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Verse 7 tells us "a thousand will fall at our side and ten thousand at our right hand." This is literal. There will be times when we hear so many negative reports and see so many needs around us that it feels overwhelming and it will make us doubt this promise if we are not careful. Just like the time when Peter was walking on water until he looked at the waves and began to sink. That is why God is warning us that there will be thousands falling around us at times, and it can rob our faith if we take our eyes off our covenant. But that is the time we must run to His shelter in faith and remain there. Only then will it not approach us.
Another warning for seeing this covenant work: When a group gets together and shares Psalm 91 testimonies, faith is being offered for any trial that might come, but I'm going to share something very important that can make the difference between success and failure in your Psalm 91 walk. It is easy to quote our protection promises when things are going well, but when someone gets a bad report or when danger rears its ugly head, too often it is easy to forget our covenant and run to our reasoning and lay down the very thing God gave to us for the tough times. (In verse 15) This is for our day of trouble. I cannot tell you how often I have talked to people who are very familiar with Psalm 91, but when they suddenly encounter a sickness, crisis, or some other attack of the enemy, they temporarily forget all about their covenant promises. It is Satan's trick that we panic and forget God's Promise. Don't panic or get into fear. IT IS VITALLY IMPORTANT! Psalm 91 is not given for the good times when everything is running smoothly. The good times are for constantly keeping oneself built up in these promises by quoting them back to the Father in thanksgiving for this precious covenant. The Psalm 91 covenant was given to us by God as a weapon to use when the bad times come—when the breath feels like it has been knocked out of us—when a symptom has hit! Psalm 91 is not just a fun thing to talk about in the good times. If you have not prepared yourself for the challenges by saturating your mind with the promises in the good times, you'll be unprepared for the enemy's surprise arrows. We are called to prepare daily in the good times so that an enemy surprise attack is no challenge. When an attack comes, we are simply to do what we've been doing every morning. We simply re-declare our promises and put the enemy to flight. God never intended for us to use earthly answers to fight enemy attacks that come against our body, against our will and our emotions. But, if we haven't built our faith in the good times, we will completely forget our covenant when an attack comes, and we will run to the world for help that is not there. This is my challenge to you. Dedicate a portion of your day—every day—to reaffirm, with thanksgiving, this priceless covenant that has been bought and paid for by the blood of the precious I love my precious Psalm 91 covenant. I can remember the heartache and fear I lived in years ago. I was terrified that my family would be attacked by some weird disease or a horrible accident. Living in constant oppression, I know I was not praying in faith—too often, I was simply mouthing my fears to God. But, when God supernaturally gave me a dream that quoted a verse out of Psalm 91, before I even knew Psalm 91 existed, the joy and excitement that filled my heart and soul were indescribable. I had no idea whether the Words that God spoke to me in the dream—He will call on Me, and I will answer him and be with him in trouble—were a Scripture or not. But the next day, when I heard just the words 'Psalm 91' mentioned in a teaching tape, I thought my heart was going to burst. I knew whatever was in that psalm was my answer. I nearly tore the pages of my Bible, turning to it, having no idea if there even were ninety-one psalms in the Bible. But there it was in verse 15—the exact words God had spoken to me in my dream. That psalm was an answer beyond my fondest hope, stating promises for every evil known to man. For days my feet never touched the floor—I was so happy, I felt like I was walking on air. As I studied the psalm, I came to realize there was no evil known to man that was not covered in that covenant. The Lord began to show me that this was a protection covenant for the end days but that it was conditional. These were promises only for the ones who would choose to dwell in God's shelter, abide under His protection and declare His faithfulness over every situation. Since that day I have had the awesome privilege of sharing this precious protection with thousands of people. I often tell the story of watching a hawk fly over when all our baby chickens were scattered over the barnyard. I was heartsick because I knew the mother hen would never be able to gather them up and protect them in time. Then, I noticed something unique that taught me a lesson I would never forget. That mother hen did not run to those little chicks and jump on top of them to try to cover them with her wings. No! Instead, she squatted down, spread out her wings, and began to cluck. Those little chickens from every direction came running to her to get under those outstretched wings. Then, she pulled her wings down tightly—tucking every little chick safely under her. So, to get to those babies, the hawk would have to have gone through the mother. That is a perfect picture of our having to be the one to run to our heavenly Father to hide under His wings from harm. It was a lesson I needed to hear. God doesn't run here and there trying to cover us. No! He has made His protection available, but we have to run to him in faith. And when we do, the enemy would have to go through God to get to us! One who took our place. -Peggy Joyce Ruth
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