The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
– Luke 4:9-12For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
– Psalm 91:11-12
In dark times it takes really strong assurances from God to help us feel any peace.
When I had committed my life to Jesus Christ, it was around 1971, and we were in the middle of the “Cold War” with the USSR. I experienced immense peace and joy in Christ, but whenever I thought of the nuclear sword hanging over the world, I would lose that peace. Then one night at a prayer meeting, our pastor talked about Psalm 91. He told us about regiments who had committed to reading Psalm 91 daily, and had returned from heavy warfare with all their men. I took up Psalm 91 as my remedy for fear of Mutually Assured Destruction. Although I couldn’t explain it in detail, I held it in my mind and heart in faith. It helped me sleep.
But I also heard a story of a young bible school student who confronted a bike gang by quoting Psalm 91, with humiliating results. It was obvious he was handling it the wrong way, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
Then I noticed that the devil tempted Jesus with Psalm 91 to do the same kind of thing the bible student had done. He was daring Jesus to prove His identity by doing something stupid and presumptuous, jump off a high place and expect angels to act as parachutes and cushions.
Jesus’ answer, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test,” was the key. This psalm is not for adrenaline junkies who do stupid things. The people who survive extreme sports like base jumping take great efforts to be sure they have covered everything that could go wrong, and even then sometimes fail.
And so when we send our loved ones off to war with the advice they cling to Psalm 91, we are not offering false hope. Same as when we venture out into our own war zones like the road. Don’t test God. Trust God instead. Take every sensible precaution, use wisdom, and then… trust Him.
“He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.” – Psalm 91:4
