Psalm 91 Part 4

I just wanted to reiterate that the posts I am doing here on the book, "Psalm 91 God's Umbrella of Protection" are just highlights, and the things that really stood out to me. The author goes into detail about every verse in Psalm 91, I'm give you a 'taste' of the book. This may be the last part I post, since I will be gone most of the week. We'll see...

This chapter is titled "The Enemy under my feet!"

" You will tread upon the lion and cobra, the young lion and the serpent (dragon in the KJV) you will trample underfoot." Psalm 91:13

In this verse God transitions to another topic. He takes us from the subject of our being protected by him, and He begins to put emphasis on the authority in His Name that has been given to us as believers.

There is a corresponding verse on our authority in Jesus name in Luke 10:19- "Behold, I (Jesus) have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you."

As Christians we have been given authority over the enemy- not him over us. We need to take time to allow that fact soak in. However, our authority over the enemy is not automatic. Too many Christians take authority when they should be praying, and they pray when they should be taking authority! For the most part Jesus prayed at night and took authority all day. When we encounter the enemy- that is not the time to start praying. We need to be already prayed up. When we encounter the enemy, we need to be speaking forth the authority that we have in the name of Jesus.

We need to be confident in who we are in Christ and the authority He has given us. If a situation rises up that we need to take authority in, will we have the courage to do it? At new birth in Christ, we immediately have enough power placed at our disposal to tread upon the enemy without being harmed. However, most Christians don't know that or they fail to use it. How often do we believe the Word enough to act on it?

So, what does it mean when God says we will tread on the lion, the young lion, the cobra, and the dragon? This is just a metaphorical look at things that are potentially harmful in our daily lives. So let's break each one down and see what these terms mean to us today.

Lion Problems- those problems that are bold, loud, and forthright- problems that come out in the open and hit us face on. At one time or another we have all had something come against us that was blatant and overt. It might have been a car wreck , or a boss who chewed us out royally in front of our fellow employees. Maybe it was an unexpected bill at the end of the month that caused a chain reaction of checks bouncing. These are lion problems- obvious problems that often seem insurmountable. And yet God says that we will tread on them- not the other way around.

Young Lion Problems- these can grow into full-grown problems if we don't handle them. These young lions come against us to harass and destroy gradually, like little foxes. "Catch the foxes for us. The little foxes that are ruining the vineyards, while our vineyards are in blossom. " Song of Solomon 2:15

Cobra Problems- These are the problems that seem to sneak up on us like a snake in the grass when we are going through our day, minding our own business. They are what we might call an undercover attack that brings sudden death- like a deceptive scheme that keeps us blinded until it devours us. How many times have you witnessed an unexpected church split or a marriage that fell apart so suddenly that you couldn't imagine what had happened, only to find out later that there had been offenses, gossip, undermining of authority,etc. going on behind the scenes? By the time the cause was uncovered, the poison had had its effect on it victims. Puncture wounds from fangs are hard to detect, and no one sees the poison as it travels through a body, but the results are always damaging and often times deadly.

The previous figurative examples we might have guessed, but what are the " dragon" problems? The Hebrew word for dragon in Strong's Concordance listed as " sea monster." Well, there is no such thing as a dragon or a sea monster. Dragons are a figment of one's imagination. But have you ever experienced fears that were a figment of your imagination? Yes! We all have!
Dragon problems represent our unfounded fears- phantom fears or mirage fears. That sounds harmless enough, but are you aware that they can be as deadly as the reality fears if we believe them? Some people's dragon fears are as real to them as another person's lion problems. That is why it is important to define your fears. So many people spend all of their lives running from something that is not even chasing them . Many people have shared testimonies about being delivered from 'fear of the dark' or ' fear of clowns' or ' fear of dolls'. Imaginary fears can cause us to do a lot of unnecessary running in life, so authority over dragons is very valid. (Amen to that!)

The Good News is that God says that we will tread on all the powers of the enemy- no matter whether they are loud and bold, sneaky and deceptive, or just imaginary fears. We have authority over all of them!

No longer are we to put up with the paralyzing fears that at one time gripped our hearts and left us powerless at the sight of the evil that was striking all around us. God has given us His Power of Attorney, and these problems now have to submit to the authority that has been given to us in His name- we can walk over the lion, the young lion, cobra and dragon.