Category: Protection

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How God Protects You When You Die

When you die Psalm 91:16 teaches that God turns death into salvation.

die Psalm 91:16

Psalm 91:16
“With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” (ESV)

The last four words of this great, comforting psalm are words of hope: God promises I will “show him my salvation.” That is what awaits you. That is your future.

He is referring to your death. Over the course of Psalm 91 the Lord has promised and described the protection he will give you through the threatening events of life. The Psalm finishes with a promise of long life and then a glorious death—a death described as “salvation.”

Yes, unless you are one of the blessed believers alive when Jesus makes his Second Coming, God your protector will allow you to die. “It is appointed to man to die once,” (Hebrews 9:27). But he is firmly in control of all that precedes this event, all that happens in death, and all that follows as your soul leaves your body. The word God uses to describe those important moments is salvation.

Not the end

He does not use the word extinction, or end.

Not long ago I was discussing spiritual things with someone, and I asked, “What do you believe about life after death? Do you believe your soul lives on after your body dies?”

“No,” he replied. “When you die, that’s it. You cease to exist.”

As he said this, he did not have a happy or hopeful look on his face. That view of death describes an end. No more conscious existence. No more joy, no more hope, no more love or pleasure or sunlight or togetherness. That is the flame of a candle totally extinguished. Snuffed out. Darkness.

God will show you something

No, thankfully to describe the experience of death for his beloved children God uses the word salvation. He says I will “show him my salvation.”

Early one morning last week, when I walked into the kitchen to make my breakfast, my wife, who was sitting at the table in the living room, said, “Come here, I want to show you something.” The table sits beside large windows with a great view from our 20th floor apartment looking west over the city. It was still dark outside. When I came to the window, however, I beheld a large moon shining brightly midway in the heavens. It was not just bright, it was blazing, like a nighttime sun.

I was thankful my wife wanted to show me that. In the same way, when it is time for your body to die, he plans to show you something, and that something is salvation.

With Christ

Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25–26). Notice he said believers “never die.” The obvious meaning is, though the body dies the soul never does. That is because when we die he shows us salvation.

As the apostle Paul discussed the possibility of dying, he said he would prefer actually to die because he said “to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:20). Explaining further why it would be gain to die physically, he said, “I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better” (v. 23). That is far better because that is being with Christ, and that is salvation. The soul is not snuffed out; the soul departs to be with Christ.

Transport

And how does the soul get from here to there, from a dying body in a dying world to a glorious togetherness with Christ in the light of his splendor?

When it was time for the prophet Elijah to leave this world, the people around him knew it. His understudy Elisha was with him, and he knew it. As they walked side by side, they met groups of prophets who asked Elisha, “Do you know that today the LORD will take away your master from over you?” The prophets also knew this was Elijah’s time.

On Elijah and Elisha walked toward Gilgal. Suddenly, “As they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (2 Kings 2:11).

That is salvation!

Angels by your side

For your promotion to heaven, Scripture does not promise chariots and horses of fire. I will not rule it out, but I am confident that when God saves your soul from your dying body in this dying world, you will at least be accompanied by angels.

In Jesus’ parable about the rich man and poor Lazarus, he described Lazarus’s death this way: “The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side” (Luke 16:22).

Jesus also describes the involvement of angels with human souls when he makes his Second Coming to the earth: “He will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:31).

Psalm 34:7 says, “The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.” If one or more angels camp around God-fearing believers at all times, it makes sense that those angels also escort their souls to the presence of the Lord in heaven.

Welcomed by the Lord

Early in the book of Acts we read about Stephen, a man filled with wisdom and the Holy Spirit, who was doing great wonders before the people of Israel and proclaiming the gospel with power. Nevertheless, the Lord in his wisdom chose that Stephen would glorify his Lord through a martyr’s death.

On trial before the religious leaders of Jerusalem, Stephen presented the gospel, courageously holding nothing back from those complicit in the crucifixion of Jesus.

His defense was not well received. “Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God’” (Acts 7:54–56).

Although Jesus normally sits at the right hand of God, he is described as “standing” at the right hand of God, apparently giving Stephen a glorious welcome into his presence. That is not death; that is salvation. Stephen’s opponents would stone him, but the Lord would save him. The Lord would not protect him from death, but through death, and into paradise.

From beginning to end, to your new beginning, the Lord will never stop protecting and saving you. That is the message of Psalm 91.

And so we conclude this comforting journey through one of the greatest of God’s psalms. Never fear, child of God. The Lord has you in his hands. God is your protector.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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How to Live Long

With God’s protection, you can live long.

Live long

Psalm 91:16
“With long life will I satisfy him”

Last night my wife, not knowing the subject I would be writing about today, put her iPad on the dresser and said, “Listen to this!” She tapped the play icon, and a talk-show guest began talking about a Harvard University study on the key factors contributing to long life.

The study isolated five factors: 1. not smoking, 2. moderate alcohol intake, 3. healthy weight, 4. daily exercise, 5. nutritious diet.

What grabbed my wife’s attention was not the items on the list, which are familiar advice, but the number of years added to your life if you practice all five. The talk-show guest said the study found an average of more than 38 years added to a woman’s life compared to women who did not practice the five health factors (25 years for men).

