My Sheep Listen To My Voice

June 12, 2017

My Sheep Listen To My Voice

“You who live in the shelter of the Most High,

   who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,

 will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress;

   my God, in whom I trust.’

Psalm 91:1-2 (NRSV)

Psalm 91 contains some of the most beautiful prose in the psalter. While the prose is beautiful, it may not always reflect our personal experience. Actually, try to think of one person in the Bible, or in the history of the church, who has literally experienced the Godly protection enumerated in this psalm. How then can we embrace the prose of “You who live in the shelter of the Most High” as we seek the life in Christ as our way of life?

When Jesus went into the wilderness after his baptism, he was tempted by Satan. For his second temptation, Satan quoted verses 11-12 of Psalm 91,

“Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say,

‘He will order his angels to protect you.

And they will hold you up with their hands

    so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”

(Psalm 91 quoted in Matthew 4:5-6).

The angels didn’t protect Jesus from death on the cross. However, the cross didn’t end Jesus’ life; he arose from the grave! This truth that the grave didn’t conquer Jesus’ life points us to the eternal significance Psalm 91 has for our lives as well. We need to always remember Jesus’ discussion of the vine and branches. He said “If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5b). The Apostle Paul referred to our remaining in Christ, or being “in Christ,” over and over in his epistles. For the followers of Jesus, the opening line of Psalm 91, “You who live in the shelter of the Most High” refers to our new life in Christ: “For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). Because our life is in Christ, we can rest in His promise:

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”

(John 10:27-30)

Yes, there are most certainly many dangers, toils and snares in life. It is grace that has kept us in Christ thus far, and grace will lead all the way home.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 Copyright © 2017 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.