Psalm 91 meaning and explanation
Short answerPsalm 91 is a song of trust: whoever makes God their home can face danger without being ruled by fear, because God is their refuge and fortress. It does not promise that believers will never suffer, but that God is with His people in trouble and will rescue them in the end.
Psalm 91 describes God’s protection of those who trust Him in vivid pictures: wings, a shield, angels who carry
us. Matthew Henry sums up its theme simply: whoever chooses God as protector by faith will find in Him all he
needs. Here is what the psalm says, part by part, and how to read it well.
A note on numbering: in Protestant and most modern Bibles this is Psalm 91. In the Orthodox tradition and in older
Catholic Bibles, which follow the ancient Greek numbering, the same psalm is Psalm 90.
Safe in the shelter of the Most High
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
Ps 91:1–2 · King James Version (1769)
The opening verses state the theme of the whole psalm. Its promises are for the one who dwells with God: not
someone who visits Him only in a crisis, but someone who lives near Him. Albert Barnes notes that the Hebrew
pictures a person sitting at rest and lodging for the night under God’s shadow.
Keil and Delitzsch point out the names of God here. As the Most High He is out of reach of every enemy; as the
Almighty He cannot be overcome. Yet faith calls Him by His covenant name, the Lord, and claims Him as “my God.”
Verse 2 turns a general truth into personal confession.
Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
Ps 91:3–4 · King James Version (1769)
The snare of the fowler is a hidden trap. John MacArthur explains it as any plot against the believer’s life, and
the pestilence as deadly epidemic disease. Matthew Henry also applies both images to the soul: Satan’s temptations
are the snare, and sin is the contagion. Against every danger God covers His own as a bird covers its young
(Deuteronomy 32:11), a picture Jesus used of Himself (Matthew 23:37). His truth is His faithfulness to
His promises, and that is the shield.
No fear by night or by day
Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
Ps 91:5–8 · King James Version (1769)
According to Keil and Delitzsch, verse 5 speaks of war, both surprise attacks at night and open battle by day,
and verse 6 of epidemic disease at any hour. Even when thousands fall nearby, the one who trusts God will only
look on and see that evil is repaid. Henry keeps this in balance: wisdom keeps believers from fear without cause,
and faith keeps them from fear beyond measure.
Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
Ps 91:9–10 · King James Version (1769)
The psalm repeats its condition: the promise is for the one who has made the Lord his dwelling place. Barnes reads
these promises as a general truth about God’s care, not as a guarantee that no believer will ever be hurt.
Angels, and a promise the devil misused
For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet
Ps 91:11–13 · King James Version (1769)
When the devil tempted Jesus, he quoted these very verses and urged Him to throw Himself down from the temple
(Matthew 4:6). Jesus answered from Scripture that we must not put God to the test (Matthew 4:7).
MacArthur calls Satan’s use of the psalm a complete distortion: he took a passage about trusting God to justify
testing Him. Barnes adds that God helps those whom His providence leads into danger, not those who provoke Him by
seeking it.
God does care for His people through His angels (Hebrews 1:14). The lion and the serpent stand for deadly
enemies, some attacking openly and some lying in wait. Keil and Delitzsch compare Jesus’ promise that His
disciples would tread on serpents and on all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19).
God’s own answer
Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.
Ps 91:14–16 · King James Version (1769)
In the last three verses God Himself speaks. The love of verse 14, as Barnes and MacArthur explain, is a strong,
longing attachment to God. And God promises to be with him in trouble. Henry notes that God will deliver the
believer in due time, and in the meantime be with him in it.
Commentators read the promise of long life in different ways. MacArthur sees an Old Testament promise to the
obedient that the prophets extend to the coming kingdom. Henry says the believer will live until his work on earth
is done. Barnes adds that the promise reaches beyond the grave: God will show him His salvation.
Who wrote Psalm 91?
The psalm has no heading in the Hebrew text, and Barnes says plainly that its author and occasion are unknown.
Older Jewish teachers ascribed it to Moses because it follows his prayer in Psalm 90; Barnes sees no reason
for that. The Greek translation names David, which Keil and Delitzsch consider unfounded, though some older
commentators connect it with the plague in David’s time (2 Samuel 24:15). The meaning of the psalm does not
depend on settling the question.
How Christians read Psalm 91 today
Psalm 91 is not a magic amulet. Keil and Delitzsch record that it was long used as a protective song against
danger, but the power is not in the words. It is in the God the psalm points to, and He is trusted, not used.
Nor does the psalm promise that believers will never get sick, be hurt or die. Henry writes that trouble may still
come to the believer, but it comes for his good, not his harm. MacArthur puts it this way: nothing can harm a
child of God unless the Lord allows it. Paul was beaten and shipwrecked (2 Corinthians 11:25–27), and Jesus
told His disciples that in the world they would have trouble (John 16:33).
Commentators also differ on how directly the psalm speaks of Christ. Some see Him as its ultimate subject; Barnes
finds no evidence that it originally referred to Him. Henry takes a middle path: the promises fit Christ best, and
through Him they belong to every believer.
Praying Psalm 91
- Make it personal. A general promise comforts little until we can call God our own refuge. Read verses 1 and
2 to God as your own words.
- Dwell, don’t just visit. The promises begin with living near God. Henry describes the believer as one who is
at home in God and constantly calls on Him in prayer.
- Don’t test God. Trust waits on Him in the path of duty; it does not create danger to force His hand.
- Hold on to verse 15. If trouble comes anyway, God has not failed you. He has promised to be with you in it.
Psalm 91 does not remove every danger from our path. It gives a place to stand in the middle of it, in the shadow
of the Almighty.
