Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 91:3

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 91:3. Surely he shall deliver thee — If thou wilt act thus, then the God in whom thou trustest will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, from all the devices of Satan, and from all dangerous maladies. As the original word, דבר dabar, signifies a word spoken, and deber, the same letters, signifies pestilence; so some translate one way, and some another: he shall deliver thee from the evil and slanderous word; he shall deliver thee from the noisome pestilence - all blasting and injurious winds, effluvia, &c.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 9:01God our protector

This psalm appears to have been used in temple worship in a time of danger. A lone singer opens with a statement of the security and protection enjoyed by those who trust in God and live their lives constantly in God’s presence (1-2).
The singer then addresses his remarks directly to such believers. God will protect them from dangers, both seen and unseen, both by day and by night. Neither cruel enemies nor deadly diseases will overcome them. God will guard their lives as a mother bird guards her young and as a soldier guards his fortress (3-6). Others may fall, but those who trust in the Most High will be safe (7-8). Because they have committed themselves to God’s safe-keeping in complete faith, God will direct his angels to watch over them with special care (9-12). They will triumph over the strong and fierce, the cunning and deceitful (13).
Another singer, representing God, adds his blessing. He notes that such believers have a close personal knowledge of God, love him and talk with him; consequently, God will protect, deliver, guide, comfort and honour them. He will give them the blessing of long life by which they can enjoy God’s salvation to the full (14-16).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

Security of the True Worshipper of God

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of Jehovah, He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in whom I trust. For he will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, And from the deadly pestilence. He will cover thee with his pinions, And under his wings shalt thou take refuge; His truth is a shield and a buckler."

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High" "`The secret place' is here generally understood to mean `the temple' or `tabernacle,' but `one's dwelling there' is not a reference to persons actually living in the temple. It seems rather to mean those who consistently worship the God who is enshrined there, or to, "Those who make the temple of God their habitual resort."Ibid.

"He will deliver thee" Two perils are mentioned here, (1) the snare of the fowler, and (2) the deadly pestilence. Both of these indicate the type of peril that is unseen, striking the strong and the weak alike. "The snare of the fowler is a metaphor for evil plots,"Derek Kidner, Vol. II, p. 332. that might inflict loss or even death. The other danger here is "the deadly pestilence." The human race is never exempt from the ravages of mortal illnesses that come about from the spread of infectious diseases. The `Black Death' (the bubonic plague) of the 14th Century wiped out the majority of the population of Europe; and Durant declared that, "One-fourth of the population of the civilized world perished, the deaths in Europe alone reaching 25,000,000."Will and Ariel Durant, "The Reformation," p. 64.

The great pestilence of 1918 was the swine flu which wiped out more people in the United States than our nation lost in World War I.

The threat of such things, held partially in check by the diligence of the medical profession, is nevertheless perpetual. All kinds of fatal diseases lie submerged within the microscopic life surrounding all men, and any of these may break forth at any time. A recent example is AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome).

"He will cover thee" God's protection of his own is assured in words such as these. From the New Testament, we learn that God's children are by no means to be protected from death from every threat and at all times. What is meant is that God will protect them even "through death." Our Lord spoke of Christians who would even be put to death, saying, "But not a hair of your head shall perish" (Luke 21:18).

This does not deny that the Providence of God does indeed provide protection from the most terrible dangers for those who truly love him, doing so now in this present earthly life.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler - The snare or gin set for catching birds; meaning, here, that God would save him from the purposes of wicked people; such purposes as might be compared with the devices employed to catch birds. On the meaning of the figure used here, see the notes at Psalms 18:5.

And from the noisome pestilence - The “fatal” pestilence; the pestilence that spreads death in its march. That is, he can prevent its coming upon you; or, he can save you from its ravages, while others are dying around you. This promise is not to be understood as absolute, or as meaning that no one who fears God will ever fall by the pestilence - for good people “do” die at such times as well as bad people; but the idea is, that God “can” preserve us at such a time and that, as a great law, he will be thus the protector of those who trust him. It is to be remembered that in times of pestilence (as was the case during the prevalence of the Asiatic cholera in 1832 and 1848), very many of the victims are the intemperate, the sensual, the debased, and that a life of this kind is a predisposing cause of death in such visitations of judgment. A large part of those who die are of that number. From the danger arising from this cause, of course the virtuous, the temperate, the pious are exempt; and this is one of the methods by which God saves those who trust in him from the “noisome pestilence.” Religion, therefore, to a considerable extent, constitutes a ground of security at such times; nor is there any reason to doubt that, in many cases also, there may be a special interposition protecting the friends of God from danger, and sparing them for future usefulness. The promise here is substantially that general promise which we have in the Scriptures everywhere, that God is the Protector of his people, and that they may put their trust in him.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

In verse third the Psalmist expresses his assurance that the trust of which he had spoken would not be vain and delusory, but that God would prove at all times the deliverer of his people. He is evidently to be considered as addressing himself, and in this way encouraging his own heart to hope in the Lord. Some think that by the snare of the fowler, spoken of here in connection with the pestilence, is to be understood hidden mischief as distinguished from open aggression, and that the Psalmist declares the Divine protection to be sufficient for him, whether Satan should attack him openly and violently or by more secret and subtle methods. I would not reject this interpretation; for though some may think that the words should be taken in their simpler acceptation, the Psalmist most probably intended under these terms to denote all different kinds of evil, and to teach us that God was willing and able to deliver us from any of them.

Smith's Bible Commentary

So let's turn to Psalms 91:1-16 that we might begin our Bible study this evening.

Psalms 91:1-16 brings up the question of just where are you living? There is a place that you might live that is surely the most glorious place to live in all the world.

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty ( Psalms 91:1 ).

There's a place that you and I can live, in Christ Jesus. A place of glorious safety, a place of glorious peace, of joy, where I experience God's power and God's protection, God's goodness.

I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge, my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. For surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence ( Psalms 91:2-3 ).

Now in days gone by, bird trapping was quite an art. Without guns to shoot your quail or your dove or your ducks, you'd have to trap them. And so the traps that were set for the birds were called the snares of the fowler. The trap for various game fowl in different types of traps. When you're bringing this over to a spiritual connotation, Satan has set a lot of traps for us. And in a spiritual connotation here, the fowler is actually Satan and you're the one that he's seeking to trap. But surely He will deliver you from every snare that Satan may set for you. "Surely He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence."

For he shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler ( Psalms 91:4 ).

In the New Testament, in the book of Ephesians we are told concerning putting on the full armor of God. Here in the Old Testament, we find the armor of the Lord, His truth, is a shield to us, a buckler.

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Now because ( Psalms 91:5-9 )

Going back, "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High,"

Because you have made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the Most High, your habitation ( Psalms 91:9 );

Or your place of dwelling. If you will but just dwell in Him,

There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone ( Psalms 91:10-12 ).

Now when Jesus was being tempted by Satan, Satan quoted this particular passage of scripture to Him, as he took Him up to the pinnacle of the temple and he suggested that He jump off. For Satan said, "It is written, 'He shall give His angels charge over thee: to keep thee in thy ways, to bear thee up, lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone.' So why don't You jump? See if the angels will hold you up." Jesus said, "It is written again, 'Thou shalt not tempt, or test, the Lord thy God'" ( Matthew 4:6-7 ). You are not to put yourself deliberately in a place of jeopardy just to test the scriptures. It is tragic that every once in a while we read how down in the mountains of Kentucky the cult that is down there that handles rattlesnakes because it says if they take up serpents, they shall not harm them.

Or they test their faith every once in a while by drinking strychnine. But that is not what God means in Mark's gospel when He said, "If they drink any deadly thing it shall not harm them" ( Mark 16:18 ). God never intended for us to just go around and test our faith by deliberately putting ourselves in jeopardy. If the cultist people down there would only read the full body of scripture, rather than taking isolated verses, they would never follow... they would never fall into those kind of unscriptural practices. God has promised that His angels will have charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways.

In the book of Hebrews, talking of angels, it said, "Are they not all ministering spirits, who have been sent forth to minister unto you who are heirs of salvation?" ( Hebrews 1:14 ) Now there is a vast number of heavenly hosts that are known as angels. These angels have different rankings, categories. There are cherubim, a special class of angels. There is a mention in the scripture of archangels, which seem to be the highest form of angelic being. Michael being an archangel. It is also thought that Gabriel is an archangel, though I do not know that the scripture gives to him that title. But angels of great authority and power. Then there are angels, it would seem, that rank under them in authority.

