Sermon - Calov Conference Sermon 2026 - Psalm 91

Isenheim Altarpiece, Matthias Grunewald, 1512

Trust in the Lord and Look upon the Savior

1. God delivers us through the blood of Jesus Christ

2. He ordains the angels to lift us up

3. He intentionally directs us to walk in danger for the sake of our faith

After Absalom killed Amnon he fled. Joab directed a theatrical scene between David and a pretend widow, in order to convince David to welcome Absalom back to Jerusalem. In this dramatic scene, the actress recites a powerful line: “We must all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God will not take away life, and He devises means so that the banished one will not remain an outcast.” What a rich illustration she uses of water spilled on the ground. Two other times in the book of Samuel water is poured on the ground. Once when Samuel is judge, after the ark has returned to Jerusalem, he pours water upon the ground as a sign of repentance. A second time David pours the water on the ground when his mighty men risked their lives to bring David water from Bethlehem. But perhaps the most powerful time is from Exodus when Moses pours water from the Nile on the ground and it becomes blood.

Blood must be poured out and the Lord knows this. God does not desire to destroy life, and so He devises means so that the banished one will not remain an outcast. This isn’t only a reference to sanctuary cities for murderers in Israel, but it refers to the heart of God who deigns to redeem sinful man from the curse of  being like so much water spilled on the ground. Absalom deserved the full wrath of his father David, and we likewise deserve the full wrath of our heavenly Father for our grievous sins against Him. Yet the Lord has devised means so that we would not remain an outcast. 

He commands you to look upon those means in the conclusion to this evening’s Psalm. “With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” More literally the Lord is saying: “I will make him look.” The word for salvation is Yeshua. The final words of Psalm 91 are: “I will make him look on Jesus.” Because the means ordained by God to redeem you from the cursed fate of being poured out like water on the ground is Jesus, the Son of God. He drank the cup of the wrath of God to the dregs. He is the drink offering poured out upon the ground at the base of the altar of the cross. From the pierced side of the Savior water and blood spilled upon the ground, and the beloved apostle was made to look upon the Lord’s salvation, fulfilling the scripture “they will look on Him whom they have pierced.”

Because His blood was spilled upon the ground, we whose bodies are returned to the earth, dust to dust, shall be gathered up again. The actress was wrong, since those who hold fast to the Lord in love shall be delivered. Even after our bodies have long decayed, in our flesh we shall see God for ourselves, and our eyes shall be made to look on Him. For the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin and He therefore raises us with Him from death to life.

Thus “He will command His angels concerning you.” Apart from Christ that is a terrifying statement. For angels are servants of the Most High God, and they serve to perform His holy will and carry out God’s justice for the sake of the elect. The Lord sent angels with flaming swords to prohibit passage into the garden; He sent an angel to kill the first born in Egypt; He sent an angel to afflict the Israelites with pestilence and killed 70,000; He sent seven angels to carry the seven bowls of God’s wrath.  Like the avenger of blood, God sends His angels to smite the doers of evil.

But on account of the blood of Christ which atones for your sins and assuages the wrath of God, the Lord no longer sends His angels to crush you, but to bear you up. “For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.” Those words of the psalm are absolutely true and trustworthy. Even though Satan misuses that comforting promise of God in order to tempt Jesus to put God to the test, the promise is still valid. The misuse of that verse, even by Satan, doesn’t negate the proper use.

The Lord doesn’t only send angels to be bearers of wrath, but to be ministers of grace. Afterall, the devil left Jesus and angels came and ministered to Him. When Lot was dwelling in sin, angels dragged him to safety and away from God’s wrath. When Elisha prayed for his servant the Lord opened his eyes to see the mountain filled with horses and chariots of fire fighting for the deliverance of Israel. When common shepherds were in the pasture an angel of the Lord directed them to see Jesus, their Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Isn’t it funny that God sends His angels to defend His Christians who are in peril. He doesn’t send angels when everything is going well, but He sends His angels to deliver His people when they are in immediate danger. The 91st Psalm isn’t written for Christians who have never suffered, but it’s written for Christians who are well acquainted with crosses of various kinds. Those who have been in war know what a refuge, fortress, arrow, shield, and buckler are; those who have been sick understand pestilence.

While God uses these trials as wrath in order to bring us to repentance, He also uses them as means to direct us to Christ. And so this Psalm is not a promise that you will be happy, healthy, and wealthy if you hold fast to the Lord in faith. Rather, the Lord intentionally directs us to walk in danger for the sake of our faith. The angels are sent to bear us up so that we do not strike our foot against a stone, but take note that this implies that we are still walking in a rocky place! The fact that He promises to deliver us implies we have something from which to be delivered!

In fact, the Lord goes so far as to bring us to the point where we will intentionally tread, trample, and stomp on the lion and the adder! He leads us into the lion’s den, into Egypt, into Babylon, into pestilence, and into death, all because through Christ we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us. On the cross Christ didn’t merely step on the serpent’s head, but He crushed Satan beneath His nail-pierced feet so that you may trample on the devil. Like John Bunyan wrote: “No lion can him fright, he’ll with a giant fight.” “Hobgoblin, nor foul fiend, can daunt his spirit; he knows he at the end shall life inherit.”

You dwell in a land infected with pestilence, sometimes we call it Covid, other times cancer, sometimes the flu, other times heart disease. There is all sorts of medical and scientific research meant to decrease the prevalence of pestilence. Regardless of all of that, pestilence clings to this corrupted creation like the plague, and the Lord uses it for the sake of His elect, so that the banished one will not remain an outcast. 

Instead of responding in fear and anxiety, respond and say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Instead of seeking first a refuge in the hospital, first “dwell in the shelter of the Most High” and “abide in the shadow of the Almighty,” and then secondly turn to doctors of this age. For the Lord is your dwelling place, He is your refuge. If pestilence has dropped you to your knees in agony, and thousands are falling prey to this sickness on either side of you, remember it is the Lord who lifts you up to your knees so that you may repent and call on the name of the Lord and He will answer you.

Sickness and death will come for you and your loved ones, as it does for all; we all must die. It will leave you grotesque and disfigured, a shell of the person God created you to be. You will be poured out like water and all of your bones will be out of joint. Your strength will be dried up like a potsherd and your tongue will stick to your jaws; you will be laid in the dust of death. When you see this happening to others and you see this happening to yourself, the Lord is forcing you to look, He’s gripping your head and won’t let it turn away as much as you would like; your gaze cannot be averted. Because when you look upon the agony of death in the body of a Christian, the Lord is making you look on Jesus, your Savior. For every dying Christian who has been clothed in the robe of Christ’s righteousness is being pressed into the image of Christ, so that in the weakest moments of our life the Lord forces the image of Jesus our Savior before our eyes. He will deliver us! He will satisfy us with long life in the age to come.