Default Setting

Psalm 91 is a very beloved Psalm and often quoted regarding God’s divine protection. I’ve even seen a sign on a shop window, and a bumper sticker on a car reading ‘Protected by Psalm 91’. But while reading Psalm 91 recently, the words of verse 2 – our key Scripture - struck me for the first time; ‘I will SAY of the Lord’.

What we say concerning the Lord influences our belief system, and the way we act upon it. We need to be especially aware of what we say in our hearts to ourselves. The apostle Paul spoke about ‘bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ’ (2 Corinthians 10:15). The pronouncements we make inside our hearts - the things we believe about God, ourselves and others – can either strengthen us or set us up for a fall. Many times when we face times of trouble and adversity, and feel that God didn’t come through for us, we may believe lies about God, His goodness and His love. Our first response – our default setting – may be to doubt Him and His good plans for us.

Before Satan was cast out of heaven, he was a magnificent angel. The Word describes him as being adorned with jewels, and blameless in his ways. He was the guardian cherub who covered the throne of God, and like the archangels, Gabriel and Michael, he was a chief among the princes in Heaven. But then we read how things started changing. Ezekiel 28 tells us that his heart became proud. In Isaiah 14:13-15 we see why: ‘You SAID IN YOUR HEART, “I will ascend to heaven, I will raise my throne above the stars of God…I will make myself like the Most High’”. Satan’s downfall started by the confessions of his heart. Psalm 14:1 tells us ‘The fool says in his heart, “there is no God.’”

This drove home to me again the importance of laying up the Word of God and His truth in my heart. ‘Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads’ (Deuteronomy 17:18). David said, ‘I have hidden Your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against You’ (Psalm 119:11).

It’s so important that we hide the truth of God’s Word in our hearts – that we get it deeply imbedded in the very fibres of our spirits. Then, when our thoughts start veering off the truth, and when the circumstances of life scream at us that God doesn’t care, or He’s abandoned us, or when pride rises up in our hearts, telling us we can handle life on our own, our default setting will be to take those thoughts captive and to ‘SAY of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God in Him I will trust'