Psalm 91: Refuge, Protection, and Their Use in the New Testament

The Psalms: Language for All Seasons of the Soul (forthcoming)

Psalm 91 has a long tradition of apotropaic use. This analysis considers the demon tradition surrounding vv. 5-6, considering ANE terms and the reference to "demon" in several ancient versions (LXX, DSS, Targum). Significant parallels are considered with the Cairo Genizah Amulet (TS K1.18, 30) and the Bibliotheca Rosenthalina Amulet. New Testament passages are then explored (Matt 4:1-11; Luke 10:19) in light of this apotropaic tradition.

This paper outlines the headlines of my research on Psalm 91 of the last seven years. I tried to answer the question why Psalm 91 so often was linked to demonic evil.

Old Testament Essays, 2012

Christian Journal for Global Health, 2020

People used Psalm 91 during times of pandemic with the notion that its use will ultimately save them and their love ones. However, many get disappointed particularly when they lose their love ones despite using the Psalm. This had caused many to lose their faith in the word of God. But then, it is worthwhile for Christians to know that beyond the promise of deliverance as stated in Psalm 91, there is an everlasting protection promised by God. This is the ultimate deliverance that will ensure we escape the eternal separation that will come upon the world on the last day. This will count us worthy to reign forever with Christ in heaven where there is no sickness or diseases.

Summary of dissertation on Psalm 91 en the reality of spirits and demons in ancient near east.

Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 2022

Study of Psalm 91 in Jewish late antiquity, especially in 11QapocrPs (11Q11), explains more fully its meaning in the temptation narrative in which Satan assures Jesus he has nothing to fear.

2022

At the age of forty, Moses murdered an Egyptian. He had to flee into exile (Exodus 2:12–15). He spent forty years in the wilderness. At the age of eighty, he was chosen by God to lead Israel out of exile from Egypt to their Promised Land (3:6–10). But he spent the next forty years in the same wilderness because of the crimes of others. Jehovah decreed that all those who had lost their faith in him would die in the wilderness (Numbers 14:20–34). Over those decades Moses witnessed the death of thousands and thousands. Then, just as he was about to step into the land that he had yearned to inherit for so long, he committed another crime for which Jehovah deemed him liable to death (Numbers 20:12; Deuteronomy 3:26–28). This is the backdrop to Psalm 90—the judgements and punishments from Jehovah and the transience and the fragility of life.

Scriptura, 2023

Psalm 88, considered 'the darkest psalm', is often avoided by 'the average reader of Scripture' and considered 'outside of normative theology' by many scholars. The big problem is that the lamenter accuses God of breaking the covenant, and God does not answer the lamenter. The psalm ends without resolution. Moreover, the complainant claims to be innocent, thereby raising the issue of a person suffering unjustly (before an all-powerful, loving God). Biblical texts like this force us to look wider and deeper, to gain an understanding of the text's message and its role within the canon. In this paper, the wider view is considered by studying the psalm within five contextshistorical, literary, canonical, within the modern world, and in the light of a psychological theory. The first has little to offer (of certainty) but the literary view highlights key themes. The canonical view shows how it critiques Ps 1, gives a climax to Book III (with Ps 89) and prepares for Book IV, and connects with Job and Jesus. The modern context brings new insights: the reality of the Holocaust has prompted deep searching and an adjustment of theological thinking by several scholars. And the psychological perspective (from the fact that the psalmist does not experience the identity disintegration usual in such situations) highlights the crux of the psalmhis covenant relationship with YHWH as the most important, and only, element that holds in such extreme times. In essence, the psalm (in context) shows us that innocent people suffer, but God is not unjust. However, sufferers should protest and their pain should be acknowledged as truth. Moreover, meaning should not be squeezed out of suffering, for humanity's inability to comprehend fully is a reality. Nevertheless, the psalm gives space and permission for sufferers to safely protest, with a fellow-sufferer.

Crucible, 2008

This article discusses the portrayal of God in the Psalms by metaphor, and in particular the metaphor of refuge. Metaphors have sometimes been seen as purely decorative and therefore their ability to convey meaning questioned. This article begins by discussing what a metaphor is, and how it functions to evoke connections with experience. It then examines the use of metaphors in the Psalms and how they function to reveal God’s character by use of concrete images familiar to an ancient Israelite. It also notes the connections between metaphors, and particularly “root-metaphors;” and the invitation of these biblical metaphors to respond to the God whom they reveal. This article then examines the metaphor of refuge in detail by discussing the vocabulary used, and investigates various proposals for the origins of the metaphor. This research leads to the conclusion that connections between the refuge metaphor and the presence of Yahweh amongst his people in the tabernacle/temple are worthy of further consideration. This provides an important contribution to the theology of the Psalter, taking this image out of the realm of subjective, individual experience and locating it more objectively in the covenant presence of Yahweh and his calling upon his people to live with him. Finally, this article concludes with the theological invitation of the metaphor to respond to the God who has so revealed himself.