Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: Psalm 91 | Date: February 23, 2025 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

Take your Bibles, if you will, please. Turn to the 91st Psalm. Last week, I mentioned that on any short list of favorite Psalms, Psalm 90 would certainly appear on that list. There are a number of very favorite Psalms. That was one. We come to another one this week. Psalm 91 would certainly make the list as well. We’ll call this the Invincible King.

Psalm 91. You’ll notice that there is no superscript here identifying the psalmist, but in the Septuagint, that is the Greek translation of the Old Testament, and in the Vulgate, that is the ancient Latin translation of the Hebrew, both of them tell us this is a praise song of David. The reliability of the superscripts in the Septuagint is a study on its own, but it does seem that at least in this fourth book of the Psalter, those superscripts are reliable. We have Psalm 91, Psalm 94 through 99, all identified as Davidic Psalms in the Septuagint. And that is, at least with regard to Psalm 95, that’s verified in the New Testament as well, where the writer of the book of Hebrews cites Psalm—in Hebrews chapter 4 cites Psalm 95—and attributes it to David. So we will go with the assumption here that this is another Davidic Psalm. By the way, the ancient Targum, the Jewish Targum, identifies this as a Davidic Psalm as well.

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” You might note here, by the way, a link here with Psalm 90. In Psalm 91, in verse one, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” Seems to be a link, a verbal connection at least of some kind to what we have in Psalm 90, where the Lord is called our dwelling place in all generations. I’ll have more to say about that a little bit later.

Verse 1 again. “For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge. His faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear for the terror by night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place, the Most High who is my refuge, no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent, for he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up lest you strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and serpent you will trample underfoot. Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him. I will protect him because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him and honor him. With long life, I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

Well, very clearly, this is a psalm of trust, a psalm expressing the psalmist’s confidence in God. You might remember that in lament psalms, they typically have a prominent section expressing the psalmist’s trust or confidence in God, despite the problems at hand. These psalms of confidence are just that part of the psalm that we find in Lament, but it’s just all on its own now. A psalm given entirely to express confidence and trust in God’s protective care.

Whose Protection Is in View?

Now the first question that comes up then is: whose protection is in view? And you might want to follow this carefully because it’s going to determine how we understand the rest of the psalm. Whose protection is in view in these verses? If you look at this psalm again carefully, you’ll notice that there are multiple speakers here in the psalm. David is writing, but he’s giving voice to various people.

Verses one and two, you have an “I.” “I will say to the Lord, my refuge and my fortress.” Now in verses three to 13, we have another speaker, and he is addressing the speaker of verses one and two. “He [God] will deliver you from the snare of the fowler.” So verse one: “I will say to the Lord, he is my refuge, my fortress.” Now verse three: “He [God] will deliver you from the snare of the fowler. He will cover you with his pinions.” And then we get to verses 14 to 16, and we have yet another speaker. This is another “I” speaking, but he’s speaking of “him.” “I will protect him.”

So before we interpret and apply the psalm, we’ve got to identify these voices. Verses one and two, someone is speaking. Verses three to 13, that person is being spoken to. And then verses 14 to 16, that same person is being spoken about.

Verses 1 and 2, the speaker, this “I,” affirms his confidence in the Lord’s protection. “I will say to the Lord, my refuge, my fortress, my God in him will I trust.” Now verses 3 to 13, a prophet speaks. He’s giving assurance to the speaker of verses 1 and 2. So this is David speaking, assuring the speaker of verses 1 and 2 of God’s protection. So he says, verse 3, “He [God] will deliver you from the snare of the fowler.” “You have made the Lord your,” verse 9, “you have made the Lord your dwelling place.” Well, that’s what the speaker said in verse 2. And now this prophet is affirming that—that you’ve made the Lord your dwelling place, God will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, that is, from your enemies.

And then we get to verses 14 to 16, and pretty obviously this is God speaking here. He assures him, the “I” of verses 1 and 2, he assures him of the safety and the success that he had said in verses 1 and 2 he would have. Verse 14, “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him. I will protect him because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him and honor him with long life. I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

So verses 14 to 16 is what’s called an oracle, a prophetic oracle. He’s speaking for God. This is God’s voice coming through. Now, of course, we believe in the doctrine of verbal inspiration—the entire Scripture is God-breathed, it is entirely His word. But in passages like this, we have God Himself speaking, as identified as the speaker. And that’s what we have in verses 14 to 16. It’s a prophetic oracle, God Himself speaking, and giving assurance to this one in verses one and two, who is speaking, the one who is spoken about in verses three to 13, and God assures him of his protective care.

