The Lion & Adder

PSALM 91:13 “On the lion [King Herod] and adder [the “Chief Priest” of Israel] you shall tread, you shall trample the lion cub and the snake [the most power opponents to the Kingdom of righteousness who took a political posture over and against the worship of the “true and Living God”].”

Barnes Commentary.- You shall be safe among dangers, as if the rage of the lion were restrained. The idea is, that he who trusted in God would be safe amidst the most fearful dangers,- as if he should walk safely amidst venomous serpents.

PSALM 91:14 “’Because on Me he has set love, I will deliver him, I will set him on high for he has known My name. He shall call on Me, and I will answer him; with him I (will be) in distress; I will rescue him and honor him. (With) length of days [until the time of and at the appointed hour] I will satisfy him and will make him see My salvation.’”

Barnes Commentary.- “Because he has set his love upon me.” Has become attached to me; has united himself with Me; is my friend. It refers here to the fact that God is the object of supreme affection on the part of His people; -and it also here implies, this springs from their hearts. Therefore will I deliver him.” I will save him from trouble and danger. I will set him on high. By acknowledging him as My own, and treating him accordingly. “And I will answer him”. I will regard his supplications, and will grant his requests. There could be no greater privilege- no more precious promise- than this. I will be with him, and honor him. I will not only rescue him from danger, but I will exalt him to honor. I will recognize him as my friend, and will regard and treat him as such. On earth he shall be treated as my friend; in another world he shall be exalted to honor among the redeemed, and angels forever.

Spurgeon Commentary.- “You shall tread upon the lion and adder.” Over force and fraud shall you march victoriously; bold opponents and treacherous adversaries shall alike be trodden down. The strongest foe in power, and the most mysterious in cunning, shall be conquered by the man of God. Not only from stones in the way, but from serpents also, shall he be safe.

Henry Commentary.- The psalmist assures believers of divine protection. The character of those who shall have the benefit and comfort of these promises- is much the same with that they are such as make the Most High their habitation.

PSALM 91:5 (Review) “You shall not fear [the trepidation and dread] the terror of night [from the consequences associated with the aspirations of men who set themselves above the limits of the law] (you shall not fear) the [divinely sanctioned] arrow (that) flies by day, of the plague [associated with legal liability and civil prosecution] that walks (in) darkness [a time characterized by the evil of those who have forsaken the paths of uprightness to wantonly and shamelessly walk in the ways of evil]; (you shall not fear) of the destruction (that) lays waste at noon [the hottest hour of the day- when light is at its strongest- a time associated with divine judgment, military invasion and displacement].”

Henry Commentary (Paraphrased).- It is our duty to be at home in God, to make our choice of Him, and then to live our life in Him as our habitation, to converse with Him and delight in Him, and depend upon Him; and then it shall be our privilege to be at home in God; we shall be welcomed to Him as a man to His own habitation.
Observe the charge given to the angel’s concerning the “Messiah”. He who is the Lord of the angels…He shall give His angels a charge over you, not only over the church in general, but over this particular believer. The angels keep the charge of the Lord their God; and this is the charge they receive from Him. It denotes the great care God takes of the Messiah, in that the angels themselves shall be charged with them, and employed for them. The charge is to keep him in all his ways; that is, “as long as you keep in the way of your duty;” those that go out of that way put themselves out of God’s protection [to become legally liable to civil prosecution and the wrath of the Almighty God]. But observe the extent of the promise; it is to keep you in all your ways: even where there is no apparent danger yet we need it, and where there is the most imminent danger we shall have it.

“The poetic hyperbole and allusion are meant more to evoke then to specify; thus the psalmist affirms that no place, no time no circumstance that befalls the Anointed is beyond God’s ability to protect the Messiah. God’s “angels” or messengers will “guard him in all his ways”. God’s faithfulness knows no bounds.”

PSALM 91:14 “’Because on Me he has set love, I will deliver him, I will set him on high for he has known My name. He shall call on Me, and I will answer him; with him I (will be) in distress; I will rescue him and honor him. (With) length of days [until and at the appointed hour] I will satisfy him and will make him see My salvation.’”

Henry Commentary.- Here we have the Lord Himself speaking of His own chosen one. “I will set him on high, because he has known My name.”

Spurgeon Commentary.- This man has known the attributes of God so as to trust in Him, and then by experience has arrived at a yet deeper knowledge, this shall be regarded by the Lord as a pledge of His grace and He will set the owner of it above danger of fear, where he shall dwell in peace and joy. None abide in intimate fellowship with God unless they possess a warm affection towards God, and an intelligent trust in Him; these gifts of grace are precious in Jehovah’s eyes, and wherever He sees them He smiles upon them. How elevated is the standing which the Lord gives to the believers. We ought to covet it right earnestly. If we climb on high it may be dangerous, but if God sets us there it is glorious.
“He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him.” He will have need to pray, he will be led to pray aright, and the answer shall surely come.

Keep me safe, O God,
For in You I take refuge.
I said to the Lord, ‘You are my
Lord;
Apart from You I have no
Good thing.’
As for the saints who are in the
Land,
They are the glorious ones in
Whom is all my delight.
The sorrows of those will
Increase
Who run after other gods.
I will not pour out their
libations of blood
Or take up their names on
My lips.
Lord, You have assigned me my
Portion and my cup;
You have made my lot
Secure.
The boundary lines have fallen
For me in pleasant
Places;
Surely I have a delightful
Inheritance.
I will praise the Lord, who
Counsels me;
Even at night my heart
Instructs me.
Because He is at my right
Hand,
I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad
And my tongue rejoices;
My body also will rest
Secure,
Because You will not abandon
Me to the grave,
Nor will You let Your Holy
One see decay.
You have made known to me
The path of life;
You will fill me with joy in
Your presence,
With eternal pleasures at
Your right hand.
(Psalm 16)

Spurgeon Commentary.- He will have need to pray, he will be led to pray aright, and the answer shall surely come. Not without prayer will the blessing come to the most favored, but by means of prayer he shall receive all good things. “I will be with him in trouble,” or “I am with him in trouble.”
Heirs of heaven are conscious of the special divine presence in times of severe trial. God is always near in sympathy and in power to help His tried ones.

A Sad Reframe

(End of Day's)

Zechariah 12:8-10 “In that day Jehovah shall protect around the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And it will be, he who is feeble among them in that day (shall be) like David; and the house of David (shall be) like God, like the Angel of Jehovah before them. And it shall be in that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour out on the house of David, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and prayers. And they shall look, on Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only son, and will be bitter over him like the bitterness over the firstborn.”