Psalms 91
Psalm 91 Prayer Force
by Janis M. Betz, RN, BSN
The World is changing, and many negative events are happening and are going to happen. The rate of cancer and infectious disease is on the rise, and many people are searching for a way to deal with these events. The most effective scripture that I have found to work with a wide variety of negative events is saying Psalm 91 out loud and claiming its promises. I am being inspired to start a “Psalm 91 Prayer Force.” My goal is to get thousands of people to pray Psalm 91 at 6 PM everyday as one force against what is happening in our health; our lives; our families; our churches; this nation; in Congress; in this world, etc… If 6 PM does not work well for you, pick another time. I also want to encourage people to memorize this passage as much as possible to be able to wield the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God (Eph 6:17) to change history.
Psalm 91: 1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of theLORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” 3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fouler, and from the perilous pestilence. 4 He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. 5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, 6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. 7 A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you. 8 Only with your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked. 9 Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, 10 No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; 11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. 12 In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. 13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. 14 Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. 15He 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 I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.” New King James Version (NKJV)
In the book, Psalm 91 Real-Life Stories of God’s Shield of Protection by Peggy Joyce Ruth and Angelia Ruth Schum, it states: “Psalm 91 is the preventive measure that God has given to His children against every evil known to mankind. No place else in the Word are all the protection promises (including help from angels, as well as promises insuring our authority) accumulated in one covenant to offer such a total package for living in this world. It is both an offensive and defensive measure for warding off every evil before it has had time to strike. This is not only a cure but also a plan for complete prevention (pg. 57)!”
Some of the following information is from the book, Psalm 91 by Peggy Joyce Ruth and Angelia Ruth Schum, along with discernment that I sought in prayer. Peggy and Angelia write real life stories of God’s shield of protection and what this Psalm means for you and those you love. Throughout the Psalm 91 scripture there are conditions that need to be met in order to receiving the promises. You must first do your part then God will fulfill His part. For example, in verse 1 it says that if you dwell in the secret place of the Most High then you will abide under God’s shadow. In verse 14 it says because you set your love upon God, therefore He will deliver you; He will set you on high, because you known His name.
(1) He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. The first verse talks about dwelling in the secret place of the Most High much like entering a safe place. For me, this means to be in prayer and to read and following the teaching of the Bible everyday. Peggy and Angelia states, “The secret place is, in reality the intimacy and familiarity of the presence of God Himself (pg. 8).” It is then that we abide under God’s shadow so that the demonic, occult realms can’t see us.
(2) I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” The second verse encourages you to speak out loud your acknowledgement of who God is to you and your trust in Him. The more you say this, the more confidence of God’s protection you will have during a crisis or times of trouble. Refuge means: to have shelter or protection from danger or distress or a place that provides shelter or protections (The Merrim-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary). In Psalm 18:2 it states, “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”(NKJV) Peggy and Angelia state, “God Himself becomes the defensive site for us against all invading enemies. He is personally our protection (pg. 12).” There are four invading spiritual enemies, which are listed in Ephesians 6:12, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against (1) principalities, against (2) powers, against the (3) rulers of the darkness of this age, against (4) spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (NKJV)
(3) Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fouler, and from the perilous pestilence. A fouler is a trapper who sets snares/traps to capture an animal or bird. Snares are specifically set on purpouse with the intent to destroy. This is what your Ephesians 6:12 spiritual enemy does to us. In 2 Timothy 2:26 it states, “and that they (a servant of the Lord) may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”(NKJV) Peggy and Angelia state, “The traps that are set for us are not there by accident. It is as if the trap has your name on it. They are custom made and baited specifically for each one of us (pg. 17).” They continue to say, “The enemy knows exactly what will most likely hook us, and he knows exactly which thought to put into our minds to lure us into the trap (pg. 18).” Snares come in many forms, such as unforgiveness (2 Corinthians 2:10-11); lack of self control (1 Corinthians 7:5); anger (Ephesians 4:26-27); sexual immorality, testing Christ, complaining (1Corinthians 10:8-10). In Psalm 31:4 it states,“Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, for You are my strength.”(NKJV)
Pestilence is defined in The Merrim-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary as a contagious or infectious epidemic disease that is virulent and devastating; something that is destructive. Perilous is defined as full of or involving peril – exposure to the risk of being injured, destroyed, or lost. Your spiritual enemies will often use pestilence to bring detruction to your body. This is where you (1) take authority over your sickness and/or disease; (2) command it to leave your body in the name of Jesus Christ; (3) claim your healing and the promise that God will deliver you from this pestilence.
