Joseph Prince - The Promise Of Protection, Truths From Psalm 91
Church, let's all stand to our feet right now. You all know that God is confirming signs and wonders. You all know that we release the "Solid Rock" magazine, our church magazine, with the theme of Psalms 91 in the center. We even had a card for all of you of Psalms 91, not knowing what was gonna happen this week. And I really planned to preach on Psalms 91, so you all know that God is in the house. The God who knows the future. God does not want your hearts to be troubled. He doesn't want you to be in fear.
But I'd like for all of you right now together in one voice, one heart, wherever you're watching this, let's quote Psalms 91, and I'm believing God is going to release an anointing, a covering, a pavilion, covering you and your loved ones and your families, amen, for the days to come. We'll step into the days to come like Jesus prayed in John 17. He prayed to the Father in his high priestly prayer the night that he was betrayed and delivered to the hands of the Romans. He prayed this prayer, "Father, I pray not that you'd take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil in the world," amen. So, that prayer is answered for sure. Let's line ourselves with that prayer, are you ready? All together now, one heart, one voice, read.
"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God. In him I will trust.' Surely he shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you shall take refuge. His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look at see the reward of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways. In their hands, they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. 'Because he has set his love upon me, therefore I will deliver him. I will set him on high because he has known my name. 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 I will satisfy him, and show him my salvation.'"
Amen, amen, amen, praise the Lord. You may be seated. What a beautiful psalm. What a powerful psalm. Do you feel that? I'm telling you that this place is charged. That place that's watching right now, that place is charged. You can sense it. It's almost a tangible, palpable anointing, hallelujah. Psalms 91 is a psalm that God gave for times that we are in. It covers all kinds of evil in the world. If you look at verse 5 and 6, "You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor the arrow that files by day".
Now, why should anyone be afraid of an arrow that files by day? Is God just referring to a piece of stick with feathers in the end? No, God is referring to missiles in the last days. There's cause for concern and worry, and now we have missiles that can it all the way up to more than 30,000. And we need not be afraid, because the Bible says God promises he will protect us, amen. So, let's see the category. We have the terror, and what a world we live in, it's a world of terror now. Imagine our children living in a world that for us we can walk down the street, we can actually go to an airport in times past and not have to worry about so many things, and even take off our shoes. And now, all kinds of things, the latest one is even you gotta prove that your iPhone is really working, or your computer is working, alright.
So, the terror of the times we live in, the arrow, the missile that files, the pestilence of diseases that walks in darkness. You know, people are afraid of–they read things like a guy exercises every day, he runs every day, all of a sudden, they found out he has a disease that's been walking in darkness in his body. No one detected it, and he dropped dead. Whatever they say, it's genetics or whatever it is, God says there's protection from it. Alright, this is holy Scripture. And then we have the destruction that is generic, it covers everything. The destruction that wasted at noonday.
So, all the categories of evil you can imagine that can come upon the world, that can cause people to be afraid, are all covered in Psalms 91. And for which times? Is it seasonal? Is it at certain times? No, verse 5 says, by night, by day. Verse 6, darkness and noonday. In other words, 24-hour protection. And the Bible says Psalms 91 works like this. Verse 2, "I will say of the Lord". Do you know there are believers, even believers who don't say of the Lord, "You are my refuge"? They say things of the Lord like this, "The Lord gives me trouble sometimes to humble me". Or, "The Lord sometimes heals, the Lord sometimes gives you disease". That's what they say of the Lord. Well, the psalmist says, "I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress.'"
The word "refuge" is like a bunker, a place for you and your family to hide. Fortress is "masada". In fact, right now in Israel, there's a place called Masada, which is a fortress that King Herod built. It was very hard for the Romans to conquer that fortress, but finally they did it. But it's a masada, it's a huge fortress. So, the Lord is your bunker and your fortress, amen. "My God, in him I will trust". Now, that is a declaration of faith. Psalms 91 operates when you declare it by faith. Can I have a good amen? Psalms 91 begins with–there's no way I can finish Psalms 91 today, alright. It begins with, "He who dwells," and the word there is sit down. The word there is to make your home permanently. "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty".
