Psalm 91 Part 2 Assurance In Times Of Crisis

What if safety isn’t the absence of storms but the presence you stand within? We dive into Psalm 91 to explore assurance that holds when life breaks, trading superstition for a sturdy practice of dwelling with God. Rather than running to a dusty spiritual first aid kit, we talk about making the secret place your daily address—so when crisis hits, you’re already home.

Through this podcast we unpack why biblical protection means presence, not immunity, and how the language of refuge and fortress reorients fear. We trace how believers have leaned on Psalm 91 during seasons of plague and upheaval, and why that history helps us read it with both realism and hope. You’ll hear practical rhythms for living near to God—Scripture habits, worship that steadies attention, short and honest prayers—that build resilience before the wind rises. We connect the dots to Philippians’ joy in hardship, Job’s trust amid loss, and John’s clear-eyed love for Jesus, showing how the wider witness of Scripture reinforces a life anchored in Christ.

We also share a personal story from Cyclone Tracy’s aftermath to illustrate how people respond differently to the same storm and why proximity to God shapes recovery. The through-line is simple and strong: you are going through the valley, not setting up camp there. Hidden with Christ, held by his hand, and sealed by the Spirit, you can face arrows by day and terrors by night without surrendering your peace.

If this conversation steadies you, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs courage, and leave a review to help others find it. Then tell us: which promise are you holding onto this week?

Good morning, good afternoon, wherever you are in the world - Welcome to Grapevine Ministries.

Transcript

Insurance, First Aid, And Faith

SPEAKER_01 0:28

Have you ever had insurance policy on your house or on your car? And sometimes you're saying to yourself, Do I really need this? Or perhaps you're one of those type of people that actually has a first aid kit sitting in your car, even to the extent where it's collecting dust in the back of your car, and you think to yourself, Why have I got this? Or better still, why do I need it? Part two of going through uh Psalm 91 is about assurance in times of crisis. Now, the reason I say that is because how many times have you gone through different challenges and troubles in your life? And you thought, if only I'd done this, you know, you hear about it on the news all the time, someone's house burns down and they've got no insurance. I always look at it this way. Look at it from a natural perspective, having insurance or assurance for when things happen that are unexpected or a crisis comes, even to the extent where you know your next-door neighbor cuts his leg and you go to your first aid kit, you pull it out of your car, and you get there and you go, Oh wow, all of this stuff's out of date because I've never bothered checking it, keeping it up to date. Is that what you do with the word of God? When you find yourselves in crisis, do you have to dust off the cobwebs off the Bible and try and find scripture that's going to help you get through the challenges that you have? So let me ask you to take your Bible today and turn to Psalm 91. Because this podcast, as we return to the psalm that we began to look at a few Sundays ago, and I've entitled this Assurance in Times of Crisis, or you could say our refuge in times of danger. See, in times of crisis, God provides absolute assurance as a refuge and strength. The very presence helps us in times of trouble. You can even look at Psalm forty six one. He promises never to leave you nor forsake you, offering a peace that transcends understanding or surpasses all understanding, to guard hearts and minds. See, faith is His in His sovereignty, allows believers to trust His timing and strength, even when circumstances feel overwhelming. You see, time and time again, we only call out to God when we need Him. But see, the thing is, this scripture upon Scripture throughout the Bible, both Old and New Testament, telling us to cry out to the Lord, to seek his refuge, to seek his protection. So many different places. But I want to focus on Psalm 91 because that's where we're at at the moment. Psalm 91 offers profound assurance in crisis by positioning God as an unsakable, unshakable refuge, fortress, and protector. It promises that he who dwells in God's presence finds safety from fear and danger, with angels guarding them. This psalm invites believers to trade fear for faith, relying on God's power rather than any other circumstances. Now, there's a few songs that I listen to uh through um Elevation Worship, but I've started listening to this new guy called Solomon Ray, and um he he puts a different spin on a song by Elevation, which talks about how you can he can do it again, he's done it before, he can do it again, right? Whereas um Solomon Ray goes that little bit further, and where he's inviting you to come to him rather than you going to God. We've got to get this in the right context, we've got to look at this from the right perspective, and I was talking about this last week, right? If we shelter ourselves under the most high and we are always in his presence, then we don't have to run far when we need help in crisis, because we're already in that place where he offers us that protection. So it's like sitting in the eye of the storm. If we're sitting there in the word of God constantly, you know, we'll listen to praise and worship music, we're in the word of God, we're reading scripture, we're we're getting to understand Him in a deep and more meaningful way. So we are sitting in the eye of the storm where everything is chaos around us, and in the eye of the storm, it is so peaceful, so quiet, and you would not think. See, many people have tried to do this to get into the eye of a hurricane, right? And it's when the hurricane sweeping through, and all of a sudden it hits, and uh it's chaos and turmoil everywhere, but as the eye of the storm passes over, it's so peaceful and quiet. You know, if someone were to ask me what my favorite book in the Bible would be, the answer to that question would vary depending on what it is that I'm going through at that particular point in my life. Because if we walk with the Lord, there are certain seasons of life in which the book of Philippians would be my favorite because it is so full of joy. There are other times when maybe a particular season is more difficult, and then my favorite book might be Job, so that I can be reminded of God's good purposes in suffering. Then there are other times when I need to have my love and devotion for Jesus rekindled, and so maybe John's gospel would be my favorite, so that I can set my eyes clearly on Jesus again. But if there's a book or scripture that would be the constant favorite for me, no matter what life is bringing, my way or your way, it would without a doubt, be the book of Psalms. And I'm not sure many of you feel the same way. One of the reasons the psalms are so precious is because they are so practical and they really get down into the nitty-gritty of our hearts, and they help us be honest with ourselves and with the Lord in the midst of our day-to-day Christian life.

