Downed Tree from storms in Middle Tennessee June 19, 2019
You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shade of the Almighty, Say to the LORD, “My refuge and fortress, my God in whom I trust.” He will rescue you from the fowler’s snare, from the destroying plague, He will shelter you with his pinions, and under his wings you may take refuge; his faithfulness is a protecting shield. You shall not fear the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies by day, Nor the pestilence that roams in darkness, nor the plague that ravages at noon. Though a thousand fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, near you it shall not come.You need simply watch; the punishment of the wicked you will see. Because you have the LORD for your refuge and have made the Most High your stronghold, No evil shall befall you, no affliction come near your tent. For he commands his angels with regard to you, to guard you wherever you go. With their hands they shall support you,lest you strike your foot against a stone. You can tread upon the asp and the viper,trample the lion and the dragon. Because he clings to me I will deliver him; because he knows my name I will set him on high. He will call upon me and I will answer; I will be with him in distress; I will deliver him and give him honor. With length of days I will satisfy him, and fill him with my saving power. Psalm 91
Yesterday, I spent the day getting ready for my family to go on vacation. I didn’t turn on the news or look at the weather for the day at all. I just went about my day, doing laundry and getting ready for travel. Around 4:00 p.m. I wheeled our trash can out to the curb and felt a spit of rain on my arm. I looked up at the sky, it was cloudy and a little bit eerie. I knew a storm was coming.
I like to watch storms. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a storm chaser, though I have been in the eye of a hurricane before. I was in Thibodeaux, LA when hurricane Andrew hit back in 1992. I had never seen a sky that color before. Weather often lets us know we are not the ones in control. But back to yesterday, I don’t chase storms, but I will watch storms from my front porch on occasion, as long as they aren’t too scary.
Yesterday’s storm was weird though. I knew it was coming from the time I took the trash can out. But 5:00 p.m. came and it didn’t hit us, and 6:00 p.m. came and it didn’t hit us, and 7:00 p.m. came, and it didn’t hit us. Somewhere around 7:30 p.m., the sky stopped it’s occasional spitting and opened up into a downpour.
I went to sit on the front porch. I grabbed my bible and a candle in a glass jar. I lit my candle and sat in my rocking chair. I held my bible and prayed. God told me to pay attention.
He said, “you knew the storm was coming, I warned you for quite awhile.” The rain began to fall very hard and very quickly and in a flash of lightening, it got nasty wicked out. It almost looked like a hurricane as the rain was full on sideways because of the wind. I thought I better go inside. God said, “no, stay and watch.” The wind was blowing so hard a mist of rain was getting me wet. I was becoming very cold and very uncomfortable. Rain poured from my home’s gutters, threatening to soak the entire porch if they broke away from the house, but they held firm. I was wet but I wasn’t soaked. My candle blew out. It was dark. He said, “this is what it will be like, it will be dark like a hurricane. You will be uncomfortable, you will suffer, but you who dwell in the shelter of the Lord will be rescued.” Psalm 91 was coming alive. The storm was fierce but ended rather quickly, as quick as the bolt of lightening that had unleashed it. I had a sense of total peace about me, even though most people would have come inside long before I did. I felt as though he was giving me a glimpse, a small glimpse, of what is to come.
We are in a storm, still the warning phase, much is yet to come. What will come will not be what we have envisioned in our heads. I actually don’t think we can fathom it, the immensity of it all. But what I do know is God is in control and we should have no anxiety. It isn’t like me to stay out in a storm that was as bad as last nights, but I KNEW God was with me and I didn’t need to fear. He is giving us time, time to pray, fast, and align ourselves with His Will. His Mother is interceding for us. Time is short, don’t waste it. We shouldn’t wait until the storm is full blown before we start listening to God. Pray now.
May the Peace of Christ be with you.
Veil of Veronica 
That was a caution laid deep in your heart for what is to come. He is preparing your spirit and through you – us. I just pray and hope that I can hear God’s voice as clearly as you can when I need it most.