Live long

When you read the list of five factors, did you do a self-test? Did you make any quick resolutions? I did. As long as I can be healthy and productive I would like to live long.

As helpful as the list is, however, it leaves out one all-important factor in longevity: the blessing of God. To those who hold fast to him in love and know his name (Psalm 91:14), to those who dwell in the shelter of the Almighty (v. 1), God promises, “With long life I will satisfy him” (Psalm 91:16).

No one and nothing affects your longevity more than God, for he controls all things, including the number of your days. “In your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:16).

Every good and every perfect thing comes from him (James 1:17), including health, so his presence infuses your soul and body with life and health. His presence, his Spirit, is absolute goodness. Scripture says, “He is your life and length of days” (Deuteronomy 30:20). Notice that not only does he give you life, he is your life and length of days. To unite with God through union with Christ, though the infilling of the Holy Spirit, is to unite with life itself.

Nevertheless, the blessing of longevity from God is not disconnected from factors like those in the Harvard study. Scripture, and especially the wisdom in Proverbs, connects life span with life choices. In Proverbs 9:11, wisdom personified says, “By me your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life.” For example, Proverbs 14:30 says, “A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot.” Proverbs 17:22 says, “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”

Since the five factors have proven to be wise, they can add years to your life. And this is from God, for all wisdom comes from him.

Live well

How many years is a long life? Moses wrote, “The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty” (Psalm 90:10). Surprisingly, thousands of years later and with all our medical advances, that number is still correct. Seventy or eighty years is a long life. Ninety or a hundred is a very long life.

But what good are eighty years if they are full of misery? Notice that Psalm 91:16 promises to “satisfy” with long life. So for those who hold fast to God in love, these are good years, years that make happy and content. Even when our years include suffering, they satisfy us because we walk through suffering with our God, and thus we can rejoice in him, give thanks, experience his love, faith, peace, and hope. Those who know God’s name experience satisfying years even in old age.

And in the Lord’s good time they pass like Abraham, who “breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people” (Genesis 25:8).

Yes, as you walk with the Lord in holiness, he says, “I will fulfill the number of your days” (Exodus 23:26).

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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God’s Protection and Your Troubles

Protection guaranteed does not mean trouble free.

troubles Psalm 91:15

—Psalm 91:15
“When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.” (ESV)

The protection God promises in Psalm 91 is real-world protection. That is, protection for the kind of world Jesus told us we actually live in. He said: “Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (ESV); “Each day has enough trouble of its own” (NASB); “Today’s trouble is enough for today” (NLT) (Matthew 6:33). Was Jesus right about trouble, or just a pessimist?

Yes, as always, he was right. Troubles come to everyone, even to the most godly people, as all the stories of notable people in the Bible show, from Esther to Mordecai, from Abraham to the mother of Jesus, from Abigail to David. “Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7, ESV).

So Psalm 91 does not promise a trouble-free life. Rather, it promises protection both from and through many troubles.

Every day God protects us from a thousand troubles we never knew could strike. We are oblivious to what could have happened were it not for God’s active shielding of our lives.

But then there are troubles he in love and in inscrutable wisdom allows past the shield. They are troubles he intends for our good, the good of others, and the glory of God. They are troubles that we may have brought on ourselves through sin and folly, or troubles that spill into our lives from the trouble-filled world around us, or troubles that come from evil-doing people or evil spirits. What Psalm 91:15 promises is he will protect us through the arc of these troubles, from beginning to end, from start to ultimate victory—which is certain. Yes, the victory is certain.

So according to Psalm 91:15—which like Jesus assumes that troubles will come—when God is protecting us through rather than from trouble, what does he promise to protect us from?

1. God will protect you from being alone

“I will be with him in trouble” (Psalm 91:15).

To be sure you are never alone in your troubles, God promises—and he cannot lie—that he himself will be with you. Even when the people who are most loyal to you cannot be with you, no one can stop God from being with you. He himself will protect you from being alone. Your heavenly Father, your loving Savior Jesus, through his Holy Spirit, will be with you and in you and around you, above you and below you, at your left hand and right.

“I will never leave you nor forsake you. So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:5–6)

He promises, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you” (Isaiah 43:2).

When Nebuchadnezzar’s strongest soldiers threw Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego into the furnace heated seven times hotter than normal, whom did they find standing beside them? The Son of God! (Daniel 3:19–25)

When Paul gave his defense before the Roman governor, who stood at his side, helped him, and rescued him from the lion’s mouth? The Son of God! (2 Timothy 4:16–17)

In the same way, he stands beside you in unstoppable loyalty. You are not alone.

2. God will protect you from being unheard, unanswered, unhelped

“When he calls to me, I will answer him” (Psalm 91:15).

It is always a comfort to know God hears our prayers, but at no time are we more desperate to know he promises to hear and answer our prayers than when we are in trouble. Never is answered prayer more precious than when a roaring lion rushes you with open mouth.

Psalm 91:15 promises God will hear your call for help and answer.

Early in 2020 I awoke during the night with pain in my lower back. I endured it for a while lying down, hoping it would pass, but finally it was so bad I had to get out of bed and go to the other room to sit or walk. There I writhed in pain. Of course I did not want to go to the emergency room. Instead I prayed and believed for healing. Finally the agony left me kneeling on the couch, weeping, saying again and again, “Heal me, Jesus. Help me, Jesus. Have mercy on me, Jesus.”

The pain would rise and fall, but not leave. When light finally dawned through the windows, my wife came from the bedroom and discovered my condition. After an hour or so she convinced me I had to go to ER. So we prayed and I committed myself into God’s hands to care for me through the medical people.

Thankfully the emergency room had only a half dozen patients, the wait to get into a bed was short, and I was soon talking to a doctor. They gave me pain killer through IV, and the pain decreased to a bearable discomfort. After an x-ray, the doctor said I had two kidney stones, one of which was now passing. She gave me a pill that would open the passageways and said it might take a few days. I stayed in the bed a short time, used the restroom once, and by the time I was dressed and ready to leave, the pain was completely gone.

Back at home, I was comfortable and ate some food. I had no recurrence of pain. When I went to a urologist for follow-up, she said both stones were gone. Both had passed without my even knowing it.

The Lord heard and answered my prayers. When we are in trouble, painful trouble, agonizing trouble, there is nothing more precious than to know that God is not only with you but that he hears you and answers your prayer. Even before I went to the hospital as I was writhing in the worst of the pain, I was comforted to be able to call out to God and know that he heard and answered me.

The Lord promises he will answer in his time, in his way, according to his will, if you keep believing.

“I will rescue him” (Psalm 91:15). God will not let trouble have the final say.

3. God will protect you from ultimate shame

“I will…honor him” (Psalm 91:15).

In the context of being rescued from trouble, it might seem out of place for God to promise he will honor you. But part of what makes trouble painful for us is it brings a feeling of weakness and the shame that comes with it. When we seem strong, capable, independent, and secure, we feel respectable. When needy, we feel embarrassed.

So God promises to remedy the shame you may feel in your trouble. He will honor you. And when the Lord honors you, it is legitimate and lasts forever. It will completely and forever erase your shame. He will replace it with honor if you walk with him in truth.

When he raised Jesus from the dead, he “highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name” (Philippians 2:9).

When he rescued Israel from Pharaoh and Egypt, as they departed the Egyptians gave them silver and gold jewelry and clothing (Exodus 12:35–36).

Although the apostle Paul endured many, many troubles in the service of the Lord, he knew that a crown of honor awaited him in the kingdom of God (2 Timothy 4:8). A crown is one of the ultimate symbols of honor, and God promises a crown to his true children (Revelation 3:11).

Yes, troubles come to all who live in this fallen world, but the Lord promises a comprehensive salvation.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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Whom Does God Protect?

In Psalm 91:14, God describes two groups of people who receive his protection.

Psalm 91:14 who does God protect

Psalm 91:14–16 “[14] Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. [15] When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. [16] With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” (ESV)

Up to this point in the psalm, the writer has been doing the talking (as inspired by God, of course), but in the final three verses God speaks directly. He gives promises in the first person: I will do this and this and this and this…. In eight ways he promises comprehensive protection to the very end of a long life, climaxing in an end he describes not as death but as salvation.

This is so good. If you have not yet memorized verses 14–16, the time has come, because meditating on these verses will change your heart, replacing fears with calm assurance, if you believe. People pay thousands of dollars to psychologists in hope of getting what these verses offer freely: peace and confidence. In fact, believing what God promises here is the only true basis for peace and confidence.

In verse 14, God bases the eight promises on two conditions: (1) Because he holds fast to me in love, and (2) Because he knows my name.

Because he holds fast to me in love

Can you picture yourself wrapping your arms tightly around God and never letting go? That is the attitude he wants you to have. He likes that and created you for that.

He wants you to cling to him in love no matter what tries to break your bearhug. Trials cannot break your hold on God. Disappointments cannot. Pain and suffering and sickness cannot, nor confusion, nor questions. Persecution cannot, nor betrayals. The failures, backslidings, and apostasies of others, even of leaders, even of family members, cannot. Unanswered prayers and dreams going nowhere cannot break your hold on God in love. For he matters more to you than anything or anyone.

God promises to protect people who bearhug him like that.

But wait a minute. Isn’t he supposed to protect us from all those negative things? Yes, he does, unless he chooses in wisdom to let a higher purpose be served, and if so, he is protecting us from a greater evil and gives us grace to endure faithfully, peacefully, and joyfully what we feared we could never bear, if we rely on him.

But God’s default with us is protection. Either way, we need not fear, only hold fast to him in love.

Because he knows my name

Second, God promises to protect those who know his name. (That is the theme of this blog—knowing God and his ways—so you are in the right place.) To know God’s name is another way of saying to know God. “Name” is shorthand for who a person is. As we might say today, God’s name is his brand, only for him it is never mere marketing. God’s name is everything he is, does, and values. God’s name is his unchanging identity.

God protects people who know his name. That can only happen if we are interested in him, curious about him. Interest in God is what leads a person to read the Bible voraciously every day. We want to know his name, and there is always more to know. It is the most noble and rewarding interest in life. I am bewildered by people who lack interest in God.