The New Testament does rank the heavenly beings as principalities, powers, mights, dominions, thrones and authorities. Various rankings of the angelic beings. It's more or less like saying, lieutenants and sergeants and corporals and privates, as far as their having rankings in the angelic realm. Just when the angels were created is not specified in the scriptures. But the angels were created as servants of God, and their duty is that of serving the Lord and of serving those who are following after the Lord. "He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy way. To bear thee up lest at any time you would dash your foot against a stone."

Angels seem to be spirits that are capable of taking on a bodily form. In the Old Testament, many times we find angels taking on a human form. In the New Testament we also found angels taking on human form. When Peter was in prison, the angel came to him and said, "Put your shoes on and follow me." And Peter tied on his sandals and followed the angels as the prison doors opened of their own accord, until the angel let him out into the street. And then the angel left him. And suddenly Peter woke up to the fact that he was free. He thought he was having a vision. But all of a sudden, he feels the chill night air and he says, "Wow, it's not a vision. I'm actually out of that place, you know." And so he headed for the place where the church was meeting and praying for him. Paul the apostle spoke about, "Last night, an angel of the Lord stood by me and he assured me that though the ship is going to be destroyed, there will be no loss of life" ( Acts 27:22-24 ). And he spoke about how the angel had visited him and ministered to him. Of course, we read of the angels ministering to Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. And we are told in Hebrews that we ought to be careful to entertain strangers, for it's very possible that you might be entertaining angels without knowing it.

Now there has been a book written recently concerning angels on assignment. And though I do not doubt that angels do visit, can visit; yet there are certain aspects to that book that I find very troubling. I don't want to be guilty of limiting God or judging another man's experiences, except as they measure up to the scriptures. And let the scripture judge. And there are certain things that the angel Gabriel supposedly told Pastor Buck that I do not feel are scriptural. And thus, I have to question in my own mind the validity of the story. I think that Pastor Buck was a very dear man of God, a true servant of the Lord. I do not know but what maybe in his latter years, because of his heart problems that he wasn't getting enough oxygen to the brain. I do not know, but as I say, I have to question a part of the story of the visitation of the angels.

Now, the angels were created by God; they are a created being of God, and it would seem, well not seem, it is true that they were created with a free will, just as you have been created with a free will. And one of the angels exercised his will against God. And in the fourteenth chapter of Isaiah, we read how that Satan, in exercising his will against God, exalting himself over against God, declaring that he would be like God, was cast forth. A fallen angel. There is a hint in the twelfth chapter of the book of Revelation that one-third of the angels went with Satan when he rebelled against the Lord. "The dragon cast forth out of heaven and with his tail, he drew a third part of the stars" ( Revelation 12:3-4 ). And the word stars is a word that is often used for angels.

We do know that there are evil spirits in the world under Satan's guidance and control, as well as the good spirits, the angels of God that are obedient to their first estate. Yet, there are "angels which kept not their first estate, which are reserved in chains awaiting the day of judgment" ( Jude 1:6 ).

Just what are the full characteristics and all of angels, we do not know. It would appear that before the flood, the angels were coming down and involving themselves in physical relationships with women so that giants were born. And these could be the angels to which the scripture refers, those which kept not their first estate and are now being reserved in the chains awaiting the day of judgment.

I am convinced that there are angels that God has assigned to watch over us. I've never seen, to my knowledge, an angel, outside of my wife. I would be less than honest if I would say I wouldn't like to see an angel. I think it'd be a very exciting experience. I think it'd be quite exciting to meet an angel and to know that they were an angel, and to... well, I'd like to meet the angel that's supposed to be guarding me. I'd like to know where he was a few times.

Now let me tell you something. There have been some times when I knew he was there. There were times when there was no way I could have gotten out of it unless the angel of the Lord just had his hand upon my life or upon my car and all. And there are times when I know that the only thing that kept me was the angel of the Lord. I've had some very interesting experiences where I am sure the angel of the Lord was involved in keeping me from things where I was innocently being drawn into some very dangerous areas. Where the angel of the Lord intervened in a marvelous way to keep me from getting into some real trouble.

When I was in high school here in Santa Ana, I saw my dream car on South Main Street. Smitty mufflers, fog lights, dual spots, Buick skirts, little three-window '36 Ford Coupe. Oh man, black, was that thing beautiful. I lusted after that car. And I had a buddy that I was running around with at the time and I had half the money and we were going to go into a partnership on a car. It never would have worked, but we were going to... you know, you want something bad enough you dream all ways to get it. And he had a '36 Ford, but it was, you know, one of those longer kind of things. It just wasn't a pretty one. So he said, "Well, my dad lives up in Glendale, and I have at my dad's house some adding machines and typewriters and I can sell them for enough to get my half for the car. Let's go up to my dad's house." So we went by and saw my mom and I said, "We're going to go up and spend the night in Glendale and at his dad's house. We'll be home tomorrow." And so we took off in his car for Glendale. At that time, Firestone Boulevard was the way into Los Angeles, the three-lane highway. And during the war, gas rationing, and just very few cars on the road at night. You can't... living here now you can't believe how it was then.

We were way out in the country near Buena Park when the motor died on his car. And so we pushed, popped the clutch and everything else. Tried to get the thing going. Pushed it for, oh I guess four or five blocks, and there was a little gas station that was there. And so he said, "I think it's the coil." I mean, "I think it's the condenser or something," and he didn't know anything about mechanics. But anyhow, we went into this service station. Old man in there, and he had a big mean police dog and he wasn't very friendly and didn't have any parts or anything. So we were tired of pushing and so we decided we'd turn the car around, head it back towards Santa Ana. And then we'd wait for a car to come along and we'd flag it and ask him, we'd tell him we're having a hard time getting it started, would they give us a shove? We figured we'd just leave it in neutral; let them shove till they got tired. And then we wait for the next car to come. And there we were, way out in the country, and there was no way to get home.

So we were sitting there, talking and all, talking about how we'd get this car and all this kind of stuff and all excited about the prospects of buying this hot little Ford, and so after a while, five minutes or so, a car was coming down the road. And so he jumped out so he could flag the car and just out of... I just slipped over to the driver's side and I hit the starter once more, and the thing fired up. So he ran around and got in on the passenger side, he says, "Well, you got it going, so let's go." So we took off for Santa Ana. Got back to Lee's Drive-In out there on Manchester and stopped and got a Coke and hamburger, saw a bunch of kids from high school.

So we started on then down to my house, and as we turned off on Flower Street, we were getting near Santa Clara, and he said, "Hey, your parents aren't expecting you home." I said, "Nope." He said, "My dad doesn't know we're coming." He said, "So why don't we just turn around and go back up to Glendale, because it doesn't matter what time we get to my dad's house, you know. Your mom's not expecting you home anyhow." So I said, "Why not." So he started to pull a U-turn there on Santa Clara and the car died again, and simultaneously three tires blew out. Just pop, pop, pop. I mean, we were dead.

I lived up on North Broadway at the time, so we just walked down to my house and got on my bike and I rode him on my bike over to his house and got home. And before we could go up to Glendale again, we had sort of parted company and given up on the little Ford idea and just let it pass.

About a year later, there was a knock on our door. I answered it. The guy introduced himself and showed me an ID and he said, "I'm with the FBI. I'd like to talk to you." I said, "Sure." He said, "What do you know about some typewriters up in Glendale? Adding machines." I said, "Well, all I know is that I was headed up there one night to get some with this fellow," and I said, "but we had car trouble and we never made it." He said, "You can thank your lucky stars you had car trouble." He stole them from some government place and felony and so forth. And when he told me the story, I said, "Well, I'm not going to thank my lucky stars, I'm going to thank my angel." And suddenly I got the picture of that angel holding the coils and getting a shock stopping that stupid car, you know. Then popping the tires as he left just to make sure we wouldn't go anywhere.

I'm convinced. You can't you can't convince me otherwise; I'm convinced the angel of the Lord was watching over me. Interesting thing, when I got back in the house at home, my mom was out in the living room praying. She said, "Oh, son, I'm so glad to see you came home tonight." She said, "I was really worried about the trip. I just didn't feel right about it and I've just been praying for you." Of course, I didn't know at that time. I said, "Well, thanks, Mom," but I didn't know at that time the full story. But oh, I'm certain that there... when we get to heaven, we're going to learn a lot of things that we were spared from. And maybe at the time we looked at it as bad luck or misfortune or, "Oh, man," you know. And yet, God was watching over. God was keeping us. "He shall give His angels charge over thee. To bear thee up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone."

For thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet ( Psalms 91:13 ).

Now we have a change of voice in verse Psalms 91:14 . In the change of voice, we have God's response now. The psalmist has been declaring the advantages and the blessings of living in a certain place. In the secret place of the Most High. Making God your dwelling place. Now God responds to that whole idea. And God says,

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. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation ( Psalms 91:14-16 ).

God's glorious response to that person who is dwelling in the secret place of the Most High. Because you've set your love upon God, God said, "This is what I'm going to do for you: deliver you, set you on high. I will answer you. I will be with you in trouble. I will deliver and honor you." Praise the Lord. So let's turn to Psalms 91:1-16 that we might begin our Bible study this evening.

Psalms 91:1-16 brings up the question of just where are you living? There is a place that you might live that is surely the most glorious place to live in all the world.

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty ( Psalms 91:1 ).

There's a place that you and I can live, in Christ Jesus. A place of glorious safety, a place of glorious peace, of joy, where I experience God's power and God's protection, God's goodness.

I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge, my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. For surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence ( Psalms 91:2-3 ).

Now in days gone by, bird trapping was quite an art. Without guns to shoot your quail or your dove or your ducks, you'd have to trap them. And so the traps that were set for the birds were called the snares of the fowler. The trap for various game fowl in different types of traps. When you're bringing this over to a spiritual connotation, Satan has set a lot of traps for us. And in a spiritual connotation here, the fowler is actually Satan and you're the one that he's seeking to trap. But surely He will deliver you from every snare that Satan may set for you. "Surely He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence."

For he shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler ( Psalms 91:4 ).

In the New Testament, in the book of Ephesians we are told concerning putting on the full armor of God. Here in the Old Testament, we find the armor of the Lord, His truth, is a shield to us, a buckler.

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Now because ( Psalms 91:5-9 )

Going back, "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High,"

Because you have made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the Most High, your habitation ( Psalms 91:9 );

Or your place of dwelling. If you will but just dwell in Him,

There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone ( Psalms 91:10-12 ).

Now when Jesus was being tempted by Satan, Satan quoted this particular passage of scripture to Him, as he took Him up to the pinnacle of the temple and he suggested that He jump off. For Satan said, "It is written, 'He shall give His angels charge over thee: to keep thee in thy ways, to bear thee up, lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone.' So why don't You jump? See if the angels will hold you up." Jesus said, "It is written again, 'Thou shalt not tempt, or test, the Lord thy God'" ( Matthew 4:6-7 ). You are not to put yourself deliberately in a place of jeopardy just to test the scriptures. It is tragic that every once in a while we read how down in the mountains of Kentucky the cult that is down there that handles rattlesnakes because it says if they take up serpents, they shall not harm them.

Or they test their faith every once in a while by drinking strychnine. But that is not what God means in Mark's gospel when He said, "If they drink any deadly thing it shall not harm them" ( Mark 16:18 ). God never intended for us to just go around and test our faith by deliberately putting ourselves in jeopardy. If the cultist people down there would only read the full body of scripture, rather than taking isolated verses, they would never follow... they would never fall into those kind of unscriptural practices. God has promised that His angels will have charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways.

In the book of Hebrews, talking of angels, it said, "Are they not all ministering spirits, who have been sent forth to minister unto you who are heirs of salvation?" ( Hebrews 1:14 ) Now there is a vast number of heavenly hosts that are known as angels. These angels have different rankings, categories. There are cherubim, a special class of angels. There is a mention in the scripture of archangels, which seem to be the highest form of angelic being. Michael being an archangel. It is also thought that Gabriel is an archangel, though I do not know that the scripture gives to him that title. But angels of great authority and power. Then there are angels, it would seem, that rank under them in authority.

The New Testament does rank the heavenly beings as principalities, powers, mights, dominions, thrones and authorities. Various rankings of the angelic beings. It's more or less like saying, lieutenants and sergeants and corporals and privates, as far as their having rankings in the angelic realm. Just when the angels were created is not specified in the scriptures. But the angels were created as servants of God, and their duty is that of serving the Lord and of serving those who are following after the Lord. "He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy way. To bear thee up lest at any time you would dash your foot against a stone."

Angels seem to be spirits that are capable of taking on a bodily form. In the Old Testament, many times we find angels taking on a human form. In the New Testament we also found angels taking on human form. When Peter was in prison, the angel came to him and said, "Put your shoes on and follow me." And Peter tied on his sandals and followed the angels as the prison doors opened of their own accord, until the angel let him out into the street. And then the angel left him. And suddenly Peter woke up to the fact that he was free. He thought he was having a vision. But all of a sudden, he feels the chill night air and he says, "Wow, it's not a vision. I'm actually out of that place, you know." And so he headed for the place where the church was meeting and praying for him. Paul the apostle spoke about, "Last night, an angel of the Lord stood by me and he assured me that though the ship is going to be destroyed, there will be no loss of life" ( Acts 27:22-24 ). And he spoke about how the angel had visited him and ministered to him. Of course, we read of the angels ministering to Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. And we are told in Hebrews that we ought to be careful to entertain strangers, for it's very possible that you might be entertaining angels without knowing it.

Now there has been a book written recently concerning angels on assignment. And though I do not doubt that angels do visit, can visit; yet there are certain aspects to that book that I find very troubling. I don't want to be guilty of limiting God or judging another man's experiences, except as they measure up to the scriptures. And let the scripture judge. And there are certain things that the angel Gabriel supposedly told Pastor Buck that I do not feel are scriptural. And thus, I have to question in my own mind the validity of the story. I think that Pastor Buck was a very dear man of God, a true servant of the Lord. I do not know but what maybe in his latter years, because of his heart problems that he wasn't getting enough oxygen to the brain. I do not know, but as I say, I have to question a part of the story of the visitation of the angels.

Now, the angels were created by God; they are a created being of God, and it would seem, well not seem, it is true that they were created with a free will, just as you have been created with a free will. And one of the angels exercised his will against God. And in the fourteenth chapter of Isaiah, we read how that Satan, in exercising his will against God, exalting himself over against God, declaring that he would be like God, was cast forth. A fallen angel. There is a hint in the twelfth chapter of the book of Revelation that one-third of the angels went with Satan when he rebelled against the Lord. "The dragon cast forth out of heaven and with his tail, he drew a third part of the stars" ( Revelation 12:3-4 ). And the word stars is a word that is often used for angels.

We do know that there are evil spirits in the world under Satan's guidance and control, as well as the good spirits, the angels of God that are obedient to their first estate. Yet, there are "angels which kept not their first estate, which are reserved in chains awaiting the day of judgment" ( Jude 1:6 ).

Just what are the full characteristics and all of angels, we do not know. It would appear that before the flood, the angels were coming down and involving themselves in physical relationships with women so that giants were born. And these could be the angels to which the scripture refers, those which kept not their first estate and are now being reserved in the chains awaiting the day of judgment.

I am convinced that there are angels that God has assigned to watch over us. I've never seen, to my knowledge, an angel, outside of my wife. I would be less than honest if I would say I wouldn't like to see an angel. I think it'd be a very exciting experience. I think it'd be quite exciting to meet an angel and to know that they were an angel, and to... well, I'd like to meet the angel that's supposed to be guarding me. I'd like to know where he was a few times.

Now let me tell you something. There have been some times when I knew he was there. There were times when there was no way I could have gotten out of it unless the angel of the Lord just had his hand upon my life or upon my car and all. And there are times when I know that the only thing that kept me was the angel of the Lord. I've had some very interesting experiences where I am sure the angel of the Lord was involved in keeping me from things where I was innocently being drawn into some very dangerous areas. Where the angel of the Lord intervened in a marvelous way to keep me from getting into some real trouble.

