It is so exciting to choose a place to live. To select house plans. To find your acreage. To visit a million 3 bedroom/2 bath/enclosed garage/open floor plan homes with a patient realtor.
Where you live is a choice. A beautiful, exciting choice. Your house, your spot, your location, your corner of the world is where you find comfort, shelter, refuge.
Home is where the heart is, right?
Scripture has some advice on where you live as well. Let's listen closely:
Psalm 91:1-5
Those who dwell in the shelter of the Most High
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
This I declare about the LORD:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
he is my God, and I trust him.
For he will deliver you from every trap
and protect you from deadly disease.
He will cover you with his feathers.
He will shelter you with his wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,
nor the arrow that flies in the day.
Our physical houses are precious places of warmth and comfort, but the spot where we dwell spiritually is far more important. Psalm 91 gives us a beautiful picture of the security and safety that comes from a life lived with God.
If we break apart some of the key words from this Psalm and put them into their original Hebrew we see some pretty incredible promises for those who dwell in the shelter of God, the Most High:
The word 'refuge' can also be translated as hope, trust, shelter from rain and storm, shelter from danger. My absolute.
When the psalmist speaks of how God will deliver us, the word 'deliver' actually means to snatch away from evil. I love the thought of God's mighty right hand coming down to grab me out of harm's way.
Another beautiful picture of God's protection is found in verse 3. The wings described here are actually eagles' wings. Eagle wings are special because of their great size. Their wings are too big for their bodies and when they walk eagles may seem a bit clumsy. But when they fly these expansive wings are so powerful they barely have to flap in order to soar for miles upon end. When God covers us with His wings it is a mighty protection. Our entire being is covered. We are completely shut in.
Verse 5 mentions that we will not be afraid of the terror of the night. And this, friends, is my favorite translation in this passage. 'Not afraid of terror' translates to the word 'unconcerned'. And oh, how I love this. Unconcerned not only means unafraid, it means I am so unafraid that I'm being ultra-cool about it. There is no silent anxiety or nagging worry. It means I am Ferris Bueller and I have the day off. It means I am wearing black Raybans while cruising in some sort of convertible. While hanging out with James Dean. This is the kind of security I find in the shadow of the Almighty.
Listen, friends, we are safe from all things that may attack us from the outside, from the inside. There is not an evil, an adversary, or a simple inconvenience from which the Lord cannot protect us.
But here's the thing: just like the physical houses we choose to live in, we have to choose to live in God's presence, too.
Verse 1 says, "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High" receives these blessings. Matthew Henry phrases it this way, "We must, by faith, choose God as our protector."
Like I said, where you dwell is a choice. And that place in which you dwell is where you find your comfort, your refuge.
I could dwell in the things of this world. I could find my comfort in short term remedies and fixes that are bad for me.
But this world can't offer me what God can offer me. It can't give me hope and faithfulness and eagle-wing protection. The world won't pull me out of danger. And this world will never tell me to be unconcerned.
So let's choose to dwell in the shelter of the Most High, to let Him hold our thoughts captive, to seek Him in all things.
Because when I dwell with Him, it is well with me.
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