Our daily disciplines directly affect how we respond to trials in our lives. If we have made prayer a daily discipline then we will, in troubling times, be people who pray instead of panic. If seeking God’s will through the study of His Word has been a daily discipline, we will do the same when we encounter uncertainty in the world around us.

Psalm 91:1
He who dwells in the shadow of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

There are two scenarios in this one verse – one present tense and one future.

Present Tense Scenario: He who dwells in the shadow of the Most High…

This describes a man who makes it his daily practice to sit under the covering of God Most High. The name for God used here is Elyon and it refers to the holiness and authority of God. So, this person daily recognizes the authority and otherness of God.

Future Tense Scenario: …will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

This same man, because of his daily discipline of living under the Lord’s authority and recognizing His holiness will then live under the protection of the Almighty. This name for God is El Shaddai or God All Powerful. The man who has made it a habit to remain near the Lord will know where to go in troubling times.

What this psalm teaches us is that those of us who make a habit of recognizing God’s holiness and authority in our daily lives can then enjoy the protection of His power in times of trial. When we understand this, we no longer fear the “arrow that flies by day, the destruction at noon, or the pestilence at night (verse 5-6.) We are covered morning, noon, and night by the All Powerful God “because we have made the Lord our dwelling place” (verse 9) all along.