Do you know the Most High is the name of God "Elyon"? Almighty is another Hebrew name of God, "Shaddai," alright? So, you have Most High God, and then you have El Shaddai, the Almighty God. Do you know that the first mention of the Most High God is Genesis 14? El Elyon, the first time any subject, or even the name of God is mentioned, there is something significant. So, the first time God Most High is mentioned, it is in Genesis 14, the meeting of Abraham with Melchizedek. God Most High was mentioned the first time. Do you know when El Shaddai was mentioned, Almighty God? Three chapters later, 17, when Abraham was 99 years old, God says, "I am Almighty God, I am El Shaddai".
So, notice the order, God Most High, and then El Shaddai, Almighty God. Notice Psalms 91 starts with El Elyon, God Most High, Almighty God, El Shaddai. Are you with me so far? Now, watch this. God told me this. The first mention of God Most High, El Elyon, Genesis 14. The first mention of El Shaddia, Almighty God, Genesis 17. How many chapters in between 14 and 17? Class, 14, 17, in between 15, 16. God says if you can find out what is in these 2 chapters, you'll be in the secret place of the Most High under the shadow of the Almighty. Alright, are we being consistent? Am I preaching context? Yes, so let's look at Genesis 14 first. Genesis 14, "Then Melchizedek, king of Salem," Salem is from shalom, where we get the word "shalom," alright? Salem, wholeness, kind of shalom, kind of wholeness. That's our Lord Jesus.
In fact, the Bible in Hebrews 7 calls him Melchizedek. Alright, he's the priest after the order of Melchizedek. So, I believe that Jesus appeared to Abraham as Melchizedek. "Then Melchizedek, king of Salem," wholeness, "Brought out bread and wine". Hmm, what is that? Communion, right there, long before the law was given. Long before Jesus came and died, God talked about the importance of communion, right? He brought out bread and wine. "He was the priest of God Most High," El Elyon. For the first time, this name was mentioned. "Then Melchizedek blessed Abram and said, 'Blessed be Abram,'" you can put your name there. Blessed be Mary. Blessed be Josephine. Blessed be John. Blessed be whatever your name is, okay? "Of God Most High," that's El Elyon. "Possessor of heaven and earth".
You know what's possessor of heaven and earth, listen, all the gold, all the diamonds, all the sliver, all that God possesses. If God chooses to give it to you, it will come to you. Okay, "Blessed be God Most High". Again, El Elyon. So, he blessed Abram of God Most High, and now, "Blessed be God Most High," himself, El Elyon, "Who has delivered your enemies into your hands, and he gave him a tithe of all". "He gave him a tithe of all". So, notice in one passage where El Elyon, God Most High, appears for the first time, the Lord's Supper, communion, and tithing is mentioned. "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear".
Let's go 3 chapters forward, you have Genesis 17 verse 1. "When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, 'I am Almighty God,'" El Shaddai, "Walk before me and be blameless". This is the first time El Shaddai appears in the Bible. So, the first time El Elyon appears, Genesis 14. The first time El Shaddai appears, Genesis 17. Are these two mentioned in sequence, the same sequence in Psalms 91? "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty". So, let's find the 2 chapters in between. Are you ready? Because what did God tell me? God told me this. You can find what are the 2 chapters, you'll find the secret place of the Most High.
So, Genesis 15, right after the Melchizedek experience, God brought Abram outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars of you are able to number them". And God said to Abram, "'So shall your descendants be.' And he believed in the Lord, and God counted it to him for righteousness". This verse is quoted in Romans, it is quoted in Galatians as the basis for the gospel of grace. That you are saved. God imputes righteousness to you not based on your works, but by believing in the Lord. By faith, we are justified without works. Everyone who is in the secret place must be justified by faith. They must believe the gospel.
Now we come to chapter 16, before El Shaddai, chapter 17. Chapter 16, what is it all about? The first verse tells us, "Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar". Now, I don't have time to go into detail, but just to let you know, if you look at Galatians, Sarai, Abram's wife, is a picture of grace. Hagar, the maid girl, alright, the handmaiden, the maidservant, Hagar from Egypt, she's a picture of the law. Now, Pastor Prince didn't say this, Paul said this in Galatians. So, why is this chapter all about Hagar and Sarai? God is saying after you are justified by faith, you better know the law is not gonna help you produce fruits. Your wife, grace, will, and you better put law under grace, not grace under law. The law must submit to grace. Are you listening, people, hmm?