The nearer you draw to him in prayer the louder He gets.
Never had that told to me before.
It makes so much sense.
Amen. Cannot resist another opportunity to share this awesome prayer…
(Make the sign of the cross whenever you see a cross symbol)
Jesus Christ a King of Glory has come in Peace. + God became man, + and the Word was made flesh. + Christ was born of a virgin. + Christ suffered. + Christ was crucified. + Christ died. + Christ rose from the dead. + Christ ascended into Heaven. + Christ conquers. + Christ reigns. + Christ orders. + May Christ protect us from all storms and lightning. + Christ went through their midst in Peace, + and the Word was made Flesh. + Christ is with us with Mary. + Flee you enemy spirits because the Lion of the Generation of Juda, the Root of David, has won. + Holy God! + Holy Powerful God ! + Holy Immortal God! + Have mercy on us. Amen!
You and I may differ in how long we could sit outside during a storm – the back porch sitting, farm girl in me loves the thrill of a storm. 😉 But… I agree with you wholehearted on the storm that is brewing in our world. In my humaninity, I try to prepare myself, husband, and daughter(s) for what is to come. Interesting insight that we have no way of knowing what exactly it will be. I certainly pray for a heart open and accepting of truth and the fortitude to withstand the darkest of storms. Sending love, my friend!
Love you and Miss you!!!
Best thing I have ever read. Thank you
Thank you. God bless you.
Sue,
I suggest God is telling you more here. The problem is that the version of Psalm 90 (presumably the NABR) is not the one the church fathers the medieval, or in fact, any Catholics used until the introduction of the botched Pian Psalter in 1945. The belief, once in vogue in academic circles, was that the masoretic text of the old Testament was the older and more accurate version of the old testament, as opposed to the Septuagint (the Greek Translation from the third century BC). This position has been nuanced, because of the dead sea scrolls, early codexes and the witness of Church Fathers.
In this case, Psalm 90 (Septuagint numbering) contains extra language that is helpful, a refence to the noonday demon or the noonday attack of the demon.
Jerome in his his Homily 20 on Psalm 19 (probably, to some degree, plagiarized from Origen’s lost exemplar) discusses how the noonday demon is that demon which appears to comes as an angel of light to deceive us at midday, when we are unsuspecting. Jerome specifically uses the phrase “the noonday attack of the demon.”
Theodoret of Cyrrus, in his Commentary on the Psalms, notes that after a heavy meal in mid day, we are susceptible to the attack of the noonday demon.
Evagrius Ponticus notes in his Praktikos that the noonday demon is the demon of the sins of acedia (boredom – remember when they said boredom was a modern sin? The authors knew nothing because the noonday demon had been dropped out of the Roman Catholic biblical memory). Evagrius notes that it can be a dangerous demon, but also is isolated in that it does not have any other types of demons follow it.
John Cassian in his Institutes devotes the entire tenth book to this demon, and notes that the elders (older monks) said it was the noonday demon of Psalm 90. Cassian in his Tenth Conference specifically notes there are specific demons of the noonday, as opposed to the demons of the night and general daytime.
Now, traditional Catholic spirituality finds its roots in Cassian (and his roots are in Evagrius). Bernard of Clairvaux follows this in his Commentary on Psalm 90.
There is a great book, The Noonday Devil: Acedia, the unnamed evil of our times. A very good book on the topic, but then the author completely misses Psalm 90 and it tells me that he completely missed the source!
Anyway, if you often find it hard to pray or focus at midday, there is your source. Or, in a long storm it is there to help you become discouraged and abandon the task of spiritual warfare.
By the way, your second comment to Caitlyn was the Holy Spirit speaking through you. Well said!
Thanks James. I knew about the noon day devil, but I didn’t know the background with the Psalm. I do sometimes feel that acedia- doing everything but the thing I should be doing. Lord knows we’re distracted to death these days. God Bless you and thanks for the background on this.
Thanks for this, Susan.
God Bless you Mick!
Thanks, Susan; God bless you, too. 🙂
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