Psa 91:1-16 “Our Sufficiency Is of God” – 2Co 3:5, Part 3

Two weeks ago we looked at what it means to dwell “in the secret place of the most High”, and we’re reminded how blessed God’s people are to be called to abide in a place which His word tells us to consider as “our refuge and fortress“, a place of security and sufficiency.

Then we considered how the Lord works in that “refuge and fortress” where He is fashioning a work in the life of His people that is being forged through fiery trials, and pressure (1Pe 4:12, 2Co 4:8). It sounds counterintuitive to our flesh, but if we are going to be “deliver[ed] thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence” we have to first be brought to clearly see how those things are within us, so that we can repent of them.

When looking more closely at what the words “snare^H6341 and fowler^H3353” mean, we once again were witnessed to how the body of Christ live by every word of God as we take God’s word and wrap it around the idol of our hearts as these priest did back in Moses day (Num 16:1-50), resulting in their being rejected because of their disobedience.

The experience of evil to which we are called and the blessed conclusion of the matter for God’s people is to be delivered from the snare of the fowler, but only after we see clearly that we are the ones who offer up that unclean sacrifice by way of the light from the censor, which at that stage in our walk can only be a self-righteous light that does not glorify God in any way because the light is emanating from the idol of our heart. It is a grievous pestilence to come to see ourselves for who we really are, but I pray that in this study we will come to see more clearly the blessing that is ours to be brought to this point, so that we can become the new vessel of honour that can be used of God to bring His light to the body of Christ and to the rest of the world.

Mat 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Mat 5:15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Mat 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Our suffering and having that veil ripped (Mat 27:51, Heb 10:20) and then having the purified gold weaved into the new veil, which is the body of Christ, is the fruit produced through our trials or the “snare^H6341 and fowler^H3353 (Num 16:38) which is worth all the suffering and correction and bumps along the way which we must experience if we are going to reign with our Lord (2Ti 2:12). The end result of our misuse of the word of God is a purifying event of the temple that can only be performed by the sons of Aaron, which represents the saviours coming up on mount Zion to judge mount Esau which mount has already been judged and sanctified in our own heavens.

Num 16:37  Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are hallowed.
Num 16:38  The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates^H6341 for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the LORD, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel.
Num 16:39  And Eleazar the priest took the brasen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar:

Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

It is after we see ourselves as the two hundred and fifty men of renown which number represents a large multiple of a grace and faith (5) event (5x5x5x2=250) that we can identify with this process of judgment (three fives) that can only be accomplished by the life of Christ within us who is the true witness (2).

The fervent prayers of the saints that will avail much and put an end to the physical noisome pestilence that would otherwise destroy the whole world or camp of Israel is represented by Eleazer the son of Aaron the priest and so we are learning that all our prayers are being stored up as a precious incense and witness for the world to see how God fashions His people through suffering to be the ones who He uses (sends) to be the stop gap to prevent the physical destruction of the world.

Mat 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

Num 16:37  Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are hallowed.

These following verses demonstrate the need for the sanctification process that is needed in our life in Christ before we can be sent as Christ was into the world (Mat 24:22). We are also being witnessed to that this natural event of preserving all flesh is only a type and shadow that reminds us that God is going to preserve all mankind spiritually one day in the lake of fire experience that will put an end to all of mankind’s struggles against the flesh of man and God as we see the foundation of Christ being laid for all eternity through that destruction of the first man Adam.

Isa 6:8  Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
Isa 6:9  And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Joh 17:18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.

Joh 6:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

Gen 6:3  And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

Rom 1:20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

Today we must come to see how we mishandle the word of God, not in not comprehending the letter, but by not being able to apply the weightier matters of the law. The priests understood the steps that were needed to be taken in the temple, but it was all on a foundation of disobedience because it was not what God had ordained for them to do, and could not be done in a spirit of love (obedience to His commands), just as we must first come to see that our sacrifices and righteousnesses are as filthy rags to God until we are purged and purified by the grace and faith process we are so blessed to be experiencing as His sons.

We are being received today through those fiery trials that enable us to cease from sinning and become obedient children who offer up our praises and thanks day after day and night after night.

1Sa 15:22  And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

Mat 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

Isa 42:19  Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the LORD’S servant?

Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Isa 64:6  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

Psa 19:2  Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.

It is by the grace and faith of Christ that those censors which were supposed to be used to the glory of God are cast to the ground and then through the beating and the bruising, through the melting down and reshaping of the gold of God that He fashions within our hearts, that we can finally become implements that are refined gold fit for the masters use and weaved into the very fabric of God’s temple which we are (2Ti 2:21, 1Co 3:16). It is only after we acknowledge that we have misused the word and abused Christ by not obeying His commandments in thinking that the order that we have done things in our life glorifies God when it doesn’t that we can truly be profitable servants unto our Lord by losing our life. (We all initially bring the censors of God by our own strength, as king Saul deciding what is an acceptable offering unto God only later to hear that God does not accept any sacrifice that is not accompanied with an obedient spirit.

Pro 14:12  There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

1Sa 15:14  And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?

This third and final part of our three part study entitled “Our sufficiency is of God” shows us the joyous conclusion of our life in Christ when there is no more weeping and the fruits of His righteousness are demonstrated in the lives of those who God has called to be one unified body.