SPEAKER_00 10:28

I think it's another way of living for Christ in Christ.

SPEAKER_01 10:40

And if you know that, that's good for us because practical Christian living is a very important matter, and the Psalms are constantly answering questions for us about you know healthy Christian living?

SPEAKER_00 11:00

Um, what are we really focusing on?

SPEAKER_01 11:06

What does it feel like to be a Christian facing sickness, trouble, sorrow?

SPEAKER_00 11:14

What should our affections or desires be fixed upon in this life, not the next life?

Seasons, Suffering, And The Psalms

Protection, Not Immunity

SPEAKER_01 11:29

How should we react to our circumstances, whether they are good or whether they are bad? I want to focus on this a little bit longer because Psalm ninety-one it provides profound assurance in times of crisis by focusing on protection, presence, and promises of God for those who make him their dwelling place. It encourages shifting from fear to faith by trusting in God as a refuge and a fortress, like during a pandemic. See, the core theme of Psalm ninety-one, more and more so, is we know that when you look at the psalm from the very, very first start, verses one to two is an invitation to abide in the secret place, and we want to dwell there, you know. Dwelling is about moving in, staying there. But as you move on, you know, verse three through to eight, God promises to deliver from the snare of the fowler, that's traps and deadly pestilence, disease. The sermon highlights twenty-four-hour protection from the terror by night to the arrow that flies by day. I think the key aspects of this are divine protection versus immunity. See, when you look at this, you get the balance that clarifies that this is not a charm against adversary, but a promise of God's presence and ultimate safety. While God may be not able to spare believers from troubles, he promises that he will be with them in and out and also to bring them through. Bringing someone's let's uh take this in a different direction. Mainly because I mean you might be like me. Um the psalm I've read more times than I can remember, and I felt that I was fairly familiar with it. Well, as you may know, the Bible has a way of catching us off guard, and some passages seem to be cast into a new light depending on the circumstances in which we find ourselves. The subject matter of this psalm is particularly very prolific, and it sounds a lot different in my ear back in twenty twenty than it did in twenty nineteen. And that's because as I began to dig in and study, I came to realize that many pastors and commentators over the centuries have been drawn to Psalm 91, in particularly during seasons of plague and pestilence. One German doctor wrote in the nineteen eighties, or sorry, not the nineteen eighties, let me try the eighteen hundreds, that this psalm was the best preservation during a time when cholera was everywhere. And he said it so it is my sincere hope that it will be an encouragement to us as well because I just quote another script. He says, Yea, thou walk through the valley of shadow and death, I fear no evil, for thou art with me. And I I've I've mentioned this many, many times before. It's the focus is on the wrong part of the scripture. He says it talks about that you're going through the valley shadow of death, or maybe I should put it another way, you're going through difficult and challenging times in your life. But it says that you're, and he's always with you, right? God is with you, says he'll never leave you nor forsake you. He is always with you no matter what, good, bad, or ugly.

