One of the most comforting and encouraging portions of Scripture for me is Psalm 91. As a young woman, I lived in this Psalm for nearly a year as I confronted alarming symptoms in my body. Some would say I dwelt on it too<\/i> much because of what happened one evening when a few friends and I were taking a walk. A young man, about our age, approached us righteous babes and asked where we lived. Before my brain went in to action, my mouth declared, \u201cI live in the secret place of the Most High. I abide under the shadow of the Almighty\u201d (Psalm 91:1). Shockingly, the would-be \u201csuitor\u201d was not intrigued\u00a0in the least by my pronouncement, and he wasted no time as he high-tailed out of there!<\/p>\n
Psalm 91 has played a prominent role in the history of men and women who have experienced Divine intervention and protection in dangerous circumstances. Many of my personal acquaintances have themselves received strengthening comfort from this Psalm as they\u00a0watched God\u00a0come through\u00a0for them in unsettling predicaments.<\/p>\n
In her book, Hand on the Helm<\/i> (\u00a9 1977), Katherine Pollard Carter retells a story she discovered in her research about a young Texan who\u00a0enlisted in the U.S. Navy during World War II.<\/p>\n
This young man and his mother had made a pact with each other before he shipped off that they would both\u00a0pray Psalm 91 at the exact same time every day so he would be kept safe \u201cunder the shadow of the Almighty\u201d.<\/p>\n
His mother later shared a letter he had written to her from his ship. The vessel, he related,\u00a0had been in battle mode, under attack from both air and sea. With American anti-aircraft weapons continually firing and every one of the ship\u2019s battle stations in full operation, a torpedo was launched from an enemy sub, quickly approaching for a direct hit.<\/p>\n
The Texan began praying Psalm 91 and realized that the hour he and his mom had agreed to pray had arrived. Fear left him, and as he quoted the psalm, he watched as the torpedo \u201cseemed to go crazy\u201d. Instead of the certain direct hit, it pivoted around in the\u00a0water and abruptly changed direction, just missing the bow of the ship. No more enemy torpedoes were launched; soon the American vessel was alone in the sea, without an enemy in sight. As the sailors inspected their craft, not a nick or a scratch could be found. They had just experienced the protective coverage of God under the shadow of the Almighty.<\/p>\n
Psalm 91<\/strong> (NKJV;\u00a0Copyright \u00a9 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.)<\/p>\n He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High 3\u00a0<\/sup>Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler 7\u00a0<\/sup>A thousand may fall at your side, 9\u00a0<\/sup>Because you have made the Lord, who is<\/i> my refuge, 14\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cBecause he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; One of the most comforting and encouraging portions of Scripture for me is Psalm 91. As a young woman, I lived in this Psalm for nearly a year as I confronted alarming symptoms in my body. Some would say I dwelt on it too much because of what happened one evening when a few friends […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-june2013","category-weekend"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=257"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":275,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257\/revisions\/275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nShall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>I will say of the Lord, \u201cHe is<\/i> my refuge and my fortress;
\nMy God, in Him I will trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nAnd<\/i> from the perilous pestilence.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>He shall cover you with His feathers,
\nAnd under His wings you shall take refuge;
\nHis truth shall be your<\/i> shield and buckler.
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
\nNor<\/i> of the arrow that<\/i> flies by day,
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>Nor<\/i> of the pestilence that<\/i> walks in darkness,
\nNor<\/i> of the destruction that<\/i> lays waste at noonday.<\/p>\n
\nAnd ten thousand at your right hand;
\nBut<\/i> it shall not come near you.
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>Only with your eyes shall you look,
\nAnd see the reward of the wicked.<\/p>\n
\nEven<\/i> the Most High, your dwelling place,
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>No evil shall befall you,
\nNor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>For He shall give His angels charge over you,
\nTo keep you in all your ways.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>In their<\/i> hands they shall bear you up,
\nLest you dash your foot against a stone.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
\nThe young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.<\/p>\n
\nI will set him on high, because he has known My name.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;
\nI will be<\/i> with him in trouble;
\nI will deliver him and honor him.
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>With long life I will satisfy him,
\nAnd show him My salvation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"