(upbeat music) Well, God is our refuge and our fortress. And in that great refuge Psalm of Psalm 91, we're given this glorious promise that he who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. That's the first verse of Psalm 91. And such a high promise prompted APJ listener, Anna, to write in.

Anna lives in Atlanta, and she writes this, "Pastor John, hello and thank you "for your faithful labors. "My question comes from Psalm 91.1. "What does it mean to dwell in the shelter "of the Most High and to abide "in the shadow of the Almighty? "Is there a New Testament equivalent to this "for believers in Christ?

"And is the practice of daily scripture reading part of it?" Pastor John, what would you say to Anna? - Yes, there is a New Testament equivalent. And yes, scripture reading is certainly part of the way you keep dwelling in the shelter of the Most High. But to get at the actual meaning, let's quote the Psalm, Psalm 91, and then look at an event from the life of a martyred missionary, Jim Elliot, whose biography is titled by his wife, "Shadow of the Almighty." The phrase comes from Psalm 91 that begins like this.

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High "will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. "I will say to the Lord, 'My refuge and my fortress, "'my God, in whom I trust.'" And then it continues in verse seven with these amazing words. "A thousand may fall at your side, "10,000 at your right hand, "but it will not come near you." Meaning the arrow, killing all these others won't 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." So it sounds like to dwell in the shadow of the Almighty and in the shelter of the Most High means that if someone throws a spear at you, it will not hit you.

So was Elizabeth Elliot naive, unbiblical, when she titled her husband's biography, "Shadow of the Almighty," even though he and four others were speared to death by the Warrani Indians in January 8, 1956 in Ecuador while they were trying to evangelize them? She's been asked that question. She's with the Lord now, but she was asked that question and I personally spoke to her many times.

Most people considered her confidence in God's sovereignty to be a little bit misplaced. Here was her answer at the end of the book. You can read it on the last pages of that biography. Quote, "The world did not recognize the truth "of the second clause of Jim Elliot's credo.

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep "to gain what he cannot lose." Now, what did he mean by that? What did she mean when she quoted it? Well, they both meant this, that if God sees fit to let the arrow that flies by day or the spear of a Warrani Indian kill one of God's children, God has done it for the sake of gain.

He said to gain what he cannot lose. God has done it for gain, not loss. And I think she's right. I think he was right. That's a right interpretation of Psalm 91 because, here's why I think that, Satan tried to use Psalm 91 in Matthew 4, 6 to tempt Jesus to jump off the temple because Psalm 91 promises the angels are gonna catch you.

But Jesus won't use Psalm 91 that way. Neither did Stephen when he was stoned to death. Neither did James when he was beheaded. Neither did Paul when he was beaten repeatedly with rods. Neither did Jesus as he bent down over the cross. None of them understood Psalm 91 to mean that God's children will never suffer at the hands of their enemies.

So, what does it mean? I mean, Satan was trying to get them to think it meant that. What does it mean to abide in the shadow of the Almighty if you can be killed in the shadow of the Almighty? Well, let's go to the New Testament counterpart of this text.

So she asked, is there a New Testament counterpart? There are several. For example, Jude 1, 21 says, "Keep yourselves in the love of God." I think that is virtually the same as keep yourselves in the shadow of the Almighty. Or Jesus says in John 15, 9, "Abide in my love," which I think is the same as abide in the shelter of the Most High.

In other words, dwelling in the shadow of the Almighty and abiding in the shelter of the Most High mean trusting implicitly in the love of God, the power of God to give you everything you need to do His will and glorify His name, whether you live or die. Or to say it another way, dwelling in the shadow of the Most High and keeping yourself in the love of God means trusting the love of God and the wisdom of God and the power of God to protect you from everything that could destroy you utterly.

Now, why do I say that? One of the clearest reasons for saying that is found in Romans 8, 32 to the end of the chapter, maybe the greatest paragraph in the Bible. Paul argues that God's love for His elect, His adopted children, proven in the death of His son Jesus, Romans 8, 32, means that He will with absolute certainty, quote, graciously give us all things.

He who did not spare His own son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not with Him graciously give us all things? Answer, He will. But what does that mean, all things? And he goes on to explain, and he even uses the Psalms to explain it.

He argues that if we are in the love of Christ, in the shadow of the Almighty, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ. Then he throws out a few possibilities of what might separate us, and it shows he's really quite aware of Psalm 91. He says, "Shall tribulation or distress or persecution "or famine or nakedness or danger or sword," or he might've added, "or Wahrani, Indian spear." And then he quotes Psalm 44, as it is written, "For your sake," not sin's sake, "your sake, we are being killed all day long.

"We are counted as sheep to be slaughtered." So even the Psalms knew God's people die while doing good. Then he shouts the answer, "No, in all these things, "we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." That's Romans 8, 32 to 37. So Paul is saying, Christians can keep themselves in the love of God and in the shadow of the Almighty and still be slaughtered like sheep, and yet be more than conquerors.

So if the arrow that flies by day goes straight into your chest and you drop dead in the cause of Christ, it does not defeat you. You are more than a conqueror. How more than a conqueror? Because the very arrow that seemed to get the victory becomes your servant and accomplishes God's sovereign purpose in the world and God's saving purpose for your life, His everlasting presence.

Here's how the book of Revelation says it. "And they conquered Satan by the blood of the Lamb "and by the word of their testimony, "for they loved not their lives even unto death. "So they die in persecution, but they conquer Satan." How? This is the answer to Anna's question.

How do you dwell in the shelter of the Most High? They trusted implicitly in the blood of the Lamb, that it had absolutely secured for them their future happiness forever. And they opened their mouth and gave testimony and the fear of death did not stop them. And in that moment, they were safe in the shadow of the Almighty and they conquered the devil and they entered paradise.

I think that's the kind of triumphant safety that God is calling us to in Psalm 91. - Glorious, thank you, Pastor John. And thank you for the question, Anna. If you have a question like Anna did, you can ask it or you can search our growing archive or you can subscribe to the podcast, all@desiringgod.org/askpastorjohn.

Well, next time we have a really, really hard question. It's from a dad whose 14-year-old daughter is struggling after studying the book of Job for the first time. She has heard all of her life that God is loving and just and she cannot understand why God would allow Job and his children, wife, and servants to suffer so much devastation.

And all for what purpose? Merely to prove to Satan that Job's reverence for God was unshakable. So what more can be said about Job? Don't miss this episode. It's up next time. I'm your host Tony Rehnke. We'll see you back here on Monday. Thanks for listening. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)