‘Because he loves me,’ says the LORD, ‘I will rescue him….’ “  Psalm 91:14

You, Lord Jesus, are faithful, the epitome of follow-through. You speak a promise and it will come to pass. You bind yourself with a Word and always do it. For instance, in Psalm 91:1 you powerfully declare, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” There is no doubt, no possibility of failure in this rest, if we dwell in, remain in the protection you have provided.

I praise you, Lord God for your righteousness displayed here: you cannot lie, you always follow through, you promise and act, you continually keep your word. I praise you that your character never changes, your Word never proves false, your faithfulness never ends, your presence never leaves us, and your love endures for eternity.

Psalm 91:14-16 expounds on your faithfulness further: “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

You, Lord Jesus, are the Almighty, the all Powerful, all Sustaining and all Providing One. Because of Your unlimited power, you are able to provide whatever is needed in wisdom, direction, protection, help and material things. Your faithfulness guarantees that You will always follow through on your promises to use your Almightiness as the shield and rampart of those who choose to dwell in the shelter of your Word, your salvation, your commands, your guidance. Praise be to you, Lord Jesus, for your great power, your sustaining heart, your rich wisdom, your deep love and your unshakable faithfulness.

Prayer: “You, Lord Jesus, deserve praise and glory both now and forever. I bow down in worship, giving you honor before all, and I rise up to obey you today in all I do. Help me to be a glory-giver by offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving in each event. Amen.”

Thank you, Lord, that I am not well today, giving me the privilege of resting in you rather than in feeling good physically, to live by faith rather than feeling. Praise be to you for your stability, your faithfulness, your unchanging, powerful, deeply rooted perfection.  You are wonderful, you are superb, you are my mighty rock—unshakable, unshifting, unsinkable, unbreakable.  You are always the same in your love, your commitment, your goodness, your patience, your grace, your wisdom, your knowledge, your justice, your power, your firmness.

As I am concerned about the many significant happenings occurring now in the world  (and tend to worry about them), it is wonderful to know that I can turn to you, intercede about these things and know that you will be at work in ways far beyond what I could do or imagine.

I give you praise and glory for your goodness, your greatness, your grace and your glory.  You are wonderful beyond words, trustable beyond truth, powerful beyond perception, marvelous beyond majesty. To you belongs all glory, honor, praise and exaltation, for you are perfect, holy, wise, all-knowing, all-powerful, ever loving and entirely righteous.

In you, mercy triumphs over justice, truth and grace kiss, wrath and forgiveness cooperate, grace and rebuke balance perfectly.  You are absolutely, totally, completely, without exception trustable: you will always do what is right, good, gracious and glorious.  May praise flow to you today from my mind, my mouth, my movement and my motives.  I bow before you in submission, I rise before you in praise, I go forth with you in obedience.

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalm 91:1

Praise be to you, O Lord, for your wonderful faithfulness— you have given your children a shelter that is both your Word and yourself—you who are the Most High, the Final Authority, the Almighty, the All Wise, All Knowing and All Loving God.

You, in your grace, wisdom and love, have provided us with this needed shelter in a twisted, dangerous and sin-filled world. Your commands, principles and examples show us how to live within your protection from sin, self and Satan. And you yourself spread your wings over us to keep us safe: under your feathers of grace we find protection.

Praise you for your invitation for us to come to your shelter and remain in your refuge. As we obey your Word, think Truth, listen to the Spirit and make prayer the foundation of all we do, we remain in your fortress. There we are protected from unnecessary mistakes and unneeded difficulties. We are spared the troubles of those who reject your shelter: the confusion of the wicked, the fall of the proud, the anguish of the stubborn, the foolish decisions of rebels, the stumbling of the self-confident.

As your Word says, “The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever more brightly till the full light of day. But the path of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble” (Pro. 4:18,19).

You are our Refuge, calling us to your arms, to your lap, to your embrace. You are our Fortress, inviting us to safety behind your walls of truth and power. You are our Deliverer, calling us to worship and obedience as our God, our final authority. You are the Righteous One who has the right to rule—and who imputes your righteousness to us, protecting us from the wrath to come, sheltering us from the evil around us and in us.

You are thorough, you are wise, you are persistent: protecting us and providing for us even when we protest against your profound and perfect Word. You keep on working, bringing us to repentance, bringing us to your refuge, bringing us to transformation.

From within your protection, we will see the downfall of those who refuse your invitation, who decline to obey you. As we stay in your shelter, true harm, true evil (that which will damage us spiritually) will not come to us, for you, Lord God, will work out all that is needful for our safety: “If you say, ‘The LORD is my refuge,’ and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you…” (Ps. 91:9,10).

I exalt you today, O Eternal Lord of creation and God of graciousness, who rules forever in complete goodness, out of unending love and with deep wisdom. You are worthy of worship, praise, honor and obedience, Glory be to you!

Prayer: “Lord, help me to dwell in your shelter today, thinking truth, obeying what I know to be true, praising you in and for all. Amen.”

What if?  What if, in the Garden of Eden, instead of being a passive listener, Adam had broken into the conversation Satan was having with Eve?  He could have followed God’s directive to lead and protect his wife and said, “Hey, what are you doing, talking to my wife?  If you want to talk, talk to me!”  And after a few more sentences, “No, you are a liar; we are not going to listen to you.  Come on, Eve, we’re leaving this fake.  It’s time to get ready for our evening time with God!”

You probably know that God’s specific reprimand to Adam was about Adam’s failure to lead, about him following his wife instead of obeying God’s command.  (“Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,…’” Gen 3:17). The original sin was not eating the fruit, but Adam’s failure to lead himself well and then failure to lead his wife well.  That then resulted in the eating of the forbidden fruit.

Yes, what if Adam had led himself well?  How different the world, history, our lives would have been!  Recently in my worship time it struck me: every day we get to reenact the Garden of Eden and in some small way correct Adam’s mistake.  Satan comes to us and tempts us.  His main temptation is for us to disbelieve God and follow a lie.  Take for instance worry.  Every time I worry, I’m saying, “God isn’t really big enough to handle this situation.  I need to step in and help Him, make sure He does it right!”  The Almighty God who hung the earth on nothing, who breathed out the stars, who sets up and takes down rulers can’t keep His word to guide and protect me?  That’s what I’m really saying when I worry!  I have chosen to believe a lie of the enemy.

Instead, when I am tempted to worry, I need to break into the conversation between me, my flesh and the devil, and say, “No, I am not going to listen to these lies that God is weak!  My God is strong, He is the Commander of the Hosts of Heaven, He is the Sovereign God who is the bringer of the dawn, the provider of salvation, the ender of time.  I choose to trust Him to bring what I need into my life, to orchestrate the events beyond my control.  I choose to pray about this, to do my part and leave the outcome to Him!  Praise you, Lord God, for what you are going to do in this case!”

If we respond like that, we will accomplish what Adam failed to do.  We will have chosen to be glory-givers, not glory-stealers.  We will have joined God in another step of His great plan for the recreation of the universe.  We will have moved ahead in the sanctification journey the Lord has for us.

So each day, be aware of where you are living the Garden of Eden test all over again. Every temptation to be impatient, unkind, fret, worry, be jealous, compete or give into fears, is also the great opportunity to take up God’s grace, lead yourselves well and be a fountain of grace to those around you.  Which will you choose?  “He who heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray.” (Prov. 10:17)