Post by Zac Loh on Dec 3, 2008 15:15:43 GMT -5
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”
Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler
And from the perilous pestilence.
He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.
Only with your eyes shall you look,
And see the reward of the wicked.
Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him on high, because he has 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 I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation.”
(Psalm 91)
This psalm is an ideal scripture to pray. I would encourage anyone to verbalize this psalm in prayer. It is full of great promises – more than how they are usually grasped or appreciated. I verbalized Psalm 91 in protection against a demonic attack, having been awakened in the middle of the night, and I was delivered from fear and oppression.
Psalm 91 is commonly used in a way somewhat akin to a spiritual business contract with God. But the Book of Psalm was sung. And songs are usually from the heart, rather than, from the head.
Psalm 91 is similar to `speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,’ in Ephesians 5:19.
The key to the spiritual elevation and blessings of Psalm 91 is found in the opening of the psalm…the secret place.
What is so secret about this secret place?
There is a call. It is a call to climb the holy mountain to meet God up there. To climb as Moses did. And to climb as Jesus did. But we are not talking about a physical climb. We are talking about a spiritual climb in prayer. What Moses and Jesus did, was symbolic of this.
A climb is not a walk. It is more difficult, and arduous. We have to look downwards to position our body, so as to exert strength to lift our body up at each climb. We have to be alert, and be at the look-out. So we will not fall and slip. When we pray to our Father in heaven, seeking Him, we do mull over our own personal earthly needs, conditions and situations down here. There are many dangers lurking around the corner, so to speak, as we climb up. Such as, getting lost, or trapped on a sharp ridge.
Mountain climbers tell us that the danger in mountaineering comes in two varieties: subjective and objective. Subjective danger you have some control over, such as screwing the ice piton in correctly so it holds you. Just as the sword of the Spirit in spiritual warfare, the ice piton can be likened to the Word of God. We need to learn the Word of God correctly. We need to hold-on to the Word of God.
Objective danger is the variety you usually have no influence over. This includes falling rocks, avalanches, lightening strikes, etc. Experience minimizes these risks, but they never disappear. That ascent can be so slow that you ended-up sleeping in the open for weeks; and sleeping in strange places, on an ice ledge, for example. Praying gets hard quite often. The slow ascent makes us sleepy like what happened to the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane.
We get confused at times, not knowing what spiritual factors at play. We are despaired of our condition. We hate being who we are. We are discouraged for what we have been doing. Or, for what we have not been doing.
We look at our surroundings, and see that many things are not to our control. Like the noise and disturbances at home. The phone rings. Like the unexpected visitors who come knocking. Like the time we had to clock-in at work even though we felt the Holy Spirit moving…we were at a desperate torn in-between.
Now and then, we slow down, stop and rest. But the call is not to give-up. Rest, if you have to, but don’t give up. Take a break, if you have to, but don’t quit. Come again, to the call of prayer. Come again, to prayer even at the slightest light you see the end of the tunnel. Come again, the opportunity beckons!
We have to look-up. To see where we are going. We force ourselves to look-up, because it is hard to break the routine of looking-down - of looking at ourselves, at our surroundings. Our focus is on God, more than our praying. We see the summit.
And what an exhilaration! Our inspiration returns! Our motivation is quickened! We find new strength! We keep climbing because of What is up there, due to the fact of Who is up there!
The higher we climb, the clearer we see the scenes below. We have a heavenly perspective. We have a panoramic view of life. The air gets cleaner. It is fresh. We have a new spiritual discernment!
`Career of an Amateur Mountain Climber’
Sometimes when you sleep at altitude, the brain gets fooled by the low atmospheric pressure and stops signaling the body to breathe. The technical term is Cheyne-Stokes breathing. Cheyne-Stokes doesn’t kill, but two other tricks that altitude plays on the human body do, and quickly. For reasons not entirely understood, the reduced air pressure can suddenly release large amounts of water in the body, either filling the lungs causing death by internal drowning (pulmonary oedema) or filling the brain with similar results (cerebral oedema). Both happen unpredictably and can finish you in less than 24 hours. Special medicines delay death, but the only real hope is to descend to lower altitudes where symptoms usually disappear. The oedemas strike experienced and novice climbers alike. Fitness has nothing to do with it. The fact that you’ve ascended high, even several times, is no insurance either.
