ON THE VANGUARD

MOST HIGH DWELLING
“If you make the Most High your dwelling – even the LORD, who is my refuge – then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.”
Psalm 91:9-10

Well as I have been saying over the last couple of days, this chapter reads like an if/then statement. Here in verses 9 and 10 of Psalm 91, we do see the words ‘if’ and ‘then’ make their appearance. It is in the ‘if’ we make God our dwelling that we see the ‘then’ of His protection. And while we have looked at the truth of this chapter and some of these words already, I want us to look again so that we are reminded once more of the truth and depth of these words.
The first part of the ‘if’ is in the making. The term ‘make’ is the word SUWM in the Hebrew. Suwm is translated as being fixed, stationed, or set. If we station ourselves in the MACHACEH, or the shelter, of the Most High, then we are placing ourselves in the position needed for protection. Furthermore, if we make the LORD our refuge we stay within His protection. This term for refuge is the term MA’OWN, translated as habitation.
It is in this grounding of ourselves with the Most High that we find the ‘then, and that ‘then’ is the lack of the enemy being able to pounce on us. We read here that no harm will befall us and no disaster will come near our tent. Harm is translated from the word RA’, and it means evil, malignant, or vicious. Having a daughter, I have watched almost every Disney princess movie there is. In reading the meaning of this word then, I am reminded of the evil Maleficent in the story of Sleeping Beauty. Her name is a play on the word malignant, which is derived from the Hebrew word ra’. As much as this is true, so also is her character, as she works her spell to harm the princess. Unlike the story, however, God tells us that the evilness of the villain will not befall those under His protection.
Not only will no harm approach us, but we are also told in this ‘then’ statement that no disaster will come near. Disaster here is the word Hebrew word NEGA’, meaning plague, stroke, wound, or disease. Do you want to be in a position where sickness of any sort has no effect on you? Then tuck yourself in His covering. Sickness, disease, wounding, stroke, and the like have no effect and no right to approach your ‘OHEL, your home, when you are covered in God’s shelter. And as has been stated, the enemy cannot touch us if we are under God’s protection. But the reciprocal is also true. If we come out from under God’s protection, choosing not to dwell or rest in Him, we leave ourselves as bait for the enemy. I encourage you once again to remain in God’s protection, closing the door to even the thought of coming out from under Him.