“Shelter in Place” takes on new meaning in the light of an ancient psalm
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.’ 3 Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
– Psalm 91:1-6
Updated: March 24, 2020
This morning my monthly liturgy “happened” to take me to Psalm 91. It’s a favorite psalm of mine. I must have read it hundreds of times. It even hangs in our dining room. Yet somehow I never noticed that it contains the word ‘pestilence.’ In fact, the word appears twice!
Global Pandemic and Psalm 91
Pestilence is one of the first things the psalmist seeks defense against in verse 3, and it is still on their mind (together with ‘the plague’) in verse 6. Such “sudden and fatal epidemics” (ISBE) were one of the greatest fears of the ancient world. Scripture mentions pestilence over fifty times, but somehow my eyes ran over each occurrence… until today.
Today I found myself praying the words of Psalm 91 with greater intensity than ever before. I used the psalmist’s words to pray for each of my family members, friends, and faculty by name (I’m a college dean.) I prayed for our students and their families. I prayed for colleagues in other schools, departments, and universities. I prayed for our cities, our states, our nation, and our world.
If ever a psalm was written to guide our prayers in a season of global pandemic this is it. Jews and then Christians have found comfort and strength in this Psalm for thousands of years and through countless epidemics.
Suffering Service
Now, I wish Psalm 91 was offering a guarantee that everyone who prays this prayer is granted a magical “get out of pestilence free” card to play. Biblical scholars tell us otherwise. The Psalm is clearly part of God’s covenant promise to King David to never cut off the line of his descendants. David could cling to God’s absolute promise to protect him during a season of pestilence he faced during his administration. (See, I Chronicles 21). And of course, Jesus, David’s great-great-great-grandson, could make the same claim.
However, Jesus refused to fall for Satan’s temptation to use Psalm 91 as his personal “get out of suffering free” card. (Matthew 4:1-7) Instead of clinging to the psalm’s promise of a long life, Jesus chose to spend his life in sacrificial service for the best interest of others; service that would eventually cost him his life. No matter bad things got, Jesus knew his enemies could not prevent him from doing God’s will “because his hour had not yet come” (John 7:30) He rested not in Psalm 91’s promise to protect from stubbing his toe, but in its promise that all who make the Lord their refuge enjoy God’s presence and protection for as long as their service is required.
This is where Psalm 91 should lead us today. Jesus called his followers to face suffering and even death for doing good just as he did. Whether we serve as healthcare workers, medical researchers, law enforcement officers, food service providers, cargo-delivery drivers and pilots, this season of global suffering may cost some of us our lives; but that should not keep us from serving in these roles for the benefit others. As I write this, my brother is choosing to risk his life flying Fed-Ex between New York and Los Angeles, because as he just texted me, “these flights are needed to get us through this crisis.”
Even those working remotely while managing now chaotic homes must be willing to sacrifice our “normal lives” in service of the common good. Staying home is a way of loving your neighbor, as is reaching out in service to other homebound families. For instance, my faculty have gone out of their way to check on Sue and I in our quarantine, making daily deliveries of needed items to our doorstep. Sue and I were able to return the favor by delivering our stash of long-forgotten toys and sporting equipment to the children of my homebound faculty (from a safe social distance, of course.)
Simple gestures can go a long way at a time like this. So Sue (who hates talking on the phone) is keeping a spiritual discipline of talking to at least three people each day and I have been trying to text at least ten new people each day to offer prayer.
As Archbishop Justin Welby told his online parishioners: “At difficult times we have a choice. We can focus on fear, on ourselves and what we cannot do. Or we can turn to God and let God lead us into praying for the world, and let prayer flow into us, taking creative and loving action.“
We must look to heroes like the hospital workers (mostly nuns) who tended to the sick while the bubonic plague decimated nearly one-third of those living in 14th century Europe. As each nurse fell to the disease another took their place. A French chronicler tells us how these nurses “having no fear of death, tended the sick with all sweetness and humility.” Without them, the catastrophic loss of life would have been even greater. Like Henry Martyn, who died of tuberculosis at age 31 due to a life of service over safety, texts such as Psalm 91 convinced them, “I am immortal until God’s work for me is done.”
Shelter in Place
So while Psalm 91’s historical and covenantal context may not directly apply to us today, the promise of God’s rest (“peace”) in times of pestilence certainly does. If ever there was a time to “shelter in place” in God’s presence this is it. And Psalm 91 offers a proven path for doing so.
Could I ask you to join me in praying through this psalm each day until this season passes? Not as a talisman against contracting the coronavirus, but as a way to “abide” (literally, ‘pass the night’) deeply connected to the God who is our infinite source of self-sacrificing love. Our children, our students, our colleagues, our friends, and our neighbors need us “abiding” in divine love (John 15) so that we might bear the fruit of other-centered service as never before.
Abiding in the presence of 24-hour news and social media (as grateful as I am for these updates) will lead us only into greater and greater fear and self-preservation tactics. We certainly need to stay informed, but much more importantly, we need to pray, especially now when it is so difficult.
Writing to a generation devastated by the pestilence of the bubonic plague, Julian of Norwich reminded those under her spiritual care, “Pray, even if you feel nothing, see nothing. For when you are dry, empty, sick or weak, at such a time is your prayer most pleasing to God, even though you may find little joy in it. This is true of all believing prayer.”
After her own near-death experience, Julian reassured her struggling civilization with the words God had spoken to her, “All shall be well, all shall be well, all manner of things shall be well.”
Whether we are frontline workers risking their lives to serve others, or those asked only to stay at home to ‘flatten the curve’ of infection while taking care of those around us, Psalm 91 teaches us that the best locale to ‘Shelter in Place’ is not in our homes but in our God.
It may not be a magic bullet, but it certainly expresses the heart of “God our healer” (Exodus 15:26) and of a savior whose primary public ministry was healing the sick. Praying Psalm 91 fits with Jesus’s instructions to pray that “God’s will in the heavens would be done upon the earth” and gives us confidence that our prayers for healing are somehow part of God’s kingdom coming into this fallen world.
Would you join me in this prayer daily until this dark night of pestilence has passed?
Gary
Gary David Stratton, Ph.D., is University Professor of Spiritual Formation and Cultural Leadership and Dean of Arts and Sciences at Johnson University
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