a fountain. This Psalm, therefore, ought to be set before afflicted souls. 1. The Psalmist says “Because he hath hoped in me, therefore will I deliver him.” 2. “I will set him on high.” 3. “Because he hath called upon me, I will hear him.” 4. “I will be with him in trouble.” 5. “I will deliver him.” 6. “I will set him on high, or glorify him.” 7. “With long life will I satisfy him.” 8. “I will show him my salvation:” that is, that I am “mighty to save!” And this also is the second Psalm wherein angels are proclaimed as our watchful guardians and protectors: which is a truth very greatly consoling to the really godly, who know with what fury Satan unceasingly assaults the church, and all the saints. This Psalm enumerates four kinds of evils and afflictions, which are to be endured by the saints and those that fear God: 1. “Mighty fear,”—“terror by night.” The scripture frequently represents temptations and afflictions under the figures of darkness and night; and consolations under the figurative descriptions of light and day. The Psalmist, therefore, here sets forth all those horrible instances of hatred, that Cain-like purpose to destroy, (which is ever secretly bound up in the hearts of pharisaic religionists) all those malicious threats, those hostile traps and snares, those created perils, those injuries, and all those other terrible oppositions which Satan ever raises up against the word of God, by nightly fear, or “terror by night.”
2. “The arrow that flieth by day.” By which are meant to be described all those open clamours, reproaches, execrations, and blasphemies, by which tyrants and hypocrites openly attack and condemn the word of God, and the doctrine of Christ. Of this kind are the pope’s bulls, (and truly they are bulls!) and also, the edicts of kings and princes, the virulent and blasphemous books of erroneous disputers, and the writings of erroneous and visionary men, such as the anabaptists, and the like. 3. “The pestilence that creepeth (or walketh) in darkness.” These are the deceits, the crafts, and the artifices of the papists; and the leagues, the covert conspiracies, the secret counsels, by which those enemies consult and plan among themselves in their private conclaves: which clandestine machinations they think they can keep hidden, even from the eyes of God himself; and by all which diabolical means, they plot to destroy and root out the godly and all doctrine that is truly good and saving. 4. “The disease (or contagion, or destruction) that wasteth at noon day.” This is the work of open persecution; whereby these holy Cains, in their unheard-of cruelty and tyranny, shed the blood of the Abels, drive into exile the godly, plunder their substance, and slaughter them by every cruelty of torture; thereby attempting to lay the true church utterly waste, and to leave not a vestige of the true word remaining.
This is my view of the Psalm. I know that St. Bernard gives other interpretations. Let others, therefore, if they can, put forth a better explication than I have done: that my view is simple, and agreeable to the mind and spirit of the prophets, is self-manifest, and proved by experience: for we see and experience daily, that the saints of God are attacked and exercised by these four afflictions for the word’s sake, by means of the devil and by the world. The Holy Spirit, therefore, by this Psalm, revives and strengthens our faith; and by the cluster of promises at the end of the Psalm, the same Holy Spirit quickens and refreshes our hearts with consolation: this Psalm therefore ought to be most acceptable to all the saints.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.