Psalms 91:9-16

9 For you, LORD, are my refuge! You have made Ha`Elyon your habitation.

10 No evil shall happen to you, Neither shall any plague come near your dwelling.

11 For he will give his angels charge over you, To guard you in all your ways.

12 They will bear you up in their hands, So that you won't dash your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread on the lion and cobra. You will trample the young lion and the serpent underfoot.

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

15 He will call on me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him, and honor him.

16 I will satisfy him with long life, And show him my yeshu`ah."

Psalms 91:9-16 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."