We have other Psalms like this where God Himself is speaking. Psalm 2 is one: “I’ve set my king on Zion, my holy hill.” We have it in Psalm 110: “The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand.” We’re giving God a voice to speak. And this is obviously here what is happening in verses 14 to 16. So one more time: verses one and two, we have this person who is speaking, and he is the subject of the entire psalm. In verses three to 13, David, speaking as a prophet, addresses the speaker of verses one and two, and assures him of God’s protection. And then verses 14 to 16, God Himself talks about the speaker of verses one and two, and declares that He will protect him.

The Royal Orientation of the Psalms

All right then, once we’ve sorted all of that out, the big question then is to identify the speaker of verses one and two. Who is this who says, “I will say to the Lord my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust”? He’s expressing his confidence in God’s safekeeping. Who is it who is saying this?

Now most often today, and I think probably all of us at some point or another, have read Psalm 91 in a generic kind of way. That this is the psalmist who is speaking, he’s representative of a faithful Israelite, that’s representative of the faithful Christian today, he’s talking about us, or it is we who are speaking in verses 1 and 2. I don’t think that’s right.

And before we go any further, I’d like to back up in our studies in the Psalms and remember that we have seen here one of the most fundamentally important observations about the Psalms to keep in mind as you read through, if you’re going to understand it correctly, what we’ve called the royal orientation of the Psalms. That the Psalms are primarily by the king, to the king, or about the king. There’s this royal orientation. There’s just lots—this goes back a ways in our studies in the Psalms—there’s just lots and lots of evidence for that. There’s this “I” and “we” who speaks in the Psalms, the “I” who’s representative of the nation, and then it becomes a “we,” the people collectively caught up into the speaker. And often the speaker is in these battle scenes, and often the outcome of that battle for him personally determines the outcome for the nation. And often the outcome of the battle becomes, has international ramifications at all. It’s the king who’s in view.

There’s lots of that. You can go back to our studies earlier to see that. And there’s evidence of that here as well. Notice in particular, well, some of the details in particular, the military imagery that’s going on here that shows that the king is in view. Verse three, “He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler.” That is, the enemy has set a trap for him. But for the king, it won’t work. Verse 5, arrows are flying about him. The air is thick with bullets. Arrows flying at him. Verse 7, “A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand.” So it’s a warfare situation. Verse 13, and here he speaks figuratively of his enemies, “You will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.”

So Psalm 91 is pretty clearly a royal psalm. It’s a psalm about the king. Now then the next question: which king? Which king is in view here? Well, presumably, it’s a Davidic king. Who else would it be? Of course, it’s a Davidic king that’s in view. The Jewish Targum, the ancient Targum, identifies the speaker as David, and the one he’s speaking about, or speaking to here, is Solomon. There are details in the passage in the psalm that clearly surpass anything pertaining to Solomon or anything pertaining to David for that matter. We have in this psalm a prophetic utterance giving assurance in categorical terms that this king will be absolutely invincible and unharmed. Indestructible, he cannot be defeated.

Verse 3, “He’ll deliver you from the snare of the fowler, from the deadly pestilence.” There’s the plague that comes by. Verse 5, the king is never even afraid. He has absolute confidence. “You will not fear the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies by day.” So this king is assured and he’s given such assurance that he won’t even be nervous about it. Verses 7 and following describe that he will be invincible in battle. “A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.”

Now you might remember when we looked at Psalm 44 that clearly was not the case with the Davidic kings. In Psalm 44 there’s this lament of the army and the king has gone down in battle and they’ve been humiliated and the enemy has won and they write this psalm and complain that God has abandoned them and they’ve been defeated in battle and humiliated. But here it says he’ll be invincible. That’s the point of verses seven and following.