Psa 91:9  Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
Psa 91:10  There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
Psa 91:11  For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
Psa 91:12  They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Psa 91:13  Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
Psa 91:14  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.
Psa 91:15  He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
Psa 91:16  With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

Psa 91:9  Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
Psa 91:10  There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

We can easily look at these two verses and think that this must be talking about the protection of our flesh in times of physical trouble. However, upon closer examination and based upon the sum of God’s word, we acknowledge that God was never in the business of preserving our flesh indefinitely (Gen 6:3).

When we make the LORD our refuge and the most HIGH our habitation we are in fact surrendering our life as a living sacrifice to do whatever the Lord would have us do, knowing that that something may not be comfortable for the flesh at all (we must be spiritually older to embrace these truths).

Luk 9:23  And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Joh 21:18 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.

Act 21:13  Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.

Denying ourselves (Luk 9:23) is a process that we are brought to be able to bear through the fervent prayer and strong tears that we offer up to God as one body which in turn will give us the ability to overcome any evil that may befall us, or any spiritual plague that may come near our dwelling.

Luk 22:44  And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

Heb 5:7  Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

We do not wrestle against flesh and blood and neither are we trying to preserve our physical life but rather our spiritual life through the destruction of the carnal physical first man Adam.  We learn that the blessing that God brings to those who are enduring through this process of putting off the fleshly ways of the first man Adam are growing in having minds that are stayed and able to find peace after we endure through the hard part of His judgment, His seven last plagues must come upon us if we are to finally not have “any plague come nigh thy dwelling” (Psa 119:165, Rev 1:8)

Psa 91:11  For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
Psa 91:12  They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

These next two verses transition nicely with the first two verses to show us who it is, and how it is, that we can as one body of Christ find our refuge and habitation in each other, so much so that no evil will befall us neither any plague come near our dwelling.

It takes the whole body to keep us and preserve us in this world and to overcome all the evil and wicked in our own heavens which we tear down through Christ and “his angels [who have] charge over thee [us], to keep thee in all thy ways”.

If we truly are Christ’s body we will not be denying our own body (Eph 5:29), but will be confessing our faults to one another (Jas 5:16), showing our wounds to one another (Joh 20:27, 1Jn 4:17) and not hiding our flesh (Isa 58:7) and being there for one another when we do “dash thy foot against a stone”.

God has placed schisms in the body of Christ for our good, and those fault lines in our spiritual heavens are the very places where the greatest earthquakes are promised to come so that nothing in the end will be able to stand in our lives except Christ and His Christ, which standing is the result of having those schisms destroyed. God is blessing us to deeply learn the lessons that will bring unity in the body of Christ, a unity that can only come about by being given the ability to bear each others burden, even as we must drink a cup of judgment that will destroy the carnal man in us who resists God. These are the hard experiences that we must endure through Christ in order to understand and live lives with the singleness of Christ’s mind which His ways produce, even as we learn that this one event which is common to his body today will in time be experienced by all men in the lake of fire.

Mat 9:16 No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent^G4978 is made worse.

1Co 12:25  That there should be no schism^G4978 in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.
1Co 12:26  And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.

Luk 21:11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

Heb 12:27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Gal 6:2  Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

Mat 20:23  And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

Psa 91:13  Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

This verse speaks of the profound power of God working in the life of His people that needs to be there if the gates of hell are not going to prevail against us. We shall be able to do nothing less than “tread upon the lion and adder” symbols of Satan who wants to be on the seat of our heart which is where God’s throne is.

Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

We are told twice as a witness that it is “the lion and adder” or “the young lion and the dragon” to remind us that it is Christ in us who is the true witness who gives us the ability to “trample under feet” the devil as prophesied in these verses as well in Genesis. This power of God working in the hearts of his people will tear down the strongholds like lightning from heaven making it possible for Christ to continue to abide on the throne of our hearts, making us more than conquerors through him.

Gen 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Rom 16:20  And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

Luk 10:18  And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
Luk 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Rom 8:36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

Psa 91:14  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.
Psa 91:15  He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
Psa 91:16  With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation. 

Behold what manner of love the Father has shown to us or bestowed to us in that “he hath set his love upon me” and know, that because of this relationship of which Christ is the author and finisher, that he will deliver us “therefore will I deliver him” and set us on high, because he hath “known my name” which has been written in heaven that tells me we will be more than conquerors through Christ who loves us. To know God’s name is to have a relationship with him, where we are no longer called servants but friends who know the will of God and understand that this will is being accomplished within our lives through Christ both to will and to do.

1Jn 3:1  Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Php 1:6  Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
Luk 10:20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

Joh 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Therefore because of this heavenly relationship we can “call upon” the Lord and he will answer us in our time of trouble. He will deliver us and even bestow honour upon  us so we are reassured in our hearts of his love and mercy which shall endure until the end of our age.

Psa 50:15  And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

Jer 33:3  Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

Rom 13:7  Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.

Luk 12:32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

To be satisfied with long life is a shadow of the aonian life that God will bestow upon the few who will be shown his salvation in this age in advance of the rest of humanity who will come to know this same salvational event that will occur to all men in time.

Someone once asked how can those in the second resurrection live by every word of God if they can’t experience the first resurrection and the answer is simply they will experience the first resurrection through the elect just as all of His creation will eventually experience all the preeminent events of Christ’s life through Christ where our sufficiency is found and will one day be shared with the rest of the world.

Col 1:18  And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

Oba 1:21  And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.