When we know our protection comes from Almighty God, we have nothing to fear.
In this series on God’s protection in Psalm 91, we come to the second half of verse 1.
“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1).
Why can you feel safe at all times and in every circumstance? Because God is “the Almighty.”
God Almighty
That is quite a title to carry. How would you like to be able to legitimately call yourself almighty? Because we cannot, this world is a dangerous place, and if we think about it at all, we feel it.
But God truly is Almighty. He is more than able to protect us. He is so mighty that he can do not only the impossible, but the inconceivable. God could even stop the sun and moon in their tracks and leave them poised in the sky as the clock ticks. One hour with the sun and moon locked in place… two hours…five hours. In fact, he once did that for a full day.
Locked in place
Here is how it happened. When Israel invaded the Promised Land under Joshua’s leadership, defeating Jericho and eventually Ai, the king of Jerusalem recruited four other kings to join forces with him to attack Israel.
God told Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you.” Israel made a lightning march through the night and fell suddenly upon the five kings and their armies. God threw Israel’s enemies into a panic. Israel struck them down, and they fled. As they fled, great hailstones fell from the sky, killing more enemies than did the swords of Israel. It was a rout.
Since God had commanded Israel to wipe out these evil nations completely because they were under his judgment, Joshua did not want a single enemy soldier to survive the battle. For that to happen, he needed sunlight, for the day was nearing its end. What Joshua did next could only have been done by a man who knew beyond doubt that God is the Almighty.
Joshua 10:12–13 says, “At that time Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, ‘Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.’ And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day.”
Inconceivably almighty
Knowing astronomy as we do today, that story may stretch your faith to the breaking point. Did the earth instantly stop rotating? That is only half of the miracle. Did the moon also instantly stop orbiting the earth? The physics of what happened boggle the mind, and no doubt, secular astronomers would mock the notion that this actually happened. It is truly inconceivable.
But only for our puny understanding and strength. The God who had the power to create the universe and all its heavenly bodies, and to uphold continually each particle in the universe with his powerful word, who is not restrained by any “law” of physics because these “laws” are simply a description of how God personally controls every particle and wave of his universe at all times, making every particle do exactly what he wants when he wants—this God is able to do not only the impossible, but the inconceivable.
This is what Scripture means when it says that God “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20, ESV). Another translation says: “All glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” (NLT)
Let that sink in. It is not hyperbole. God is able not only to do more than we can imagine; he can do infinitely more than that. “Infinitely” is a large amount! God is the Almighty! He is infinitely Almighty. God can do not only the impossible; he can do not only the inconceivable; he can do infinitely more than the inconceivable!
The Lord can do the infinitely inconceivable. He can instantly freeze every single particle and wave in the universe in its place, in its state, unchanged for a day, while continuing normal physics within the bubble of planet earth and its atmosphere. Then resume the forces of light, gravity, motion, and thermodynamics in the universe as though nothing unusual had happened. Whooooooooooooaaaaaahhh.
That could be how God accomplished this miracle. Perhaps not. But one thing is sure: the sun and moon stood still in the sky for a day. It happened.
Overshadowed by God Almighty
God Almighty is the one who protects you. It is no strain for him to do so. He does not need to take a deep breath and work himself into a hyper-focused state like a chalked-up Olympic weightlifter hoisting a barbell of record amount. He is easily able to protect you from any virus, plague, criminal, or economic downturn.
Our focus Scripture says you can “abide in the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1). You can be in his “shadow.” If you stay close to him, if you “dwell in the shelter of the Most High” (v. 1), he overshadows you with his almighty protection, like a high cliff shades a desert traveler from the burning sun. You can “abide” there. You do not have to come and go from his shadow.
He is near, and he is God Almighty. You can trust him.
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)