When I was in high school here in Santa Ana, I saw my dream car on South Main Street. Smitty mufflers, fog lights, dual spots, Buick skirts, little three-window '36 Ford Coupe. Oh man, black, was that thing beautiful. I lusted after that car. And I had a buddy that I was running around with at the time and I had half the money and we were going to go into a partnership on a car. It never would have worked, but we were going to... you know, you want something bad enough you dream all ways to get it. And he had a '36 Ford, but it was, you know, one of those longer kind of things. It just wasn't a pretty one. So he said, "Well, my dad lives up in Glendale, and I have at my dad's house some adding machines and typewriters and I can sell them for enough to get my half for the car. Let's go up to my dad's house." So we went by and saw my mom and I said, "We're going to go up and spend the night in Glendale and at his dad's house. We'll be home tomorrow." And so we took off in his car for Glendale. At that time, Firestone Boulevard was the way into Los Angeles, the three-lane highway. And during the war, gas rationing, and just very few cars on the road at night. You can't... living here now you can't believe how it was then.

We were way out in the country near Buena Park when the motor died on his car. And so we pushed, popped the clutch and everything else. Tried to get the thing going. Pushed it for, oh I guess four or five blocks, and there was a little gas station that was there. And so he said, "I think it's the coil." I mean, "I think it's the condenser or something," and he didn't know anything about mechanics. But anyhow, we went into this service station. Old man in there, and he had a big mean police dog and he wasn't very friendly and didn't have any parts or anything. So we were tired of pushing and so we decided we'd turn the car around, head it back towards Santa Ana. And then we'd wait for a car to come along and we'd flag it and ask him, we'd tell him we're having a hard time getting it started, would they give us a shove? We figured we'd just leave it in neutral; let them shove till they got tired. And then we wait for the next car to come. And there we were, way out in the country, and there was no way to get home.

So we were sitting there, talking and all, talking about how we'd get this car and all this kind of stuff and all excited about the prospects of buying this hot little Ford, and so after a while, five minutes or so, a car was coming down the road. And so he jumped out so he could flag the car and just out of... I just slipped over to the driver's side and I hit the starter once more, and the thing fired up. So he ran around and got in on the passenger side, he says, "Well, you got it going, so let's go." So we took off for Santa Ana. Got back to Lee's Drive-In out there on Manchester and stopped and got a Coke and hamburger, saw a bunch of kids from high school.

So we started on then down to my house, and as we turned off on Flower Street, we were getting near Santa Clara, and he said, "Hey, your parents aren't expecting you home." I said, "Nope." He said, "My dad doesn't know we're coming." He said, "So why don't we just turn around and go back up to Glendale, because it doesn't matter what time we get to my dad's house, you know. Your mom's not expecting you home anyhow." So I said, "Why not." So he started to pull a U-turn there on Santa Clara and the car died again, and simultaneously three tires blew out. Just pop, pop, pop. I mean, we were dead.

I lived up on North Broadway at the time, so we just walked down to my house and got on my bike and I rode him on my bike over to his house and got home. And before we could go up to Glendale again, we had sort of parted company and given up on the little Ford idea and just let it pass.

About a year later, there was a knock on our door. I answered it. The guy introduced himself and showed me an ID and he said, "I'm with the FBI. I'd like to talk to you." I said, "Sure." He said, "What do you know about some typewriters up in Glendale? Adding machines." I said, "Well, all I know is that I was headed up there one night to get some with this fellow," and I said, "but we had car trouble and we never made it." He said, "You can thank your lucky stars you had car trouble." He stole them from some government place and felony and so forth. And when he told me the story, I said, "Well, I'm not going to thank my lucky stars, I'm going to thank my angel." And suddenly I got the picture of that angel holding the coils and getting a shock stopping that stupid car, you know. Then popping the tires as he left just to make sure we wouldn't go anywhere.

I'm convinced. You can't you can't convince me otherwise; I'm convinced the angel of the Lord was watching over me. Interesting thing, when I got back in the house at home, my mom was out in the living room praying. She said, "Oh, son, I'm so glad to see you came home tonight." She said, "I was really worried about the trip. I just didn't feel right about it and I've just been praying for you." Of course, I didn't know at that time. I said, "Well, thanks, Mom," but I didn't know at that time the full story. But oh, I'm certain that there... when we get to heaven, we're going to learn a lot of things that we were spared from. And maybe at the time we looked at it as bad luck or misfortune or, "Oh, man," you know. And yet, God was watching over. God was keeping us. "He shall give His angels charge over thee. To bear thee up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone."

For thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet ( Psalms 91:13 ).

Now we have a change of voice in verse Psalms 91:14 . In the change of voice, we have God's response now. The psalmist has been declaring the advantages and the blessings of living in a certain place. In the secret place of the Most High. Making God your dwelling place. Now God responds to that whole idea. And God says,

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. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation ( Psalms 91:14-16 ).

God's glorious response to that person who is dwelling in the secret place of the Most High. Because you've set your love upon God, God said, "This is what I'm going to do for you: deliver you, set you on high. I will answer you. I will be with you in trouble. I will deliver and honor you." Praise the Lord.

"

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 91

This wisdom psalm focuses on security in life, an idea present in Psalms 90. The writer knew that God provides security. It is a psalm for situations involving danger, exposure, or vulnerability.

"This remarkable psalm speaks with great specificity, and yet with a kind of porousness, so that the language is enormously open to each one’s particular experience. Its tone is somewhat instructional, as though reassuring someone else who is unsure. Yet the assurance is not didactic, but confessional. It is a personal testimony of someone whose own experience makes the assurance of faith convincing and authentic." [Note: Brueggemann, p. 156.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

God saves us from those who insidiously try to trap us and from deadly diseases. He does this as a mother bird does when she covers her young with her wings, namely, tenderly and carefully. He provides as sure a defense as a shield or large rampart can.

Consequently, the believer can be at peace and not fear attacks at any time (Psalms 91:5-6). Those who fall by our side (Psalms 91:7) are those who do not trust in the Lord. The believer is invincible until his or her time is up. We will see the wicked fall around us, but God will sustain us. Nothing can touch us except what He permits, nor can any rebel escape His retribution (Psalms 91:8).

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

2. The deliverance God provides 91:3-13

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler,.... These are the words of the psalmist, either speaking to himself, for the encouragement of his own faith and trust in the Lord; or to the man that dwells in the secret place, and under the shadow of the most High; which latter seems most agreeable; though Cocceius thinks they are the words of God in one of his Persons, speaking of another divine Person that should deliver such that trust in him: the Targum makes them to be the words of David to Solomon his son. By the "fowler" and his "snare" may be meant either Saul, who laid wait for David, spread snares for him, and hunted him as a partridge on the mountains, from whom he was delivered; or rather any tyrannical enemy and persecutor of the saints, who lay snares for them; and these are broken by the Lord, and so they escape, as a bird out of the hands of the fowler, Psalms 124:6 or it may, best of all, be understood of Satan and his temptations, which are as snares that he lays to catch the people of God in, and from which they are delivered by the power and grace of God; see 1 Timothy 3:7

and from the noisome pestilence; the most pernicious and destructive one; which may be literally understood of any pestilential distemper; from which the Lord, by his powerful providence, sometimes protects his people, when in danger of it: or, spiritually, of the pestilential disease of sin, that noisome and deadly one, the plague of the heart, which is the worst of all plagues; and from the ruinous and destructive effects and consequences of which the Lord saves his saints.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.   2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.   3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.   4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.   5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;   6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.   7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.   8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.

      In these verses we have,

      I. A great truth laid down in general, That all those who live a life of communion with God are constantly safe under his protection, and may therefore preserve a holy serenity and security of mind at all times (Psalms 91:1; Psalms 91:1): He that dwells, that sits down, in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty; he that by faith chooses God for his guardian shall find all that in him which he needs or can desire. Note, 1. It is the character of a true believer that he dwells in the secret place of the Most High; he is at home in God, returns to God, and reposes in him as his rest; he acquaints himself with inward religion, and makes heart-work of the service of God, worships within the veil, and loves to be alone with God, to converse with him in solitude. 2. It is the privilege and comfort of those that do so that they abide under the shadow of the Almighty; he shelters them, and comes between them and every thing that would annoy them, whether storm or sunshine. They shall not only have an admittance, but a residence, under God's protection; he will be their rest and refuge for ever.

      II. The psalmist's comfortable application of this to himself (Psalms 91:2; Psalms 91:2): I will say of the Lord, whatever others say of him, "He is my refuge; I choose him as such, and confide in him. Others make idols their refuge, but I will say of Jehovah, the true and living God, He is my refuge: any other is a refuge of lies. He is a refuge that will not fail me; for he is my fortress and strong-hold." Idolaters called their idols Mahuzzim, their most strong-hold (Daniel 11:39), but therein they deceived themselves; those only secure themselves that make the Lord their God, their fortress. There being no reason to question his sufficiency, fitly does it follow, In him will I trust. If Jehovah be our God, our refuge, and our fortress, what can we desire which we may not be sure to find in him? He is neither fickle nor false, neither weak nor mortal; he is God and not man, and therefore there is no danger of being disappointed in him. We know whom we have trusted.

