Looking for Psalm 91? (91 Ps)
If you were looking for Psalm 91, you have come to the right place.
Psalm 91, or, Psalms 91 is one of the most famous chapters in the Bible. It contains some of the most powerful protection Bible verses known to man.
Psalm 91 is also known as the “Psalm of Protection”.
It is always helpful to read different translations of the Bible when you want to get the full meaning and understanding of a part of Scriptures, especially about such an important Scripture such as this. You will find the renderings below in the different Bible translations of Psalms 91, and you can take your time to read through each of them individually. There are only 16 verses in Chapter 91 of Psalms.
Psa 91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
Psa 91:2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
Psa 91:3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
Psa 91:4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
Psa 91:5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
Psa 91:6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
Psa 91:7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
Psa 91:8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
Psa 91:9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
Psa 91:10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
Psa 91:11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
Psa 91:12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Psa 91:13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
Psa 91:14 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.
Psa 91:15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
Psa 91:16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.
Listen to the reading of Psalm 91 KJV.
Listen to the Psalm 91 KJV song.
Psalm 91 (NKJV - New King James Version)
Safety of Abiding in the Presence of God
91
1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”
3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the a]”>[a]fowler
And from the perilous pestilence.
4 He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and b]”>[b]buckler.
5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.
8 Only with your eyes shall you look,
And see the reward of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
10 No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
11 For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
12 In their hands they shall c]”>[c]bear you up,
Lest you d]”>[d]dash your foot against a stone.
13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will e]”>[e]set him on high, because he has 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 f]”>[f]long life I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation.”
Footnotes
Psalm 91:3 One who catches birds in a trap or snare
Psalm 91:4 A small shield
Psalm 91:12 lift
Psalm 91:12 strike
Psalm 91:14 exalt him
Psalm 91:16 Lit. length of days
Psalm 91 (New International Version Bible Translation)
Psalm 91
1
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. [1]
2
I will say [2] of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
3
Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.
4
He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5
You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
6
nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7
A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
8
You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.
9
If you make the Most High your dwelling– even the LORD, who is my refuge–
10
then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.
11
For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;
12
they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13
You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14
“Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15
He will 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.”
[1] Hebrew Shaddai
[2] Or He says
Psalm 91 (The Message Translation)
Psalm 91 in The Message Bible give the Bible verse in contemporary language:
Abiding in the Shadow of the Almighty
1 You who sit down in the High God’s presence, spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow,
2 Say this: “God, you’re my refuge. I trust in you and I’m safe!”
3 That’s right – he rescues you from hidden traps, shields you from deadly hazards.
4 His huge outstretched arms protect you – under them you’re perfectly safe; his arms fend off all harm.
5 Fear nothing – not wild wolves in the night, not flying arrows in the day,
6 Not disease that prowls through the darkness, not disaster that erupts at high noon.
7 Even though others succumb all around, drop like flies right and left, no harm will even graze you.
8 You’ll stand untouched, watch it all from a distance, watch the wicked turn into corpses.
9 Yes, because God’s your refuge, the High God your very own home,
10 Evil can’t get close to you, harm can’t get through the door.
11 He ordered his angels to guard you wherever you go.
12 If you stumble, they’ll catch you; their job is to keep you from falling.
13 You’ll walk unharmed among lions and snakes, and kick young lions and serpents from the path.
14 “If you’ll hold on to me for dear life,” says God, “I’ll get you out of any trouble. I’ll give you the best of care if you’ll only get to know and trust me.
15 Call me and I’ll answer, be at your side in bad times; I’ll rescue you, then throw you a party.
16 I’ll give you a long life, give you a long drink of salvation.
What is the message of Psalm 91?
Midrash Tehillim and Zohar teach that Moses composed this psalm while ascending into the cloud hovering over Mount Sinai, at which time he recited these words as protection from the angels of destruction. In Jewish thought, Psalm 91 conveys the themes of God’s protection and rescue from danger.
Psalm 91 from the Amplified Bible Translation is very detailed and elaborate enough to get all the details of this wonderful verse from the Bible.
Security of the One Who Trusts in the Lord.
Psalm 91
1
He who a]”>[a]dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will remain secure and rest in the shadow of the Almighty [whose power no enemy can withstand].
2
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust [with great confidence, and on whom I rely]!”
