“UNDER HIS WINGS!”
“He shall
cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou find shelter.”-Psa.
91:4.-Leeser.
IN the midst of the
“perilous times” of this “evil day,” and of the warning voices of prophets and
apostles pointing out snares and pestilences and subtle dangers on every
hand-and in the midst, too, of a realizing sense of the actual existence of
such evil besetments and perils-how precious to the saints are the assurances
of divine protection and care and personal love!
We call to mind the gracious promises of our Lord-“The Father himself
loveth you;” “Fear not, little flock; it is your Father’s good pleasure to give
you the Kingdom;” and “He that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I
will love him and will manifest myself to him;...and my Father will love him,
and we will come unto him and make our abode with him.... Peace I leave with
you, my peace I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it
be afraid.”-John 16:27; 14:21,23,27; Luke 12:32.
But warning voices and wholesome counsel are also necessary; and he is not
wise who turns a deaf ear to them, and takes cognizance alone of the comforting
assurances which are designed only for those who faithfully “watch and pray
lest they enter into temptation.” Every soldier of the cross needs to heed the
Apostle’s warnings-“Take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be
able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand;” and
again, “Let us fear lest, a promise being left us of entering into his
rest, any of you should seem to come short of it;” and fear also “lest, as the
serpent [Satan] beguiled Eve, through his subtlety, so your minds should
be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ;” “for grievous wolves
shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall
men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them.”
“Behold,” said our Lord, “I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves:
be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”- Eph. 6:13; Heb. 4:1;
2 Cor. 11:3; Acts 20:29,30; Matt. 10:16.
It is necessary for the discipline, trial and
final proving of the Church of God that they should be subjected to these
adverse influences; for to him that overcometh them is the promise of
the great reward. If we would reign with Christ, we must prove our worthiness
to reign by the same tests of loyalty to God, of faith in his Word, of zeal for
the Truth, of patient endurance of reproach and persecution, even unto death,
and of unwavering trust in the power and purpose of God to deliver and exalt
his Church in due time. To such faithful ones are the blessed consolations of
Psa. 91. Hearken-
Verse 1. “He who abideth in the secret place of the Most High [typified by
the Most Holy or Sanctuary] shall rest under the shadow of the Almighty.” We
thus place ourselves under the divine protection when, having come to a
knowledge of God’s willingness to accept us as his children, we gratefully
accept the invitation and approach in his appointed way, through Christ our
Redeemer, and consecrate ourselves fully to his service. Such may sweetly rest
in the precious promises of God, all of which are “yea and amen in Christ
Jesus.” (2 Cor. 1:20.) The world does not see the overshadowing wings of
divine protection, but the faithful have a blessed secret realization of it.
Praise the Lord!
Verse 2. “I [Christ Jesus, whom David here, as elsewhere, personifies, and
who thus addresses his body, his Church] will say of Jehovah, who is my refuge
and my stronghold, my God in whom I ever trust” (John 20:17)-
Verse 3. “That he will surely deliver thee from the snare of the fowler,
[from the deceptions of Satan, in which all those not protected shall stumble;
for our Lord said that so subtle and deceptive will they be that, if it were
possible, they would deceive the very elect. But this is not possible, for
those who are making their calling and election sure abide under the protection
of the Almighty] and from the pestilence of destruction.” [Not from the
destructive pestilences of physical disease, but from the moral and spiritual
pestilences of destruction-from the sinful propensities of the old nature,
which, in unguarded moments, are liable to assert their mastery and overwhelm
the souls of those who are not abiding under the secret protection of
the Most High; and from the spiritual pestilences of false doctrine which, with
subtle sophistry, destroy the faith of the unwatchful. Such pestilences are
already abroad in the shape of so-called Christian Science, Spiritualism and
the various no-ransom theories which take the name of The Larger Hope, and
which bid fair, both from present prospects and from the prophetic outlook, ere
long to become epidemic. From all these pestilences the Lord’s elect shall be
protected, resting sweetly under the shadow of the Almighty.]
Verse 4. “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt
thou find shelter. [So close to his heart does
Jehovah gather his loyal and faithful children that they feel the warmth of his
love, and the responsive language of their
hearts is, “I will abide in thy tabernacle”-under thy protection-“forever: I
will trust in the covert of thy wings; for thou hast been a shelter for me and
a strong tower from the enemy; for thou hast heard my vows”-my
consecration-“thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy
name.”-Psa. 61:4,3,5] “His truth shall be thy shield and buckler”-thy
protection. Yes, his Truth-that grand system of truth comprised in the divine
Plan of the Ages-is an ample shield and buckler to all who in simplicity of
heart receive it and prove faithful to it. It is the armor of God which the
Apostle urges all the faithful to put on-to appropriate, to meditate upon and
to store up the Truth in mind and heart-that they may be able, by its use, to
withstand error and evil in every form presented to them in this evil day.
