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Psalms 91

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1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of Jehovah, He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in whom I trust.

3 For he will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, And from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover thee with his pinions, And under his wings shalt thou take refuge: His truth is a shield and a buckler.

5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, Nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

6 For the pestilence that walketh in darkness, Nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, And ten thousand at thy right hand; [But] it shall not come nigh thee.

8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold, And see the reward of the wicked.

9 For thou, O Jehovah, art my refuge! Thou hast made the Most High thy habitation;

10 There shall no evil befall thee, Neither shall any plague come nigh thy tent.

11 For he will give his angels charge over thee, To keep thee in all thy ways.

12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: The young lion and the serpent shalt thou trample under foot.

14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble: I will deliver him, and honor him.

16 With long life will I satisfy him, And show him my salvation.

   

Commentaire

 

Exploring the Meaning of Psalms 91

Par Julian Duckworth

Psalm 91 gives us strength. It shows how the Lord is with us, lifting us up, restoring us, and blessing us when we have made Him our dwelling place, and given Him our whole trust. Every verse outlines how strongly and surely the Lord defends and upholds us, no matter what we encounter or what we are required to go through.

There are vivid images: the Lord covers us with the feathers of His wings. His truth is our shield and buckler so that we need fear nothing. The Lord gives His angels charge over us, to keep us in all our ways, to bear us up lest we dash our foot against a stone.

This psalm also shows us the inner mind and state of Jesus in His life on earth. It points out particularly the times of the Lord's absolute confidence that He was God, and that His divine nature would protect Him in temptations. He could trust that all outcomes would be victorious, even when in deep anguish and conflict. (See Arcana Caelestia 2288.)

On a smaller scale, it's the same for us. We have our changing states — our influences from heaven and from hell which lift us or oppress us. This psalm is a good one to read when we are down, but it also expresses our confidence in the Lord's power to bring us out of the "valley of despond". It reminds us, during a spiritual crisis, that the Lord has pulled us through before, and the He will do so again. (See Arcana Caelestia 5280.)

In Verse 4 the imagery is of feathers and wings. This is reminiscent of a bird hatching and sitting on its brood. Spiritually, it shows us the protective nature of all spiritual truth. Feathers are made of firmly-hooked filaments, and a feathered wing keeps dry when water (here representing falsity) lands on it. This image also evokes the Lord's love covering us and His providence over everything. (See Arcana Caelestia 8764[6])

The great theme in this psalm is the "equation" that no evil will have power over us because we have made the Lord our dwelling place. To know this, to feel this, to assert this, and to think about this is always restorative. It is the ultimate answer to all doubt and trial, to come into the presence of God in ourselves. This principle is attested in almost every phrase of this psalm. (See Apocalypse Revealed 883)

In Verse 1 the imagery is of the angels who have charge over us. Angels truly are with us, and they work with us for our spiritual wellbeing. They also represent the truths from the Word which are in our mind and heart, 'to keep you in all your ways'. The lion and the cobra stand for fierce and sudden attacks from evil spirits which aim to bring us down. The Word's truths will render them harmless. (See Heaven and Hell 391)

Note that the end of the psalm mentions the assurance of 'a long life'. This is not in terms of age or years but in dwelling in the Lord, and in the permanence, the eternity, of this.

Des oeuvres de Swedenborg

 

Apocalypse Explained #897

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897. Verse 13. And I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, signifies consolation by the Lord after temptations. This is evident from the signification of "a voice saying" as being what follows, which are consolations after temptations (See below); also from the signification of "saying from heaven," as being from the Lord; for what is declared from heaven is Divine truth; and while this is spoken by angels from heaven, yet it is spoken by the Lord through angels. For angels, like men, cannot think any truth from themselves nor do good from themselves, but only from the Lord; and this is why "angels" signify in the Word Divine truths from the Lord, and "heaven" signifies the Lord. Those are greatly mistaken who believe that angels were created immediately, and in such a state of integrity that they could do good from themselves; for all angels throughout the entire heaven have been men, and therefore they have what is their own [proprium], the same as men have, and this is wholly evil. But while they lived in the world as men they were regenerated by the Lord, and thus could be withheld from evils and their falsities and be held in goods; and when they are withheld from evils and held in goods by the Lord it seems as if they are in goods from themselves, and yet they know and perceive that this they have from the Lord and not from themselves. From all this it can be seen why the whole angelic heaven, as to intelligence and wisdom and as to the affections of good and truth, is the Lord. And this is why "a voice saying from heaven" signifies such things as are from the Lord, and here consolations after temptations, and this because the preceding verse treats of the patience of those "who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus," and "patience" here signifies temptations.

[2] Something shall now be said about consolations after temptations. All who are being regenerated by the Lord undergo temptations, and after temptations experience joys. But the source of the temptations and of the joys that follow, which are here meant by consolations, is not yet known in the world, because there are few who experience spiritual temptations, for the reason that there are few who are in the knowledges of good and truth, and fewer yet who are in the marriage of good and truth, that is, in truths as to doctrine and at the same time in goods as to life; and no others are let into spiritual temptations; for if others were let into temptations they would yield, and if they yielded their latter state would be worse than their former state. The true reason why only those who are in the marriage of good and truth can be let into spiritual temptations is that the spiritual mind, which is, properly, the internal man, can be opened only with these; for when that mind is opened temptations exist, and for the reason that heaven, that is the Lord through heaven, flows in through man's spiritual mind into his natural mind; there is no other way of heaven, that is of the Lord through heaven, into man; and when heaven flows in it removes the hindrances, which are evils and falsities therefrom, which have their seat in the natural mind, that is, in the natural man; and these can be removed only by a living acknowledgment of them by man, and grief of soul on account of them. This is why man is distressed in temptations by the evils and falsities that rise up into the thought; and so far as he then acknowledges his sins, regards himself as guilty, and prays for deliverance, so far the temptations are useful to him. From this it is clear that man has spiritual temptation, when his internal, which is called the spiritual mind, is opened, thus when man is being regenerated. When, therefore, man's evils and falsities are removed temptations are brought to an end; and when they are ended joy flows in through heaven from the Lord and fills his natural mind. This joy is what is here meant by consolations. These consolations all those receive who undergo spiritual temptations. I speak from experience. After temptations man receives joys because after them man is admitted into heaven; for through temptations man is conjoined to heaven and is admitted into it, and consequently has joy like that of the angels there.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.