Psalm 91 Meaning: Full Text and Verse-by-Verse Notes

Psalm 91 is 16 verses long. Below is the full text in the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), followed by notes on authorship, the four sections of the psalm and the places it is read today.

Psalm 91 full text (BSB)

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. (1)

I will say to the LORD, “You are my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” (2)

Surely He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly plague. (3)

He will cover you with His feathers; under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and rampart. (4)

You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, (5)

nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the calamity that destroys at noon. (6)

Though a thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, no harm will come near you. (7)

You will only see it with your eyes and witness the punishment of the wicked. (8)

Because you have made the LORD your dwelling—my refuge, the Most High— (9)

no evil will befall you, no plague will approach your tent. (10)

For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. (11)

They will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. (12)

You will tread on the lion and cobra; you will trample the young lion and serpent. (13)

“Because he loves Me, I will deliver him; because he knows My name, I will protect him. (14)

When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him. (15)

With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation.” (16)

The psalm is about 270 words in the BSB.

Who wrote Psalm 91?

Most psalms open with a heading such as “A Psalm of David.” Psalm 91 has none in the Hebrew text. Jewish tradition assigns it to Moses, since the psalm right before it begins:

A prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, You have been our dwelling place through all generations. (Psalm 90:1, BSB)

The two psalms share the image of God as a dwelling place (90:1, 91:9). The Greek Septuagint adds a heading that names David instead. Psalm 91 belongs to Book IV of the Psalter (Psalms 90–106), and the Septuagint and Latin Vulgate number it Psalm 90.

Psalm 91 meaning, section by section

Verses 1–2: “You are my refuge and my fortress”

Verse 1 uses two names for God, the Most High and the Almighty, and verse 2 adds the LORD and “my God.” The speaker then says it in the first person: God is “my refuge and my fortress.” A fortress was a stronghold on high ground, hard for an enemy to reach.

Verses 3–8: Promises to “you”

From verse 3 the psalm addresses “you” and names one danger after another: the fowler’s snare, plague, terror at night, arrows by day, calamity at noon. Verse 4 pictures God as a bird sheltering its young under its wings. The “shield and rampart” are a hand-held shield and a wall-like defense. Verse 7 sets a thousand and ten thousand falling against the one who stays untouched.

Verses 9–13: Angels and lions

Verse 9 repeats the opening idea of making the Most High a dwelling. Verses 11–12 promise angels who will carry the person “so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” Verse 13 adds the lion, cobra, young lion and serpent.

Verses 14–16: God speaks

The quotation marks in the BSB show the change. In verses 14–16 God speaks in the first person and makes eight promises: deliver, protect, answer, be with him in trouble, deliver, honor, satisfy with long life, and show him salvation. The reason is given at the start of verse 14: “because he loves Me” and “because he knows My name.”

When Satan quoted Psalm 91

When the devil took Jesus to the highest point of the temple, he quoted verses 11–12:

“If You are the Son of God,” he said, “throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command His angels concerning You, and they will lift You up in their hands, so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’” (Matthew 4:6, BSB)

Jesus replied, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Matthew 4:7, BSB)

Jesus answers from Deuteronomy 6:16. Luke 4:9–12 tells the same story. The exchange is often cited as a warning against using the promises of Psalm 91 as grounds for deliberately taking risks to make God prove Himself.

Where Psalm 91 is read today

• Catholic Night Prayer: In the Liturgy of the Hours, Psalm 91 is prayed at Compline on the eve of Sundays and solemnities.
• First Sunday of Lent, Year C: The Catholic responsorial psalm is Psalm 91 with the refrain “Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble,” alongside Luke’s account of the temptation. The Revised Common Lectionary assigns Psalm 91:1–2, 9–16 to the same Sunday.
• Jewish liturgy: It is recited in the Sabbath morning service and in the bedtime Shema, and at a burial it is said seven times as the casket is carried to the grave.
• Music: Michael Joncas wrote the hymn “On Eagle’s Wings” in 1979, loosely based on Psalm 91.

Write out Psalm 91

At about 270 words, the whole psalm takes 30 to 40 minutes to copy by hand. Splitting it into the four sections above gives a four-day plan: verses 1–2, 3–8, 9–13 and 14–16. If you have not tried scripture copywork before, how to start handwriting scripture walks through the first steps, and copywork explains the method.

Penned Grace lets you write scripture by hand, letter by letter, on iPhone, iPad or Android, with your finger or Apple Pencil. It is free to download. Open Psalm 91 in the app to write it one verse at a time.

Psalm 91 is often read alongside Psalm 23, the shepherd psalm, which is short enough to write out in one sitting.