Lions and snakes come. Snakebites happen.
But see what God says about it. Continue with us through Psalm 91.
Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!
My friend’s 4-year-old grandson Spencer loves to play outside. A delivery man pulled into their driveway to deliver a huge box on Saturday, April 25. Spencer was excited, watching the man pull the box out of his truck.
Then OUCH! Spencer screamed and jerked back in pain. The delivery man saw a snake on the ground.
Spencer had been bitten by a rattlesnake, right in his front yard.
We can’t prepare for moments like this. Snakes don’t give us a couple days’ notice to prepare. Lions don’t ring the doorbell first. Catastrophes don’t call to make an appointment for when it’s most convenient.
We continue to look into Psalm 91 this week. Verses 13-14 are a dramatic turning point. The text switches from the speaker’s voice in verses 1-13 to God’s voice in verse 14 through the end of the chapter.
13 You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name.”
Psalm 91
Maybe it’s been awhile since you’ve seen a lion or adder, but you relate to troubles and fears. They may look different for each of us. But we all have them.
The psalmist says if we want deliverance and protection, God will give it, if we hold on to Him in love and know His name.
But how can we love God more? How can we know God better?
Love Really Is the Answer
The best way to love God more, is to know more of His love for you. God started this love thing (1 John 4:19).
- Have you seen blessings in your life?
Thank God for them. - Have you been delivered out of our hardships already?
Give God the credit due. - Have you fallen flat on your face and yet been picked back up?
Acknowledge God’s grace and forgiveness. - Have you found strength to continue on in a current trouble?
Know God is with you in it.
Getting to know God more doesn’t have to be complicated. But you do need to consciously choose it.
Loving God more means spending more time with Him, being more aware of His presence, learning more who He is, talking with others about Him, talking more in person with Him.
The more you know God, the more you’ll love God. You’ll then hold on to Him in love because you want to, not from guilt or fear or obligation.
You’ll know Him by name.
The Best Care
God doesn’t promise to keep the lions and snakes awake from those who love Him. But He does promise us victory over them.
We saw it foreshadowed in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:15), and fulfilled in the Garden of Gethsemane, that the serpent would bruise heels, but Jesus would crush its head. We, too, are assured to be overcomers of Satan (Romans 16:20).
God may prevent some problems from happening altogether. He may deliver you out of other problems right in the middle (the apostle Paul was snakebitten but shook it off, Acts 28:3-6). And if other problems continue on, God will stay by your side through them, every second, every step.
Local emergency responders came quickly to Spencer’s house after the snake bit him. They administered antivenom. Spencer was medflighted to a hospital, and given more medicine in ICU, with only his dad allowed to be with him due to corona quarantine restrictions.
Spencer stayed for in the hospital for 4 days, then went home.
The snakebite didn’t kill Spencer (but his dad killed the snake). Spencer recovered. And after 4 days in the hospital, he went back home with a story to tell.
Snakebites and lion attacks happen. Sometimes they are deadly in the physical realm (remember the Christians in the Roman coliseums).
But they don’t have to be deadly in the spiritual realm. Hold on to God through them for dear life, and that’s what He’ll deliver. Life.
[…] Psalm 91:13-14, “Getting to know God more doesn’t have to be complicated. But you do need to consciously choose it. […]