Verse 8, “You’ll only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked, because you have made the Lord your dwelling place, the Most High who is my refuge. No evil shall be allowed to befall you. No plague come near your tent, for he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against the stone. You’ll tread on the lion and the adder [that is his enemies], the young lion and serpent you’ll trample underfoot.”

So it’s this imagery of absolute triumph in battle. He’s describing his enemies, and he’s assuring the king that he will unquestionably succeed in victory over his enemies and have unquestioned triumph over them. And then verses 14 and following, God says the same thing about this king and assuring him of his success. Verse 14 again, “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him. I will protect him because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him and honor him. With long life, I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

So we have this oracular promise prophecy that is given of absolute protection to this king. He is assured of complete and absolute constant safety from all dangers, whether military or plague or whatever. He won’t be afraid. He will be absolutely confident as he goes into battle, assured that although many will fall all around him, he will not. He will be invincible, invulnerable, he’ll have victory in battle, he will never see defeat, only success, and he has round-the-clock protection.

Now again, the most common approach, or at least the common approach to this psalm, is to approach this as though it is speaking of all the faithful. That he’s promising us this kind of protection. But in that case, this psalm says too much. This psalm promises much more than was promised or experienced by any of the Davidic kings, whether David or Solomon or anyone else. Much more than God has promised any of the faithful. One commentator put it: if this refers to the average faithful Israelite or by extension to us, it would seem to mock the martyrs. You might recall Psalm 44 that I mentioned earlier, that lament of the king whose army has gone down in battle. “For your sake we’ve been killed all the day long.” Remember, Paul picks that up in Romans chapter 8. This is often the lot of God’s people. For your sake, we’re killed all day long. There’s persecution against them, and often they fall. This psalm promises this king that he’ll never fall, and there’ll never be any kind of defeat, but only success.

The Messiah as the Invincible King

So clearly then it seems this psalm speaks of Messiah, David’s greater son who will come, the promised king. This psalm is shaped and driven by God’s promise to David in 2 Samuel 7 that we keep going back to so often through the psalms. God promised that he would have a son who would reign on the throne forever, that his throne would be successful the world over, and this psalm is reflective of Psalm 2, for that matter, where the triumph of God’s anointed is assured—that he will have victory over all of the nations.

So it is Messiah, it is God, David’s greater son that is in view here. He is the one in verse one who dwells in the shelter of the Most High and abides under the shadow of the Almighty. He is the one in verse two who says to the Lord, “My refuge, my fortress, my God in whom I trust.” He is the one who’s promised absolute success in battle over all of his enemies. I think very often it has been the case with many of us, we read this psalm as though it pertains to us, as though it were about us, and we take the promises and assurances of God’s protection, and we get into the details of the passage in the psalm—no plague will come nigh you and you’ll never even stub your toe—and we kind of, well somehow that refers to me, but I’m not sure how.

The one in view here then is David’s greater son. We come to the New Testament, of course, that is the Lord Jesus Christ. He’s introduced to us that way in Matthew chapter one and verse one: “Book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” And in fact, we have New Testament warrant, New Testament verification that this is in fact about the Messiah. It’s a familiar passage. I don’t think you need to turn there. But in Matthew chapter 4, the same as in Luke chapter 4, we have the incident of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. And there we find that Satan understands Psalm 91, verses 11 and 12, as referring to the Messiah. And he uses those verses, you remember, to tempt Jesus. You might remember, he said, “If you’re the son of God, throw yourself down for it is written,” and then he quotes verses 11 and 12 here, “he will command his angels concerning you on their hands, they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.”

Now Jesus wouldn’t fall for it; he recognized that if he were to assert his own rights, his whole mission would fail. If he was to use his power for his own advantage, it would ruin this mission on which he is sent. And so Jesus answers Satan with a quotation from the book of Deuteronomy. “It is written, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” But the assumption, Satan’s assumption, that that passage refers to Jesus was allowed to stand.

There’s one other, and that is in Luke chapter 10. It reflects something of the same. Here Jesus is sending out his apostles on their maiden voyage, if you will, their first mission, where they are sent out to do their ministry without Jesus. And he sends them out, and he says—this is Luke 10 verse 19—”I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions.” That’s Psalm 91 verse 13. “I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall hurt you.” That is Psalm 91 verse 13. And so Jesus is in a sense, when he says, “I give you authority,” I’m extending my authority, this authority that’s been given to me and was promised back in Psalm 91. I’m extending it to you on this mission that you’re going to.

