Trust but Don’t Tempt

Psalm 91:1-2, 4-16; Luke 4: 1-13

Psalm 91 talks about having great trust in the Lord. It tells how God is our refuge–protection or shelter from danger and distress. Going along with this theme of protection is the image of being safely surrounded by a fortress. Because of this we are told that no evil will befall us. The idea of guardian angels comes from this passage when it says, “The Lord will command God’s angels concerning you to guard in all your ways. They will bear you up so you won’t even dash your foot against a stone.” The Lord will protect those who know God’s name and when they call God will answer – will be them in trouble, will rescue, honor them, and show them God’s salvation.

Our Luke account tells of the Temptation of Christ. I am impressed by how Jesus when tempted with food after a 40 day fast, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 8:3 “Thou shall not live by bread alone.” When the devil tempts him with power only if he will worship him, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:13 saying “Worship only the Lord your God.”

Now the third temptation is to test God’s protection as written in Psalm 91. What I find interesting here is that the devil quotes scripture here – the verses we’ve explored in Psalm 91. This points out to me that Satan and other evil persons can quote and misuse scripture to justify their own agendas. This has been done throughout history as slavery, patriarchy, and bigotry has been supported by scripture verses taken out of context. But Jesus isn’t fooled. He strikes back with Deuteronomy 6:16, about not testing the Lord. We are not to test the Lord’s protection by jumping off a cliff, but to have faith and trust God’s promises divine protection when we need it.

Jesus passes all the devil’s temptations and in other accounts the angels do come down to minister to Jesus’ physical needs after the devil leaves. What we learn from Jesus temptations is the importance of knowing God’s word and applying it in the right situation. Also knowing the whole context of God’s word, remembering that even the devil can quote scripture out of context. Though God is our protector we are not to test him. I feel that those who wrestle poisonous snakes in Jesus’s name are totally testing the Lord their God.

May we continually put our trust in God our refuge and fortress who sends guardian angels. Let us find our source of life in God and only worship God and refrain from testing our trust.

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