Ps. 91.1 (inhabiting Yhwh)

Whoever dwells / under the protection / of the Most High
will abide / in the shade / of the Almighty. 

These lines are not only an introduction but form a type of summary, or encapsulation, of the entire psalm. This, in other words, is what the psalm ‘is about’. This can be seen structurally in how the psalmist has created the psalm: verses 2-9a form a unit, 9b-13 another and the concluding ‘oracle of Yhwh’ forming 14-16. All of these unites speak about, from varying perspectives, the ‘protection’ afforded by Yhwh to his people. There are important observations to make about this opening verse, though, that highlights later themes in an important way. A first thing to note is how the lines speak about the way in which protection is granted: “Whoever dwells…will abide…”. At first glance, it appears as if the one ‘dwelling’ or ‘abiding’ is performing a type of passive activity, while Yhwh (or, ‘Most High’, or ‘Almighty’) is entirely active. I think that that is important and something we will return to over and over again. However, that observation, taken by itself, misses the subtlety. Here is what I mean, the lines do not say “Whoever dwells…, abides…”. Nor do they say “Whoever dwells under the Most High, abides in the shade of the Almighty”. I think what we see here is that to ‘dwell under the protection of the Most High’ does involve a type of ‘active  stance’ toward him. It is not merely a matter of passively, inhabiting a space. The natural question is what does it mean to ‘dwell under the protection of the Most High’. The psalm provides an answer and it does so in a very interesting way. I mentioned above the structure of the units. In verse 2a we read, “I say O Yhwh you are my refuge and my fortress…”. In 9b, we read, “If you make the Most High your haven…”.  And in verse 14 we read “I will keep safe the one devoted to me, I will protect the one who knows my name.” 

This is intriguing. The psalmist is showing us, in each ‘inauguration’ of the units, what it means to “dwell under the protection of the Most High”. It means to say Yhwh is my refuge (2a); to make Yhwh your haven (9b); and to “be devoted to me and known my name” (14). It involves an active ‘cleaving to’, and ‘intimate knowledge of’, Yhwh. Importantly, then, these opening lines point to a type of passivity and activity on the part of those to whom the psalm is spoken. They must ‘dwell’ and ‘abide’ in Yhwh, but this is done by and through their devotion and clinging to Yhwh. As we will see later, this dynamic of ‘passivity’ and ‘activity’ is enhanced by allusions to the psalmist finding Yhwh’s Temple to be a ‘place’ of refuge (pointing to a type of ‘passive inhabiting of space’). But here, what we note is that there is a fervent ‘activity’ that is presumed in order to ‘engage’ the protection of Yhwh. 

Beneath the Most High. Another observation regards the ‘location’ of Yhwh’s protection. In these lines it stands over the psalmist (and, ‘all those’ who dwell under his protection). The ‘stance’ is one of authority: Yhwh’s protection above them, and they position themselves under him. This image will be developed later in the image of Yhwh as a magnificent bird who ‘covers’ his people and ‘under which’ they find refuge. This ‘position’ is changed slightly in the following line where it is shade that one ‘abides in’ (not ‘under’). This is the second ‘place’ of Yhwh’s protection that will be described in the psalm Yhwh will either be a building (fortress, Temple (?)) in which one is protected, a shield behind which one retreats (vs.4), or he will send his angels to be “about you” (vs. 11). 

Time. This final observation is how the physical descritpions of Yhwh as completely encompassing his people, ‘above and around’, is matched by the temporal protection of ‘dwelling and abiding’. This also will be key in the following verses. Yhwh’s protection is one that ‘surrounds one’, through time. The people’s “dwelling and abiding” is matched by Yhwh’s “faithfulness” in temporal terms. When these two meet, the people are utterly secure within and under and forever in Yhwh.