      III. The great encouragement he gives to others to do likewise, not only from his own experience of the comfort of it (for in that there might possibly be a fallacy), but from the truth of God's promise, in which there neither is nor can be any deceit (Psalms 91:3; Psalms 91:4, c.): Surely he shall deliver thee. Those who have themselves found the comfort of making God their refuge cannot but desire that others may do so. Now here it is promised,

      1. That believers shall be kept from those mischiefs which they are in imminent danger of, and which would be fatal to them (Psalms 91:3; Psalms 91:3), from the snare of the fowler, which is laid unseen and catches the unwary prey on a sudden, and from the noisome pestilence, which seizes men unawares and against which there is no guard. This promise protects, (1.) The natural life, and is often fulfilled in our preservation from those dangers which are very threatening and very near, while yet we ourselves are not apprehensive of them, any more than the bird is of the snare of the fowler. We owe it, more than we are sensible, to the care of the divine Providence that we have been kept from infectious diseases and out of the hands of the wicked and unreasonable. (2.) The spiritual life, which is protected by divine grace from the temptations of Satan, which are as the snares of the fowler, and from the contagion of sin, which is the noisome pestilence. He that has given grace to be the glory of the soul will create a defence upon all that glory.

      2. That God himself will be their protector; those must needs be safe who have him for their keeper, and successful for whom he undertakes (Psalms 91:4; Psalms 91:4): He shall cover thee, shall keep thee secret (Psalms 31:20), and so keep thee safe, Psalms 27:5. God protects believers, (1.) With the greatest tenderness and affection, which is intimated in that, He shall cover thee with his feathers, under his wings, which alludes to the hen gathering her chickens under wings,Matthew 23:37. By natural instinct she not only protects them, but calls them under that protection when she sees them in danger, not only keeps them safe, but cherishes them and keeps them warm. To this the great God is pleased to compare his care of his people, who are helpless as the chickens, and easily made a prey of, but are invited to trust under the shadow of the wings of the divine promise and providence, which is the periphrasis of a proselyte to the true religion, that he has come to trust under the wings of the God of Israel,Ruth 2:12. (2.) With the greatest power and efficacy. Wings and feathers, though spread with the greatest tenderness, are yet weak, and easily broken through, and therefore it is added, His truth shall be thy shield and buckler, a strong defence. God is willing to guard his people as the hen is to guard the chickens, and as able as a man of war in armour.

      3. That he will not only keep them from evil, but from the fear of evil, Psalms 91:5; Psalms 91:6. Here is, (1.) Great danger supposed; the mention of it is enough to frighten us; night and day we lie exposed, and those that are apt to be timorous will in neither period think themselves safe. When we are retired into our chambers, our beds, and have made all as safe as we can about us, yet there is terror by night, from thieves and robbers, winds and storms, besides those things that are the creatures of fancy and imagination, which are often most frightful of all. We read of fear in the night,Song of Solomon 3:8. There is also a pestilence that walketh in darkness, as that was which slew the first-born of the Egyptians, and the army of the Assyrians. No locks nor bars can shut out diseases, while we carry about with us in our bodies the seeds of them. But surely in the day-time, when we can look about us, we are not so much in danger; yes, there is an arrow that flieth by day too, and yet flies unseen; there is a destruction that wasteth at high-noon, when we are awake and have all our friends about us; even then we cannot secure ourselves, nor can they secure us. It was in the day-time that that pestilence wasted which was sent to chastise David for numbering the people, on occasion of which some think this psalm was penned. But, (2.) Here is great security promised to believers in the midst of this danger: "Thou shalt not be afraid. God by his grace will keep thee from disquieting distrustful fear (that fear which hath torment) in the midst of the greatest dangers. Wisdom shall keep thee from being causelessly afraid, and faith shall keep thee from being inordinately afraid. Thou shalt not be afraid of the arrow, as knowing that though it may hit thee it cannot hurt thee; if it take away the natural life, yet it shall be so far from doing any prejudice to the spiritual life that it shall be its perfection." A believer needs not fear, and therefore should not fear, any arrow, because the point is off, the poison is out. O death! where is thy sting? It is also under divine direction, and will hit where God appoints and not otherwise. Every bullet has its commission. Whatever is done our heavenly Father's will is done; and we have no reason to be afraid of that.

      4. That they shall be preserved in common calamities, in a distinguishing way (Psalms 91:7; Psalms 91:7): "When death rides in triumph, and diseases rage, so that thousands and ten thousands fall, fall by sickness, or fall by the sword in battle, fall at thy side, at thy right hand, and the sight of their fall is enough to frighten thee, and if they fall by the pestilence their falling so near thee may be likely to infect thee, yet it shall not come nigh thee, the death shall not, the fear of death shall not." Those that preserve their purity in times of general corruption may trust God with their safety in times of general desolation. When multitudes die round about us, though thereby we must be awakened to prepare for our own death, yet we must not be afraid with any amazement, nor make ourselves subject to bondage, as many do all their life-time, through fear of death,Hebrews 2:15. The sprinkling of blood secured the first-born of Israel when thousands fell. Nay, it is promised to God's people that they shall have the satisfaction of seeing, not only God's promises fulfilled to them, but his threatenings fulfilled upon those that hate them (Psalms 91:8; Psalms 91:8): Only with thy eyes shalt thou behold and see the just reward of the wicked, which perhaps refers to the destruction of the first-born of Egypt by the pestilence, which was both the punishment of the oppressors and the enlargement of the oppressed; this Israel saw when they saw themselves unhurt, untouched. As it will aggravate the damnation of sinners that with their eyes they shall behold and see the reward of the righteous (Luke 13:28), so it will magnify the salvation of the saints that with their eyes they shall behold and see the destruction of the wicked, Isaiah 66:24; Psalms 58:10.

Spurgeon's Verse Expositions of the Bible

The Snare of the Fowler

March 29, 1857 by C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892)

"Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler." Psalms 91:3 .

If Moses wrote this Psalm he might represent the fowler as being in his case the king of Egypt, who sought to slay him, or the Amalekites, who pounced upon Israel in the plain, when they little expected it. If David penned it, he might have compared Saul to the fowler, for he himself says, he was hunted like a partridge upon the mountains. But we believe, if the verse be applicable to either of those cases, it was intended by the Psalmist not to have a private interpretation, but to be applicable to all time; and we believe it is spoken concerning that arch-enemy of souls, the great deceiver, Satan, of whom we just now sang,

"Satan, the fowler, who betrays Unguarded souls a thousand ways."

