Psalms 91:3

My Notes

What Does Psalms 91:3 Mean?

"Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence." Psalm 91's OPENING PROMISE — two deliverances: from the SNARE of the fowler (human trap) and from the NOISOME PESTILENCE (deadly disease). The two threats represent the full spectrum of danger: what PEOPLE do to you (snare) and what DISEASE does to you (pestilence). God delivers from BOTH — the intentional trap and the impersonal plague.

The phrase "the snare of the fowler" (mippach yaqush — from the trap/snare of the bird-catcher) uses HUNTING imagery: the fowler is a BIRD-CATCHER — someone who sets nets and traps to catch birds. The snare is CONCEALED — hidden, camouflaged, designed to look like safe ground while actually being a trap. The delivery is from the HIDDEN danger — the trap you can't see, the scheme you can't detect, the concealed net waiting to catch you.

The phrase "the noisome pestilence" (middever havvot — from the pestilence/plague of destruction/calamity) describes DEADLY disease: dever is PLAGUE — the word used for the plagues of Egypt, for epidemic disease, for mass death by illness. The 'havvot' (destructive, calamitous) intensifies: this isn't a mild illness. It's a DESTRUCTIVE plague — the kind that kills widely, indiscriminately, devastatingly.

The TWO deliverances cover AGENCY: the snare is set by a PERSON (the fowler — intentional, purposeful). The pestilence has no PERSON (disease — impersonal, indiscriminate). God delivers from threats that have human intelligence BEHIND them AND threats that have no intelligence at all. The intentional and the accidental. The plotted and the pathogenic.

Reflection Questions

• 1.What hidden snare and what impersonal pestilence is God delivering you from?
• 2.What does the fowler's CONCEALED trap teach about dangers you can't see that God can?
• 3.How does deliverance from BOTH intentional (snare) and impersonal (pestilence) describe comprehensive protection?
• 4.What 'surely' — what confident assertion of divine deliverance — does your current danger need you to believe?

Devotional

TWO deliverances: from the SNARE (the hidden trap set by a person) and from the PESTILENCE (the deadly plague that strikes without agency). God delivers from BOTH — the intentional trap AND the impersonal disease. The human scheme AND the biological threat. The plotted AND the pathogenic.

The SNARE of the fowler is CONCEALED danger: the bird-catcher's trap is designed to be INVISIBLE — hidden in the grass, camouflaged among the branches, indistinguishable from safe ground. The delivery is from what you CAN'T SEE — the trap you'd walk into unknowingly, the scheme you'd fall for unsuspectingly. God sees the snare that your eyes can't detect.

The NOISOME PESTILENCE is INDISCRIMINATE danger: plague doesn't choose its victims. It doesn't target with intelligence. It sweeps through populations without regard for innocence or guilt. The delivery from pestilence is delivery from the IMPERSONAL — the danger that doesn't care who you are. God's protection covers you even against threats that have no awareness of you.

The COMBINATION addresses the full scope of human danger: some threats come from PEOPLE who intend you harm (the fowler's snare). Some threats come from NATURE with no intention at all (the noisome pestilence). God's deliverance covers BOTH — the personal and the impersonal, the intelligent and the unintelligent, the trap and the plague. The protection is as comprehensive as the danger.

What hidden snare (set by someone) and what impersonal pestilence (set by no one) is God delivering you from right now?

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture