We are continuing our journey through Psalm 91 and enjoying the promises that this passage discloses concerning our being SET FREE from fearAccording to a survey that I read in a magazine, these are the top ten fears among adults:

In ancient times, it was a common mark of complete victory when the vanquished foe lay prostrate on the ground, and the conqueror placed his foot on the lifeless body of his enemy. From this practice came the metaphor of “treading underfoot”, indicating complete victory.

Psalm 44:5 “Through thee will we push down our enemies; through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us.”Psalm 60:12 “Through God, we shall do valiantly; for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.”

The Psalmist uses this term in places like:

The repetition for emphasis and embellishment indicates the “young lion and the dragon”, the lion in the strength of its youth and the dragon being the most dreadful type of serpent.

Regardless of the snare placed in our path by Satan, since we abide under the shadow of the Almighty, both open and secret enemies are vanquished; they are no match for the ministering spirits, who are the angels that have been appointed unto us, our Jesus delegated authority over them and most of all for our secure position “in Christ Jesus.”

If these are on your list, then it is good for you to take in this series of articles.

Last time we looked at verses 11 & 12, which reveal how the angels are here to protect and serve us.

Today we are going on too:

The lion poetically represents an open and ardent foe. Peter describes the devil as a lion that walks about seeking whom he may devour.

The adder or snake is symbolic of a more secret and malignant foe.

Revelation 20:2 refers to Satan again as “the dragon, that old serpent.”
There is a dramatic change in the flow of these verses. The speaker is now Jehovah God Himself. He addresses the one who “hath set his love upon me”, the persons referred to in Verse 1 “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the highest.”

I might just visit that term “dwell“, here for a moment. It doesn’t mean we just visit now and again. Make a temporary visit on Sunday morning or when you’re in trouble. To “dwell” means to live constantly and continuously, taking up

permanent residence. Living every day in fellowship with our heavenly Father.

The day you accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour, you began to set your love upon Him. You began to know His name, to come to a revelation of all that it means for you and to you.

The problem with many believers is that they have not gone on from that point to develop their love. “Perfect love casteth out all fear.”

This is reflected in the prayer life of people who haven’t begun to enjoy their prayer life.

To so many, they only have a “religious experience” relationship, and their prayer life is impersonal and regimented. We are not human beings having a religious experience. We are spirit beings having a human experience.

A loving relationship must consist of quality and intimate time spent together. Times filled with loving communication. Then that fellowship will grow, and that relationship will mature.

A question that you may want to sit down and ask yourself is this: “Do I know Jesus better now than I did a year ago? Is there a measurable maturity in our fellowship? Could the Lord say of me today, “he hath set his love upon me”?

Those questions were understood in verse 1. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the highest shall abide.”

The Lord, in His promises to us, is taking it from the understanding that we have, and are enjoying, the privileges of our “in Christ” position and that we have set our love upon

Him. We are abiding “in Him.”

God says … “therefore”… “Therefore will I deliver him. I will set him on high.”

As far as Father God is concerned, you are set on high. He’s got your picture up on his bookshelf, and He shows it to everyone. You are the apple of His eye. Zechariah 2:8 says “for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.”

He goes around heaven singing about you. Zephaniah 3:17 “The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.”

He raised you up to sit with Him. Ephesians 2:6-7 “so that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus.”

He wants to show us off to the whole of creation. God, your heavenly Father, loves you and is proud of you.

God your Father says He will answer you!

God never gives you a busy signal. You don’t have a voice coming on the line that says, “This number is busy, but for a .75 charge, we will keep calling it for you.”

You’ll never hear, “all of our customer service representatives are busy at the

moment, but your call is

Important to us, so please stay on the line, and your call will be answered in the order in which it was received.”

You’ll never hear, “If this is a routine dinner grace, press.

1. If it’s a “good night, Lord”, press 2. If it’s an intercessory prayer for a relative or friend, press 3.

If you are calling to see what you’ve prayed for during the last 2 weeks or your current line of available covenant credits, press 4.

If you are in imminent danger, press “0” and the first available angel will take your call. God says: “My line is open 24 hours a day, and I am standing by to take your call personally, so call now.”

Besides, God’s Spirit lives within you so He can always hear you.

“I will be with him in trouble and will deliver him.”

There is trouble in this world, in case you haven’t heard. But if you remember back in Verse 7 it says, “it shall not come to nigh thee.” Verse 10, it’s not coming to your house.

“In me ye might have peace.” What does “in me” mean? It means “dwelling in Him“. We are “in Christ”. We are in the Anointed One and we reap the benefits of His Anointing. That anointing removes the burdens and destroys the yokes of this world.

He said, “in the world ye shall have tribulation.” The

word “world” used here is the Greek word “kosmos.” It can be used in several ways. In this passage, as in many other ones where John uses this term, it refers to the world system, the society, rather than the physical planet earth.

Jesus said, “I am not of this world.”   Paul writes, “Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by renewing your mind…”

The “world” is the system of fallen man. We are to come out from among it, and it’s influence on our lives.

Why, because in this “world,” you will have tribulations.

Jesus said that He had overcome the world. He beat the system. He beat this curse-filled, death-bound world.

He didn’t do it for Himself he did it for you and me. Jesus overcame the world for you.

“Jesus overcame the world for me.”

So how do we get in on His victory? 1 John 5:4-5 “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world; and this

the world, even our faith. Who

would, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”

Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God?

How do you know that, where did you get that information? The Word of God has told you so.

“Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” As we dwell in the Word, the faith within us comes forth.

Your faith in His Word will cause you to walk in victory over the world and the fear it tries to bring.

What does the Word say? It says what this whole Psalm has been telling us.

“I will be with him in trouble” doesn’t mean when you get into trouble, then start calling, it means that even though you and I are living in a world where there is trouble, He and the promises He has made to us will be with us.

Your faith in God’s Word, your immovable stance, your dwelling in Christ’s position, and your acknowledgment of that, will quench those troubles that try to get to you. They’ll not just bounce off they’ll be quenched – put out.

“I will deliver him.”

The Hebrew word for “deliver” means to “set free“. “I will set him free from the troubles.”

You may not feel like that, but the Word says you are, so let’s agree with the Word instead of the things you see around you.

This verse ends with, “and honor him”. We’ll look at that next month. Meanwhile, back to Verse 13, where we started.

We looked at Psalm 44:5 “Through thee will we push down our enemies; through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us.”

Remember that list of fears that we began with?

Maybe your worst fears are on this list. Maybe you have other items of your own. The Word of God has been presented to you to let you know that you have been free from all fear.

Jesus said, “If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” (John 8:36)

You are set free because He has delivered you!

Not long after Moses had led the Children of Israel out of Egypt, they began to complain about everything.

Moses found it so strange that they would want to return to that place of slavery and bondage.

These people were now experiencing something that they had never known – freedom before. It was a strange concept for them because they had never known anything else.

They had been told when to get up in the morning, how they were to dress, what they were to eat, and where they were to work. They were told how to work and what they were to do to please the Pharaoh.

Now suddenly, they were set free from all of that cruel treatment. Set free from oppression. Set free to live, love, and be happy. Set free to worship God without persecution.

Could life have been any better? Yet they were so used to being in bondage they didn’t know how to enjoy their freedom. It seemed so unnatural and too good to be true. Many of them wanted to go back to Egypt.

During the days of the communist rule in Soviet Russia, the people were told where they could work, how much they could earn, and where and when (if ever) they could travel.

They were told how to think. Told that the government knew what was best for them.

Freedom of thought and expression were banded. Freedom of worship was gone.

When one walked through the streets or even into the hallways of an apartment block you did not talk. Spies were everywhere. “Big Brother” was watching their every move.

This reminds me of that children’s Christmas song about Santa Claus. Remember that line that goes: “He sees you when you’re sleeping, He knows when your awake, He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake.” Some people think God is like that, ever ready to put “coal in your stocking” because you’ve been bad.

For centuries, in the Church, it was, and for many today, it still is, much like that. People are afraid of offending God and afraid that He will judge them.

When church leaders heap condemnation on Christians,

keeping them in religious slavery, they are much like the taskmasters of Egypt and the Soviet KGB after them

When the Soviet Communist party fell, many danced in the streets, enjoying their newfound freedom. Because that generation had been brought up under the Communist system they didn’t know what to do with their freedom. They were afraid of it. There are some amongst them even today that wants to go back to Communism.

Paul had that problem with the Galatians. 3:1 You crazy Galatians! Did someone put a hex on you? Have you taken leave of your senses?

Grace! It just seemed too good to be true.

How could God be so full of grace and love? To the Jews, that just didn’t seem normal.

As I share with people about the grace of God and the freedom we have “in Christ Jesus”, they don’t know what to make of it. They are so used to living under condemnation that it seems strange to live free from guilt, sin, and condemnation.

Yet Romans 8:1 makes it so clear. “There is, therefore, now no condemnation to those who

are in Christ Jesus”

Life “in Christ Jesus” is a life of freedom and joy.

Some folks will hear that, get a taste of it, and then, wham! – they want to go back to Egypt!

They say, “Just give me 10 simple commandments that I can follow, and I can live with that.” The Children of Israel couldn’t do it – what makes you think you can?

Under the grace that we enjoy in the New Covenant, we don’t have 10 Commandments, we only have two.

Mark 12:30-31 30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the

first commandment. 31 And the second is like this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

We now live under the law of love. The New Covenant of grace. Why would you want to return to that old way of living or thinking?

Modern-day Judaizers will try to get you to go back to living under the Law of sin and death. But don’t you fall for that. Enjoy your freedom! Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.