Today we are going to take a look at a phrase that is in one of the Psalms, probably one of your favorite Psalms that you probably have read time and time again. It is Psalm 91, and as you have probably read this Psalm time and time again, so, too, have I.
I was reading this Psalm awhile ago and it just struck me, one of the phrases that is in this Psalm. Now I will not read the whole Psalm; I will just read the first three verses. Psalm 91:1-3 reads as follows:
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
Now when I read that, I said, “What is that?” What is that?
Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler...
Many times, I have read this Psalm and I had to ask myself, “What is that?” What is it? It must be something that we should really take a look at, because God has to be the One to deliver us from that. Whatever it is, we can not do it ourselves.
So I did a study on some of the words that are in there, in that phrase, using God’s Word, comparing Scripture with Scripture, and we came up with an answer, and I would like to try to share that with you.
The first word there in that phrase is “surely.” Let us take a look at Amos 3. I will not tell you what the verse is until I get to it...some of you guys are really fast! Amos 3:7 says:
Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
So the Lord GOD will not do anything, unless He lets His people know what He is doing. And He is saying, “Surely, this is going to happen.” That is the sense of the word “surely,” like God is going to do this. He is going to make this happen. Surely, this is going to happen.
So let us take a look at another one. In Habakkuk 2:3, it says:
For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
God is letting us know, in His Word, that when He says this word “surely,” it is going to happen. It is going to come to pass.
So if we go back to Psalm 91 and we read this verse, it says:
Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler...
So this is something that He alone is going to do. He is going to do that.
Now once we find out what “the snare of the fowler” is, we know that we cannot do it. God has to be the One to do that, whatever it is, and we are going to find that out.
So we have to ask our self, “What is the snare? And who is the fowler?” What is the “snare”? And who is the “fowler”? What is that?
Well, before we go into the Word, we are going to say that a “snare” is something—just from the surface, physically, what we know a snare to be—it is something that you do not really see. You do not really know that it is there, and it catches you off guard. You see? You have to put some bait in it. It is something that hunters use to catch animals.
But this fowler is like someone who catches birds, and the “bird” in the Scriptures represents us. It represents us. People are what they “catch.”
So we are going to find out that from the physical part of a snare, we are going to look into the spiritual part of this particular “snare” and see what is going on here. Before we do that, though, let us take a quick look at this word “deliver.”
It says in Psalm 91:3:
Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler...
Now He is the One who “delivereth.” He is the “he” in this, because in the verse before that, He says in Psalm 91:2:
I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
So there is no doubt about who the “he” is in Psalm 91:3, “Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler.”
So let us take a look and see if that coincides. Let us look at Psalm 97, just a page over, and in verse 10. It says in Psalm 97:10:
Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.
Is there any doubt as to who it is that “delivereth,” the one who delivers? It is the Lord. He is the One who does that.
Let us just look at Psalm 106, which is only a few pages over. In Psalm 106, I will start reading in verse 40. Psalm 106:40-44 says:
Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance. And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand. Many times did he deliver...
There is that word.
...did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity. Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry:
You see, even this deliverance here is in spite of what they did. They kept provoking Him and provoking Him, and He delivered them anyway, you see, because He remembered the promise that He had made them, just like the promise He makes to us, which this is a picture of.
Let us look at Proverbs 11. Flip right over to Proverbs 11. We are just looking at this word “deliver” and we just want to see who it is. We can see that God is the One who does that. Slowly but surely, it is drawing us that picture. In Proverbs 11:6, it says:
The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them: but transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness.
Now we know that it cannot be our righteousness. It cannot be our righteousness that delivers us, so who is it when it says, “The righteousness of the upright”?
We learned today that in order to be upright, Christ is the only who walks upright. He is the only One who is righteous, and so, therefore, this righteousness, “The righteousness of the upright,” is the Lord! He is the One. We walk in His righteousness, because “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” So, again, it is pointing to the Lord Jesus. He is the One who delivers. He is the One who does that.
Now we get down to where we are going to look at this word “snare,” and let us to go to the New Testament. Just take a look at Luke 21. I am going to start reading at verse 34. Luke 21:34-35 says:
And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
This “day” that He is talking about is Judgment Day. It is Judgment Day. But wait a minute! This verse is telling us that if it “come upon you unawares,” if you are not aware of Judgment Day, then it is a snare.
For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
So we should know when Judgment Day is coming. God is telling us that in these verses right here. Is it not strange that here it is now, we are near close to the end, and this verse here is like, I have never really looked at it like that before—and there it is right there and it has been there all along!
So God is opening up different passages and all that we have not really seen, or that He has not allowed us to see, until our day. This verse here is warning us, and then in Luke 21:36, He says:
Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
You see? And so this snare, “For as a snare,” you do not want to get caught in this particular snare like this. God is using this word “snare,” and it is not a good thing when you get caught in this situation here. You should know, because we read earlier that “God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets.” The “prophets” are His people, the ones who love the Word of God. He will not do anything.
So if you are waiting for the Lord to come as a “thief in the night,” then you are caught in this “snare” because you do not know when the Lord is coming. You do not know.
So this is a very, very important verse here. Everything in the Bible is important; it is just that when we start studying things, it just is magnified. So it is verses like this, this particular verse in particular, and we are following the word “snare,” but yet He is telling us about the end of the world. I mean, we need to know that. We need to know that.
Okay. Let us stay in the New Testament for a minute. Let us look at 1 Timothy 3:7. He says:
Moreover he must have a good report...
This is talking about a deacon or someone who is in the church—a pastor or a deacon.
Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
Okay. So now, the Lord is telling us who the “fowler” is, because we know it is a snare, “snare of the fowler.” But wait a minute! He is letting us know who it is now. It is the devil. He is the “fowler.” He is the one who is setting this particular trap.
