Psalm 91 Vs. 7

Psalm 91 Vs. 7

A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Psm. 91:7

shall fall at... The left side, as the Targum; so the Arabic version, and Jarchi and Kimchi; which sense the opposition and distinction in the next clause direct unto. This is not to be understood of falling in battle, as some interpret it, but by the pestilence before spoken of.

and ten thousand... Which shows both the great devastation made by the plague where it comes, and the special care and providence of God in preserving his people from it. Of which David had an experience, when vast numbers of his people were destroyed by it on the right and left.
but it shall... It may come near the place where good men are, or else it could not be said that a thousand should fall on their side, and ten thousand at their right hand. The plague that killed the firstborn in Egypt was near the dwellings of the Israelites, though it entered not into them. And that in David's time was near him, though he was not infected with it. But the meaning is, that it should not come so near such as to seize their bodies and they fall by the distemper. There being a particular providence oftentimes concerned for their safety, which guards them from it (see Ezek. 9:4). Not but that good men may fall in a common calamity, and by an epidemically distemper; but then it is for their good, and not their hurt. They are taken away from the evil to come, and are delivered from a worse plague than that by which they fall, the plague of their own hearts, the evil of sin. And so the Targum adds, "shall not come near to hurt", though it understands it of devils.
I am just sure this is the way Noah felt when the flood came. Many were drowned all around him and his family, but God had made provision for Noah. I said it before, but it bears repeating. Noah was saved in the flood, not from the flood. Just as God made provision for Moses, He will make provision for His own now. When the 10 plagues came on Egypt, the plagues did not harm the Hebrews. God made provision for them, and they were not harmed by all of these plagues. Again they were safe in the midst of the plagues. It is like God has drawn boundary lines around you and the enemy cannot cross those boundaries. We are in this world of problems, but we are not part of this world of problems. I have thought so many times, how some doctors work among hundreds of people with contagious diseases and never catch the disease. Perhaps that is a little of what this is saying.

Destruction that might lay thousands in defeat will not affect a trusting believer; rather, he will see… the wicked destroyed (Psm. 91:7-8).