Tehilim Perek 91

Welcome to NachDaily, covering the entire TANACH one perek at a time. I’m Rabbi Shaya Sussman, and today we’ll be discussing Tehilim, Chapter 91.

In this perek, Moshe Rabbenu entreats us not to give up due to the length of this galus. He encourages us to trust that Hashem will save us.

The Gemara in Shavuos 15B calls this perek the “Shir shel P’ga’im, Song of Plagues,” because those who say it will be saved from misfortune. Anyone who places trust in Hashem will increase Divine Protection.

The Abudraham points out that the letter zayin is written once in this perek. Zayin means weapon, and the letter itself looks like a hammer. This teaches us that one who says this chapter with sincerity and honesty will have the main weapon of a Jew — tefilah.

The perek begins with:

יֹשֵׁב בְּסֵתֶר עֶלְיוֹן בְּצֵל שַׁדַּי יִתְלוֹנָן׃

O you who dwell in the shelter of the Most High and abide in the protection of Shaddai…

Rashi explains that whoever tries to live a life that’s absorbedin the shadow of the innermost parts of the Shechina, Divine Presence, will reap the benefits of God’s protection.

The Malbim writes that this chapter is a continuation of the previous one, which stressed man’s frailty and the temporary nature of time. The message in this one is that a person who is yoshev b’seser Elyon, sits in the shade of Hashem, is lifted above time and experiences a better, quieter life.

Psychologically speaking, there is no need to look outside of ourselves for tranquility and peace of mind. Our entire experience of life is Godly. There is no real separation between the inside and the outside. We might think that God is outside of ourselves, and there’s some destination that we have to reach to experience His closeness. The truth is that God is inside of us, creating our moment to moment experiences of life. These experiences are coming through us, not at us, so peace of mind is just one thought away!

The perek brings us the comforting thought that a person who deeply understands that God is his shadow always feels His protection. His wings and truth protect like armor. Because God is my refuge, there’s no need to fear at night or be frightened by any circumstance.

God is constantly seeking your welfare. He’ll even send angels to help you! God deeply desires your success. On recognizing this, a person automatically feels obligated to give back to Hashem, desiring to come to close Him, living life in a manner which will make Him happy.

May we merit being comforted by seeing and feeling that our Protector is with us at every moment of our lives.

Thank you for listening, and have a wonderful day.