(Source: www.seed.slb.com/en/scictr/watch/mountain/dangers.htm)
Strangely enough, praying can be detrimental to us, if we are not careful. Some will go off-tangent because of impure motives and `holier than thou’ religious pride. Oh, how we need the Holy Spirit in our praying. Being in His presence lets us know not to pray in the flesh. How many times we have prayed in the flesh without realizing it?
`Traditional Mountaineering’
The mountaineers' rope is the symbol of the shared companionship of the climb according to Jim Frush, alpine climber and President of The American Alpine Club. It is the symbol of a bond between climbing partners. Primarily, however, it is an important tool that when properly used, can facilitate the climbers travel over difficult terrain and minimize their risk from objective dangers that can not be controlled by the climbers' skill, experience and athleticism.
(Source: www.traditionalmountaineering.org/FAQ_NoteableAccidents.htm)
The mountaineers' rope is the symbol of the shared companionship of the climb, a bond between climbing partners; to facilitate the climbers travel over difficult terrain and to minimize risk from objective dangers.
NO WONDER Jesus taught us to pray together:
“Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:19-20)
There are periods which you can’t do it alone. Get together with climbing partners. Pray with another believer. You will find that you get into God’s presence is so much easier. Jesus’ promise is true.
As we climb higher and higher…we get holier and holier…because holiness is the more of God and the less of not-of-God. Holiness is not a set of rules to follow. But as we get nearer to God, we are able to fulfill that God put in His Holy Word. God is holy and the more we get to God…the more we become holy as He is holy.
John Wesley defined worldliness as `when I lose affection of God.’
A man of God is not a man of God until he becomes a man of prayer. You will find throughout the Bible that all men of God are men of deep prayer.
They say that what goes up must come down. True in this case. When you come down from this holy mountain - prayer will not just be in you, but you will be in prayer! You will be walking in prayer!
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”
Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler
And from the perilous pestilence.
He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.
Only with your eyes shall you look,
And see the reward of the wicked.
Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him on high, because he has 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 I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation.”
(Psalm 91)
This psalm is an ideal scripture to pray. I would encourage anyone to verbalize this psalm in prayer. It is full of great promises – more than how they are usually grasped or appreciated. I verbalized Psalm 91 in protection against a demonic attack, having been awakened in the middle of the night, and I was delivered from fear and oppression.
Psalm 91 is commonly used in a way somewhat akin to a spiritual business contract with God. But the Book of Psalm was sung. And songs are usually from the heart, rather than, from the head.
Psalm 91 is similar to `speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,’ in Ephesians 5:19.
The key to the spiritual elevation and blessings of Psalm 91 is found in the opening of the psalm…the secret place.
What is so secret about this secret place?
There is a call. It is a call to climb the holy mountain to meet God up there. To climb as Moses did. And to climb as Jesus did. But we are not talking about a physical climb. We are talking about a spiritual climb in prayer. What Moses and Jesus did, was symbolic of this.
A climb is not a walk. It is more difficult, and arduous. We have to look downwards to position our body, so as to exert strength to lift our body up at each climb. We have to be alert, and be at the look-out. So we will not fall and slip. When we pray to our Father in heaven, seeking Him, we do mull over our own personal earthly needs, conditions and situations down here. There are many dangers lurking around the corner, so to speak, as we climb up. Such as, getting lost, or trapped on a sharp ridge.
Mountain climbers tell us that the danger in mountaineering comes in two varieties: subjective and objective. Subjective danger you have some control over, such as screwing the ice piton in correctly so it holds you. Just as the sword of the Spirit in spiritual warfare, the ice piton can be likened to the Word of God. We need to learn the Word of God correctly. We need to hold-on to the Word of God.
