Part 2: A personal understanding pf Ps 91:5-8

Psalms 91:5-8

You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.
Only with your eyes shall you look,
And see the reward of the wicked.

Verse 5 - This verse speaks of terrors in the spiritual realm (terror by night) and terrors in the natural realm (arrow that flies by day), and it encourages the believer that we are not to be afraid of any attack against us, whether is it by the devil or by our human enemies, that as long as we remember how to hide and be protected (via the methods stated in previous verses 1-4), as well as how to be equipped to defend ourselves from such attacks.

Verse 6 - Again this speaks of pestilence but interestingly it mentions a pestilence that "walks in darkness", which seems to suggest that the "perilous pestilence" in verse 3 can be split into different categories, one that walks in darkness, and one that travels in the light. Again, when the verse talks about physical destruction, it mentions "destruction that lays waste at noonday", which implies a physical natural attack in the day time. Could this version be just a repetition of verse 5, or is there a specific reason why these words are chosen? I really do not know, but as far as I read it, there seem to be 4 categories of trouble or attacks: terror, arrow, pestilence, destruction. Of these, some attack in the day and some attack in the night. I will probably have to pray about this verse some more, to understand what it means...

Edit: Apparently, the 4 categories of trouble are types of demons, according to Midrashim. Another interesting tidbit is that Moses composed this Psalm while he completed the tabernacle, or is a description of Moses' experience as he was entering the tabernacle and was "enveloped by the Divine Cloud". I'm not going to trust wikipedia in interpretation of Bible verses, of course, but it is interesting to note as I had originally thought that the entire book of Psalms was composed by King David. (1)

Verse 7 - I like verse 7 because this is a very descriptive verse, like you may see thousands falling on your left and ten thousand people falling at your right hand, but "it" shall not come near you. I assume that "it" refers to any of the categories of attacks above, supernatural terror, physical attack by weapons, pestilence which refers to sickness or disease or virus, and destruction which is very broad or general, all these shall not have an affect on your body because they cannot even come near to you. In the midst of the situation on the Grace Assembly of God church and the New Life Church, I really wonder, God if your people are really meant to be protected, why did they catch the virus? When I look at the Christians in Wuhan, they have actually died to the virus, and the world is asking, where is your God now? How do I proclaim this with confidence, when I see our Christian brothers and sisters who have been infected by the virus?

In general, I would say that I very much preferred verses 1-4 of Ps 91, as compared to verses 5-8. There is just so much that I don't understand, although I am pretty sure that each sentence has a special meaning.

Verse 8 - This verse seems to suggest that you will be able to see the "reward" which will come upon the wicked people. This is interesting because people often assume that a reward is something good, something which is coveted and sought after. According to Google, the definition of reward is "a thing given in recognition of service, effort, or achievement". Very interesting, because it doesn't say it is a good thing or a bad thing, just that it is in recognition of something.

I would have to conclude that Ps 91:1-8 would have to be read together in its entirety, for it to have proper meaning and application, and it cannot be easily or readily dissected into verses on its own. In fact, as I read along from Ps 91:9-16, it seems that the main point of this Psalm is in verse 1, while the following verses explain what will not happen to you and what will the Lord do for you, if you follow the instruction in verse 1!

I will definitely study and seek to understand more about Ps 91 in my next blog entry.

(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psalm_91#Background_and_themes