Does Psalm 91 Promise Too Much?
A Cheering Psalm
“In the whole collection there is not a more cheering Psalm,” wrote Charles Spurgeon of Psalm 91.1 But does it promise too much? Can it possibly be true?2 Who, if anyone, can claim it? It is all in the singular. One person declares his or her faith, and that same person is given the promises.
We should first reject a not-uncommon approach, which sees this blessed person as being anyone who has sufficient faith. If you believe these promises enough, they will come true for you. Erich Zenger seems to come close to this when he writes that, in the face of dangers, “one prays oneself into the hope, indeed the certainty that one is protected and gifted with life by YHWH. . . . In reciting the psalm, the petitioner constitutes the saving counter-world, as projected in the psalm, against the threatening world in which he lives.”3 An extension of this thinking is the idea that the psalm can be used in a quasimagical way, as a sort of charm or amulet. This notion was embraced in the Middle Ages, and some embrace it today.4
The Psalms
Christopher Ash
In this thorough commentary, Christopher Ash provides a careful treatment of Psalms 51–100, examining each chapter’s significance to David and the other psalmists, to Jesus during his earthly ministry, and to the church of Christ in every age.
These subjective readings understand “faith” as being a human “work” smuggled in through the back door; faith becomes something we need to do, and do strongly, if we are to benefit from it. This misunderstands the nature of faith and places on us an unbearable burden.
Three factors help us understand what the psalm truly means.
First, the promises of the psalm correspond strikingly to the covenant blessings given to Israel. These (and their opposites in covenant curses) include (1) the absence of the need to fear (Lev. 26:6; Ps. 91:5), (2) safety in the presence of “thousand[s]” of the wicked (Lev. 26:7–8; Ps. 91:7), (3) dwelling with God (Lev. 26:11; Ps. 91:1–2, 9), (4) safety from harmful beasts (Lev. 26:6, 22; Ps. 91:13), and (5) protection from disease and plague (Deut. 28:21; Ps. 91:3, 10).5 The psalmist personifies Israel.
Second, there is a remarkable agreement between the blessings promised here and those given to the King, for example, in Psalm 21. These include (1) “salvation” (Ps. 21:1, 5; 91:16), (2) answered prayer (Ps. 21:2; 91:15), (3) long life (Ps. 21:4; 91:16), and (4) victory over enemies (Ps. 21:8–12; 91:8). So perhaps the psalmist is the King, and ultimately the Messiah, as the covenant head of Israel. Philip Eveson argues, “There are good grounds for believing that the psalm is addressed primarily to the Davidic king as the Lord’s Anointed, especially in his representative role as head of his people.”6
The third factor comes, strange as it may seem, from the devil, in the temptations of Jesus (Matt. 4:5–7; Luke 4:9–12). Before his quotation from this psalm, the devil says to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down . . .” (Matt. 4:6; Luke 4:9). Here “Satan challenges Jesus to demonstrate that he is the one to whom the Psalm 91 statements were made.”7 It’s as if he said, “If you are the Son of God and can therefore legitimately claim these promises for yourself, then prove it.” Jesus accepts that this is so, even as he refuses to use this right. This New Testament reflection sheds light on our first two observations. First, Jesus is the true Israel, who resists the temptations in the wilderness, as the old Israel had failed to do.8 The promises given to Israel are given to him. Second, they are given to him as the Davidic King, the Messiah, the covenant head of his people. He receives them on their behalf, as the head for the members of his body. “Where Israel failed to keep the terms of the covenant, Christ has succeeded so that as our representative he now offers to us the fullness of covenant blessing.”9
The promises of Psalm 91 are given to the Messiah on behalf of the church. Christ has “the first right and title” to these promises, and we inherit them in him.10 Thematic echoes in the New Testament support the conviction that we inherit these blessings in Christ. In Hebrews 1:14 angels are called “ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation.” This echoes the promise of Psalm 91:11 (“For he will command his angels concerning you”) and applies it to “those who are to inherit salvation,” that is, the church. In Luke 10:19 Jesus says to his disciples, “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.” This echoes parts of Psalm 91:13 and applies it to the disciples of Jesus.11 Second Timothy 4:17 (“So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth”) may echo another part of Psalm 91:13. Romans 8:28–39 has been called, “in effect, a summary of Psalm 91.”12 The promises of Psalm 91 are given to Christ and to us in him.