Finally, law then, and God told Abraham cast her out, because she's trying to overtake the family. She's trying to position her son to take over the entire inheritance. So, now we've found the secret. If you wanna be in the secret place of the Most High, the next chapter says you must be justified by faith, you must be delivered from the law. What does that mean? Don't trust your efforts, rest in Christ, and guess what? The next chapter, chapter 17:1, "When Abram was 99 years old". Now guys, when you are 99, when six becomes nine, everything is topsy-turvy. Your body is no more the body it used to be. You wanna go there, you think you are there, but you're still here. You know what I'm saying? Your body is no more able to do anything.
Now, God waited until Abram was 99. There is nothing without significance in the Bible, nothing. Everything has a significance. So, why did God wait until 99 years old? Until Abram had no more power, no more ability to have a baby, and God stepped in and says, "I am Almighty God". And did Abram have a baby? No, he had babies. Not only produced Isaac, he produced from Keturah, remember, that's another girl. Alright, he produced after Sarai died, he took Keturah, and by then he's more than 99 years old. Guys, are you listening? Almighty God, amen, renewed his youth like the eagles. What I'm trying to say is that when you cannot, God can. And it's not like God can, wonderful, God leaves you the same way. No, something happened to Abram. He was able to father children until he was 100 plus. That's the secret place of the Most High, amen? A place where you are justified by faith, you are restful, amen, and trusting Christ to work for you, to work in you, to work through you, as you live the life of rest, amen?
Now church, the name of the Lord, back to Psalms 91, the Most High and Shaddai, "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord," Yahweh, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God. In him I will trust". Now you come to the name of the Lord. Yahweh. Take your Bibles in closing, I just want you to look at your Bibles in Genesis 1, alright. Okay, you don't have to look because of time. Look up here. It's there, at home go on and look. Okay, look up here. Genesis 1, do you have L-O-R-D? L-O-R-D is Yahweh, capital L, then O-R-D in your English Bible is Yahweh. Do you find Yahweh, Lord, mentioned in Genesis 1 in the creation? No, if you look carefully, not now, when you go home, in Genesis 1 it's G-O-D, my God, capital G-O-D, Elohim. Elohim is Creator, the Creator. Singular is Eloah, plural is Elohim.
Elohim said, "Light, be," and light was. Elohim said, "Let the earth bring forth grass and earth, yielding seed," and it was. Elohim saw it was good. Elohim is plural. I-M is always Elohim plural of Eloah. That tells us three divine persons, one God. It is not three gods, that is blaspheme, alright. It is one God, three persons. Elohim said, "Let us, us, make man in our, our image". Elohim made man and breathed into man. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, one God, Elohim, Creator. But in chapter 2 of Genesis, the moment man came on the scene, he's not just Elohim, capital G-O-D, he's now Lord God in chapter 2. Lord is Yahweh, Elohim. Lord God, Yahweh, Elohim, why? Because Lord has got to do with covenant with man. Now that man is on the scene, he's now Lord God. Do you see that? Do you see that?
And that's why when David faced Goliath, he was an expert on divine names. It's not presumptuously saying, you know, saying names. He told Goliath this. "The battle is not mine, the battle is Yahweh's," the Lord's. Today, the Lord, Yahweh, the covenant God with me, will deliver you into my hands, that all the earth may know there is a Elohim, God in the earth, precise. Are you with me? The psalmist says, "I will say of the Lord," that's covenant relation. "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God. In him I trust". Lord Jesus, you are my refuge. Every morning I want you to feel naked, as if you are unclothed, before you step out of your house. You cannot but say, "Lord Jesus, today you are my refuge and my family's refuge. You are our fortress". I'm telling you, don't be so proud and arrogant as to step out, you know, and say that everything will be a normal day. Have a need, a feeling like I need the Lord today, and the Lord will not force his protection on you, he waits to be invited.
Only God can put you at the right place at the right time. With all your PhD and credentials to your name, you cannot do that. Admit before you leave the house, "Lord, you are my refuge and my fortress". You can say all you want, "Drive carefully," sometimes it's not me driving, it's the other person. It's not me drunk, it's the other person, you know. We live in a crazy world, there's a crazy Satan out there, out to destroy, amen. Especially God's people, so make sure you come under his wings, and all the people said amen. Give him praise, church, hallelujah. We have finished the first part of Psalms 91. Keep on coming. Bring a friend or two, amen, in the weeks to come. We believe we're gonna finish the Psalms, alright, as God leads us.