So God had promised David, and David had understood that promise rightly, that one day a faithful son would rule the world over. Back in the garden, God appointed a man to be his king over the earth. That man failed, Adam. And there’s all of this consequences that come as a result. But back in Genesis 3 verse 15, God promises another one. There’ll be a champion who will come, who will defeat the devil. And all through the Old Testament, that hope is fanned and fanned until finally we come to 2 Samuel 7, and we see that will be a Davidic son who will be the conqueror. And that’s picked up, of course, in the Psalms and in the prophets over and again, that he’ll come, he’ll rule, he’ll reign, he’ll defeat his enemies, he’ll not be defeated, and he’ll usher in the kingdom of God in all of its fullness.

That, of course, finds its climax when we come to Revelation 19, when the Lord Jesus is portrayed as coming on a white horse, coming in victory over his enemies. And we’re assured in all of those passages that no enemy will stand against him. Sword will come out of his mouth, he’ll speak, and the battle will be over. So again, it is Jesus who is in view in Psalm 91. He is the one whom God has promised complete triumph over all of his enemies; God will see to it that he does not fail, but he will succeed in his reign.

So Psalm 91 then, and a host of other Old Testament passages, is a prophecy that without doubt strengthened the heart of the Lord Jesus in his incarnate state here. His enemies were never absent; they were always after him. But Jesus was always filled with confidence. His earthly life, Jesus knew that he was invulnerable until the time would come when he would lay down his life of his own accord. You remember he said that in John chapter 10. “No one takes my life from me. I lay it down of myself. I have authority to lay it down. I have authority to bring it up again. This charge I’ve received from my father.” And all through his life he expressed, he displays this kind of confidence that he has here. Never afraid. Not the leper’s contagious disease, not the storm at sea, not the Jewish authorities, not Herod, not Pilate. No one would take his life from him until he would lay down his life of himself. And even in laying down his life by himself, he was assured in confidence, not only of God’s vindication and resurrection, but that his death would in fact be the means of his success in establishing God’s kingdom.

So the Lord Jesus is assured here that when he returns, he’ll bring his kingdom to consummation and to complete success. We read in the New Testament, we see glimpses of it in the Old Testament as well. More clearly in the New Testament, at the end of the age will be marked by a great outbreak of evil. The world gathered together in rebellion, we find that spoken of in the second Psalm. The nations are gathered together in an organized way against God and against his anointed, refusing his rule. Revelation describes it as a great battle in the words of Psalm 91, verse 5, and following here, the air will be thick with arrows. The opposition will be great, but not one arrow will touch him. Every enemy will fall. In verse 8, with his own eyes, he’ll see the recompense of the wicked. That’s what we find over and again in the prophets. David’s son will reign. He will come. He’ll take the government to his own shoulders. There’ll be a big turn of events in this world when that king comes. The resolve and the zeal of the Lord of hosts will see to it that he succeeds. What’s the theme of the Psalter? That’s the theme of the entire Bible. It’s the theme of Psalm 91.

In verses 1 and 2, then the Messiah King asserts his trust and his confidence in the Lord’s safekeeping. “I will say to the Lord, my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.” In verses 3 to 13, David, in a prophetic utterance, assures him ahead of time, God will see to it that you succeed. Your enemies will fall. And then verses 14 through 16 now, the Lord God Himself addresses the king. He promises protection. Verse 14, “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him. I will protect him because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him and honor him. With long life, I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

Here then is a king who is utterly devoted to the Lord God. And God speaks of that in these verses. Here’s someone, finally, who’s utterly devoted to me. Verse 14, “He holds fast to me in love.” He’s a faithful king. Again, verse 14, “He knows my name.” To know God’s name is to know His character. And so in this Psalm, His name—verse one, the Most High, the Almighty, or verse nine, the Lord, Yahweh, or again, the Most High, Elyon. He knows me. He knows my character. He knows that I’m trustworthy. And he trusts me. He’s a faithful king.

