For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.
Psalm 91:11-12
This is a classic example of how the Devil twists Scripture. Sadly, many of us humans follow Satans footsteps in this.
In poetic fashion the Psalmist describes how those who trust God will be safe. God is the protector & helper, the giver of salvation and eternal life. This is an encouraging hope filled passage that found its way into the ancient Hebrew Scriptures. Hundreds of years later Satan refashions this verse, and throws it in Jesus’s face. The devil attempts to force Jesus to take this passage literally as a means to control God.
This chapter was never intended to be taken literally. It’s poetry intended to encourage and build future hope, it’s not to be understood as a modernistic ironclad insurance policy that guarantee’s against cancer, calamity, and all manner of distress.
It’s the same kind of poetry you would hear from a modern NBA star “I’m unstoppable, I can fly, nobody can touch me”. These comments are not literally true, everybody understands this. It’s just this players way of saying that he thinks he’s very very good. In the same way David in this passage is saying that God is very very good.
David’s life was full of trouble and calamity but his faith in Gods ultimate goodness allowed him to rise above the struggle and write psalms of inspiration and praise like this one.
