Author: timritanickel@gmail.com

Psalm 92:13-14 Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall bring forth fruit in old age: they shall be fat and flourishing.

Through faith in the Gospel, the Holy Spirit plants us in the house of the Lord, that is, the Spirit enters our bodies and dwells there with His Presence. The body houses the Spirit of God which causes us to flourish and bring forth fruit. Flourishing is the believer’s response to the indwelling Spirit.

The fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, etc,) is worked in by the Spirit and then worked out in our lives. The pleasant outcome is a fruitful flourishing of God’s beautiful life in us and through us. This comes about through faith in the gospel which plants us firmly in Him. We abide in Christ and so bear much fruit. Christ is the vine and we are the branches. We plant ourselves in Him by hearing the Word weekly and daily.

Psalm 92:4-5 For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands. O Lord, how great are thy works! And thy thoughts are very deep.

Believers in Jesus are always glad and full of joy in response to seeing and believing the great work He has done for us. We may look at and rejoice at all the miracles and victories the Lord has worked for His people through the Bible. The Spirit makes us especially glad when hear the Gospel and believe the great victory of salvation worked at the Cross and the empty Tomb. And the Lord continues to “work everything out for good to them that love Him.” God is always and ever good and faithful because of the work of Christ for our life. Therefore, gladness is an ever present hallmark of the Christian “through His work.”

And we will triumph in the works of God. We sing, pray and praise the Lord for His great and enduring work of salvation. We actually live “from victory unto victory.” The Enemy relentlessly tries to tempt us into despair and unbelief. But, thanks be to God, he fails and we win, for the battle belongs to the Lord. And we are glad. Always. No matter what. God’s works and thoughts may not be understood, but they are very great.

Psalm 92:1-2 It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most high: to shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning and thy faithfulness every night.

Giving thanks and praise to the Lord is a good thing to do for all of us all the time, day and night. It is good for God, of course, but in particular it is a good thing for us: we feel better and good thoughts and good things come our way. We respond to God’s constant lovingkindness (chesed, faithful love and mercy), and to His faithfulness (never-failing kindness and sure promises) by daily and nightly telling forth how good God is. He doesn’t need to know that, but we need to confess it.

Since God is good all the time and He never fails, our whole life, day and night, is spent giving thanks and praise to a good and great God. We can always thank the Father for giving us His Son for our life and salvation. We weekly praise God in public and daily praise Him in private.

Psalm 91:14-15 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore I will deliver him: I will set him on high because he hath 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 honour him.

The believer in Christ responds to trouble by setting his love upon the Lord. God promises to deliver and set on high the man who knows His name, that is, enjoys an intimate relationship with Jesus The Holy Spirit brings us into a family relationship with God by making us sons of God through our Baptism and through our faith in the Gospel. Because of what Christ has done we love Him and know Him.

Therefore, because we are His children, we may call upon His name (His person, His presence, and His power). When we call, He answers. He knows our need, cares about it, and does something. This is a promise we can take to the bank: He will be with us, deliver us, and honor us. Because Jesus died and rose for us, the Spirit brings us to faith through the gospel, and we believe Jesus, we may talk to Him. We pray because He commands us to and because He promises to hear us. “Deliver us from evil.”

Psalm 91:13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

Upon the promise that the Lord will charge His angels to take care of us, He then says that you will tread upon and trample under the lion, the snake and the dragon. Each of these is a Biblical symbol of our Enemy, Satan. Our response to evil is to exercise our God-given faith in the victory and overcoming power in the saving Gospel of Christ.

Jesus has defeated our Spiritual Enemies decisively and once for all at the Cross and the Tomb. The Holy Spirit grants us the victory through faith in Christ and His Gospel message. But we do the treading and trampling. Romans 16:20: “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” God does the crushing, but it is under our feet. We hold up the shield of faith and wield the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. God involves us in the day-to-day combat against the forces of evil. The victory belongs to the Overcomer, who gives His overcoming power to us.

Psalm 91:4-5 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid of the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day.

We respond to worldly sins and evils with trust for safety and protection under the shadow of His wings. And we will not be afraid of the terrors by night nor the arrows by day. Every night and every day presents enemy attacks, but we fear not for we fear God. We run into the safe place where threats cannot harm us, the safe place being in God’s presence under His covering.

We come into that place daily and nightly with repentance and faith, reestablishing our place in His everlasting arms. We take up the armor of God, wearing the belt of truth and holding up the shield of faith. Then we stand against the Enemy’s darts and arrows.

Because of Christ, God is always with us as our shield, covering us with His wings. That’s a promise. We just need reminding of that glorious truth daily and weekly. Faith and trust is stronger than our spiritual enemies of fear, doubt and worry.

Psalm 92:2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

When dangerous attacks come from the enemy, I will trust in the Lord and confess Him as my refuge, my place to hide, my place of safety. Fear, doubt, worry, and guilt are always around us ready to frighten us. But Jesus has given us a safe place to run into and be protected and find peace and safety.

Therefore, I can and I will say, “The Lord is my refuge.” I will trust in my God, to whom Jesus has safely brought me. I live my life by faith in the safety and comfort of the strong and everlasting arms of Jesus.

Psalm 91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

This Psalm wonderfully reassures anyone facing the sickness or death of a loved one, time in prison, or some other great loss. It brings great comfort, encouragement and peace. We read it in times of loss. We respond to God’s Word of comfort by dwelling in the secret place of God. The secret place is secret because it is unseen by human eyes. It is the place in the believer’s heart where the Spirit lives. This is where we dwell, stay, remain, and live our lives.

This secret place is a safe place, for there we abide under His protecting shadow. Because of Jesus God lives within the heart. He guards us against all evil and defends us from all dangers. We enjoy life peaceably and dwell safely in the Savior’s everlasting arms. The Gospel reminds us of this comforting truth every time we hear it and read it. We believe it and dwell securely.

Psalm 90:14-15 O satisfy us early with thy mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.

We can and we may respond to affliction and evil with rejoicing and gladness every day of our lives, no matter how bad it gets. God’s goodness, mercy, and love is stronger than sin, evil and death. Because we believe that promise we are able to “rejoice in the Lord always,” in every circumstance in which we experience affliction or see evil. Just as Sin and Death is afflicting us both within and without, so also the love and power of God’s goodness and mercy is in us, in the heart and on the lips, and it surrounds us all the time.

Jesus came to take away sin and its afflictions and to replace it with His life and the joy of the Lord. “The joy of the Lord is our strength.” Jesus overcomes. Rejoice!

Psalm 90:10-12 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knoweth the power of thine anger? Even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. So teach us to number our days, tht we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

”Life is short.” And the longer we live the shorter it gets. The young are soon old, and the old soon die. Maybe we live 70 or 80 years, which is really short compared to God’s plan for our eternal life. A short life of sorrow teaches us many things if we pay attention. We realize the shortness of this life (we number our days) and we pin our hopes on His promise of eternal life, graced to us by Jesus Christ.

Reflecting on the pains of this temporal life reminds us of our sin and our need for a Savior. Then we remember that we have a Savior who has given us eternal life. It is that life we enjoy now and will forever. We “set our minds on the things that are above, not on things that are on earth,” and “our life is hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:2-3. Matthew 6:20: “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.”

We “apply our hearts unto wisdom” by taking our eyes off ourselves and looking to Jesus. We respond to the problems of life by focusing on Jesus, His forgiveness, eternal salvation, and new life. In a sense, we can thank God for our pains and problems for they remind us of the joys of God’s life in us. We remember His Love is stronger than death. His life is stronger than our life.