SPEAKER_00 17:01

But in particular, how many people walked away from the church through that season of the pandemic?

SPEAKER_01 17:17

People changed their focus and their outlook on life from one moment to the next. We went from experiencing so many different things and people surviving and all this sort of stuff, but then the very first global pandemic, and if you read through history, there has been a lot of deep and dark things happening in certain parts of the world and in certain countries, um, but they were contained to that place, they were contained to um that continent, but a global pandemic touches everybody everywhere. Now, I don't want to sort of like dwell on that, but the thing is, what I was talking about, if you're going through the valley of the shadow of death, God is with you because the key part of that scripture is that you are going through things, and if you're going through something, that means you come out the other side. Too many people find themselves in a crisis and they sit down and say, Oh, well, this is my own fault, or this is what's come upon me. Well is me. Doesn't that sound very similar to what Job's friends were trying to tell him?

Plagues, History, And Perspective

SPEAKER_00 19:08

But Job wouldn't curse God and die. He trusted him.

SPEAKER_01 19:16

And this is where this particular part of passage is so important. It's an assurance, like an insurance policy. I've seen it before. We have contents insurance, we have house insurance, we have car insurance, and we even carry a first aid kit in our car, and we have a fire blanket and an extinguisher in our kitchen. Why? Is this because we are scared that things are going to happen and uh things are going to, you know, um doom and gloom, you're always ready for a no. These are things that we do in preparation for what may or may not come, and that's the most important thing. See, it's like when the pandemic was on, so many people were very adamant about wearing masks and social distancing. Why others, you know, may think, oh, what why bother avoiding it, you know?

SPEAKER_00 20:38

Or others completely isolate themselves and say, I'm not going anywhere.