"The prince of the power of this world, the spirit which still worketh in the children of disobedience," is like a fowler, always attempting to destroy us. It was once said by a talented writer, that the old devil was dead, and that there was a new devil now; by which he meant to say, that the devil of old times was a rather different devil from the deceiver of these times. We believe that it is the same evil spirit; but there is a difference in his mode of attack. The devil of five hundred years ago was a black and grimy thing well portrayed in our old pictures of that evil spirit. He was a persecutor, who cast men into the furnace, and put them to death for serving Christ. The devil of this day is a well-spoken gentleman: he does not persecute he rather attempts to persuade and to beguile. He is not now so much the furious Romanist, so much as the insinuating unbeliever, attempting to overturn our religion, while at the same time he pretends he would make it more rational, and so more triumphant. He would only link worldliness with religion; and so he would really make religion void, under the cover of developing the great power of the gospel, and bringing out secrets which our forefathers had never discovered. Satan is always a fowler. Whatever his tactics may be, his object is still the same to catch men in his net. Men are here compared to silly, weak birds, that have not skill enough to avoid the snare, and have not strength enough to escape from it. Satan is the fowler; he has been so and is so still; and if he does not now attack us as the roaring lion, roaring against us in persecution, he attacks us as the adder, creeping silently along the path, endeavoring to bite our heel with his poisoned fangs, and weaken the power of grace and ruin the life of godliness within us. Our text is a very comforting one to all believers, when they are beset by temptation. "Surely he shall deliver them from the snare of the fowler." First, a few words concerning the snare of the fowler; secondly, the deliverance; and, thirdly, the certainty of it; dwelling upon that word surely , for it seems to be the diamond wherewith this precious golden promise is embellished. " Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler." I. First, then, THE SNARE OF THE FOWLER. It is an illustration too suggestive for me thoroughly to unravel. I must leave it for your meditations at home to enumerate the divers ways in which a fowler attempts to take his birds, and then you will have suggested to you the divers means which the evil spirit employs for the destruction of souls. Allow me, however, just to begin, and pass over two or three points connected with the fowler and with the evil one. 1. First, the fowler's snare is intimately connected with secrecy . "Surely in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird." Therefore the fowler carefully covers up his trap; or, if the trap itself be uncovered he doth well beguile the bird, so that it is utterly ignorant of his intention to take it in the trap, little thinking that the food laid there for its banqueting is really placed there for its enticement and destruction. The fowler, when he goes after his birds, is very careful lest they should discover him. We hear, for instance, that in the taking of wild ducks, in Lincolnshire, a man will hold before his mouth a piece of turf, in order that the smell of his breath may not be perceived by the birds, who are exceedingly wary. The temptations of the world are of this secret sort to a Christian, though not to the wicked man, for the wicked man sins with his eyes wide open; dashing into the net knowing it is a net, laying hold of iniquity with both his hands, even when destruction stareth him in the face. He will commit a sin that he knows is condemned even by the law of the land; he will rush into a crime, concerning the guilt of which no doubt can be entertained. Not so the Christian: he is taken by secrecy. "Ah!" says one, "if I thought such-and-such a thing were really wrong; if I were perfectly convinced of its wrongfulness, I would give it up." It is just there the difficulty lies. So would the bird say: "If I thought that really were a trap, I would not enter it; if I were perfectly persuaded that net would entangle me, I would not fly to such-and-such a spot; I would not approach there at all, it I were sure it would be my destruction." How many a professor there is who asks the question, "May I go to this place? May I go to that place?" and some of us answer "No," and we are called Puritans for it; but let those who have attempted to keep their godliness intact, while they pursued the pleasures of this world, stand up and make the mournful confession, that the healthiness of the two things can never exist together. We must either serve God wholly, or serve the evil one wholly. "If God be God, serve him; If Baal be God, serve him." One, or else the other. Many a man has been entrapped into sin by Satan; not knowing that it was evil! Some one has hinted to him in business, for instance "You may very safely do such-and-such a thing; all the shopkeepers in the street have done it; it is not actually dishonest; it improves the article, it really does; and although you can thus sell an article at a dearer rate than you ought to sell it, yet you need not tell the public; and if the article is all the better for it, it is quite fair and safe that you should adulterate it." And so the good easy man, not opening both his eyes, I think, but shutting one of them a little, lest he should see too well to be able to fill his pockets in the dark, is a little taken aside; and by-and-by he is led to discover that the act which he has done is the taking of him in the snare of the fowler, for he has been sinning against his God, and his God therefore punishes him for it with many stripes, and lays his rod upon him. I do not think that a Christian is so often betrayed into a sin that is palpable and known, as he is into a sin that is secret. If the devil comes to my door with his horns visible, I will never let him in; but if he comes with his hat on as a respectable gentleman, he is at once admitted. The metaphor may be very quaint, but it is quite true. Many a man has taken in an evil thing, because it has been varnished and glossed over, and not apparently an evil; and he has thought in his heart, there is not much harm in it; so he has let in the little thing, and it has been like the breaking forth of water the first drop has brought after it a torrent. The beginning has been but the beginning of a fearful end. Take care, Christian, of things that are secret; take care of the common doings of the world, which are well enough for them, perhaps. We would not deny them their pleasures, for they have no others; but they are not good for you, for you have a finer life a life of a finer texture and order than can exist in the haunts of ungodly persons. Remember, you are not to be a judge for others. Some men, especially those who are unconverted, can, without being led into sin, indulge in many gayeties and merriments; but the Christian is like the Englishman, who can not hope to survive long where the jungle fever reigns. The native can live there, but he can not. And so you who are twice-born men will find your piety ruined, by that which, to a worldly man, does not lead him into greater evil than that which he would naturally commit. You are to have a stricter rule on yourselves than others, and are to be more stern in your piety than the world would have you be; for sin is usually hidden, and the snare is not often made apparent. "Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler." 2. In the second place, the snare of the fowler is generally noted for its adaptation . You do not find a fowler setting the same snare for one bird as for another; he knows his bird and he adapts his bait to it. He would be an unwise fowler who should go to work with the same machinery to catch the lark that flies on high as the duck that swims along the stream. The fowler is wiser than that: he adapts his snare to the condition of the bird which he desires to take. Satan the fowler does just the same. There is one man here; he tempts him to drunkenness. Perhaps that would naturally be his sin, if left without grace in his heart; and Satan, knowing it to be his weak point, attempts to overcome him by surfeiting, gluttony, and drunkenness. Another man is utterly impervious to any temptation to that bestial habit; but, it may be, he is easily taken in another snare the snare of lust; therefore Satan adapts his temptation to the hot blood of the man who naturally would be inclined to live a life of sin. Another one perhaps eschews every lascivious and sensual habit; then Satan comes to him, and adapts his temptation to the shape of pride. The man is naturally a melancholy man, full of solitude; Satan gets him, if he can, to wrap himself up in a solitary dignity, to say, "I am holy." "Lord, I thank thee, I am not as other men are." Or if a man is not naturally inclined to a very high degree of pride, Satan takes him with sloth. The man likes an easy life; Satan therefore adapts his bait to him by letting him sit still, fold his arms, and so perish by slothfulness: and mark this, he who sitteth still in the frost, when the snow is on the ground, in the depths of the wild regions of the frozen zone, must as surely perish by his idleness as if he drove a dagger to his heart. Satan knows that, and so adapts his bait accordingly. O! how often it happens, beloved, that you and I condemn a thing in another person which we allow in ourselves, perhaps without knowing it. We say of such a one, How proud he is! Well, our pride is not exactly of that shape; we have got another shaped pride, but the same article; labeled differently, but the same thing. Satan adapts the pride to each particular case. We are rich: he does not perhaps tempt us to the pride of riches, but he tempts us to the pride of mastership, and makes us harsh masters to our servants. Or if he does not tempt us to that pride, he perhaps enchants us with the pride of generosity, and we are apt to boast of our kindness and of what we have given away. He will always adapt his trap to his man, and his bait to his bird. He will not tempt you all with the same temptation he would tempt me with; nor me with the temptation with which he would naturally assail another. "The snare of the fowler." A cunning enemy we have to deal with; he knows our weak points; he has been dealing with men for these last six thousand years; he knows all about them. He is possessed of a gigantic intellect; though he be a fallen spirit and he is easily able to discover where our sore places are, and there it is he immediately attacks us. If we be like Achilles, and can not be wounded anywhere but in our heel, then at the heel he will send his dart, and nowhere else. He will find out our easily besetting sin, and there, if he can, he will attempt to work our ruin and our destruction. Let us bless God that it is written, "Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler." 3. In the next place, the fowler's snare is frequently connected with pleasure, profit, and advantage . In the bird's case it is for the seed scattered on the ground that he flies to the snare. It is some tempting bait which allures him to his death. And usually Satan; the fowler, uses a temptation wherewith to beguile us. "O!" says one, "I can not give up such-and-such a thing, it is so pleasant. Sir, you never knew the charms of such-and-such a pursuit, otherwise you could never advise me to relinquish it." Yes, my friend, but it is just the sweetness of it to you that makes it the more dangerous. Satan never sells his poisons naked; he always gilds them before he vends them. He knows very well that men will buy them and swallow them, if he does but gild them beforehand. Take care of pleasures; mind what you are at when you are at them. Many of them are innocent and healthful, but many of them are destructive. It is said that where the most beautiful cacti grow, there the most venomous serpents are to be found at the root of every plant. And it is so with sin. Your fairest pleasures will harbor your grossest sins. Take care; take care of your pleasures. Cleopatra's asp was introduced in a basket of flowers; so are our sins often brought to us in the flowers of our pleasures. Satan offers to the drunkard the sweetness of the intoxicating cup, which rejoices him, when his brain is rioting in frolic, and when his soul is lifted up within him. He offers to the lustful man the scenes and pleasures of carnal mirth, and merriment, and delight, and so he leadeth him astray with the bait, concealing the hook which afterwards shall pain him. He gives to you and to me, each of us, the offer of our peculiar joy; he tickleth us with pleasures, that he may lay hold upon us, and so have us in his power. I would have every Christian be especially on his guard against the very thing that is most pleasing to his human nature. I would not have him avoid every thing that pleases him, but I would have him be on his guard against it. Just like Job, when his sons had been feasting in their houses. He did not forbid them doing it, but he said, "I will offer a sacrifice, lest my sons should have sinned in their hearts, and should have cursed God foolishly." He was more careful over them at the time of their feasting than at any other season. Let us be the same. Let us remember that the snare of the fowler is generally connected with some pretended pleasure or profit, but that Satan's end is not our pleasing, but our destruction. 4. In the next place, sometimes the fowler very wisely employs the force of example . We all know the influence of the decoy-duck, in endeavoring to bring others into the snare. How very often Satan, the fowler, employs a decoy to lead God's people into sin! You get with a man; you think him to be a true Christian; you have some respect for his character; he is a high professor, can talk religion by the yard, and can give you any quantity of theology you like to ask for. You see him commit a sin; ten to one but you will do the same, if you have much respect for him; and so he will lead you on. And mark, Satan is very careful in the men whom he chooses to be decoys. He never employs a wicked man to be a decoy for a good man. It is very seldom, when Satan would decoy a Christian into a snare, that he makes use of an open reprobate. No; he makes use of a man who is pretendedly religious, and who looks to be of the same quality as yourself, and therefore entices you astray. Let a bad man meet me in the street, and ask me to commit sin! The devil knows better than to set him at any such work as that, because he knows I should pass by directly. If he wants his errand well done, he sends one to me whom I call brother; and so through the brotherhood of profession I am apt to give him credence and pay him respect; and then if he goeth astray, the force of example is very powerful, and so I may easily be led into the net too. Take care of your best friends; be careful of your companions. Choose the best you can; then follow them no further than they follow Christ. Let your course be entirely independent of every one else. Say with Joshua, let others do what they will, "As for me and my house we will serve the Lord." 5. Note, once more, that sometimes the fowler, when he faileth to take his bird by deceit and craft, will go a hawking after it will send his hawk into the air, to bring down his prey. It often happens, when the devil can not ruin a man by getting him to commit a sin, he attempts to slander him; he sends a hawk after him, and tries to bring him down by slandering his good name. I will give you a piece of advice. I know a good minister, now in venerable old age, who was once most villainously lied against and slandered by a man who had hated him only for the truth's sake. The good man was grieved; he threatened the slanderer with a lawsuit, unless he apologized. He did apologize. The slander was printed in the papers in a public apology; and you know what was the consequence. The slander was more believed than if he had said nothing about it. And I have learned this lesson to do with the slanderous hawk what the little birds do, just fly up. The hawk can not do them any hurt while they can keep above him it is only when they come down that he can injure them. It is only when by mounting he gets above the birds, that the hawk comes sweeping down upon them, and destroys them. If any slander you, do not come down to them; let them slander on. Say, as David said concerning Shimei, "If the Lord hath given him commandment to curse, let him curse;" and if the sons of Zeruiah say, "Let us go and take this dead dog's head," you say, "Nay, let him curse;" and in that way you will live down slander. If some of us turned aside to notice every bit of a sparrow that began chirping at us, we should have nothing to do but to answer them. If I were to fight people on every doctrine I preach, I should do nothing else but just amuse the devil, and indulge the combative principles of certain religionists who like nothing better than quarreling. By the grace of God, say what you please against me, I will never answer you, but go straight on. All shall end well, if the character be but kept clean; the more dirt that is thrown on it by slander, the more its shall glisten, and the more brightly it shall shine. Have you never felt your fingers itch sometimes to be at a man who slanders you? I have. I have sometimes thought, "I can not hold my tongue now; I must answer that fellow;" but I have asked of God grace to imitate Jesus, who, "when he was reviled, reviled not again," and by his strength let them go straight on. The surest way in the world to get rid of a slander is just to let it alone and say nothing about it, for if you prosecute the rascal who utters it, or if you threaten him with an action, and he has to apologize, you will be no better off some fools will still believe it. Let it alone let it keep as it is; and so God will help you to fulfill by your wisdom his own promise, "Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler." And now, ere I close this point, let me observe once more, the fowler, when he is determined to take his birds, uses all these arts at once, perhaps, and besets the bird on every side . So, you will remember, beloved, it is with you. Satan will not leave a stone unturned to ruin your soul for ever.

