Our Safety is in God alone
The person who rests in the shadow of the Most High God will be kept safe by the Mighty One. Psalm 91:1
What do we need to do? REST; ABIDE; DWELL; REMAIN
How do we rest with God? What does that look like? What does it mean to be at home with God – to feel that friendship with Him?
One of the things I like best about God is that He is a communicator. He communicates to us through His Word. He also likes it when we talk to Him. Sometimes, people refer to praying as talking to God. That is true; we can talk to God anytime, anywhere! Sometimes I have an ongoing conversation with God out loud or in my head. That’s what He wants – He wants us to recognize that He is involved in every aspect of our lives. In prayer, if we are listening, God will speak to us. Prayer is like a conversation with God – you and God listening to and talking with each other.
Our enemy, the devil, wants to fill our hearts with fear. He does not want us to communicate with God, and he does all that he can to distract us from being able to hear from God. He certainly tried to scare the person who wrote this Psalm. Anyone want to guess who wrote Psalm 91?
Many Bible scholars believe that Moses is the one who wrote this Psalm! There are so many things that Moses faced while in the wilderness leading the Israelites. There were battles, there were times when they were being chased by enemies, there were times when his own people complained about him. Certainly, any one of these could make a person afraid!
The devil loves it when God’s children are scared. He wants to scare us away from God. Sometimes he even tricks us into thinking that God is bad. While there are many horrible things in this world, but we must remember that God is ALWAYS good, and Satan is the one who is bad. Satan tries to scare us with death, pain, suffering, cancer, stroke, disease, and heart-attack. He tries to scare us with divorce, separation, and family fights. He tries to scare us with sin, evil, and wickedness.
But no matter how hard the devil tries, he cannot succeed in driving God’s children away from the Lord. In verses 1 and 2 Moses explains why the devil cannot succeed:
The person who rests in the shadow of the Most High God will be kept safe by the Mighty One. – Psalm 91:1
We can tell God everything that we’re afraid of (Share personal examples – I am afraid to be outside with no light; I am afraid to drive in heavy traffic when it is raining). Then we can ask God to tell us what HE wants us to think (I am always with you; I will never leave you).
We can tell God what makes us sad: Then we can ask God what He wants us to know about our feelings of sadness.
We can tell God when we’re disappointed – when we’ve really done all we can do and still, a situation doesn’t turn out the way we think that it should.
• Joseph – sold as a slave; falsely accused; forgotten in prison (but remembered by God)
• Moses – Led the Israelites for 40 years in the wilderness; they were complaining and stubborn. The people could NOT provide for themselves. They could not plant, harvest, or manufacture anything. They had to completely depend upon God. God supplied manna one day at a time. He did this to show His people that HE ALONE was their Provider; they could no longer rely on Egypt to supply their food – only God could do that. This lesson should only have taken 30 days, but instead, it took 40 years. Moses and his people were truly in a desert place in the wilderness.
• Elijah – showed everyone that the Lord was God, yet was chased by the evil Queen Jezebel
• John the Baptist – faithfully proclaimed that Jesus was the Lamb of God, yet he was beheaded
Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken (Ps. 62:5-6).
We can tell God what makes us happy: The next time something happens that makes you so happy, praise the Lord and tell Him! Ask Him what He wants you to know!
No matter what you’re going through or how you’re feeling, you can REST in God! That’s all He asks you to do – REST. That image is so peaceful for me. When I remember that that’s really where I am, resting in God, I sense God’s peace.
What is the opposite of rest? Anxiety; stressed out; over-busyness
What God does:
He lets us in His “secret place”. Do you have a favorite hiding place? Do you have a place where you “escape”?
God has a secret place just for you. It is in His shadow. When you are this close to God, He tells you things that you didn’t already know (I Peter 1:12). He reveals things to you (Amos 3:7). That’s what He did for Moses – the one who wrote this Psalm (Psalm 103:7).
Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets. Amos 3:7
Some translations of the Bible call this secret place the Shadow of the Most High God
(Side Bar Note: There are many people who believe that God uses angels to protect us. Angels are God’s messengers, and they do stand guard over every Christian. Always remember that it is GOD who is the Source of our protection; angels are from HIM).

Psalm 91:2 I will say about the Lord,
“He is my place of safety.
He is like a fort to me.
He is my God. I trust in him.”