Charles Spurgeon saw the effects of the plague during his ministry in London. Reflecting on the ninety-first Psalm he noted the comfort and security of the words:
no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.
(Ps 91:10)
He told a story about seeing these verses in a shop window. My friend Paul Martin wrote about this incident recently.
With the COVID-19 virus pandemic requiring people to be “socially distant” it is a good time to consider where our security lies.In Spurgeon’s commentary on Psalm 91, he addressed the question:
Get into God and you dwell in all good, and ill is banished far away. It is not because we are perfect or highly esteemed among men that we can hope for shelter in the day of evil, but because our refuge is the Eternal God, and our faith has learned to hide beneath his sheltering wing.
Treasury of David, Psalm 91.
This is the response of anyone in calamity. They get into God. They seek him, pursue him, and find refuge in him. Although they may be socially distant from others, they are secure “in Christ”.
As Spurgeon explained, there is a beautiful way that God gives comfort in calamities and security for those who are sick. Spurgeon said:
It is impossible that any ill should happen to the man who is beloved of the Lord; the most crushing calamities can only shorten his journey and hasten him to his reward. Ill to him is no ill, but only good in a mysterious form. Losses enrich him, sickness is his medicine, reproach is his honour, death is his gain. No evil in the strict sense of the word can happen to him, for everything is overruled for good. Happy is he who is in such a case. He is secure where others are in peril, he lives where others die.
Treasury of David, Psalm 91.
If you are home from work, self-quarantined, or otherwise unable to fellowship with other believers, then take this opportunity to get into God.