Through The Valley, Not Stuck

Preparation And Spiritual Readiness

Under The Shadow Of The Almighty

Security In Christ And The Spirit

Cyclone Tracy And Human Response

SPEAKER_01 20:48

See, Psalm ninety one, we know has no specific author. Everybody has their speculation, but I'm not going to speculate. I'm just going to say, okay, it's it's you know, no author, okay. The previous psalm, Psalm 90, is attributed to Moses, and some past theologians suggest that Psalm 91 was penned by Moses, also, but we're not going to get into that. I don't want to get into uh political argument, especially because sometimes Pastor David, one of my Bible college student uh teachers uh that I had, he sometimes listens to my messages. So um I'm going to uh I don't know what you call it, plead the fifth or invoke my uh my legal rights for a lawyer because I don't want to get into it. But what we should be aware of and what stands out is the importance of the shadow is a place of protection, proximity, and care. And you find this in several other passages like Psalm 121 5 calls the Lord the shade of the right hand. Isaiah twenty five four calls God our shelter from the storm and the shade from the heart. Charles Spurgeon wrote that promises of this psalm are particularly held by those who are walking in close communication with the Lord. While all of God's children draw near from time to time, Spurgus suggests that those who dwell close to the Lord experience his daily grace and comfort in a richer, more protected space altogether. See, in a season of pandemic and civil strife in anybody's nation around the world, it is good for us to remember that God has provided us with his very presence, a closeness that we as Christians can partake of through our union with Christ Jesus and in the dwelling of the Holy Spirit. Paul writes in Colossians three three that we have died and our lives are hidden with Christ in God. Jesus said that no one can snatch his sheep out of his hand. There is no greater security for the Christian than the fact that we are held by Christ, united with him, eternally secure with the presence of the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of our future inheritance and hope. See, next week we are going to talk about how God not only gives his presence but he also gives his peace. And I will start there next week. But I just want to finalize something here. Now, before you actually start getting there and thinking that I'm all doom and gloom and I keep talking about the pandemic and all that sort of stuff, it's just that sometimes I think that people overlook um what they've gone through and how they've survived. And it's like it's like recovering from um a cyclone. I mean, I remember years and years ago, uh, I was part of the military, um, and we were up cleaning up Darwin, it's the top end of Australia, and this has gone back you know like 40 years. Um and Psycho and Tracy hit the town of Darwin in a devastating way, and this was on Christmas Day of all days, uh, and we were up there as the military to help clean up, and the one thing I noticed is there was such a different way that people were dealing with what had actually happened, and also the stillness, the quietness of the place. Some areas of Darwin were flattened, there was nothing left except the foundations where uh the buildings once stood. Other places were totally unscathed, they were just like you know, like preserved in time. And we see people that are crying, uh, you see people that are in just in shock, you see others that are uh we saw one guy, he's just sitting on a rocking chair in the front of his, I'm assuming it's his house, and I would say that probably that's what used to be his French port, and he's just sitting there as if to say, oh well, easy come, easy go. Everybody handles their situations differently, like I said, whether it's good, bad, or ugly, everybody deals with that differently. But if you have the assurance of Christ protecting you in a time of crisis, you have that peace that surpasses all understanding, you know without a shadow of doubt that he's going to get you through it. It doesn't matter what's actually happened, it's the next chapter that's the most important. See, the good thing about us is when you read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, we know how the story ends, and so we should not worry about things that are taking place in our life right at this very, very moment. But you also got to realize that from Genesis to Revelation, God has already gone before us, and he's made a way where there is no way, and he knows when he needs for you to have comfort in your situations. Now, we know that trials and tribulations will come because it's scripturally you know mentioned, and we know that the Bible is the same today, yesterday, and forever. God cannot tell a lie, and so these things will happen. We will find ourselves going through situations, but God, you know, Rob Scott, uh the he used to be for many, many years the um the senior pastor in charge of the praise and worship team, and he brought this song out, but God, you know, and if you look throughout scripture, you will see a lot of but God moments. Too many people focus on what has actually happened, what is taking place in their life at that very moment, and when they decide to run to Jesus, it's already too late, or the damage is always done. I always wondered why some people, you know, as Christians can recover from things quicker than others, and it's purely and simply because of having that faith, that trust in God that surpasses all understanding, knowing who you are in Christ will get you through almost anything. And I believe that if you can't get through it, then that means that you and I'm not saying this in a critical way. I don't want people, don't want 50,000 emails to say that, but I'm just saying that maybe your relationship with God is not where it should be, it's where you believe it should be, and it's all about where it should be based on what the Word of God is telling us and what Jesus has promised us. He has promised us so much, and I think that perhaps there's a lot of people out there listening today that they need to go through the Bible, literally, you know, do what I did. Um read it from Genesis to Revelation in a year, and everybody says, Oh, I'm too busy, I haven't got time for that. Yes, you've got time for that, you've got time for that when you're sitting waiting to for the children to come out of school, you've you've got um time when you can put a CD on and listen to uh the audio version when you're sitting in traffic, instead of getting frustrated, waiting and wondering whether you're going to be late for work, you can actually you know just listen to the word of God. And every time that you hear a promise of God, I want you to highlight that or note it down, and then at the end of the year, just go through all those notations that you have made of every single promise that has been made to you through the word of God under the old covenant and also under the new covenant. You know, let's go on a journey together and discover all the promises that have been made for you and for me through the scriptures. Now, we are gonna get to the nice parts of Psalm 91, but the thing is let's continue the journey together. Amen. All right, we'll talk to you soon, and uh then we will actually go on to God's peace, and that'll be Psalm 3 to 8. All right, you take care, talk to you soon. Bye for now.