The Protection of My God in the Midst of Threat

91:1–16  A key to understanding this psalm in its original context lies in interpreting its imagery. The dominant image describing the obligation of the believer is that of taking “refuge” (vv. 1–2, 9, cf. v. 4). This seems to be not an abstract metaphor but a concrete symbol for trust in God that derives from the temple and the cherubim wings outstretched over the ark of the covenant. God’s protection is further spelled out by images of a hiding place, a shadow from the burning sun, a military fortress (all in vv. 1–2), a bird protecting her young (v. 4a), military defenses (v. 4b), and angels (vv. 11–12). The images depicting threat derive from a hunt (the fowler’s snare, v. 3a), disease (the deadly pestilence, v. 3b; the pestilence and the …