Reverence for God’s name

Those who know God’s name never take his name in vain, because we know how awesome his name is. Anyone who jokes about God, or uses his name in profanity, does not know his name, that it is holy and awesome.

In my opinion, most people who use the phrase “Oh my God,” or “OMG,” are misusing God’s name, taking it in vain. They are not actually speaking about God, or to God in praise or prayer, but only using the phrase as a filler, a throwaway line, an expression of surprise, disgust, emphasis, or emotion. In other words, in vain.

Those who use God’s name in vain break God’s enduring command:  “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain” (Exodus 20:7). If you are doing that, stop. You probably absorbed the habit mindlessly from media and people around you. Bad idea. Stop! Get to know God’s name by revering it, revering him.

If you do that, he will protect you. If you do not, he might punish you, as a Father punishes a child who disrespects his parent. Foundational to receiving protection from God is treating him with proper reverence. See Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy! The story of Israel in the Old Testament is the narrative of a people who did not know God’s name, and they suffered for it repeatedly.

The first thing you need to know about God’s name is to treat his name, his identity, with reverence, yes, with fear. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Proverbs 9:10). (See also 2 Corinthians 5:11 and Revelation 15:4.)

Delivered and protected

Verse 14 says those who hold fast to God in love and know his name will be delivered and protected.

You will be delivered out of bad situations, like Israel delivered out of Egypt, like Daniel delivered out of the lion’s den.

You will be protected from bad situations, like the farmer in Malachi 3:6–12 whose crops and vines are protected from pests and blight.

These are just side benefits of the greatest benefit anyone can find in life: holding fast to the One who is infinitely good and rightly knowing his name. Said Jesus, “This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3).

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Harmful Creatures

Psalm 91:13 teaches that when necessary, God will protect you from harmful creatures.

Psalm 91:13

“You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.”
—Psalm 91:13 (ESV)

I once worked with a young man, who was just a few years out of college, whose wife had gotten Lyme disease from a tick. As I recall, this happened on a family camping or hiking trip. Although she was young, in her twenties, she struggled to keep up with the demands of life due to fatigue and pain. It was as though the tick had added fifty years to her age.

The creatures in our world still pose a danger. Whether you live in a place where the danger comes from lions and snakes, as Psalm 91:13 notes, or from coyotes, cougars, snakes, and bears, as one still encounters in the wilder areas of the U.S., or from ticks and mosquitos anywhere and the diseases that come with them. Or, where I live, in downtown Chicago, rats.

I hate rats. Ever since I was a kid and we lived in a suburban area near a small swamp, and one year the rats got into our garage, and even briefly into our house, I have hated rats. Sometimes when I walk down the sidewalk at evening, I will see one run across the sidewalk ahead of me. For a time I regularly used a parking lot that was infested with them. I hated that parking lot. When I returned to the lot after a meeting, I would hope none were underneath my car.

So for me, and for you, Psalm 91:13 and its promise of protection from potentially harmful creatures is not an irrelevant promise for people in a faraway time and place.

Psalm 91:13 and Angels

This verse does not merely promise protection. It focuses on the dangerous creatures being under your feet. You will “tread on” and “trample underfoot.” You defeat them.

This may be an extension of the thought from the previous verse about angelic protection: “On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone” (v. 12). There again we see one’s foot protected. So we can ask God to have his angels protect us from harmful living creatures.

Mark 1:13 says of Jesus “he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.” God protected Jesus from wild animals, which probably included lions and snakes. There again we see angels. They ministered to him, and I suspect they warded off lions, as Psalm 91:13 promises.

Nebuchadnezzar threw Daniel into the lion’s den one night, and in the morning when the king inquired of his welfare, Daniel said, “O king, live forever! My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.” (Daniel 6:21–22)

David and the beasts

Treading on harmful creatures suggests not only defeating them but having extraordinary power over them. David certainly experienced that. As he prepared to face off against Goliath, he told King Saul:

“Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” (1 Samuel 17:34–36)

Against wild animals, when necessary David was hands-on and fearless.

Snake bit

The apostle Paul was also hands-on with a dangerous creature, a deadly viper, but not in a way he would have wanted. He survived a shipwreck and then:

After we were brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called Malta. The native people showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold. When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god. (Acts 28:1–6)

God did not protect Paul from the viper’s bite—no doubt for a good purpose—but did protect him from the poison’s effect.

Context

Paul’s viper story is another reminder that we must interpret and apply Psalm 91 within the context of the entire Bible. God wants us to pray and believe for everything Psalm 91 says; but sometimes life does not happen as Psalm 91 describes, and we are not in God’s all-knowing position to explain why.

For example, history tells us the Romans threw Christians to the lions in the Coliseum, and though God may have protected some of them as Psalm 91:13 describes, as far as we know those Christians died.