And notice again, verse 14, “Because—because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him. I will protect him. Because he knows my name.” So because he is faithful, “I will deliver him.” Verse 14. “I will protect him.” Verse 15. Because he’s faithful, “I will answer him. I’ll be with him in trouble. I’ll rescue him.” Because he’s faithful, verse 16, “With long life I’ll satisfy him and show him my salvation.” That is to say, God rewards this king with success because he is faithful.

You find the same thing in verse 9, where David speaks to him. “Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place, the Most High who is my refuge, no evil shall befall you, no plague shall come near your tent.” So he rewards him with success because he is faithful. Now what does that tell you? Does it ring a bell? 2 Samuel chapter 7, God makes this big promise to David: you’ll have a son who’ll rule on your throne. And there’s a tension built into the promise. If he’s not a faithful son, I’ll punish him. I’ll punish him with a rod of nations. I’ll punish him with a rod of men. And he won’t succeed. But my steadfast love I’ll not take away from you.

So David is promised a son who will rule. But that son, in order to be successful, in order to enjoy God’s promised blessing, he must be a faithful son. And so David has Solomon, and Solomon, and we have Rehoboam, and we have all of these kings that come along, and not one of them is faithful enough until we come to Jesus. Verse 16, “With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” Long life, by the way, is the same expression in the Hebrew that we find in the 23rd Psalm. Psalm 23 and verse 6, “I’ll dwell in the house of the Lord forever for length of days.” It’s the same expression here. And the length of days is paralleled here in this verse, verse 16, with salvation. “You’ll be satisfied.” Vindication is the idea. There’ll be a success that is permanent. And he’ll have endless vindication in triumph. There’s some hint here of Jesus’ resurrection. By his death, he secured God’s kingdom. And now by his resurrection, he reigns in triumph over all of God’s kingdom.

The point then of these verses is that this king, because he is faithful, will secure God’s kingdom and he will triumph over all of his enemies, and he’ll forever, in endless days, enjoy the fruit of his work. And so Psalm 91 takes its place as yet another prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ. A psalm of confidence, first spoken of by the Lord Jesus himself. In verse two: “I will say to the Lord, he’s my refuge, he’s my fortress, I trust him.” And in consequence, God gives him victory over all of his enemies and gives him success in establishing God’s kingdom.

The Placement of the Psalm

Now, as we’ve been trying to do, we should notice the placement of this psalm in the psalter as well. I mention about the editors often in the ordering, the placement of the book. Both the Jewish community and in the Christian community, always they’ve recognized the editors of the Psalter as inspired in their work. A big part of that is because of the tradition that the final editor, perhaps with some help, but the final editor was none other than Ezra himself.

Many have noticed, and very often in the Psalms, you’ll find one put after another, and there are verbal links between them that bring them together. Often those verbal links connect to a larger thematic connection between the Psalm as well. And we find that here, and it’s been noted by many as well, as I’ve already mentioned, in verse one of Psalm 90, God is portrayed as Israel’s dwelling place. In Psalm 91 verses 1 through 9, the king is—God is—the king’s dwelling place.

Psalm 90 verse 14: “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” That’s reflected again in Psalm 91 verse 16 where God promises the king: “With length of days I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” Psalm 90 is a prayer of Moses. He’s in lament and he calls on God to hear him. It’s reflected in Psalm 91 as well, verse 15, where the king calls out to me, God says, “He calls out to me and I will answer him.”

More important is the theme of this Psalm in its context here in the Psalter. You might remember now, book three of the Psalter was marked by lament and it climaxes in Psalm 89 with this awful lament of the seeming collapse of the Davidic kingdom. Here we have the king is taken away, he’s carried off to Babylon, and the psalmist himself is wondering how in the world will God ever fulfill his promise? The promise was made with steadfast love, and God is faithful, and yet it seems impossible.

And then we come to the next psalm, the beginning of book four of the Psalter. And this is oriented into the exile. There’s no king in Israel. These collection of psalms now is during that period of time. There’s no king in Israel yet. And it opens with Psalm 90. Psalm of Moses, the great deliverer, the intercessor for God’s people. He laments the death of God’s people in the wilderness, but he expresses confidence that God is Israel’s eternal refuge. There’s just that hint of hope. We’ve had all this lamenting, climaxing with that awful lament in Psalm 89. The Davidic kingdom is over. Done. God’s promise has collapsed. And then Psalm 90, God is our dwelling place. And then we come to Psalm 91, a psalm of the sure triumph of the messianic king.

