Morning By Morning #58

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

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 91:1, 9–10

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

The Israelites in the wilderness were continually exposed to change and were always moving from place to place. Whenever the “pillar of cloud” or the “pillar of fire” (Ex. 13:21) stopped moving, they pitched their tents. But the next day, once the sun had risen and the trumpet had sounded, “the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them” (Num. 10:33), and the “pillar of fire” led them again through the mountains’ narrow gorges, up hillsides or along the vast and arid wasteland of the wilderness. They barely had time to rest a little before they heard the call, “Get up…! For this is not your resting place” (Mic. 2:10). They never stayed long in one place and even wells of water or the shade of palm trees could not detain them.

Yet they had a constant and abiding home in their God. His “pillar of cloud” was their roof by day while His “pillar of fire” was their household light by night. They continued moving from place to place and, with the continual change, they never had time to settle in or to say, “Now we are secure. We will make our home in this place.”

Just as Moses wrote, “Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations” (Ps. 90:1), Christians never experience change with regard to God. A believer may be rich today and poor tomorrow, he may be sick today and well tomorrow, he may be happy today and distressed tomorrow, but there is never a change in his relationship to God.

If God loved me yesterday He loves me today, for my unmoving mansion of rest is my blessed Lord. Even when my future prospects seem dim, my hopes are dashed, my joy has withered away, and all my possessions appear to be rusting and rotting away—even then I have lost nothing of what I have in God.

He is “my rock of refuge, to which I can always go” (Ps. 71:3). I am a pilgrim in this world but am always at home in my God. On this earth I may wander, but in Him I dwell in “a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved; its stakes will never be pulled up, nor any of its ropes broken” (Isa. 33:20).

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

So often we read familiar passages of Scripture too quickly, not taking time to allow the Lord to show us something new. Why not meditate on the following psalm this morning, asking God to speak to your heart? Then thank Him that you “will dwell” with Him forever!

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Psalm 23:1-6