Knowing that, can I still believe Psalm 91:13? Not only can I believe it, I should believe it. We are always called to believe God’s Word. We are never called to unbelief. We should never fear. Paul, who was bitten by the viper, was also delivered from a lion, and as he sat in Roman custody he chose to believe God for similar future protection, writing:

“The Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” (2 Timothy 4:17–18)

Fearless

Like Paul we should not live in fear but believe Psalm 91, always take normal, good-sense precautions (for instance, when I hike, I wear calf-high socks, stay out of tall grass, and afterward check for ticks), and trust the Lord in whatever unfolds, knowing he is working for our highest good and his highest glory. He will give us grace to be strong and victorious no matter what happens. “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

When necessary, I can even share sidewalks with creep-me-out creatures. How would someone take this truth to an extreme? Snake handling and anything that resembles it, which would be testing the Lord.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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Misusing Psalm 91

We are misusing Psalm 91 if we use it to test God.

misusing psalm 91

Psalm 91:11–12 (ESV)
“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.”

These verses, which we examined last week, are quoted in the New Testament, and it is vital to consider what Jesus says about them so we properly apply not only these verses, but the entire psalm.

Surprisingly, Psalm 91 makes its appearance in the New Testament on the lips of Satan! Jesus is in the wilderness of temptation, enduring 40 days and nights of fasting. At the end of that time, Satan comes and tempts Jesus to turn stones to bread. Jesus refuses.

Matthew 4:5–7 continues, “Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “He will command his angels concerning you,” and “On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.”'”

Satan is quoting from Psalm 91:11–12. Satan is correct in his interpretation of Scripture: God will protect you. He will command angels to protect you, angels that have the power to bear you up when necessary to protect you from injury.

When necessary

Bear you up when necessary. In fact, when necessary, Jesus could walk on water. Perhaps he was stepping on the hands of angels when he did that. When necessary, at the proper time, Jesus could defy gravity and float—fly—from earth and ascend into heaven to sit at the right hand of God (see Acts 1:9–11). So if it had been necessary and fitting in the will of God for Jesus to jump off the temple and be gently born to the ground on the hands of angels, he could have done so safely.

But it was not necessary. And because the idea of jumping from the temple was Satan’s idea, Jesus knew it was not God’s will. Just as Satan had twisted God’s words and purposes in the Garden of Eden with great subtlety when he tempted Eve to eat from the forbidden fruit, so Satan was now misusing Psalm 91.

Right interpretation, wrong application

Jesus instantly recognized it. He saw the sin to which Satan was leading: the sin of testing God. So “Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test”’” (Matthew 4:7).

Satan had correctly interpreted Psalm 91 but had misapplied it, saying to Jesus, “Throw yourself down.” If Satan had pushed Jesus off the pinnacle of the temple, the angels would have born Jesus on their hands to the ground safely. But Satan was not there to kill Jesus; he was there to deceive, confuse, and tempt him into sin. That would have defeated all God’s purposes in sending his Son to earth. If Jesus had sinned, he would have lost the ability to die as a substitute for our sins and save us from condemnation. He would have died on the cross for his own sin.

If God had told Jesus, “Throw yourself down,” Jesus could have done so safely. But it was Satan who gave the order.

Testing God

What does it mean to test God? It can mean deliberately sinning to see if one can get away with it. This is testing God by pushing the limits, like a child who knowingly disobeys a parent’s instructions to see if the parent will punish him. This is what Israel did in the desert time and again when they grumbled against the Lord.

Testing God can also mean trying to force him to act in the way you want. This is testing God by trying to manipulate him. It is playing God. Israel also did this.

There is a world of difference between (a) asking God to do something and believing he will answer your prayer based on the promises of Scripture and (b) presuming God must do something that is your idea. There is a difference between God’s telling you to do something, Satan’s telling you to do something, and your telling yourself to do something.

The place for caution

By no means do I want to make it complicated to trust in Psalm 91. But people are misusing Psalm 91 when they think it gives them grounds to do reckless, unnecessary things God has not commanded.

When God commands you to do something, it becomes necessary. When he commanded Israel to invade the Promised Land, it became necessary. Apart from that command, however, the invasion was utter folly, doomed to failure. (See Exodus 14:1–45)

We are called to deal with worldly dangers much like those who do not believe in God and his protection. We should not fear like those who distrust the Lord, but we should use the same common sense, observing normal precautions and protections.

For example, Christian pilots should check the plane before each flight to make sure it is safe and follow the limits about how many passengers and how much cargo weight the plane can carry. They should not fly into massive thunderstorms. Christian doctors and nurses should wear the same protective equipment as others.

Misusing Psalm 91

What we have learned from Satan’s misuse of Psalm 91 with Jesus is that interpreting the Bible is one thing; it is another to apply the Bible to our lives correctly. We can get the interpretation perfectly correct but completely mishandle the application. In fact, we can misapply a correct interpretation so badly that we sin.

Therefore when we determine to live a fearless life based on Psalm 91, we must not abuse it. That will keep us from bad consequences and increase our faith, because we will understand why some who try to walk confidently in the promises of Psalm 91 do not experience the protection they are expecting. We will understand why Psalm 91 did not “work” for them or perhaps for us.

When we need him, God is faithful to protect us. When we are doing God’s will, we should be fearless.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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Guardian Angels

You probably have never recognized your guardian angels at work, but you regularly benefit from their protection.

