God’s Protection in Times of Crisis

¹ One who lives in the secret place¹ of the Most High will lodge in the shadow of Shaddai.²

1. Or “shelter”
2. Often translated “the Almighty,” this is perhaps better understood as “God of the Mountain”

² I will say to Yahweh, “You are my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.”

³ For he will deliver¹ you from the snare of the fowler, from the plague of destruction.

1. Hebrew “he, he will deliver” is perhaps emphatic, “He will certainly deliver”

⁴ With his feathers he will cover you, and under his wings you can take refuge. His faithfulness will be a shield and a buckler.¹

1. That is, a small, round shield, or perhaps a surrounding bulwark

⁵ You need not fear the terror of the night, or the arrow that flies by day,

⁶ or the plague that spreads in the darkness, or the destruction that devastates at noon.

⁷ A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.

⁸ You will only look with your eyes, and see the punishment of the wicked.

⁹ For you, O Yahweh, are my refuge. You have made the Most High your dwelling place.¹

1. This is the most straightforward translation of the Hebrew, though the “you” of each line would refer to a different person. A more unusual rendering would be “Because Yahweh, my refuge, even the Most High, you have made your dwelling place …”

¹⁰ No harm will befall you, and no plague will come near your tent.

¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you, to watch over you in all your ways.

¹² In their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.

¹³ You will tread on lion and viper; you will trample young lion and serpent.

¹⁴ Because he loves me, therefore I will deliver him; I will protect¹ him because he knows my name.

1. The sense is that of making something inaccessibly high, like a fortress

¹⁵ He will call upon me and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue and honor him.

¹⁶ With ⌞long life⌟¹ I will satisfy him, and show him my salvation.

1. Literally “a length of days”