Objective danger is the variety you usually have no influence over. This includes falling rocks, avalanches, lightening strikes, etc. Experience minimizes these risks, but they never disappear. That ascent can be so slow that you ended-up sleeping in the open for weeks; and sleeping in strange places, on an ice ledge, for example. Praying gets hard quite often. The slow ascent makes us sleepy like what happened to the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane.
We get confused at times, not knowing what spiritual factors at play. We are despaired of our condition. We hate being who we are. We are discouraged for what we have been doing. Or, for what we have not been doing.
We look at our surroundings, and see that many things are not to our control. Like the noise and disturbances at home. The phone rings. Like the unexpected visitors who come knocking. Like the time we had to clock-in at work even though we felt the Holy Spirit moving…we were at a desperate torn in-between.
Now and then, we slow down, stop and rest. But the call is not to give-up. Rest, if you have to, but don’t give up. Take a break, if you have to, but don’t quit. Come again, to the call of prayer. Come again, to prayer even at the slightest light you see the end of the tunnel. Come again, the opportunity beckons!
We have to look-up. To see where we are going. We force ourselves to look-up, because it is hard to break the routine of looking-down - of looking at ourselves, at our surroundings. Our focus is on God, more than our praying. We see the summit.
And what an exhilaration! Our inspiration returns! Our motivation is quickened! We find new strength! We keep climbing because of What is up there, due to the fact of Who is up there!
The higher we climb, the clearer we see the scenes below. We have a heavenly perspective. We have a panoramic view of life. The air gets cleaner. It is fresh. We have a new spiritual discernment!
`Career of an Amateur Mountain Climber’
Sometimes when you sleep at altitude, the brain gets fooled by the low atmospheric pressure and stops signaling the body to breathe. The technical term is Cheyne-Stokes breathing. Cheyne-Stokes doesn’t kill, but two other tricks that altitude plays on the human body do, and quickly. For reasons not entirely understood, the reduced air pressure can suddenly release large amounts of water in the body, either filling the lungs causing death by internal drowning (pulmonary oedema) or filling the brain with similar results (cerebral oedema). Both happen unpredictably and can finish you in less than 24 hours. Special medicines delay death, but the only real hope is to descend to lower altitudes where symptoms usually disappear. The oedemas strike experienced and novice climbers alike. Fitness has nothing to do with it. The fact that you’ve ascended high, even several times, is no insurance either.
(Source: www.seed.slb.com/en/scictr/watch/mountain/dangers.htm)
Strangely enough, praying can be detrimental to us, if we are not careful. Some will go off-tangent because of impure motives and `holier than thou’ religious pride. Oh, how we need the Holy Spirit in our praying. Being in His presence lets us know not to pray in the flesh. How many times we have prayed in the flesh without realizing it?
`Traditional Mountaineering’
The mountaineers' rope is the symbol of the shared companionship of the climb according to Jim Frush, alpine climber and President of The American Alpine Club. It is the symbol of a bond between climbing partners. Primarily, however, it is an important tool that when properly used, can facilitate the climbers travel over difficult terrain and minimize their risk from objective dangers that can not be controlled by the climbers' skill, experience and athleticism.
(Source: www.traditionalmountaineering.org/FAQ_NoteableAccidents.htm)
The mountaineers' rope is the symbol of the shared companionship of the climb, a bond between climbing partners; to facilitate the climbers travel over difficult terrain and to minimize risk from objective dangers.
NO WONDER Jesus taught us to pray together:
“Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:19-20)
There are periods which you can’t do it alone. Get together with climbing partners. Pray with another believer. You will find that you get into God’s presence is so much easier. Jesus’ promise is true.
As we climb higher and higher…we get holier and holier…because holiness is the more of God and the less of not-of-God. Holiness is not a set of rules to follow. But as we get nearer to God, we are able to fulfill that God put in His Holy Word. God is holy and the more we get to God…the more we become holy as He is holy.
John Wesley defined worldliness as `when I lose affection of God.’
A man of God is not a man of God until he becomes a man of prayer. You will find throughout the Bible that all men of God are men of deep prayer.
They say that what goes up must come down. True in this case. When you come down from this holy mountain - prayer will not just be in you, but you will be in prayer! You will be walking in prayer!