Psalm 91:11–12
“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.” (ESV)

I have said much in this series of articles on Psalm 91 about God’s ability to protect you through his direct control over everything large and small, but in these verses we see something different. We see God’s indirect protection for you through guardian angels.

Angelic protection is real and occurs regularly. You have benefited from it time and again though you are unaware of it except in the most unusual circumstances.

Therefore when you think about safety and protection for yourself and those you love, guardian angels should be part of your worldview, confidence, prayers, and faith.

One world, two realms

Fundamental to the biblical worldview is that our universe has two overlapping realms: the material and the spiritual, the visible and the invisible. Populating the invisible, spiritual realm are God, angels, and demons.

The key takeaway of Psalm 91:11–12 is that the spiritual realm interacts with the material realm, and it happens regularly.

For example, Job 1–2 narrates a detailed interaction between the two realms in which Satan is a principal actor.

On the other hand, we see holy angels at work in the Book of Revelation, which speaks 56 times of angels controlling events on earth. They pour out bowls and blow trumpets of judgment. They hold back or release the wind. They enable the movement of human armies. They convey messages to prophets and decree major shifts in world events. And much more. Clearly they and their decrees carry great authority.

Although God could do all these things without them, he created angels and apparently likes to use them to execute his plans just as he does humans.

Guardian angels

So it is no surprise they play a role in your protection. Does every person have a guardian angel? Psalm 91:11–12 supports that idea. In fact, these verses suggest multiple guardian angels assigned to you: “He will command his angels concerning you.”

Psalm 91 describes one example of how angels could protect you. “On their hands” guardian angels can “bear you up lest you strike your foot against a stone.” They could literally lift you up so that you pass over a stumbling stone. Or perhaps they cover the stone with their hands as you step on their hands. Whatever it is, they intervene with the physical world to protect you.

When an angel sprung Peter out of jail (see Acts 12), his intervention included poking Peter to wake him, causing the chains on Peter to fall off without touching them, telling Peter what to do, enabling himself and Peter to bypass guards unnoticed apparently by putting them to sleep, and causing a large, iron, city gate to open without touching it.

Even the Son of God believed in the role of angels in God’s protection for him. At his capture in the Garden of Gethsemane, he said, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53)

Like Jesus, you can pray and trust God to use guardian angels to protect you in whatever threats your world presents.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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No Evil Befall You

Psalm 91:10 promises blanket protection.

Psalm 91:9–10 (ESV)

“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.”

The psalmist now circles back to repeat several of the first ideas in the psalm, showing again that verses 1–2 are foundational to every promise given. He repeats the covenant name LORD (in Hebrew, Yahweh). He repeats the idea of dwelling in him as a person dwells in a home. He repeats the idea that God is Most High and that he is a refuge.

He repeats these ideas and not the others from verses 1–2 as a shorthand reminder that we should draw all the ideas in these two verses back to mind.

He says, “Because you have made,” indicating that Yahweh becomes our dwelling place and refuge when we make him so. Dwelling in the LORD day by day, moment by moment, is a choice. It is a choice to trust him and believe he is the Most High, the Almighty. We choose to believe his Word and live accordingly. We choose to regard his Word as reality, though spiritual realities are invisible.

So the all-encompassing, blanket promise that the psalmist is about to pronounce is based on that life-changing choice.

He speaks of “The Most High, who is my refuge.” For the second time in the psalm, the psalmist brings himself into the picture (see verse 2). By this he indicates he is speaking from experience. The Lord has proven himself to the psalmist for a long time. These principles are tried and true.

Psalm 91:10, No evil befall you

Verse 10 promises, “No evil shall be allowed to befall you.”

The word “evil” covers every bad thing mentioned or unmentioned in the psalm. After having noted several specific examples of evils from which God protects a person—fowlers and their snares, pestilence, arrows, night terrors, destruction—the psalmist now covers all bases. Any evil you can imagine or encounter. As Jesus taught us to pray, “Deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13).

And then the psalmist uses a word pregnant with theological implications: “allowed.” No evil can strike a person unless it is “allowed.” Who must allow it? The Most High, the Almighty refuge and fortress, the God in whom we can trust (see vv. 1–2). That is what it means to be the Most High, Almighty God. Absolutely nothing can happen unless he allows or does it (Mat. 10:29).

When Scripture refers to God as the Most High and Almighty one, it does not mean approximately so, or “Very High most of the time,” or “in the top ten of mighty ones.” No. Scripture speaks in absolute terms. God is the only Most High, all the time. Absolutely everything that happens in the universe, galactically large or atomically small, he must allow or do.

If you believe that, you will not fear. If you do not believe it, fear will be your regular companion, perhaps even your tormenting lord.

Psalm 91:10, No plagues of judgment

Verse 10 continues, “no plague come near your tent.” This is the first time the psalm uses the word “plague.”

When we hear the biblical word plague, what comes to mind are the ten plagues God sent on Egypt and its idols to judge them and compel them to release Israel from slavery (Exodus 11:1; 12:13).

Moreover, Scripture uses the word plague to describe God’s judgments on Israel itself when they later rebelled against him in the desert (Exodus 32:35), as well as later times in the history of the nation (Exo. 30:12; Num. 11:33; 16:47; 25:8; 31:16; 2 Sam. 24:21).

