“THE VERY SHADOW OF THE ALMIGHTY ONE”

26, 27. (a) Who are the ones that are taken as guests into the “secret place of the Most High”? (b) Why can this One enforce his sovereignty, and so what is the reasonable thing for us to do?

²⁶ What will “anyone dwelling in the secret place of the Most High” procure for himself? The complete opening verse of Psalm 91 answers: “Anyone dwelling in the secret place of the Most High will procure himself lodging under the very shadow of the Almighty One.” In this case, the procuring of lodging for oneself means that one will be treated as the guest of the Almighty One. This Almighty One is the same as the Most High. The one and the same Being has both qualities of supreme highness and almightiness.

²⁷ Because of being all-powerful, he can maintain his supremacy, his universal sovereignty. He can enforce his sovereignty in any and all parts of creation, against any intelligent, living creatures who may rebel against it. It is useless for any creature to oppose or ignore the sovereignty of the Most High, for He is the Almighty One. The reasonable thing to do is to recognize His rightful sovereignty and be submissive, loyal and true to it, always acknowledging him as the Sovereign of one’s life. The ones that do this are the ones that are taken into the “secret place of the Most High,” as the guests of the Almighty One.

28. When did the Most High call his being all-powerful to Abraham’s attention, and how did He prove it?

²⁸ For hundreds of millions of people today who are not familiar with the Holy Bible, it is hard to grasp the idea of an almighty Being, without equal in all the realm of existence. But as long ago as the twentieth century before our Common Era, the Most High, the Producer of heaven and earth, called that fact to the attention of his earthly friend, the patriarch Abram. In the year before the birth of Abram’s son Isaac, the Most High by means of His angel spoke of himself as all-powerful. Genesis 17:1, 2 tells us: “When Abram got to be ninety-nine years old, then Jehovah appeared to Abram and said to him: ‘I am God Almighty. Walk before me and prove yourself faultless. And I will give my covenant between me and you, that I may multiply you very, very much.’” He proved that nothing was impossible for him by miraculously giving to Abram and his aged wife their son Isaac, when they were both dead as far as reproducing children was concerned. He was a hundred years old and she ninety years old at Isaac’s birth. (Gen. 17:17; 21:1-5; Rom. 4:19-21) This Almighty One still exists.

29. Today we can come into the “secret place of the Most High” only by means of whom, and why?

²⁹ The Almighty One was as a very intimate Being to Abraham’s grandson Jacob. (Gen. 35:11; 43:14; 48:3; 49:25; Ex. 6:3) He can be very intimate to us also, even though we are such puny creatures in contrast. Just think of being a guest of His in the “secret place of the Most High”! But today, we must remember, we are admitted into this intimacy only through the good offices of his most intimate heavenly Son, Jesus Christ. During the night before laying down his perfect human life as a sacrifice to God for our sins, Jesus said to his faithful apostles: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) So it is through him that we approach to the Loftiest One in all existence and acknowledge Him as the Universal Sovereign, our Sovereign to whom our lives and loving loyalty and devotion belong. In this way we procure for ourselves “lodging under the very shadow of the Almighty One.”

30, 31. What picture evidently was in the mind of the psalmist when speaking about being “under the very shadow of the Almighty One?”

³⁰ What a wonderful thing it is for us to be overshadowed by the Almighty One! This betokens our having his interest, concern and attention. The picture here is not that of a smaller person being in the shadow of some much larger person or that of being in the shadow of something lifeless, “the shadow of a heavy crag in an exhausted land.” (Isa. 32:2) The right picture in the mind of the composing psalmist is that which is suggested in Psalm 17:8, where David prays to the Most High: “Keep me as the pupil of the eyeball, in the shadow of your wings may you conceal me.”

³¹ Yes, the picture drawn upon is that of a parent bird hovering aloft over its young and casting a shadow upon them. As long as the young ones down below see that they are in the shadow of their parent above, they know that they have its attention and are protected and are safe from predatory birds. That such bird flight overhead denotes attention and protection is confirmed by what is said in Isaiah 31:4, 5: “In the same way Jehovah of armies will come down to wage war over Mount Zion and over her hill. Like birds flying, Jehovah of armies will in the same way defend Jerusalem. Defending her, he will also certainly deliver her. Sparing her, he must also cause her to escape.”

32. (a) Thus the Almighty One and we in His “very shadow” are likened to what? (b) His being also the Most High enables Him to do what as a faithful Host?

