Week 4
Day 5

    Listen:

Temptations and Victory

Victory Over Temptation and the Lord’s Glorification

Psalm 91

He who sits in the hiding place of the Most High,

In the shadow of Shaddai¹⁰ shall pass the night.

I will say to Jehovah, My Protection and my Bulwark,

My God: I will trust in Him.

For He will rescue thee from the trap of the fowler,

From the pestilence of calamities.

With His pinions¹¹ will He shelter thee,

And thou shalt have confidence under His wings;

His truth is a buckler and a targe¹².

Thou shalt not have fear from the dread of night,

From the arrow that flies by day,

From the pestilence that walks in thick darkness,

From the destruction devastating at noon.

A thousand shall fall from thy side,

And a myriad from thy right hand;

To thee it shall not approach.

Only with thine eyes shalt thou look

And see the repayment of the wicked.

For Thou, O Jehovah, art my protection!

The Most High, thou hast set as thine¹³ abode;

Evil shall not occur for thee,

Neither shall a plague come near thy tent.

For He will command His angels as to thee,

To keep thee, in all thy ways.

Upon their palms they shall bear thee up,

Lest thou strike thy foot on a stone.

On the lion and the adder thou shalt tread;

Thou shalt trample the young lion and the dragon.

For he delights in Me, and I will deliver him;

I will set him on high, for he has known My name.

He shall call Me,

And I will answer him,

I will be with him in adversity;

I will set him free and honor him.

With length of days will I satisfy him,

And show him My salvation.

His truth is a buckler and a targe (v. 4).

AC 1788. That a “shield” means protection against evils and falsities, which is trusted in, is evident without explication, for from common usage the expression has become familiar that Jehovah is a shield and a buckler. But what is specifically signified by “a shield” may be seen from the Word, in that as regards the Lord it signifies protection, and as regards man, trust in the Lord’s protection....

The reason why a “shield” in relation to the Lord signifies protection against evils and falsities, and in relation to man trust in the Lord, is that it was a protection to the breast; and by the breast good and truth are signified—good because the heart is there, and truth because the lungs are there.

Thou shalt not have fear... (v. 5-6).

AC 9642:5. “The dread of night” is the falsities of evil which are from hell; “the arrow that flies by day,” the falsity which is openly taught; “the death that wastes at noonday” is the evil which is openly lived in, by which truth is destroyed, where it can be in its light from the Word.

¹⁰“Properly Shaddai means the Tempter, and, following temptations, the One who does good” (AC 1992:5).

¹¹flight feathers

¹²A round shield

¹³Although the first half of this verse addresses Jehovah, it is clear from the quotation of this passage in AE 799:18 and AR 582:2 that the second half of the verse has returned to addressing the supplicant addressed in the preceding and following verses.

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