Now sometimes, the Lord does that. Sometimes, the Lord does that. And in one of the verses that we are going to look at, we are going to see that it is not Satan who is doing that, but it is the Lord who is doing that. He is raining “fire and brimstone” as a “snare” on those who will not listen to Him. To those who will not listen to His Word, He will do that. But, for the most part, it is talking about Satan. We can see it right there, that it is the devil that is being spoken about.
As a matter of fact, let us look at one more. Turn over to 2 Timothy 2, in the last verse. 2 Timothy 2:26 says:
And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.
You see? Now if you are being captured by Satan, how can you get away from him? Can you get away from him? You cannot! Ah, now we see why it takes the Lord. In Psalm 91:3, it says:
...he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler...
So now we are getting a better and better picture. But we do not really know what this “snare” is yet. We know who the “fowler” is, but we do not really know what the “snare” is yet. So let us keep going here to see if we can find out what this “snare” is. Okay? What is this “snare”?
Let us go in the Old Testament now, because we have to use the whole Bible. We could start in Psalm 124. We are still talking about this “snare.” I will read the Psalm. Psalm 124:1-8:
If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say; if it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us: then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us: then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: then the proud waters had gone over our soul. Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
You see that?
Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers...
So this term, “snare of the fowlers,” has something to do with our soul. Our soul has “escaped.” So he does not want our body. He wants our soul.
How does he do that? How is it that Satan can catch souls? Does God tell us anything about that? This is all a warning here.
Let us take a look now. Now we can get into how He reveals to us how this is done. In Jeremiah 5, He is going to tell us just how this is done by Satan. We know that Satan is the “fowler.” Now He is going to tell us how he does this. How does he do that? Starting in verse 25, In Jeremiah 5:25-29, He says:
Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.
Here it is:
For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men. As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge. Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
Now God lays it out here. He is telling us that among His people, and this is talking about the Church Age, among His people are found “wicked men.” “They lay wait,” and they set “snares.”
Incidentally, this word “snares” here is the same word for “fowler.” The same exact word, it is just translated as “snares.”
Now how is this done? How is this done? Well, if we just think about it for a minute. We are in the church, because that was where God’s people were during the time of the Church Age. They had the Bible, but we know that Satan comes as “an angel of light” and “his ministers...as the ministers of righteousness.” (That is in 2 Corinthians 11:13.) So that is how he operates.
Now he is after souls, so here an individual goes to a particular church, and let us say everything is okay—hands clapping, good singing, people jumping around. That is what you want, is it not? And there it is. It is there for you to have. If that is what you want, fine. You want to speak in tongues? There is another one over there that does that. You want the signs and wonders? Here is another one over here.
So this is the snare now, see, because you can not see the snare. It has to have leaves over it, so you can not see what the real thing is. You have to put something in front of the trap or around the trap to lure the “bird,” you, to the trap.
But once you get caught in the trap, you can not get out. It is a snare. The harder you pull on it, the tighter the snare gets on you. Now you have to have someone to get you out of the trap, and that someone would be, if you belong to Him, it would be the Lord, because He is going to get you out of there! He said:
Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler...
He will come and get you out of that trap, whatever that gospel is that you are in, because that is the bait, the different gospels—false gospels is what they are, you see. And he lures you into that trap.
Now, if you are not one of God’s elect, there is someone else coming to get you out of that trap, but you are not getting out of it. He set the trap to catch you. Now he is going to devour you. You will be devoured by the hunter, the “fowler,” the one who set the trap, you see?
So this is how Satan operates. This is exactly how he operates, and God has put this in His Word to let us know that these are traps that he sets for people. They catch men, and they are “waxen rich.” Oh, they have the cars and all the diamond rings and all, to let you know, “Hey, look! I am prosperous.”
But see, that could be their trap. That could be one of the “snares.” “Come on over to our house. We are all prosperous here.” You see? In their gospel, all they speak about is prosperity. But it is “the love of money” that is “the root of all evil.” It is a trap! So we have to be on guard for traps like that.
All we have to do is think of it. We were probably in one of those traps, all of us, until the Lord delivered us from that particular trap that we were in, that snare, that “snare of the fowler.” He had us snared and we just could not get away, until the Lord came and took that snare off of us and opened our eyes. How He had mercy on us!
But now, we can look and we can see one of our loved ones caught in the snare, and we tell them, “Get out! Get out of the church! It is dangerous in there.” And yet, they do not hear you. It is like they have earmuffs on. They can not hear you.
God has to open their ears. He has to open their eyes, just like He opened your eyes. We have to cry out to the Lord that He might have mercy, mercy, on our loved ones who are in those snares today, right now.
I am sure all of us have someone who is in such a situation like that, and now we know what that trap is. They can not hear us. They can not get out themselves. The Lord is the only One, the only One, who can deliver us from “the snare of the fowler.”
Let us pray. Oh, Father, Lord, we ask, Father, that if it be Your will, Lord, that all of us that are under the sound of my voice, Lord, who have loved ones who have been snared by the fowler, Lord, that You might have mercy on them. You, Oh Lord, You are the only One who we can turn to for help. You are the only One who can help us, Lord. Father, we ask, Father, that You would just have mercy, have mercy. Have mercy on them Lord, as You have had on us. You came and you took the snare off of our foot and you set us free, Lord. You set us free that we might be able to worship You in Spirit and in Truth. And Father, we just ask that many, that many, many of our loved ones who are caught in these snares, Father, that if it be You will, Lord, that You might have mercy on them as You have had on us. For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen.
(No questions were asked pertaining to this study.)