Psalm 91
1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of Yahweh, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.”
World English Bible (WEB)
On Psalm 91: the meaning of this psalm of protection and refuge, the images of "shelter" and "shadow," and why it is read in times of danger and fear. Read it directly.
Psalm 91 is among the strongest of the psalms written about protection. From its very first line it builds an image of refuge: a place where a person shelters in the shadow of a protection greater than themselves.
Danger is named realistically throughout the psalm — the terror of night, plague, the snare — yet the emphasis falls not on the absence of danger but on not being alone in the midst of it. In this way it does not deny fear; it answers it.
You can move to the chapter below to see the whole psalm and how its images unfold. Related collections on protection and fear bridge to other verses that carry the same trust.