Protection guaranteed does not mean trouble free.
—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)