3
For He will save you from the trap of the fowler,
And from the deadly pestilence.
4
He will cover you and completely protect you with His pinions,
And under His wings you will find refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and a wall.
5
You will not be afraid of the terror of night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
6
Nor of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction (sudden death) that lays waste at noon.
7
A thousand may fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand,
But danger will not come near you.
8
You will only [be a spectator as you] look on with your eyes
And witness the [divine] repayment of the wicked [as you watch safely from the shelter of the Most High].
9
Because you have made the Lord, [who is] my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
10
No evil will befall you,
Nor will any plague come near your tent.
11
For He will command His angels in regard to you,
To protect and defend and guard you in all your ways [of obedience and service].
12
They will lift you up in their hands,
So that you do not [even] strike your foot against a stone.
13
You will tread upon the lion and cobra;
The young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
14
“Because he set his love on Me, therefore I will save him;
I will set him [securely] on high, because he knows My name [he confidently trusts and relies on Me, knowing I will never abandon him, no, never].
15
“He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
16
“With a long life I will satisfy him
And I will let him see My salvation.”
Footnotes
Psalm 91:1 The wonderful promises of this chapter are dependent upon one’s meeting the conditions stated in these first two verses (see Ex 15:26).
Who wrote Psalm 91?
The write of Psalm 91 is not given in the Bible. Sometimes the title line of the Psalm indicates the writer of the Psalm, but in this case the writer is not mentioned. One would think logically that it would be David, since he experienced so much tribulation, persecution and danger in his life leading up to him becoming the King of Israel. Traditional Jewish consensus however has it that it actually was Moses that wrote the Psalm during his 40 years of travelling in the wilderness and then David included it in his Book of Psalms. The Greek Septuangit translation of the Old Testament however ascribes the Psalm to David.
How do you pray Psalm 91?
If you were wondering how to take up Psalm 91 in prayer, you are not alone. Millions of people all around the world are praying this specific Psalm during times of peril and tribulations. The Good News is however that it is very easy to pray Psalm 91 or any other Bible verse for that matter. If you want guidance during your prayers or want to join other Christians in daily prayer, please join us for the daily prayer here.
Step 1: Pray it out loud.
The basic thing you need to do is to PRAY IT OUT LOUD. You actually need to SPEAK the words out loud. When you pray the words out loud, you are actually praying God’s Word back to Him, and that is what makes you prayer effective. God shows us the principle in the book of Hosea: Hosea 14:2 “Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.” You need to say the words out loud, the calves of your lips need to be sacrificed to the Lord.
Step 2: Pray God’s Word, Psalm 91, back to Him
God understand His Word. Mere human words can never replace to power encapsulated in God’s Word. In Daniel Chapter 9 we find how Daniel had studied the Books of prophecy about Israel and that it was time for them to get out of exile. As soon as he got understanding what to do, he prayed to God, sand spoke this prayer out loud to God. That made the prayer so effective and it caused Israel to return back to their land.
Step 3: Pray Psalm 91 in the Name of Jesus
Furthermore in the New Testament we find in Acts 4:24-33 again the church praying to God. Quoting the Bible back to God, God heard them and answered their prayers and caused great and wonderful signs, miracles and wonders to follow.
Lastly, since we are now in the New Testament dispensation, we need to understand that the prayer format has changed since Psalm 91 was first written in the Old Testament. In the New Testament dispensation we find that any prayer that we now make can only be heard by God, if we make it in the Name of Jesus. Your prayer being answered and salvation depends on you praying in the Name of Jesus: Acts 2:21 “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Jesus made it very clear that we should pray in His Name to the Father from the time He left the earth:
John 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
John 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
John 14:14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
John 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
John 16:23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
John 16:24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
John 16:25 These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.
John 16:26 At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you:”
Colossians 3:17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
Step 4: Give God thanks with your prayers
Like we read in Colossians 3:17, every prayer that is made in the Name of the Lord Jesus also needs to be joined with thanksgiving. No matter how dark your situation looks, remember to also give God thanks in that situation. The reason for that is, God is going to answer your prayer, and by giving Him thanks, even upfront displays your strong faith in Him that He is able to do as He has promised! (Hebrews 11:11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.)