(4) He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. Have you ever watched a hen with her chicks when a hawk was flying overhead? The hen will call out, and her chicks come running up under her out-stretched wings. This is what God does when there is trouble, and you are expected to run to get up under His out-stretched wing. If you are up under His wing, then your spiritual enemies can’t get to you. They will lay snares to lure you out, and trap and destroy you. Jesus says in John 10:10, “The thief (i.e. fouler) does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”(NKJV) Your spiritual enemies are lurking around, looking to destroy you, so stay under God’s wing and pray for Jesus’ abundant life. You stay under God’s wing by having a relationship with Him through prayer, reading your Bible, and having your thoughts continully focused on Him. It says in Isaiah 26:3, “You (God) will keep him (you) in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You (God), because he (you) trusts in You (God).”(NKJV)
The second layer of protection that God gives you is His truth, which is the living and written word of God. This will be your shield and buckler. A buckler is another word for a shield. The King James Version use the word bulwark, which means a solid wall-like structure raised for defense, (The Merrim-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary). Pray for and visualize God’s wing over you; His bulwark or wall all around you; and the rock of the Lord under you. Remove snares in your life and thinking, and put on the armor of God, Ephesians 6:13-18.
(5-6) You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. Peggy and Angelia note that “verses 5-6 of Psalm 91 cover an entire twenty-four-hour period, emphasizing day-and-night protection. But what is more important is that these two verses encompass every evil known to man (pg. 35).” They continue to state that “…fear is the opposite of faith, and fear will keep us from operating in the faith (pg. 36).” Faith is believing that God will fullfill all of his promises in Psalm 91 so that you will have no need to fear/worry about anything. In 1 John 4:18 it states, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” (NKJV) Jesus Christ and His death on the cross is the perfect love, and you need to bring in and pray/speak the blood, the cross, the glory light, and the love of Christ Jesus into your fear/worry situation. James 1:6-8 states:“But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. (7) For let notthat man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; (8) he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”(NKJV)
Terror by night is committed by evil/wicked humans against the righteous/good humans to bring destruction. In Psalms 37:14-15 it states, “The wicked have drawn the sword and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, to slay those who are of upright conduct. (15), their sword shall enter their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.”(NKJV) Arrow that flies by day is anything that pierces or wounds spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally and/or financially… The spoken word could be arrows. James 3:8-10 states, “But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. (9) With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. (10) Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.” (NKJV) Pestilence that walks in darkness is disease and cancer that bring destruction to your health. The spiritual enemies will often afflict you with disease and cancer, and you can take authority over your disease and/or cancer and command it to leave. Destruction that lays waste at noonday are events that humans have no control over, such as floods, fires, earthquakes, tornadoes, volcanoes, etc… We can pray concerning these events like Jesus did concerning the storm in Mark 4:39 when He rebuked the storm and it stopped.
Peggy and Angelia point out a very important point in the following; “There is a difference between the destruction of the enemy and persecution for the gospel’s sake. Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:12: “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” There are times when we will be mistreated because of our stand for the cause of Christ (pg. 58).” In John 15:19-20 Jesus states, “If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. (20) “Remember the word that I said to you, a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.” (NKJV) Jesus knew that Christians were going to be persecuted and/or be killed when He said in Mark 16:18, “they(who believes) will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”(NKJV) I love these promises! There are a lot of chemical poisons in the food and drinking supply that causes cancer and illnesses, and I encourage you to claim these promises and believe sternly that they will be fulfilled.
(7-8) A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you. (8) Only with your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked. As verses 5 & 6 are happening, you need to trust God that it will not come near you or if it does, trust God that He will see you through the events of verse 5 & 6. To trust means; “to place confidence: Depend. To commit or place in one’s care or keeping, (The Merrim-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary).”
The reward will not be for the good of the wicked. All through scripture it is written what will be happening to the wicked, such as Psalm 37. I will pray, directing Revelations 11:18 to the wicked and to the spiritul enemies. Peggy and Angelia state, “The justice of God is that evil will not triumph; that Hitlers do not win, that communistic governments fall, that darkness does not extinguish light (pg. 57).” They further state, “The word only denotes a protection of only seeing and not experiencing the evil, and it denotes detachment in that the evil we see does not get inside of us (pg. 57).”
