A complimentary study by Jeanie Rose of Daybreak Resources www.pray-the-scriptures.com 2007
Release The Power of Psalm 91 a complementary study from pray-the scriptures.com Lesson 1 Can You Believe It? For centuries Psalm 91 has captivated the hearts of believers. It still does. You were drawn to this site because of Psalm 91. So, what is the draw? This attraction is partly because the Psalm s text paints vivid pictures of the: Soft comfort of feathers and wings enfolding you Steel-like strength of God s truth being a shield between you and destruction Sounds of arrows whizzing by Soft thud of people falling around you while you continue to stand Threat of deadly disease that will not enter your dwelling Angels holding you up during treacherous time, keeping you from even stubbing your toe. Sights, sounds and scents of battle speak to you right where you are. The verses of Psalm 91 describe powerful, practical help we all need from time to time. Can you believe God is promising all of this? Dig into This Spiritual Acres of Diamonds You ve stayed with me this long, so welcome to Discover the Power of Psalm 91. In these five lessons you have the opportunity to study, ponder, and pray with one of the most potent passages of Scripture. I use Acres of Diamonds in reference to an old story of an African farmer who sold his land to go to the diamond fields. He was totally unsuccessful in his pursuit. Meanwhile those who purchased his land discovered that the parcel was
covered with diamonds. The original owner just didn t know what diamonds looked like in their rough state. We ve had Psalm 91 under our noses for how long? Few of us have recognized the extent of the promises held in this Psalm. Better than diamonds or gold! And, you can gather it right where you are. Side Bar Some helpful pointers on the front end: Make your plan. Designate time each day to spend on this spiritual adventure. The most successful method is to work in the same place at the same time each day. Research has proven this out. Make the time and space your Secret Place. Take as many days on each lesson as you need. Don t rush. Just savor! Keep a journal or some form of note-taking. God will pour out new wisdom and insights (1Cor 2:6-16). Collect and save! You ll go back to these notes from time to time and be amazed at the clarity and power of these insights. In some instances I ve included Scripture references without writing out the Scriptures for you. Look up the Scriptures as you have time. You will probably want to record some of them in your notes. Remember, they are spirit and they are life (John 6:63). If you have a prayer partner, consider inviting them to join you in this. Iron sharpens iron (Prov 27:17). As you are encouraged by one another, your faith will be strengthened (2Tim 1:6-7). Now on with the study! Side Bar If you could stop at the box office to pick up your ticket for this grand event of protection described in Psalm 91, you d be there plenty early to insure your ticket. This is like an e-ticket
at Disneyland, times a million. God, the Almighty, the Most High, is awesome! The Price of Admission You ask What kind of ticket do I need to access the power of Psalm 91? The Psalmist makes that clear. Faith and trust in God is the price of admission. KEY WORDS: dwell abide habitation We re going to zoom in these three in Lesson 1. A Word Study For a closer look at these words we ll go to the Hebrew origins. (If you re not familiar with using the Strong s Concordance, read the entry Strong s Word Meanings.) Studying out the meanings in the original language can bring a flood of revelation as to the meaning of a verse or passage. Consider dwell, abide and habitation. These words occur in Verses 1 and 9. Psalm 91:1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:9 Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High your habitation. Dwell, abide, and habitation reveal what our part is in order to live in this blessed state. Now what can you learn from the Strong s? Dwell: yahsab, #03427 in the Strong s Means To sit down
Remain Stay To marry Abide: nyl liyn, #03885 in the Strong s Means To lodge Remain Pass the night Habitation: maown, # 4583 Comes from ownah, #5772 meaning: Dwell together Cohabitation Duty of marriage DWELL AND ABIDE are very similar in their connotations. If you are to dwell or abide, you must stop and stay a while, perhaps a long while. This staying is not casual or capricious. It is intentional and purposed. So it looks like this: You journey to your destination. Check it out a bit. You like what you experience settle in for more. You need tie to test the integrity of the situation. It takes time and risk to build trust for a deeper commitment. You take the time and begin to root in. Trust reaches a critical mass and you reach the point of habitation, of deep commitment. Making the Lord your habitation changes your life. All the details of your life filter through this relationship.