In conclusion on Psalms 91:
Always remember the words of Jesus that taught believers everywhere to pray: Luke 18:1 “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint”. Clearly the Master meant that Christians and believers all over the world need to always pray, not just in a time of calamity. God’s instruction is that humans should always pray. The Good News is that God instructed us to pray, because it was His intention to answer our prayers. He would not have said “pray” if He did not intend to answer your prayers! Therefore, be encouraged to keep praying and keep speaking the Word of God in prayer. Our prayers are way more effective than what we sometimes realize. So keep praying and when you have gotten the answer to your prayer, give God the thanks that is due to Him!
Watch: Pastor Joseph Prince explains Psalm 91
Psalm 91 explained by Pastor Joseph Prince:
Right now, we have a Man (Jesus) in Heaven representing us. He’s praying for us. He is calm. He is far above the COVID-19, the coronavirus.
He is far above every principality and power. And listen carefully, He’s not there alone. The Bible says He went there to be YOU. When Jesus went to the cross, He went to the cross to be YOU.
To represent YOU. It was not like Jesus went to the cross by Himself. There was no reason that Jesus had to go the cross. There was no reason that He had to be executed.
There was no reason that He was judged. He went there on your behalf. He did no sin, knew no sin, in Him is no sin. He went there as YOU.
So as far as God is concerned, not only are our sins borne away at calvary, but your sin factory. Your sin nature has all been removed. There is no more factory to produce sins anymore.
Jesus finished it at the cross. He went there as YOU. So whatever happened to Him at the cross happened to you and I. And when Jesus was buried and went to the grave, again He was buried in the grave as YOU. That’s what it means when the Bible says “We are buried with Christ.” And when God raised Jesus from the dead, hallelujah, we were all raised with Him. And that’s when resurrection life started flowing in your body!
If His flesh is healthy, why is ours sick? We must reject that and declare that: “As He is, so are we in this world.” Amen? We must understand that we have a new identity.
We are actually on the other side of the grave. “But Pastor Prince, I’m still on earth! You know, Pastor Prince, you are preaching at the STAR PAC…” Yes, and yet no.
I am seated with Christ. He is there as me. He is there as YOU. You are seated with Christ!
Can you understand that? Alright, let us go one step further. Everything about Psalm 91 is contingent on this— the very first verse. “He who sits.”
The word “sits” is yashav. “He who dwells”— that is the translation from the King James Version of Psalm 91:1. But the Hebrew word there is actually “he who SITS in the secret place of the Most High.” What is the secret place of the Most High? It is Christ! Back in the Old Testament, it is called a secret place because the conditions were not yet fulfilled for Christ to come, amen? So it was called the secret place.
But now, it is no longer the secret place because we are all seated with Christ in Heavenly places. So, the very first verse of Psalm 91: “He who sits in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”
Shadow in the Hebrew mind speaks of protection. Are you listening? So when you go about your day, I want you to see this about yourself. Amen?
Although your foot is walking on Earth, you are seated with Christ. And you must have this mentality. The reason why it says: “A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, it shall not come near you.” is because you are far— alright in God’s eyes.
No one sees reality the way God does. We only see things superficially. “If I can see it, it’s real.” Then you are missing a lot on life. There are a lot of things you cannot see. This coronavirus/Covid-19 virus— you cannot see.
There are 3 letters in the Hebrew for “heal”. Rapha. Jehovah-Rapha, right? So it’s 3 letters, reading from right to left. Hebrew reads from right to left, facing you. There’s a root word for every Hebrew word. They call it the etymology. The root word for Rapha (Heal) is Raphah (Relax). So the root to your healing is to relax. The Bible in Psalm 91 verse 1 says: “He who sits in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” Before you leave the house, it is not a matter of claiming and claiming. “I claim this in Jesus name!” And there is a restlessness about it.
“I claim this in Jesus name!” “A thousand shall fall…” No no no, you are claiming it out of fear, it isn’t out of rest! You need to stop for awhile.
It is good to memorize, yes. It is good to claim God’s promises, yes. It is good to speak it out, yes. But more than anything else, you need to know that you are THERE in the secret place (in
Christ). The longings of the Old Testament saints was to be in the secret place. Right now, we are in that place. Their dreams is our reality. Amen? We are enjoying the reality of what they dreamed of. Amen? And God says He will do this to provoke Israel to jealousy. That Israel might see their Messiah that we accept as our saviour and Lord. So when you want to pray, stop for awhile, whether it is in your bed or while you’re bathing or getting ready for work, stop and say: “Hey, relax. You’re not trying to be there, you are there.” When we sit down, we throw the weight of our body onto the seat. Amen? Right? There were no seats in the Tabernacle of Moses in the Old Testament.
