{"id":8544,"date":"2020-08-26T22:31:44","date_gmt":"2020-08-26T22:31:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/?p=8544"},"modified":"2020-08-26T22:31:44","modified_gmt":"2020-08-26T22:31:44","slug":"psalm-91-security-in-gods-protection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/?p=8544","title":{"rendered":"Psalm 91: Security in God’s protection"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Are you feeling a little shaky right now with all the uncertainty of our culture pressing in on you from all sides? Covid-19 shut downs, positive tests, quarantines, isolation, masks, racial disparities and the ensuing unrest and violence, anger on social media, crazy weather and horrific fires, clashing political conventions, passions, and fears, tensions at home, at work, among friends\u2026even while shopping, gassing up the car, or hanging at the park?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have found some solace in all of this, a refuge from oppression and intimidation. It\u2019s in the Bible\u2014Psalm 91\u2014and the entire chapter focuses on one thing: God is willing and ready to protect you\u2014yes, YOU\u2014in all kinds of danger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll let you in on a secret. I keep a pile of laminated Psalm 91 index cards handy so I can grab one and go. I have them in my car, my purse, I take them on trips, but mostly I carry one in my hand when I go for a walk. I have fresh Psalm 91s, used Psalm 91s, and raggedy Psalm 91s. I like the raggedy ones the best. They have a good feel to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several years ago, maybe in 2015 or so, I sensed the Lord\ntelling me to pray Psalm 91 a thousand times. When I shared this with someone,\nthey said, \u201cOK. Pray it three times a day and you can be finished in a year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s not how I approach things. When I try to race through\nBible reading just to say I\u2019ve done it, I honestly don\u2019t retain much. I like to\nsqueeze the juice out of what I\u2019m reading; I like to interact with what I\u2019m\nreading; and I like to tear into it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s kind of like when I went to Grenada on a mission trip\nback in the \u201880s. Kim, a Canadian full-time missionary there, picked up the\nlocal way of eating chicken. She ate each piece with great gusto, but unlike me\u2014who\nwhen once the meat was pretty well picked off the bone, I\u2019d set it down and\nreach for a fresh one\u2014she would gnaw and chew every last tidbit of meat and\ngristle off that bone. Then, without hesitation, she would crack that bone and go\nafter the marrow! She\u2019d worked that chicken bone until there was nothing left but\nsplinters!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s how I\u2019m happiest with my Bible time. If I go for reading large amounts, I know I\u2019ll miss out on so much. I go for the meat, the morsels, the tidbits, the gristle, and then crack that Bible \u201cbone\u201d to go in after the marrow. I may not cover the whole Bible in a year, but I sure get as much out of what I do read as I can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, I\u2019m somewhere in the four-hundreds in praying this Psalm. As you can see, I don\u2019t do this every day, and sometimes I forget to tally when I do pray it, but nonetheless, Psalm 91 has become a dear friend to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I walk my neighborhood and pray this Psalm, I often like to emphasize one word at a time in a verse. For example, take the shortest verse in the Bible, \u201cJesus wept.\u201d Here\u2019s how my \u201cemphasis method\u201d would go:<\/p>\n\n\n\n