Safety in the Shadow of the Lord

I was a teenager when I first encountered Psalm 91, and I loved the idea that reading Psalm 91:1 was like calling 9-1-1: “You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty…” There is a sense of safety and security, a feeling that somehow everything will be okay. That’s definitely the feeling I want to feel if I have to call 9-1-1, and let’s face it, there are a lot of emergencies in our world right now, many of which are bigger than a whole fleet of fire trucks can fix.

Verse 1 acts as the thesis statement for Psalm 91, the lens through which everything else should be read. God delivers because God is our shelter. God covers us with pinion because we abide in God. God will rescue us when we call because we live in God’s shadow. There is wisdom in verse 1 that we should carry into worship planning, namely that people need to feel safe and secure to be brave. Notice that the psalmist encounters pestilence, arrows, and destruction as they live in the shadow of the Almighty. We need the security of abiding in God so that we can brave the trials and struggles of this life together.

So, take time in worship to create a sense of safety. Sing a comforting hymn; take time to breathe and calm everyone’s collective nervous systems; give a little extra space for the passing of the peace; engage in guided meditation together. Do whatever will help your community feel safe together. Then, name the safety of living together in the shelter of God and call the community to bring that safety to others, to invite others to abide in God’s shelter, to bravely face the world knowing that our security comes from the God who rescues us.