Hey Y’all,
I am so excited about this week's blog because the Lord made the Word come alive to me. As I sat in a worship rehearsal at the end, one of our pastors closed with Psalm 91 and encouraged us to really try to listen with fresh ears—as if it were the first time we heard it. When I did that, something sparked in me, and I know it’ll spark something in you, too!
Psalm 91
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty [Whose power no foe can withstand]. I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and Fortress, my God; on Him, I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust! For [then] He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. [Then] He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you trust and find refuge; His truth and His faithfulness are a shield and a buckler.
Dwell with Him
That Psalm is a staple. You hear it preached, quoted, and sung about everywhere. The first thing I want y’all to catch is that it says he who dwells IN the secret place of the Most High. Do you have a secret place? Where are you dwelling? The Oxford Advanced American Dictionary says that the word dwell means to live somewhere. That shows me that God doesn't want us to just chat with Him in the morning and stop by for a little quick prayer at night but to live WITH Him. Relationship with the Lord is the most important part of your foundation as a believer.
The Lord is not supposed to be a stranger to us but to be our best friend. I live with roommates and before that, I had my family of course until I graduated high school. I knew and know all of them well. I know their likes, dislikes, tendencies, attributes, and more. We’re supposed to live life with Him like that. We should know what pleases the Lord and what doesn’t, we should know how to communicate with Him, and more. He’s not supposed to be on the sidelines of our life or just our emergency contact when crap hits the fan and have to do emergency tongues. Do life including Him in all things in your life. He WANTS that communion with you. That’s the whole point of Jesus. We have a better deal than those in the Old Testament which is where the book of Psalms is found. We get to go straight to the Lord about everything and do it by His leading, His way.
HIS Faithfulness
Now this is the thing I’ve been wanting to get to but you can’t have this part without the dwelling part. When my pastor spoke out verse 4 something hit my spirit so strong. “His truth and His faithfulness are a shield”. That blew my mind. I want you to take a moment and think about all the things you’re believing for, everything that Word has promised you, and every word ever spoken over you.
Do you know what that part of the chapter meant to me and is about to mean to you? It means His faithfulness AND His truth (the Word) shields us. What does a shield do? It protects you. Those attributes of God are supposed to keep you in the supernatural side of faith and away from the realm of reason and doubt, the natural. When we truly have faith in His Word and His truth we can rest easy knowing nothing in the natural can withstand what the Lord has done and said. Faith has no bounds and isn’t limited to what we are in the world. With faith, we pull things from the realm of the supernatural into the natural.
When you have all these words and promises ingrained in you, you stand on it. You have to stand on the Word. At the end of the day, everything in this world can pass away but the Word remains. At the end of the day, every man can be a liar but the Lord will remain true. His Word can’t return void. He honors His word about His name. He is faithful to complete that which He has promised you but do you believe that?
Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we[ hope for, being the proof of things [we ] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].
Stay Shielded
Have faith and take courage in the fact that the Lord is real and so is His word. One of my closest friends always tells me that the Lord’s promises are more real than the seats I sit in. If what you see in front of you is real imagine how much more everything the Word says.
You have to stay shielded. His faithfulness shields you from the natural world. That means you can’t be discouraged because He’s a faithful God. He doesn’t just tell you things like people in life do and doesn’t follow through. He’s a follow through to the finish line God! He has your best interest at heart. You have to keep the Word of the Lord, the Word itself, and every promise He’s made you in front of you. Don’t let the enemy use the natural to rob you. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Keep serving, keep pressing in, keep declaring and walking in that peace that the Lord has already done! Live in the conviction of the reality of His promises to you. Conviction means strong opinion or belief in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Don’t be swayed. Having faith and victory means you’re persuaded. However, you can only experience this thing when you dwell with Him and know Him. Rest in His promises that are yes and amen. Rest in knowing He is faithful no matter what the world around you looks like. He IS faithful!
Stay Shielded,
Keziah-Grace Lopes