Plague described punishments Israel would incur if they transgressed the rules of the tabernacle of God in their midst (Numbers 8:19).

So plague is a word tightly connected to divine punishment for sin.

What Psalm 91:10 promises, therefore, is forgiveness and escape from punishment. Like all the other promises of the psalm, it can be claimed by those who make the true, Most High LORD, who has revealed himself in the Bible, their dwelling place, the God in whom they trust (vv. 1–2).

New Covenant Developments

Several hundred years after Psalm 91:10 was written, God gave further revelation to Israel of what that trust entailed. He sent his Son Jesus to earth, who lived a perfect life, went willingly to the cross to die for the sins of mankind, rose again from the dead to overcome death on our behalf, and ascended to the right hand of God as Savior and Lord of the Universe. And he gave this promise:

“God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” (John 3:16–18)

The protection of Psalm 91 comes to those who draw near and stay near to God through faith in Jesus Christ. It comes to those who confess their sins (1 John 1:5–10) and repent of evil (Acts 2:38), in obedience to Jesus Christ. In this way, they receive forgiveness and escape the plagues—the judgments of God—on evildoers.

Your protection is in a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Will you trust him?

And if he wills it, will you suffer for him? That is another development in the New Covenant. While Psalm 91 promises blanket protection, the New Testament qualifies that somewhat, saying, “All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12) and “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).

Nevertheless, when we are persecuted, the Lord assures us he will protect us from ultimate evil: “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom” (2 Timothy 4:18).

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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Why Do Bad Things Happen?

If, as Psalm 91:8 says, calamities are the recompense of the wicked, how can we be confident God will protect us, since we all sin?

Psalm 91:8


Psalm 91:7–8 (ESV)
“[7] A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. [8] You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.”

Verse 8 is puzzling. It suggests the death or disease that befalls the thousand at your side and the ten thousand at your right hand (v. 7) happens because they are wicked. And it does not strike you because you stay near God.

This is the same, neat and clean, binary, black-and-white reasoning that Job’s friends used to explain his suffering. Good things happen to good people; bad things happen to bad people. If you walk with God, nothing bad will ever happen to you. If you are wicked, sooner or later calamity will catch up to you. You get what you deserve.

How do we interpret this verse?

Psalm 91:8 and calamity

As always, the most important rule of interpretation is to consider the context. What does the rest of Psalm 91 tell us? What does the remainder of the Bible tell us? In other words, we should not interpret this verse in a way that contradicts the meaning of Psalm 91 or the remainder of the Bible. Rather, all of Psalm 91 and the Bible tell us how to interpret verse 8 (because God wrote the entire Bible, and he does not contradict himself).

With that in mind, what meaning should we rule out for verse 8?

What Psalm 91:8 cannot mean

First, verse 8 cannot mean that everyone to whom something bad happens is wicked. The book of Job explicitly forbids that interpretation. The Bible tells the stories of other righteous people who suffered violence or disease: King Josiah (2 Kings 23), John the Baptist (Matthew 14:1–12), Stephen (Acts 7:54–60), the apostle James (Acts 12:1–2), the apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 12:7–10; Galatians 4:13–15), and of course Jesus.

James 5:14–16 says, “[14] Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. [15] And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. [16] Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”

Notice that verses 15 and 16 imply that there can be a connection between sickness and sin, but sin is not necessarily the cause of someone’s sickness. Verse 15 says, “if he has committed sins.” “If” means sin might or might not be the cause of the sickness.

Each of us sins daily. We need to confess our sins daily. If we fall sick, we need to search our hearts prayerfully with special attention if there is some sin on which the Lord is putting his finger.

But the “if” of verse 15 implies we are not to conclude that one’s sickness is necessarily the result of sin.

What Psalm 91 certainly does mean

On the other hand, the undeniable overall message of Psalm 91 is that there is indeed a connection between experiencing God’s protection and walking in close communion with him. If you dwell in God’s shelter, if you abide in his shadow, if you trust him to be your refuge (verses 1–2), if you hold fast to him in love, if you know his name, if you call on him (verses 14–15), he will protect you.

The message of Psalm 91 is we should trust God for that. That is our default expectation. Protection is the normal experience of those who walk with the Lord. We should quote the promises of Psalm 91 and trust that they will be fulfilled in us. We have a physical, natural immune system and a spiritual immune system. A close relationship with God strengthens both systems.

We must not fear that the exception to the rule will happen to us. We should not live dreading the anomaly, but rather believing the promise. Scripture confirms the message of protection in Psalm 91 in innumerable other stories and promises throughout the Bible (Psalm 23; Psalm 121; 2 Corinthians 1:8–10; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; and 2 Timothy 4:18, for starters).

If the anomaly comes, we trust him and be sure our heart is clean through daily repentance and prayerful self-examination. But when we have done that, we should not live with the crushing assumption that a calamity that has befallen us signals an ongoing failure in our relationship with God, that he is punishing us for something we cannot identify. The comforting promise of 1 John 1:7–9 removes that possibility:

“If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Summary

Calamity is not necessarily a recompense for wickedness. Although wickedness always brings the recompense of calamity, calamity is not always the recompense of wickedness. (In the language of formal logic, if all A is B, that does not imply that all B is A.)

