Psalms 91:6-16

6 For the pestilence that walketh in darkness, Nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, And ten thousand at thy right hand; [But] it shall not come nigh thee.

8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold, And see the reward of the wicked.

9 For thou, O Jehovah, art my refuge! Thou hast made the Most High thy habitation;

10 There shall no evil befall thee, Neither shall any plague come nigh thy tent.

11 For he will give his angels charge over thee, To keep thee in all thy ways.

12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: The young lion and the serpent shalt thou trample under foot.

14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

15 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 will I satisfy him, And show him my salvation.

Psalms 91:6-16 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 91

Jarchi and others think this psalm was written by Moses {m}, as was the preceding; but the Targum ascribes it to David; as do the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions; and very probably, as is generally thought, was penned by him on occasion of the pestilence which came upon the people, through his numbering of them, 2Sa 24:1. The person all along spoken of, and to, according to the Targum, is Solomon his son; and, according to the title in the Syriac version, King Hezekiah, so Theodoret, who is called the son of David; neither of which are probable. Some think the Messiah is meant; and that the psalm contains promises of protection and safety to him, as man, from diseases, beasts of prey, evil spirits, and wicked men, under the care of angels; and this not because that Satan has applied one of these promises to him, Mt 4:6, but because they seem better to agree with him than with any other: and one part of the title of the psalm, in the Syriac version, runs thus,

``and spiritually it is called the victory of the Messiah, and of everyone that is perfected by him.''

It seems best to understand it of every godly man, who is always safe under the divine protection. The Talmudisis {n} call it Myegp ryv, "a song of the occursions", or "meetings with evil spirits."