Psalms 91:4 · Clearspring

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Other translations

WEBBE

He will cover you with his feathers. Under his wings you will take refuge. His faithfulness is your shield and rampart.

BSB

He will cover you with His feathers; under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and rampart.

KJV

He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

ASV

He will cover thee with his pinions, And under his wings shalt thou take refuge: His truth is a shield and a buckler.

BBE

You will be covered by his feathers; under his wings you will be safe: his good faith will be your salvation.

Original Hebrew

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בְּאֶבְרָתוֹ be·'ev·ra·to with pinion his H84 יָסֶךְ ya·sekh he will cover H5526 לָךְ lakh (to) you H9032 וְתַחַת־ ve·ta·chat- and under H8478 כְּנָפָיו ke·na·fav wings his H3671 תֶּחְסֶה tech·seh you will take refuge H2620 צִנָּה tzi·nah [is] a shield H6793 וְסֹחֵרָה ve·so·che·rah and a wall H5507 אֲמִתּוֹ 'a·mi·to faithfulness his H571

The early church

"He shall defend you between His shoulders, and you shall hope under His wings" [Psalm 91:4]. He says this, that your protection may not be to you from yourself, that you may not imagine that you can defend yourself; He will defend you, to deliver you from the hunter's snare, and from an harsh word. The expression, "between His shoulders," may be understood both in front and behind: for the shoulders are about the head; but in the words, "you shall hope under His wings," it is clear that the protection of the wings of God expanded places you between His shoulders, so that God's wings on this side and that have you in the midst, where you shall not fear lest any one hurt you: only be thou careful never to leave that spot, where no foe dares approach. If the hen defends her chickens beneath her wings; how much more shall you be safe beneath the wings of God, even against the devil and his angels, the powers who fly about in mid air like hawks, to carry off the weak young one? For the comparison of the hen to the very Wisdom of God is not without ground; for Christ Himself, our Lord and Saviour, speaks of Himself as likened to a hen; "how often would I have gathered your children," etc. [Matthew 23:37] That Jerusalem would not: let us be willing....If you consider other birds, brethren, you will find many that hatch their eggs, and keep their young warm: but none that weakens herself in sympathy with her chickens, as the hen does. We see swallows, sparrows, and storks outside their nests, without being able to decide whether they have young or no: but we know the hen to be a mother by the weakness of her voice, and the loosening of her feathers: she changes altogether from love for her chickens: she weakens herself because they are weak. Thus since we were weak, the Wisdom of God made Itself weak, when the Word was made flesh, and dwelt in us, [John 1:14] that we might hope under His wings.

Augustine of Hippo · d. 430Expositions on the Psalms

Commentary

Matthew Henry · Verses 1–8

He that by faith chooses God for his protector, shall find all in him that he needs or can desire. And those who have found the comfort of making the Lord their refuge, cannot but desire that others may do so. The spiritual life 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 a noisome pestilence. Great security is promised to believers in the midst of danger. Wisdom shall keep them from being afraid without cause, and faith shall keep them from being unduly afraid. Whatever is done, our heavenly Father's will is done; and we have no reason to fear. God's people shall see, not only God's promises fulfilled, but his threatenings. Then let sinners come unto the Lord upon his mercy-seat, through the Redeemer's name; and encourage others to trust in him also.

Read Matthew Henry on Psalm 91 →

Spurgeon · Verse 4

He shall cover thee with thy feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust. A wonderful expression! Had it been invented by an uninspired man it would have verged upon blasphemy, for who should dare to apply such words to the Infinite Jehovah? But as he himself authorised, yea, dictated the language, we have here a transcendent condescension, such as it becomes us to admire and adore. Doth the Lord speak of his feathers, as though he likened himself to a bird? Who will not see herein a matchless love, a divine tenderness, which should both woo and win our confidence? Even as a hen covereth her chickens so doth the Lord protect the souls which dwell in him; let us cower down beneath him for comfort and for safety. Hawks in the sky and snares in the field are equally harmless when we nestle so near the Lord. His truth —his true promise, and his faithfulness to his promise, shall be thy shield and buckler. Double armour has he who relies upon the Lord. He bears a shield and wears an all surrounding coat of mail —such is the force of the word "buckler." To quench fiery darts the truth is a most effectual shield, and to blunt all swords it is an equally effectual coat of mail. Let us go forth to battle thus harnessed for the war, and we shall be safe in the thickest of the fight. It has been so, and so shall it be till we reach the land of peace, and there among the "helmed cherubim and sworded seraphim, " we will wear no other ornament, his truth shall still be our shield and buckler.

Read Spurgeon on Psalm 91 →

Cross-references

14

Topics

God Truth Shield