The king expresses his faith and firm trust in God. The prophet assures him that it’s so. And then God Himself speaks and promises his eternal success. Collected and assembled in this way after the exile, it expresses Ezra’s own confidence that God’s promise to David still stands. That kingdom will be realized.

As I said, it’s common to read Psalm 91 as though Psalm 91 were about us. In recent years, we’ve been reminded over and again in much of biblical studies, reminding the church that the Bible is not about you. It’s about Jesus. We do well to remember that. However—however, this is very important to say that this psalm is not about us is not to say that it is not for us. There’s an important distinction there that you must see. To say that this psalm is not about us is not to say that it is not for us.

It’s worth noting in verses 14 to 16 again that God is speaking, but he’s not talking to the king. In verses 14 to 16, God is talking about the king. In the third person: “Because he,” verse 14, “because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him. I will protect him because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him. I’ll be with him in trouble. I will rescue him. I’ll honor him. With long life, I’ll satisfy him and show him my salvation.” God is not talking to the king. He’s talking to David. And David puts it here for us. God is talking to us about the king.

And this psalm is not about us, but this psalm is for us. And this psalm is for us only because, first of all, it’s about Him. That’s the distinction. He assures the Lord Jesus Christ that He will secure God’s kingdom and that He will reign in vindication endless days in triumph over all of His enemies. And the Bible everywhere, in the Old Testament and the New, assures us of the same, that in His triumph and in His kingdom, we, His people, will have a part. Daniel chapter 7, all through the Bible, He reigns, He establishes the kingdom, and He shares the kingdom with His people.

And Ezra places this psalm here with just exactly that hope alive in his heart that David’s son will come. He will eliminate all of God’s enemies. He’ll bring God’s saving purposes to their full consummation. He’s already conquered death. And when he returns, he’ll raise us from the dead to reign with him forever. And in fact, even in today, as you’ve heard me say this a thousand times, the kingdom has been inaugurated in this age. We wait for the full consummation at the return of Christ. Even in today’s inaugurated kingdom, in this phase of the kingdom, the rule of Christ is well underway.

That’s the theme of the book of Acts. Verse 13. God promises the king, “The serpent you will trample underfoot.” That ring a bell? New Testament bells? Romans chapter 16 and verse 20, Paul calls this into use and says to the people there in Rome, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” That is to say the Lord Jesus Christ has in a sense extended his authority in limited ways, extended his authority to his people and through their gospel advance, he is achieving his kingdom. And Paul writes that there, echoing Psalm 91 to say: keep moving forward, keep being faithful in your witness with confidence that God’s King will prevail and succeed in establishing his kingdom.

Verse 14, because—because the king holds fast to the Lord in love, he’ll reward him with full and final triumph. And that assurance is exactly what emboldens God’s people today. We follow Christ faithfully in the confidence that we will share in his victory, that he will accomplish his purposes and we will reign with him.

So in Psalm 91, the Davidic son, the greater son to come, is offered assurance of his full final triumph. Verses 14 to 16 extend that confidence to us, his people. It’s about him. And because we are in him, it’s for us. Ezra and the editors, in placing this psalm where they did, they display their trust that despite the circumstances, despite the opposition, despite Psalm 2, the nation’s rage against him, despite all of that, God’s kingdom will succeed.

So we’re left here in Psalm 91 where we’ve been left so often in the Psalter to say that we wait in eager anticipation with Ezra, with the editors, sharing their faith that this kingdom will come. It will be brought to its full consummation through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 8, then, at last he and we will see the recompense of the wicked. They seem to be without a leash today, don’t they? Rebellion against God and against his law with a particular growing fierceness. Verse 8, one day he’s going to see them fall. Verse 16, at last all the world will see the kingdom of God in its fullness. So the theme of Psalm 91 is the theme of the Psalter, it’s the theme of the entire Bible, remains a hope of the people of God today. And when we pray as we do, “Come, come quickly Lord Jesus,” that prayer is informed by this hope, that when he comes, he will succeed in every way, and we will share with him in it. Amen.