Kept In All My Ways (Psalm 91)

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty

        He who dwells in the shelter … will rest in the shadow …

…dwells in the shelter …. rest in the shadow…

He who dwells … will rest …

Dwells …rest …

As I sat there, motionless with anticipation in the court waiting room, I heard what sounded like the voices of hundreds of people, quietly repeating the above refrain. My quick scan of the room revealed no speakers that might be connected to a public address or stereo system, but this steady stream of sound was unbroken. Overlapping, as in a round … on the order of ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat’ Different voices, some deep, others high pitched, and every pitch or tenor in between. I was the only witness awaiting the trial, and there was no receptionist nearby. It literally felt as if the voices were strangely projecting from the very stones of the building.

He who dwells in… the Most High… will rest… He who dwells in the shelter… 

rest in the shadow… dwells in the shadow…   
He who… He who…

Countless voices softly echoing these words.

As I sat there contemplating this curiosity, I found myself gently breathing almost to the rhythm of the refrain, relaxing, letting go of tensions of the week. And were there tensions. That week, I found myself knee deep in tensions at work, at home, in social relationships, and even at church where I typically find some degree of relief from life’s strains and stresses. Not this week. I wasn’t sure if I was going through a trial of my faith, or temptation to let my guard down and delve head-on into strife-ridden situations in order to forge acceptable solutions.

But those voices. Who, where, why, how? My mind flooded with a truck load of questions, with no one in site to ask.

He who…who dwells…shall….he….rest….

The unwavering rounds continued.

The time for my hearing drew close. I could hear the echo of footsteps of someone coming towards me from down a long hall. As this person drew closer, I discerned he was walking to the rhythm of the voices which also echoed down the hall. He motioned me to join him, returning in the direction from which he had come. I clumsily gathered my personal effects, and walked briskly towards him. As I approached him, I was struck by the brilliance of his face and hands, the only parts of his body that were exposed. ‘Light white’ is all I could think of. He quickly turned his back to me and I followed silently, yet not in silence. As we walked, I quickly noticed the volume and intensity of the voices increased every so gradually, maintaining the steady rhythm of the rounds. My attempts to get the attention of my escort were futile. His strides were much greater than mine, because though I am over 6 feet tall, I am sure this person was well over 7 feet tall; reminding me of the tall, lanky Masai tribe warriors I visited in Kenya. It was all I could do to keep up with him as he strode to the rhythm of the voices. I felt like a little child struggling to keep up with an adult walking at a normal pace.

As we neared the end of the hall, I saw a door with several small windows arranged in an indecipherable design, through which streamed the brightest light I can imagine. Some of the panes of the door must have been stained glass or prisms, because it appeared as if the light coming through them was changing colors, reflecting all the colors of a rainbow. ‘How curiously beautiful’, I thought.

My escort extended his long arm to open the door, and motioned for me to enter the court. As he did, the volume of the voices suddenly increased, literally flooding every fiber of my being. Bass voices deeper than deep can imagine. Rich tenor and soprano voices reflecting an incredible strength and conviction. Voices, voices, seemingly thousands of voices flooding my being as I entered the court.

Scanning the room, I quickly saw hundreds of persons resembling my escort, but I was taken aback as I realized they were not the sources of the voices. As my escort guided me to the witness stand, I looked around and saw no discernible evidence of a public address or sound system. I saw only The Judge and one Attorney standing before the Judge’s bench, which was exceptionally high, and from which light emanated that filled the room and the faces of everyone therein.

As soon as I was seated, I was startled by the reverberating BANG of the gavel, and a rich, deep voice saying, ‘This court is now in session’.

A split second before the second syllable of the word, ‘ses-sion’ was spoken, all of the voices suddenly stopped! For a brief moment, there was total silence, with all eyes on me. A sole voice broke the silence. Deep baritone in tenor, speaking slowly, and sounding as if echoing from a mountain peak across a long, deep valley, it said,

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty…

This is the policy of The High Court.

Almost as if speaking on cue, I felt an incredible surge of energy and faith swelling inside of me, bubbling up my chest, into my throat and out of my mouth. These words shot past of my lips with a level of faith heretofore unknown,‘I will say of the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust!’’