There was a table, but no seat. Because their work is never finished. The priests are always walking around. But the Bible says: “Having purged our sins, Jesus sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on High.” And think of why He sat down. We could say: “Well, He sat down because He is the Son of God.” True, but that wasn’t the reason He sat down. “He sat down because He is God in the human flesh.” That’s true, but that also wasn’t the reason He sat down. At any time, at any time, Jesus could have sat down but God would not let that seat be a seat where He’s sitting down because He is God or because He is perfect.
God wanted it to be this reason: Having purged our sins, He sat down. Like the priests of the Old Testament, the work was never finished because our sins cannot be atoned with the blood of bulls, and lambs, it cannot. Those things were symbols of His blood. His eternal blood. These things are temporal sacrifices. So their work is always constantly serving. Every year, they have Yom Kippur.
Every year, they had the Day of Atonement observation. Why? Because their sins were never atoned fully. But Jesus once and for all, paid for all our sins.
Amen. And if one sin is left on you, He cannot sin down. You must rest knowing that your sins are fully forgiven. In Isaiah 53:4-5, it says: “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.” Who is this? Jesus. In the English translation, it says Jesus carried our griefs and sorrows.
But in the Hebrew, the word “griefs” actually is “kholee” which means disease. If you ask any Israeli today what the meaning of kholee and makov is, they would say “sickness and pain”. It means Jesus borne our sicknesses and carried our pains!
Surely! The word “aken” in Hebrew is a positive assertion. It is almost like— look at the next verse “He was wounded for our transgressions”. Most believers know that Jesus carried our sins.
Amen? But they have a problem believing Jesus carried also, in the same atoning work, He carried our diseases. So for extra measure, God placed the word “surely” in Isaiah 53.
So the position that we have is a position that the world dreams of. Amen? In terms of our relationship with God, we are now seated because our sins are all forgiven. What about the terror at night?
Well, then therefore according to Psalms 91 when you’re seated in the secret place, the terror is under you. What about the pestilence that walks in darkness in Psalms 91:6 ? You know, these are diseases that you cannot see. Right now, maybe your body is developing a disease, they tell you.
You know? But you don’t know it. You have to go for all kinds of check ups. There’s even a pre-disease check up nowadays.
Amen? So how do you know? But the Bible says: “You don’t have to be afraid of the pestilence that walks in darkness.” Even if it is creeping in darkness, God knows about it.
Psalm 91 says: “You need not be afraid of the pestilence that walks in darkness.” By the way, this coronavirus/COVID-19 virus is walking in darkness! You don’t know where it is right? Right?
You don’t know where, but the Lord does. Safety is in the Lord. And this is not for every Christian. This protection is not automatic for every Christian. It is for the Christian that says: “Under your wings I take refuge.”
Some Christians will say: “Well, I don’t believe that.” There are Christians who say: “You can’t claim Psalm 91.” You ask them: “why?” They say: “Well, it is for people who meet all the requirements.” You say: “What requirements?” They say: “Those who abide in the secret place of the Most High.” You say: “What is that?” They say: “I don’t know.” So don’t talk to me like you know we don’t qualify when you don’t even know whether you do. My friend, the secret place is in the Old Testament language.
Today, we are seated with Christ. We are THERE. We are there. The youngest believer is there!
The believer that has not much knowledge about the Bible is there! Amen? It is not a position of merit because you have earned it through much prayers, and you are an extra holy person, then you get that place.
These things are important, it is important to be growing in holiness but true holiness is unconscious. And Moses wist not his face shone. It is not this idea. So don’t let anyone come and tell you: “Are you sure you qualify?” Amen? Tell them: “I don’t know about you, but I do.” It is not because of me and what I did.
——
So it’s clear from Pastor Prince’s exhortation that, as a Christian you qualify for God’s protection, when you are in Christ. Being in Christ, means you are in a seated position. You are seated in Christ. so live from that position and take rest in that knowing. You do not have to fear the noisome pestilence that walks in darkness.
You can also click on this link to get the Psalm 91 Afrikaans Ou Vertaling 1933 version.
