Knowing God and His Ways

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

“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)

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

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)