Psalm 91:4 He shall cover you with his feathers, and under his wings shall you trust: his truth shall be your shield and buckler. The Lord here compares Himself to a hen covering her brood, and He speaks not only of the wing, which gives shelter, but He enters into detail, and speaks of the feathers, which give warmth, and comfort, and repose. I. WHEN MAY THIS TEXT BE RELIED UPON BY A BELIEVER? 1. In cases of extreme peril. (1) Public calamity. (2) Domestic grief. (3) Personal danger. 2. But texts of Scripture like this are not made to be hung up on the nail and only taken down now and then in stress of weather. Blessed be God, the promise before us is available for sunshiny days, yea, for every hour of this mortal life. You always need protection, and, believer in Christ, you shall always have it. 3. In times of temptation. 4. In times of expected trials. Many a true servant of God has said to himself, "What shall I do when I get old? I am just able now to pick up a living, but what shall I do when these withered limbs can no longer avail to earn my daily bread?" Do? Why, you will have the same Father then as you have now to succour you, and you will have the same Providence then as now to supply your wants. You thank God for your daily bread now, and you shall have your daily bread then, for He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings shall you trust. 5. In the hour of death. II. HOW MAY WE EXPECT THE TEXT TO BE FULFILLED? 1. It may possibly be verified to us by our being preserved altogether from the danger which we dread. God has often, as predicted in the present psalm, in times of pestilence, and famine, and war, preserved His people by remarkable providences. Strong faith has always a particular immunity in times of trouble. When a man has really, under a sense of duty, under a conscientious conviction rested alone in God, he has been enabled to walk where the thickest dangers were flying, all unharmed. 2. There are some dangers from which the providence of God does not preserve the Lord's people. but still He covers them with His feathers in another sense, by giving them grace to bear up under their troubles. You shall find your afflictions become your mercies, and your trials become your comforts. You shall glory in tribulation, and find light in the midst of gloom, and have joy unspeakable in the season of your sorrow. 3. In yet another way doth God set seal to this record when by His grace having sustained His servants in their trouble He brings them out of it greatly enriched thereby. Oh! it is a great blessing to be put through the fire, if you come out purified. III. WHY MAY WE BE SURE THAT IT SHALL BE SO? 1. Faith enlists the sympathy of God. 2. God's promise is pledged. You keep your promise to your child, and will not God keep His promise to you? O rest in Him, then; He shall cover us with His feathers, for His own word declares it. 3. Moreover, you are His child, and what will not a father do for his own dear child? Were he a stranger you might take little heed though he were in trouble, in danger, or in deep distress — but your child, your own child — oh! you cannot rest, while he suffers. ( C. H. Spurgeon.) Parallel Verses KJV: He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. |
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