This change is similar to a marriage. Enter into a marriage contract and all the details of your life then filter through that relationship. HABITATION is a very intimate mingling of lives. God make this available to you, available to all of us. The Bottom Line With Psalm 91 Looking at these word meanings you can see that you re not looking at a casual stop by The Secret Place when you feel distressed. To remain, to stay, to marry indicate a serious tone of trusting relationship and commitment. This sort of relationship must continue to grow, or it will begin to atrophy. You can check the truth of this in many marriages. In order to remain, to stay, to marry, you must have a faith life that includes intimately knowing and trusting God. If you don t trust God, you ll look for protection in security systems, guns, and brute force. I m sure there is a place for these things, but not as a replacement for trusting God to care for you. The instruction is clear. God must be your dwelling place, your default place of retreat. It doesn t matter where your physical address is, your spiritual address must The Secret Place, where relationship and commitment grow. Getting Into God Charles Spurgeon calls this getting into God. In The Treasury of David, Spurgeon proclaims, Get into God and you dwell in all good, and ill is banished away. Isn t that what we are all looking for?
Evil cannot exist in the presence of a Holy and Perfect God. Dwell in Him and it s like having a spiritual tephlon coating. The bad stuff just won t stick. So how do you do it? To get into God, as Spurgeon puts it, or to dwell, abide or inhabit, you must move past mental assent to action. Mental assent means you believe it, but your belief brings no change in your behavior. To get into God is an action of faith putting action to belief. If you really believe God to take care of you, then you take action by letting go of fear and fretting. You make the decision to let go. Then God releases grace to empower you in your decision. He s even more intent on your success with this than you are. Isn t that good news? Whether your problem is fear or any number of messy challenges, the process is the same: Make the decision to let go (fear, anger, bitterness, etc.). This means: make a decision to ask for grace Let go and take hold of grace which is the gift of God s strength and power. When we come to the point of realizing our own weakness or inability, then we are in a great place to receive grace: God s ability. (Hebrews 11:34 out of weakness were made strong; 2Corinthians 12:9 And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness) Easier said than done, you say? Of course! We re not looking at a cheap ticket here. It s free. It s not cheap! A Challenge to Action If you are really serious about releasing the power of Psalm 91 into your own life, you must pay the price and assess where
you are on the continuum between mental assent and faith action. No matter how spiritually developed you are, there is always more in God. Ready? So here goes: Give yourself a 1-10 scale for scoring: 10 being the highest. Ten is full-boar faith actions. One is just arriving at mental assent with no personal experience of a living faith. Where do you score? Be honest with yourself! What will it take to raise your score? Is it just a matter of having your mind renewed according to the Word, according to what God has said and promised you? That s the case for most people. If so, what are you going to do about it? Do you need to ask the Lord to heal your unbelief as the disciples did with Jesus (Mark 9:24)? Do it! You may need help with unbelief in just one area of your life, like finances or health. Make your action plan. God takes you from faith to faith, from glory to glory.(romans 1:17) Plan for spiritual expansion. And take action! Ask you are taking action, ask the Lord to help you look at your on-going decisions. Are they taking you into deeper relationship with God or not? In the next lesson we will do more personal work toward expansion. In the meantime, allow the seeds of truth that God has planted in you root deeply. Guard them in your heart. Ponder them. They are Spirit and Life! (Read Meditation for practical advice on how to ponder and meditate on Scripture. And, while you are on the website, look around. There are a number of articles you find helpful.) As we wrap up Lesson 1, let me leave you with a prayer from No Storm Too Great!, a CD set of Scripture prayer meditations based on Psalm 91.
Prayer You are my tabernacle, Lord. You have tabernacled in me and I have the opportunity to tabernacle in You. In my heart I commit this day to run into You to be safe, to discover my deepest needs and desires met in You, to be persuaded that there is nothing I need in addition to what You provide for me. I tabernacle with You, Mighty God, in the secret of my heart amidst the clang of a currently self-serving world. Today I commit to fix my gaze on You and Your Kingdom Rather than fixing my gaze on the kingdoms of this world. Amen! Side Bar If this prayer speaks to your heart, order the CD set. Praying along with these prayer meditations will take your Psalm 91 study to a whole new level Side Bar Friendly Reminder: Take all the time you need with this lesson. Cherish your time of getting deeper into God and protect your Secret Place from distraction and diversion. You will receive two encouraging e-mails from me this week before the Lesson 2 link arrives. I pray for a blessed and fulfilling week for you!
Jeanie R I pray for a blessed and fulfilling week for you!