Verse 5. “Thou shalt not be afraid of the terror of the night [the dark
night of which the Prophet Isaiah and also the Lord spoke, saying, “The
morning”-the Millennial morning-“cometh, and also the night”-the great time of
trouble which shall immediately precede it, the night “wherein no man can
labor” for the dissemination of divine truth: so great will be “the terror,”
the tumult and trouble and persecution of that night.-Isa. 21:12; John 9:4];
nor for the arrow [“even bitter words” of the opponents of the Truth-Psa. 64:3]
that flieth by day” [at the present time, which, in comparison with the dark
night that is coming, is called day].
Verse 6. “Nor for the pestilence [moral and spiritual] that walketh in
darkness [that spreads and makes its victims among those who are ignorant of
the Truth, or who are unfaithful to it and hence unworthy of it, and who
therefore lack the divine protection and are subject to the “strong delusions”
of error-2 Thes. 2:11]; nor for the destruction [caused by these pestilences]
that wasteth at noon-day” [that subverts the faith and hope of many, just when
the light of divine Truth is shining clearest upon the faithful, as it is
shining upon us today.]
Verse 7. “A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right
hand [so great will be the falling away from the Truth, even among those who,
like ourselves, received it once with joy and who did for a time run well]; but
it shall not come nigh thee.”-Because of thy loyalty and uncompromising
faithfulness and because of the ample armor of truth and righteousness, thou shalt
stand and not fall.
Verse 8. “Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the recompense of
the wrongdoers”-who reject the Truth or who prove unfaithful to it.
Verses 9,10. “Because thou hast said, ‘The Lord is my protection;’ because
the Most High thou hast made thy refuge, no evil shall befall thee” [no evils
of the kind above referred to; and any other seeming evils shall, under divine
providence, work together for your good-Rom. 8:28].
Verse 11. “For he shall give his angels [messengers] a charge concerning
thee, to guard thee in all thy ways. [That is, God
will raise up some faithful pastors and teachers who will “watch for your souls
as they that must give an account.” True, there shall arise false teachers,
perverting the Word of the Lord and seeking by cunning sophistries to subvert
your souls; but if in simplicity of heart God’s children require a “Thus saith
the Lord” for every element of their faith, and carefully prove all things by
the Word, they will be able to distinguish readily the true from the false.
And having done so, the Apostle Paul (Heb. 13:17) counsels us to have
confidence. The Lord, our Shepherd, will care for the true sheep.]
Verse 12. “They shall bear thee [all the members of the body of Christ,
individually and collectively] up in their hands [using their strength], lest
thou dash thy foot against a stone”-any stumblingstone of false doctrine, and
especially that great fundamental rock-doctrine of the redemption through the
precious blood of Christ;-that “rock of offense and stone of stumbling” to both
the houses of nominal Israel (fleshly and spiritual). (Isa. 8:14.) The “feet”
of the body are its last members; the saints now living are members of the “feet
of him” (Christ), the ones who are now in danger of being stumbled, as the feet
of the Jewish house of servants were in danger in the end or harvest of the
Jewish age.
How do such messengers of the Lord bear up the feet of Christ? By helping
them to a clear understanding of the Truth, and teaching and encouraging them
by word and example how to be faithful to the Truth, and how to run so as to
attain to the mark for the prize of our high calling.
Verse 13. “Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and
the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.”-Thus borne up in the hands of the
Lord’s faithful messengers and guarded by their vigilant watchfulness, and
under the constant protection of the Most High, God’s trusting, faithful
children shall triumph over every device of Satan either to overpower or
beguile them-whether he boisterously goes about as a roaring lion, or whether,
serpent-like, he stealthily lurks about to insert his venomous poison.
Verse 14. “Because he hath set his love upon me [saith Jehovah], therefore
will I deliver him [from the pestilence, etc.]: I will set him on high [exalt
him to joint-heirship with Christ, make him a member of the “Royal Priesthood,”
and a “partaker of the divine nature”], because he hath known [appreciated] my
name.”
Verses 15,16. “He shall call upon me and I will answer him; I will be with
him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life [eternal
life-John 10:28,29; Rom. 2:1] will I satisfy him, and show him my
salvation”-make him understand my plan.
Praise the Lord for such assurances of his loving care! “Bless the Lord,
O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name!”