Monday, January 19, 2009

No Evil Befall Thee

I was reading Psalm 91 and verse 10 stood out to me. What did it mean, exactly, that no plague would come near your dwelling? We all get sick sometimes. I figured it meant that even sickness is used by God for good in a Christian's life, but I wanted to find more information about it. So I went to my dad's library of commentaries and picked out Charles Spurgeon's The Treasury of David: Volume 2, Psalms 58-110. Mr. Spurgeon wrote some lovely things about these verses, and I decided to share some of it with you. The last paragraph tells it the most clearly.

'Because thou hast made the LORD which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.' - Psalm 91:10

'The Psalmist in these verses assures the man who dwells in God that he shall be secure. Though faith claims no merit of its own, yet the Lord rewards it wherever he sees it. He who makes God his refuge shall find him a refuge; he who dwells in God shall find his dwelling protected. We must make the Lord our habitation by choosing him for our trust and rest, and then we shall receive immunity from harm; no evil shall touch us personally, and no stroke of judgment shall assail our household. The dwelling here intended by the original was only a tent, yet the frail covering would prove to be a sufficient shelter from harm of all sorts. It matters little whether our abode be a gipsy's hut or a monarch's palace if the soul has made the Most High ts habitation. Get into God and you dwell in all good, and ill is banished far away. It is not because we are perfect or highly esteemed among men that we can hope for shelter in the day of evil, but because our refuge is the Eternal God, and our faith has learned to hide beneath his sheltering wing.

"For this no ill thy cause shall daunt,
No scourge thy tabernacle haunt."

It is impossible that any ill should happen to the man who is beloved of the Lord; the most crushing calamities can only shorten his journey and and hasten him to his reward. Ill to him is no ill, but only good in a mysterious form. Losses enrich him, sickness is his medicine, reproach is his honour, death is his gain. No evil in the strict sense of the word can happen to him, for everything is overruled for good. Happy is he who is in such a case. He is secure where others are in peril, he lives where others die.'

1 comment:

Mrs. E said...

Melissa,
I've tagged you!! ;)

If you are interested go here....

http://blessedfemina.blogspot.com/2009/01/tagging-fun.html

Blessings~Miss Jen