Concerning verses 7&8, I like to visualize that I am on a spiritual “ark”, so when God rains down his wrath and destruction on the wicked, I will be protected on the spiritual “ark” looking at the wicked being destroyed. It says in 2 Timothy 4:18, “And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!” (NKJV)
(9-10) Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, 10 No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling. Here is a condition to a promise. You need to be a dwelling place for the LORD to live. In other words, you need to verbally ask the LORD to come into your being, your life, and all you do, to be your refuge and your most high God, who you trust and go to for help. In Revelation 3:20 Jesus states, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him (i.e. dwell) and dine with him, and he with Me (i.e. have a relationship).”(NKJV) In Romans 10:9-10 it states “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (10) For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (NKJV) When the LORD is Lord of your life, and He lives inside of you, then He promises that no evil will befall you nor any plague will come near your dwelling (body). Plague means “a disastrous evil or affliction: CALAMITY; an epidemic disease causing a high rate of mortality: PESTILENCE, (The Merrim-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary).” You can take authority over evil and plagues and command them to leave.
(11-12) For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. 12 In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. This verse is self-explanatory. Angels are ministering, and it is important to thank God everyday and in every situation (i.e. driving) for sending them to you, to fullfill these verses, especially against the situations of verses 5-6. Pray specifically to God to have the angels keep you from the terror, arrows, pestilence, and destruction. The best book on angels is written by Billy Graham called Angels Angels Angels.
(13) You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. In Luke 10:19 Jesus states, “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”(NKJV) Jesus says that you, as a Christian, have authority over these spritual enemies along with the spiritual enemies of Ephesians 6:12, as well as everything that they are trying to do to you, (i.e. incite sickness). They do not have authority over you, unless there is sin, which will give the demonic permission to afflict you.
It is interesting that four entities are listed; lion, cobra, young lion, and serpent/dragon, which represent different means of attack or problems that you may face. The devil is likened to a lion in 1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (destroy).”(NKJV)
A cobra is sneaky, and it is waiting to strike you when you least suspect an attack. It injects venom in you to poison and destroy you. You may be thinking all is well, and then you get the diagnosis. The cobra poison that incites health problems is in so many aspects of your life. It is in your food, such as genetically modified foods (wheat, corn, soy, barley, and alfalfa), chemicals, toxins, etc… Sugar and simple carbo-hydrates (i.e. white flour, rice, and potatoes) weaken your immune system and fertilize cancer cells. Many prescription drugs and vaccines contain chemicals that are toxic to your body tissues and systems. Bill Gates of Microsoft has openly proposed using vaccines to control population growth.
A young lion grows up to be a big lion. A young lion is a little sin (i.e. lie/fib) that you entertain, and the more you feed this sin (i.e. keep covering up the truth) the bigger it grows. When full grown, it destroys you. The truth will come out and your lies and cover-ups will be exposed, and your carreer or family is destroyed/devoured. It has long been known that holding onto the sin ofunforgiveness, bitterness, anger etc… incites sickness and cancer. Katie Souza says that these sins become soul wounds, and you need to bring the blood and the glory light of Christ Jesus down into these sin-created soul wounds and release them to receive a healing. Pray Mark 4:22 to expose hidden sin, which state “For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.”(NKJV) It says in Psalm 38:3, “There is no soundness in my flesh because of Youranger, nor any health in my bones because of my sin.”(NKJV)
The serpent is refered to as a dragon in the King James Version. A serpent/dragon generates fear. When you allow fear to enter your thinking, it consumes you, and it paralyzes you. You become a captive of fear, and it squeezes the life out of you.
When you encounter these four entities, take authority over them, ask God to bind them up and remove them, put them under your feet, and be free from them in the name of the Father, Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. When you read the Bible, you learn the schemes/devices of the lion, cobra, young lion, and serpent, so you know how to escape or avoid them. In 2Corinthians 2:11 it states,“lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devises.”(NKJV)
(14) Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. Here again is a condition to a promise. You must first love Him, then He will deliver you. Peggy and Angelia state, “Love is the cohesiveness that binds man to God, and God will be faithful to His beloved. Love always requires presence and nearness (pg. 78).” God longs for you to love Him and express your love for Him. As His expression of love back to you, He will deliver you and set you on high because you know His name. In other words, you have such a love relationship with God, and His Son Jesus, that you know everthing about Him through reading His spoken Word, the Bible. When He sets you on high, He is raising you up above the wiles of the adversary the devil. You are up in the “glory light clouds” and out of range for an attack. God promises to protect you and to deliver or to save you from everything in verses 5-6 and verse 13.
(15-16) 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 I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation. Here again is a condition to a promise. All through the Bible it brings out that when you call out to or come to God, He will answer you, be with you in trouble, deliver you, honor you (show favor), satisfy you with long life, and save you from everything in verses 5, 6 and 13. It says in 1 John 5:14-15, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. (15) And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”(NKJV)
References:
Ruth, P. J.& Schum, A. R., Psalm 91 Real-Life Stories of God’s Shield of Protection; (2010)
The New King James Version. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, (1982)
The Merrim-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh edition
