Psalm 91:9-16
Because you have made Yahweh your dwelling place—the Most High, who is my refuge—
no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.
For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
“Because he holds fast to Me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows My name.
“When he calls to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honour him.
“With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation.”
The psalter speaks of great blessings for those who make their lives the dwelling place of God. That is, if you make your life and your home the place for God to dwell, you can expect His promises. God promises to protect you, even by sending His angels to watch over you.
The psalter uses victorious language—the victory God will give you will be as tremendous as crushing a lion and an adder (a very poisonous snake) with your own foot. God then speaks through the psalter, using explicit salvific language for the person with whom He dwells—God will deliver, protect, answer, be with, and rescue you. Ultimately, God promises to give you complete and eternal satisfaction with His salvation.
If you are saying to yourself, “But I have not made myself God’s dwelling place,” do not fear too much, for it is not too late. For as God spoke to the Israelites through Malachi, so now He also speaks to you, since He does not change, “Return to Me, and I will return to you, says Yahweh of hosts” (Malachi 3:6-7). God promises restoration and salvation for all who return to Him.
Most especially, He promises, “the sun of righteousness” who “shall rise with healing in its wings… And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says Yahweh of hosts” (4:2-3). The same promise spoken to the psalter is again promised to the Israelites through Malachi. The sun of righteousness who rose to give healing was none other than Jesus Christ.
For when Jesus began His ministry in Galilee, He began “healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So, His fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought Him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and He healed them” (Matthew 4:23-24). Jesus came and brought healing to these people, and He provides for all of us today the victory of salvation.
As Paul says, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37). In Baptism, we are fully healed—fully cleansed—from sin, and thus trample upon the head of the serpent the Devil just as Jesus did on the cross; and by faith we are promised the gift of eternal satisfaction in God’s salvation.
The Lutheran Column 