Psalms 91:9-12 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Because thou hast made the Most High thy habitation Which is the only ground and reason of that safety here mentioned; there shall no evil befall thee Namely, so as to destroy or really hurt thee. Though affliction befall thee, yet there shall be no real evil in it; for it shall come from the love of God, and shall be sanctified; it shall come, not for thy hurt, but for thy good; and though for the present it be not joyous but grievous, yet, in the end, it shall yield so well that thou thyself shalt own no evil befell thee. Neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling This promise is not made to all that dwell nigh a righteous man, as, suppose, to his children, servants, and neighbours, who may, possibly, be wicked persons, and so strangers from God's covenant and promises. How far it secures his own person, see on Psalms 91:7. For he shall give his angels charge over thee Those blessed, powerful, and watchful spirits, whom God hath appointed to minister to, and take care of, the heirs of salvation. To keep thee in all thy ways In the whole course of thy life, and in all thy lawful undertakings. They shall bear thee up in their hands Sustain or uphold thee in thy goings, as we do a child or a weakly man, especially in uneven or dangerous paths; lest thou dash thy foot against a stone So as to hurt it, or to cause thee to fall. Satan, it is well known, tempted Christ to cast himself from a pinnacle of the temple upon the presumption of this promise, which he quoted, implying, that angels should guard and support him in all dangers whatever. “But Christ, in answer, at once detected and exposed the sophistry of the grand deceiver, by showing that the promise belonged only to those who fell unavoidably into danger, in the course of duty; such might hope for the help and protection of Heaven; but that he who should wantonly and absurdly throw himself into peril, merely to try whether Providence would bring him out of it, must expect to perish for his pains.'” Horne.