³² Thus the Almighty One is likened to a mighty bird, and those who are in the “secret place” of spiritual security are likened to the young brood of that parent bird. Their being “under the very shadow of the Almighty One” makes the “secret place” all the more secure for them. He being the Most High, everything else is beneath him, and nothing below can escape his almighty powers of vision. He can at once detect any movement on the part of anything or anyone below against those who are under his “very shadow.” Instantly he can come to the defense and preservation of his overshadowed ones who are lodging with him as spiritual guests. He as Host faithfully keeps his honor with regard to his responsibility toward those whom he entertains as his guests. How consoling this thought! Where else could we find real spiritual security?

1. To procure such freedom from fear, what course must one pursue?

TO GAIN the freedom from fear of spiritual dangers that is described in Psalm 91, we have to pursue the course it prescribes. With reference to part of this course, the psalmist goes on to say: “I will say to Jehovah: ‘You are my refuge and my stronghold, my God, in whom I will trust.’”​—Ps. 91:2.

2. Who is thus identified by that unique name, in agreement with Exodus 6:2, 3?

² Let us all take note that it is to Jehovah that the psalmist (or the one whom he represents) says: “You are my refuge and my stronghold.” In this way he identifies the Most High and the Almighty One as the One bearing the unique name Jehovah. This agrees with what the Most High said to Moses after his return to Egypt: “I am Jehovah. And I used to appear to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as God Almighty, but as respects my name Jehovah I did not make myself known to them.”​—Ex. 6:2, 3.

3. When enlarging upon the import of his name, what Hebrew expression did the Almighty One use, and what did this, as rendered by some English translations, mean and imply?

³ When enlarging upon the import of His name, the Almighty One said to Moses: “Eh·yehʹ a·sherʹ eh·yehʹ.” That expression, found in the Hebrew text of Exodus 3:14, means: “I WILL BE THAT I WILL BE” (Rabbi Leeser’s translation); or, “I Will Become whatsoever I please” (Rotherham’s translation); or, “I SHALL PROVE TO BE WHAT I SHALL PROVE TO BE.” (New World Translation) This meant that this Almighty One could adapt himself to the circumstances of his people, and that, whatever he needed to become or prove to be for the sake of his people and in line with his purpose, he could and would become or prove to be that. He could and would meet any situation successfully. So, by this Hebrew expression, He was not talking about his self-existence, his being eternal.

4. (a) According to its Hebrew root, what does the name Jehovah mean, and with reference to whom or what? (b) What about the application of this name to Christ, God’s Son?

⁴ The divine name is related to that expression. The name Jehovah was made his “memorial” name, “the memorial of me to generation after generation.” (Ex. 3:15) According to the root of the name Jehovah in the Hebrew language, it appears to mean “He Causes To Become (or, Prove To Be),” that is, as regards Himself and as regards what He will become or prove to be, and not with respect to creating things. Who else in all the realm of intelligent life could rightly give himself a name like that, except the Most High and Almighty One? Not even God’s Son, Jesus Christ, assumed a name like that. He could be given the name that combined God’s name with it, such as Jeshua or Jesus, which means “Jehovah Is Salvation,” but never the name Jehovah strictly by itself.​—Jer. 23:6; 33:16.

5. Why is it fitting to say to Jehovah that He is one’s “refuge” and “stronghold,” and what does Proverbs 18:10 wisely say?

⁵ Correctly, then, those who are represented by the psalmist speaking in Psalm 91:2 can say to Jehovah: “You are my refuge and my stronghold.” He has, especially since the postwar year of 1919 C.E., become those things to them, in a spiritual sense, of course. Inasmuch as Jehovah is invisible, it takes strong faith for one to say that to Him, and really mean it and act in harmony with it. However, who else is there to flee to for safety as in a refuge but Jehovah the Most High? What stronghold could be stronger or harder to assail and overcome than the Almighty One himself? It was with inspired wisdom indeed that ancient King Solomon wrote: “The name of Jehovah is a strong tower. Into it the righteous runs and is given protection.”​—Prov. 18:10.

6. Though Christ is now involved, yet whose name is called upon for salvation, and who is the one that is the “refuge” and “stronghold” for Christians?

⁶ In the final analysis, even though it is now done through Jesus Christ the Son of God, yet it is upon the name of Jehovah that fallen, sinful human creatures must call for everlasting salvation. It was not just the pre-Christian prophet Joel who said that. (Joel 2:32) It was the apostle Peter also who said that on the day of Pentecost of 33 C.E., when the Christian congregation was founded. (Acts 2:21) Years later, the apostle Paul also wrote it, in Romans 10:13. Though access to the Most High and Almighty One is now gained only through his Mediator Jesus Christ, yet it is still Jehovah in whom we must find our refuge and who is our unconquerable stronghold.​—Zeph. 3:12.