Psalm 91

“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.” (Psalm 91:5–8, NKJV)

Some psalms are more meaningful to us than others. Psalm 91 is especially meaningful to me because of what it meant to my father. He was a radar operator on a B-29 Bomber during World War II. His crew (the Ready Teddy) flew forty missions over Japan. Whenever they would take off on another sortie, Dad would read Psalm 91, trusting God to protect them and bring them home safely. (By the way, if he had been shot down I never would have been born.)

In 1995, I received a call from a dentist in New York. He asked if I knew who Vern Zachman was. I told him that he was my father. Then he told me that he was on my dad’s flight crew. They were planning a reunion for the 50th anniversary of the end of the War. I explained that my father had died 4 years earlier. Then he said, “We used to always say that we got back home safely because of your dad’s prayers.” I remembered what Dad had told me about Psalm 91, and how he prayed through it each time they left on a mission.

-It is a psalm of protection from pestilence, night terrors, enemy snares and arrows, destruction, and every kind of harm. He dispatches His angels to keep us in all our ways!

-It is a psalm of comfort where we abide under the shadow of the Almighty and take refuge beneath His wings.

-It is a psalm of faith for we trust in the LORD, we have made Him our dwelling place, and we have set our love on Him.

-It is a psalm of prayer because when we call on Him, He promises to answer us and be with us in trouble.

Spend time today praying through this wonderful psalm and making it your own. You will find it to be a fountain of unending comfort, peace and strength!