Today we’ll be continuing with some of your favorites (or the passages you have questions about).  Email (andy@stm-umc.org) or message me with any passages you’d like added or that you have a question about!

Today we are looking at Psalm 91: 

1 You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
    who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
2 will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress;
    my God, in whom I trust.”
3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the hunter
    and from the deadly pestilence;
4 he will cover you with his pinions,
    and under his wings you will find refuge;
    his faithfulness is a shield and defense.
5 You will not fear the terror of the night
    or the arrow that flies by day
6 or the pestilence that stalks in darkness
    or the destruction that wastes at noonday.
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 look with your eyes
    and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the Lord your refuge,
    the Most High your dwelling place,
10 no evil shall befall you,
    no scourge come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will bear you up,
    so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the adder;
    the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.
14 Those who love me, I will deliver;
    I will protect those who know my name.
15 When they call to me, I will answer them;
    I will be with them in trouble;
    I will rescue them and honor them.
16 With long life I will satisfy them
    and show them my salvation.

Blessed assurance is one of our favorite old hymns. It’s a hymn of “assurance.”  In the Wesleyan tradition, assurance is the concept that you know that God is with you, you know that you are a Christian, and you have the assurance that God is yours, and you belong to God.  We hear that theology in the words of the hymn: 

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine.  Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine.  

Assurance is that believe that Jesus is truly yours.  You don’t have to guess or wait until heaven.  You KNOW that Jesus is yours.  FYI, we see that in scripture (Romans 8:16 – God’s spirit gives witness with our spirit that we are His.)  

Today’s Psalm is a psalm of assurance.  We can KNOW that everything will be all right, no matter what. We don’t have to worry, or guess, or fear, or doubt. We KNOW that God is with us, and God will take care of us. 

He is ours, and we are His.  We have that blessed assurance.  We are shown over and over again in this Psalm that no matter what happens, no matter what attack we may face, no matter what trouble may come our way, no matter what happens. 

He will not let our foot be dashed; He will have His angels watch over us, we will call Him, and He will answer. We don’t have to worry, we don’t have to be afraid. 

We have that blessed assurance.  He is with us. 

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