‘Where did that come from’, I wondered? I could feel all eyes in the room fixed intently and approvingly upon me, signaling I was somehow not out of order. I released a great sigh of relief, and noticed movement in the court. The sole Attorney who was present was approaching me. With a confident stride, a strong, bright face and calming eyes that seemed to peer right through me, He started his discourse…

Looking at me and pointing to the Judge, He belted out,

Surely He will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.

I struggled unsuccessfully to decipher the meaning of these words that pierced through my consciousness. He continued, pacing across the courtroom.

A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. As you make the Most High your dwelling - even the LORD, who is My refuge - then no harm will befall you; no disaster will come near your dwelling.

I sat there taking in all of this. The splendor of the court, the brightness of the light, with no obvious electrical source. ‘Why only one Attorney’, I wondered? ‘What a magnificent Judge’s desk’, I thought. ‘When will I be questioned’, I pondered as I tried to refocus on the marvelous words and affirmations streaming out of the soul of this Attorney who spoke so convincingly.

Speaking to me but facing and motioning with His hand to those bright faces in the audience, He continued,

For He will command His angels concerning you to guard and keep you in all your ways.  They will lift you up in their hands, so you will not strike your foot against a stone.

‘Angels?!’, I gasped quietly. ‘Then that means the He must be….’ ‘Even if you tread upon the lion and the cobra’, He continued, interrupting my thought, ‘…or trample upon the great lion and the serpent, they will not hurt you!’

I sat there motionless and in awe of what I was seeing and hearing. Though I was the witness, in reality, He was witnessing to me rather than poking me with dozens of lawyerly questions as in any normal trial or court hearing. Once again, I gasped.

As if cutting off this Lawyer’s fine discourse in mid-stream, for the second time, I heard the overpowering voice of The Judge. ‘Because he loves Me’, he thundered, ‘I, even I will rescue him; I will protect him, because he acknowledges My Name!’

With mouths open agasp, all of the angels fixed their gaze upon The Judge sitting on His splendid and lofty bench, and robed in indescribable majesty and brilliance. He continued,‘He will call upon Me, and I, even I will answer him.’

Then He turned and stared intently at me in a brief moment of silence, which felt like an eternity. My mind raced to review everything I had witnessed thus far. I recalled just about every TV show and movie I had ever seen about holding court, and tried to sift and sort what might happen next. ‘Is it now my turn to be interrogated? What does all of this mean?’, I wondered

My heart thumped irregularly as if in my throat, and I could feel large beads of sweat begin to form on my brow. The palms of my hands became moist as He continued, addressing me personally for the first time. ‘I will be with you in trouble, to deliver you and honor you.’

‘What manner of speech is this for a Judge of such magnificence to address a wretch like me?’, I thought. ‘Is this a dream or what?’ The words, ‘I …will … honor … you…’ reverberated in my ears. I felt a large drop of perspiration roll down my brow into my eye, triggering a tear from the stinging saltiness. I gasped to catch my breath as He continued.‘With  l-o-n-g  life will I satisfy you and show you My salvation.’

By now, a flood of tears had washed the salty sweat from my eyes as I was overcome with emotion at the gracious words I had just heard from this Judge. Looking around the courtroom in repose, to take it all in, all I could see was exceedingly bright and broad smiles …from my Attorney and his attending angels. I was shocked out of my brief repose by the thunderous sound of the Judge’s gavel being struck, signaling adjournment of this High Court.

Simultaneous with the sound of the gavel, the now thousands of voices I heard from the beginning, once again began their refrain. But this time, they were not soft, nor were they repeating in rounds. Rather, as in one incredibly united, confident voice, they continually repeated,

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty!

As I sat there still trying to discern the sources of these melodious voices, my escort angel quickly ushered me out of the courtroom, back into and down the hall. He remained silent, yet radiated a great sense of satisfaction and peace. This time, I managed to keep up with his long strides. I decided to respect his silence. After all, I didn’t know what words I could say in response to all that we had just witnessed.

We approached the entry door, which he graciously opened for me. With a wide smile, he turned and said to me, ‘Praise The Lord our God, we all now have our (marching) orders concerning you!’    

For He will command His angels concerning me,

to keep me in all my ways…