Our church Pastor had the congregation read aloud Psalm 91, stating it is our claim to protection against the current COVID-19 crisis. Is this right?
Psalm 91 is a Messianic psalm, meaning it is psalm of the Father speaking concerning His Son. For example:
Psa. 91:11 For He will give His angels charge concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.
Psa. 91:12 They will bear you up in their hands,
That you do not strike your foot against a stone.
Psa. 91:13 You will tread upon the lion and cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.
Psa. 91:14 “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
Psa. 91:15 “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
Psa. 91:16 “With a long life I will satisfy him
And let him see My salvation.”
In that passage the Father is speaking concerning His Son, and Satan quoted from this passage in trying to tempt Jesus:
Matt. 4:5 Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple,
Matt. 4:6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written,
‘HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU’;
and
‘ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP,
SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.’”
Matt. 4:7 Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.’”
So this psalm is primarily about Jesus, but it also applies to believers in a limited way. In general, this psalm is speaking of what believers will experience in glory when we enter into the Kingdom. In the glory of the Kingdom, believers will be like Christ, the Bible says, which means we will be free of death, sin and all enemies. So in the setting of the Kingdom, the things promised in this psalm will be true for believers.
On the other hand, it is not correct to claim that these promises are presently in effect for believers, and history and personal experience prove this so. Believers do die in this world (as all human beings do), and believers may suffer violence, disease, accidents and the like. We see these things happening to believers every day, and this is to be expected because the Lord didn't take us out of the world.
Instead, He has promised that we have overcome the world, which means we will leave this world one day to receive all the promises the Lord has made to us. As Jesus said:
