Enfolded: A Reflection on God’s Psalm 91 PromisesSample

Having considered the characteristics of those who are enfolded, let us now concentrate on the commitments of The Enfolder.

God’s commitments are so resolute, definite, and tenacious that we can hardly believe them. As a mnemonic help, I’ve developed an acronym to reside in the preserve of the Sovereign. He DRAPES us. He wraps and covers us in His Deliverance, Rescue, Answers, Presence, Elevation, and Salvation. These are simultaneous, not sequential. All of them are always true. The Enfolder drapes us with His enfolding, whether we face general difficulty, specific disease, ongoing distress, or impending death.

How do we apply these promises? We always live by what is known—His revealed promises—and we always trust in what is unknown—His unrevealed purposes.

One day there will be a perfect understanding of how His revealed promises and undisclosed purposes converged. One of the blessings of a long life! The longer we live, the better we begin to see the outlines of His mysterious moves. As salvation is experienced in eternity, we will understand that God did not renege on His promises at all.

The week before I went into treatment, I wrote in my notebook on April Fool’s Day 2022: “God, You won’t make us fools for believing in You, though we will make ourselves fools for obeying You.” The day after my six weeks of daily weekday treatment, I wrote: “My security is in You; my stability is in You; my strength is in You; my strategies and successes are in You. Praise God; my salvation is in You.”

And then I did something I hadn’t done since childhood. I wrote an ode, a personal second verse to the doxology oft sung around the world. Sing with me:

Praise God by whom all healing comes (cf. from whom all blessings flow)

Praise Him on earth for what He’s done (cf. Him all creatures here below)

Praise Him you daughters and you sons (cf. Him above ye heavenly hosts)

Praise Savior, Shepherd, Sovereign One. (cf. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.)

AMEN