When You’re Sick And Tired

Psalm 91:7-10

7Though a thousand fall at your side,

though ten thousand are dying around you,

these evils will not touch you.

8But you will see it with your eyes;

you will see how the wicked are punished.

9If you make the LORD your refuge,

if you make the Most High your shelter,

10no evil will conquer you;

no plague will come near your dwelling.

When the great British preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon was just starting out at his London church, a terrible epidemic hit the city. In just about every family in his church, somebody came down with the Asiatic cholera, and many died. The young man did his best to minister to his congregation, but there was only so much he could do. He became very weary with the burden of visiting the sick, conducting funerals, and comforting the bereaved.

One day he was walking home from yet another funeral when he saw a sign in the window of a shoemaker’s shop. In the owner’s handwriting, it said, “Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling” (Psalm 91:9-10, KJV).

“The effect upon my heart was immediate,” Spurgeon wrote. “I felt secure, refreshed, girt with immortality. I went on with my visitation of the dying in a calm and peaceful spirit; I felt no fear of evil, and I suffered no harm.” Spurgeon then praised God.

When frightful circumstances surround us, we can remember the promise of Psalm 91. This doesn’t mean we will be immune to all disease or danger, but we do know that the Lord will keep us safe from eternal harm.

What have I to dread, what have I to fear,

Leaning on the everlasting arms?

I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,

Leaning on the everlasting arms.

ELISHA A. HOFFMAN

Bible Networking

Verses 9 and 10 of this psalm are strong, sweeping statements. We find other promises like this in Romans 8:28 and Luke 21:17-19. Nothing can touch God’s people unless God allows it.

Notable Quotable

Verse 10 “is a statement of providence, not a charm against adversity.”

DEREK KIDNER