"Amidst a thousand snares I stand, Upheld and guarded by thy hand." Old Master Quarles says,

"The close pursuer's busy hands do plant Snares in thy substance; snares attend thy want; Snares in thy credit; snares in thy disgrace; Snares in thy high estate; snares in thy base; Snares tuck thy bed; and snares surround thy board; Snares watch thy thoughts; and snares attach thy words; Snares in thy quiet; snares in thy commotion; Snares in thy diet; snares in thy devotion; Snares lurk in thy resolves, snares in thy doubt; Snares lie within thy heart, and snares without; Snares are above thy head, and snares beneath; Snares in thy sickness, snares are in thy death."

There is not a place beneath which a believer walks that is free from snares. Behind every tree there is the Indian with his barbed arrow; behind every bush there is the lion seeking to devour; under every piece of grass there lieth the adder. Everywhere they are. Let us be careful; let us gird ourselves with the might of God's omnipotence, and then shall his Holy Spirit keep us, so that we shall tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the dragon shall we trample under our feet, and we shall be "delivered from the snare of the fowler." II. Now we pass to the second point THE DELIVERANCE. God delivers his people from the snare of the fowler. Two thoughts here: from out of . First, he delivers them from the snare does not let them get in it; secondly, when they do get in it, he delivers them out of it. The first promise is the most precious to some of us; the second is the best to others. He shall deliver thee from the snare. How does he do that? Very often by trouble . Trouble is often the means whereby God delivers us from snares. You have all heard the old story of the celebrated painter who was painting in St. Paul's, and who, looking at his work, went gradually back, inch by inch, to get a view of it, so that he might see the excellence of its proportions, until his feet were just on the edge of the platform upon which he stood; and he would have fallen down and been dashed in pieces upon the pavement beneath, but just at that moment a workman who stood there, desirous to save his life, and not knowing how to do it, hit upon an expedient which proved to be a very wise one. Instead of shouting out to his master, "Sir, you are in danger," which would most certainly have sent him backward, he took up a brush and dipping it in a pot of paint, dashed it at the picture. The good man rushed forward in anger to chastise him; but when it was explained, he clearly saw that he had acted wisely. Just so with God. You and I have often painted a fine picture, and we have been walking backward admiring it. God knows that our backsliding will soon end in our destruction and he, by a sad providence, blasts our prospect, takes away our child from us, buries our wife, removes some darling object of our pleasures; and we rush forward and say, "Lord, why is this?" utterly unconscious that if it had not been for trouble we might have been dashed in pieces, and our lives would have been ended in destruction. I doubt not, many of you have been saved from ruin by your sorrows, your griefs, your troubles, your woes, your losses, and your crosses. All these have been the breaking of the net that set you free from the snare of the fowler At other times God keeps his people from the snare of the fowler by giving them great spiritual strength, a spirit of great courage; so that when they are tempted to do evil they say, with decision, "How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?" O! that was a noble escape of Joseph, when his mistress laid hold of his garment; that was a noble escape of his, when his soul escaped like a bird out of the snare of the fowler; and I doubt not there are many here who have done deeds almost as noble as that of Joseph, who have had grace within their hearts, so that they have turned away their eyes from beholding folly, and when they have been tempted to evil they have put their foot upon it, and said, "I can not, I can not; I am a child of God; I can not and I must not;" and though the thing was pleasing to themselves yet they abjured it. You remember the case of Mr. Standfast in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. Madame Bubble had greatly enticed poor Mr. Standfast with her offers. He says, "There was one in very pleasant attire, but old, who presented herself to me, and offered me three things, to wit, her body, her purse, and her bed. Now the truth is, I was both weary and sleepy: I am also as poor as an owlet, and that perhaps the witch knew. Well, I repulsed her once and again, but she put by my repulses and smiled. Then I began to be angry; but she mattered that nothing at all. Then she made offers again, and said if I would be ruled by her, she would make me great and happy; for, said she, I am the mistress of the world, and men are made happy by me. Then I asked her her name, and she told me it was Madame Bubble. This set me further from her; but she still followed me with enticements. Then I betook me, as you saw, to my knees, and with hands lifted up, and cries, I prayed to him that had said he would help. So just as you came up the gentlewoman went her way. Then I continued to give thanks for this my great deliverance; for I verily believe she intended no good, but rather sought to make stop of me in my journey." Thus God delivers his people from the snares of the fowler, by giving them the spirit of prayer as well as the spirit of courage, so that they call upon God in the day of trouble, and he delivers them. And I have noticed one more very singular thing. Sometimes I, myself, have been saved from the snare of the fowler (I can not tell you how exactly), in this way. I have felt that if the temptation had come a week before, my mind was in that peculiar condition, that I should almost inevitably have been led away by it; but when it came, the mind, by passing through some process, had become in such a condition that the temptation was no temptation at all. We were just brought to such a state, that what might have ruined us before, we would not then look at. "No," we have said, "if you had offered me this some time ago it might have been accepted; but now God has, by some mysterious influence of his Spirit, turned my heart in another direction, and it is not even a temptation to me at all not worthy of a moment's thought." So God delivers his people from the snare of the fowler. But the second thought was, that God delivers his people, even when they get into the snare . Alas! my hearer, you and I know something about the net; we have been inside it, we have; we have not only seen it spread, we have been in its folds. We know something about the cage, for we have, unfortunately, been in the cage ourselves, even since we have known the Lord. The fowler's hand has been upon our neck; it has only been the sovereign grace of God that has prevented him from utterly destroying us. What a blessed thing it is, that if the believer shall, in an evil hour, come into the net, yet God will bring him out of it! Poor Christian and Hopeful got into the fowler's net when they entered into the castle of Giant Despair; but the key of promise picked the lock, and they escaped. They were in the fowler's net, too, when Flatterer cast a net over them, and left them in the lane; but there came one who, after he had beaten them full sore, took the net off, and then they went on their way, better men than they were before they were in the net. I know one who is in the net now. Some bird, one of God's own ones too, has been taken in the snare, and is now groaning and crying out, because, alas! alas! he has sinned. I have a person here, a good man, a professor of religion, and a truly worthy one! but alas! he has sinned, and at this hour the tears are in his eyes, and he is saying,