Although calamity may befall even a person walking close to God, we should believe we will experience his perfect protection.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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Surgically Precise Protection

God can give you precise protection in a situation where people around you are vulnerable.

Psalm 91:7–8 (ESV)

“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.”

God is able to judge the wicked while protecting the righteous with surgical precision. In even the most dangerous and deadly situations, God can make his people invincible.

Precise protection for two spies

For example, as Israel prepared to invade the Promised Land, Moses sent 12 leaders of the tribes of Israel into Canaan to spy out the land. When they returned, 10 of the leaders gave a negative report, saying the residents of the land were invincible, doubting God’s promise, and advising rebellion against his command. On the other hand, two of the leaders—Joshua and Caleb—confidently testified to their belief that God would give them victory, and they should obey and trust him.

What followed were surgically precise acts of both judgment and protection. Numbers 14:36–38 says:

“The men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing up a bad report about the land—the men who brought up a bad report of the land—died by plague before the LORD. Of those men who went to spy out the land, only Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive.” (ESV)

Precise protection for two from a million, for 40 years

God’s selective protection of Joshua and Caleb did not end there. Because of Israel’s rebellious response of believing the 10 spies instead of the Lord and refusing to enter the Promised Land, God pronounced judgment on that generation of men and sent Israel back into the desert to wander for 40 years. Numbers 14:28–30 says,

“As I live, declares the LORD, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.”

With surgical precision, over the next 40 years God would protect two faithful men—Joshua and Caleb—while ending the lives of an entire generation of unbelievers.

Precise protection during the Passover

The Old Testament tells another story of God’s pinpoint control of both judgment and protection. When the plagues on Egypt were nearing their end, God announced one final terrifying judgment on the idol-worshiping, occult-practicing Egyptians: the destruction of the firstborn in every household.

God would send a death angel throughout the land, and on one night death would sadly fall on all the firstborn. But God had a different plan for the firstborn of Israel. He instructed Moses to tell the Israelites to smear the blood of a lamb on the lintel and doorposts of their homes on that fearsome night, and death would not enter their homes.

Exodus 12:12–13 says, “I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD. The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.”

Passover night was another example of God’s pinpoint control of both judgment and protection.

Pinpoint protection in Goshen

God showed similar selectivity in some of the earlier plagues on Egypt.

During their time in Egypt, Israel lived in the region of Goshen. When God announced to Pharaoh the plague of flies, he said, “On that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth. Thus I will put a division between my people and your people.” (Exodus 8:22–23)

The same thing happened when God sent the plague of hail. Exodus 9:26 says, “Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail.”

More examples of precise protection

Likewise when God sent a flood to destroy all the wicked people on earth, he carefully protected Noah and the seven members of his family in the ark.

Likewise when God sent a plague on the Israelites at a moment of national rebellion led by Korah, Aaron stood at a line between the living and the dead.

Numbers 16:44–48 says, “The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Get away from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.’ And they fell on their faces. And Moses said to Aaron, ‘Take your censer, and put fire on it from off the altar and lay incense on it and carry it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the LORD; the plague has begun.’

“So Aaron took it as Moses said and ran into the midst of the assembly. And behold, the plague had already begun among the people. And he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. And he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped.”

Walking into the face of deadly plague, Aaron with his censor, for that circumstance, was invincible—because he was obeying a specific, personal command from God. We will talk more about that shortly.

God’s protection is normal

So God can give selective protection, selective invincibility.

He does this constantly. The protection is normally invisible to us. We have experienced it every day when we pass through a day free from all harm, for the world is filled with invisible dangers: pestilences, viruses, germs, and bacteria. Yet we pass through our days rarely if ever falling sick. Similarly, evil people who want to harm others normally pass by us. Natural calamities and accidents normally pass by us.

Protection is your normal destiny. It is not extraordinary. Every day you experience the surgically precise, pinpoint protection promised in Psalm 91.

Still, we should protect ourselves

Does this mean we do not need to take normal precautions such as looking both ways before we cross the street, avoiding unleashed, aggressive dogs, locking our front doors, or eating healthful food and getting adequate sleep to have a healthy immune system? Should a soldier in a battle keep his head down? Or for an extreme, contemporary example, if a family member or spouse comes down with covid-19, do we kiss them on the lips?

No, that would be testing the Lord and ignoring wisdom. It would be presumption. The Lord promises to protect us but also tells us to protect ourselves and use ordinary wisdom to avoid unnecessary dangers. Proverbs 14:16 says, “A fool is reckless and careless.”

For example, Paul warned his ministry partner Timothy, “Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message.” (2 Timothy 4:14–15)

Proverbs 22:3 says, “The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.”

In John 8:59, when the religious leaders did not like what Jesus was saying, they “picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.”

John 7:1 says, “After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him.”

There is a fine line between fearless faith and testing the Lord, between confidence and foolishness. So we are to be confident but not careless, fearless but not foolish, full of faith but not presumptuous (Numbers 14:39–45).

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)