These New Testament passages answer the question “Does Psalm 91 promise too much?” with a resounding “No!” And yet the New Testament also teaches that the fullness of these blessings awaits the resurrection and the new creation; here we have the firstfruits and down payment, by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:23; Eph. 1:13–14), but the end is not yet. Elisabeth Elliot (1926–2015) implicitly acknowledged this tension when she called the story of her martyred husband The Shadow of the Almighty, for those who live in the shadow of the Almighty may yet suffer and die.
In the immediate context in the Psalter, Psalm 91 functions as God’s gracious answer to the prayer of Moses in Psalm 90:13–17. Links between Psalm 90 and Psalm 91 include (1) the similarity of Psalm 91:1–2 and Psalm 91:9 with Psalm 90:1 (and the repetition of the infrequent word מָעוֹן , maon, from Ps. 90:1 in Ps. 91:9); (2) language of time, common in Psalm 90, in Psalm 91:5–6; (3) the promise “When he calls to me, I will answer” (Ps. 91:15), which picks up the prayer and petition theme of Psalm 90’s superscription and Psalm 90:13–17; (4) the verb “satisfy” (Ps. 91:16; 90:14); and (5) the verb “show” (Ps. 91:16; 90:16). Psalm 92, following this answer to prayer, expresses thanksgiving.
Other scriptural links include the promise of a serpent crusher in Genesis 3:15, some of the words of Eliphaz to Job in Job 5:17–26,13 and some of the promises of Proverbs 3:21–35. As with Psalm 90, Psalm 91 echoes some of the language and thought of the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32.
Notes:
- Spurgeon, Charles H. The Treasury of David. 3 vols. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2016,2.2:88.
- Belcher, Richard P., Jr. The Messiah and the Psalms: Preaching Christ from All the Psalms. Fearn, Ross-Shire, Scotland: Mentor, 2006, 58.
- Hossfeld, Frank Lothar, and Erich Zenger. Psalms. Translated by Linda M. Maloney. Edited by Klaus Baltzer. 3 vols. Hermeneia. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2005–2011, 2:429.
- William L. Holladay, The Psalms through Three Thousand Years: Prayerbook of a Cloud of Witnesses (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1993), 184, 289.
- Other references in Lev. 26 and Deut. 27–28 can be found. These are adapted from Belcher, Messiah and the Psalms, 58–61.
- Eveson, Philip. Psalms: From Suffering to Glory. 2 vols. Welwyn Commentary Series. Darlington, UK: EP Books, 2014–2015, Psalms, 2:142–43. Eaton writes, “The individual on whom such promises are lavished could hardly be any but the king.” J. H. Eaton, Kingship and the Psalms, SBT, 2nd ser., vol. 32 (London: SCM, 1976), 57.
- Hamilton, James M., Jr. Psalms. 2 vols. Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham, 2021, 2:165.
- Kirkpatrick, A. F. The Book of Psalms: With Introduction and Notes. 3 vols. Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 20. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1892,, 3:557; Longman, Psalms, 332.
- Belcher, Messiah and the Psalms, 60.
- Dickson, David. A Commentary on the Psalms. 2 vols. London: Banner of Truth, 1959, Psalms, 2:141.
- Pao and Schnabel, “Luke,” in CNTOT 318; Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms, 2:432.
- Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms, 2:433.
This article is adapted from The Psalms: A Christ-Centered Commentary (Volume 3, Psalms 51–100) by Christopher Ash.
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