"The tumult of my thoughts Doth but increase my woe; My spirit languishes, my heart Is desolate and low."

"Turn, turn thee to my soul; Bring thy salvation near; When will thy hand release my feet Out of the deadly snare?"

O backslider, be cast down, but do not despair; God will restore thee yet. Wanderer though thou hast been, hear what he says! "Return, O backsliding children; I will have mercy upon you." But you say you can not return. Then here is still a promise "Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler." Thou shalt yet be brought out from all the evil into which thou hast fallen, and though thou shalt never cease to repent thy ways even to thy dying day, yet he that hath loved thee will not cast thee away; he will receive thee; he will admit thee into his dwelling-place, and will even now restore thee to the number of his people, and give thee joy and gladness, that the bones which he has broken may rejoice. "Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler." There have been very remarkable instances of God delivering his people out of the snare of the fowler, as the following illustration will show: "A young lady, who belonged to a church in the city of New York, married a young man who was not a Christian. He was a merchant, engaged in a lucrative business, and the golden stream of wealth flowed in upon him till he had amassed a large fortune. He accordingly retired from business, and went into the country. He purchased a splendid residence; fine trees waved their luxuriant foliage around it; here was a lake filled with fish, and there a garden full of rare shrubbery and flowers. Their house was fashionably and expensively furnished; and they seemed to possess all of earth that mortal could desire. Thus prospered, and plied with an interchange of civilities among her gay and fashionable neighbors, the piety of the lady declined, and her heart became wedded to the world. And it is not to be wondered at, that her three children, as they grew up, imbibed her spirit and copied her example. 'A severe disease,' it is said, 'demands a severe remedy;' and that God soon applied. One morning intelligence came that her little son had fallen into the fish-lake, and was drowned. The mother's heart was pierced with the affliction, and she wept and murmured against the providence of God. Soon afterwards, her only daughter, a blooming girl of sixteen, was taken sick of a fever and died. It seemed then as if the mother's heart would have broken. But this new stroke of the rod of a chastening Father seemed but to increase her displeasure against his will. The only remaining child, her eldest son, who had come home from college to attend his sister's funeral, went out into the fields soon afterwards, for the purpose of hunting. In getting over a fence, he put his gun over first to assist himself in springing to the ground, when it accidentally discharged itself and killed him! What then were that mother's feelings in the extravagance of her grief, she fell down, tore her hair, and raved like a maniac against the providence of God. The father, whose grief was already almost insupportable, when he looked upon the shocking spectacle, and heard her frenzied ravings, could endure his misery no longer. The iron entered into his soul and he fell speedy victim to his accumulated afflictions. From the wife and mother, her husband and all her children were now taken away. Reason returned, and she was led to reflection. She saw her dreadful backslidings, her pride, her rebellion; and she wept with the tears of a deep repentance. Peace was restored to her soul. Then could she lift up her hands to heaven, exclaiming, 'I thank thee, O Father! the Lord hath given, the Lord hath taken away, and blessed be the name of the Lord.' Thus did her afflictions yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness, and her heavenly Father chasten her, 'not for his pleasure, but for her profit, that she might become partaker of his holiness.'" So God delivered her soul out of the snare of the fowler. She started afresh in the ways of righteousness, serving God with diligence and zeal, and growing up in his fear. By trouble and trial, by some means or another, God will surely deliver his people out of the snare of the fowler, even when they are in it. III. And now, to conclude, I am to dwell for a moment or two upon that word "SURELY." The assurance of every truth of Scripture is just the beauty of it. If it were not sure, it were not precious; and it is precious just because it is sure. Now, it says, "surely he shall deliver thee." Why? First, because he has promised to do it; and God's promises are bonds that never yet were dishonored. If he hath said he will, he will. Secondly, because Christ Jesus hath taken an oath that he will do it. In ages long gone by Christ Jesus became the shepherd of the sheep, and the surety of them too. "If any of them perish," said he, "at my hand, thou shalt require it;" and, therefore, because Christ is responsible, because he is the heavenly sponsor for all God's people, they must be kept: for otherwise Christ's bond were forfeited, and his oath were null and void. They must be kept, again, because otherwise the union that there is between all of them and Christ would not be a real one. Christ and his church are one one body; but if any of the members of my body were cut off, I should be maimed, and if Christ could lose one of his children he would be a maimed Christ. "We are his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all." If, then, the whole church were not gathered in, Christ would be an incomplete Christ, seeing he would want his fullness. They must all be saved, for God the Father has determined that they shall be; nay, the Son has sworn they shall be; and God the Holy Spirit vouches for it they shall be. None of God's people shall be cast away, or else the Bible is not true. The whole stability of the covenant rest in their final perseverance. The whole covenant of grace rests upon this

"He shall present our souls, Unblemished and complete, Before the glory of his face, With joys divinely great."

And therefore they must be preserved out of the snare of the fowler, because otherwise the covenant would be null and void. If one should perish the oath would be broken; if one should be cast away the covenant would be void; and therefore they must be kept secure.

"His honor is engaged to save the meanest of his sheep; All that his heavenly Father gave, His hands securely keep."

I have no time to enlarge upon that subject, which is big with glory, and might afford a topic for many discourses. I now close up by saying, Men and brethren, is this promise yours? "Surely he shall deliver thee." Are you the men? "How can I tell?" you say. Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you, as a guilty sinner, cast yourself wholly on the blood and righteousness of the immaculate Redeemer? I do not ask you whether you are a Wesleyan, a Churchman, a Baptist, an Independent, or a Presbyterian; my only question is, Are you born again? Have you passed from death unto life? Are you "a new creature in Christ Jesus?" Is all your trust put in the Lord Jesus Christ? Has his life become your model, and does his Spirit dwell in your mortal body? If so, peace be unto you; this promise is yours. You may have been the worst of men; but if you have faith in Christ those sins are all forgiven, and you may take this promise to be yours for ever. But if you are self-righteous, self-sufficient, ungodly, careless, worldly, there is no such promise for you; you are in the snare, you shall be there, and you shall perish, unless you repent; for it is written, "Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish." May God save you from perishing, by giving you an interest in the blood of Christ; and to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be glory for ever and ever.