Deliver Us From Evil

     When Jesus taught His disciples to pray "deliver us from evil," He wasn't introducing a new concept. He was connecting to the history of God's people crying out for protection and deliverance. Perhaps no Scripture captures this request for protection more powerfully than Psalm 91,  which defines God's role as our ultimate deliverer.
     In our current sermon series on the Heart of Prayer, we've been exploring each aspect of the Lord’s prayer, and this week we arrive at the urgent request: "deliver us from evil." It's a plea that resonates with all of us. We live in a world where danger lurks in visible and invisible forms. We face threats to our physical safety, our emotional wellbeing, our spiritual health, and our relationships. We need deliverance. We need protection. We need a fortress.
     Psalm 91 opens with a series of names for God. The Hebrew text introduces us to Elyon (Most High), Shaddai (Almighty), YHWH (LORD), and Elohim (God). These aren't just interchangeable titles. Each name reveals something essential about God's character as our protector and deliverer. The Most High speaks of God's supreme sovereignty over all threats. The Almighty points to His overwhelming power to save. The LORD (YHWH) reminds us of His covenant faithfulness to His people. And God (Elohim) establishes His creative authority over all existence.
     This progression isn't accidental. The psalm begins with God's transcendent power (Most High) and moves toward His personal, covenant relationship with us. It's a journey from acknowledging God's capacity to protect to embracing His heart to protect those who trust in Him. This matters because our confidence in God's deliverance isn't rooted in blind optimism or wishful thinking. It's anchored in who God has revealed Himself to be.
     The writer of this psalm (most likely Moses) declares, "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty." There's a condition here worth noting. The promise of protection is for those who "dwell" and "abide." The Hebrew word for "dwell" (yoshev) implies continuous residence, not occasional visits. It pictures someone who has made God their permanent home, not a weekend getaway. This dwelling isn't physical but relational. It means living in conscious dependence on God, remaining in communication with Him, and orienting our lives around His presence.
     What follows in verses 3-13 is a comprehensive list of God's protection. The imagery is rich and varied. God delivers from "the snare of the fowler" – those hidden traps we don't see coming. He shields from "deadly pestilence" – those invisible threats to our wellbeing. His protection is described using both tender and powerful imagery: "He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge." Like a mother bird sheltering her young, God provides safe harbor for His people.
     The psalm continues by addressing fears that would have been immediately recognizable to its original audience: "terror of the night," "arrow that flies by day," "pestilence that stalks in darkness," and "destruction that wastes at noonday." These phrases covered the comprehensive threats faced by ancient Israelites. They feared bandits and wild animals that attacked at night. They dreaded warfare and its deadly arrows by day. They lived under the constant threat of disease and sudden calamity. The psalm assures them that God's protection spans every dimension of existence – day and night, visible and invisible, natural and supernatural.
     Perhaps most striking is the promise in verses 7-8: "A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked." These verses have often troubled readers because they seem to promise absolute immunity from harm for God's people. Yet we know from experience and Scripture that faithful believers do suffer. How do we reconcile this?
     Here we must acknowledge an important truth about God's protection. God doesn't always prevent suffering, but He always preserves His people through suffering. His protection isn't always preventative but it's always present. Think of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. God didn't prevent them from being thrown into the fiery furnace. Instead, He joined them in the fire and brought them through unharmed. This is often how God's deliverance works. He doesn't always remove the trial, but He always remains with us in it.
     This understanding helps us make sense of verse 15, where God Himself speaks: "When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him." Notice the sequence: God promises to be with us in trouble before He promises to rescue us from it. The presence precedes the deliverance. This pattern appears throughout Scripture. Joseph endured years of slavery and imprisonment before God's deliverance came. Daniel spent a night in the lions' den. Paul and Silas were beaten and imprisoned. In each case, God's presence sustained them through the trial before deliverance arrived.
     So when Jesus taught us to pray "deliver us from evil," He wasn't promising a life free from hardship. He was inviting us into a relationship with the God who walks with us through every trial and ultimately delivers us from all evil. This is why the prayer begins with "Our Father" – establishing the relationship that makes deliverance possible.
     The Hebrew language of Psalm 91 provides another important focus. In verse 14, God says, "Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him." The word for "holds fast" (chashaq) conveys passionate attachment. It's the same word used to describe how Jacob loved Rachel or how Israel was to love God with all their heart. God's deliverance flows from relationship. It's not a mechanical transaction but a personal response to those who love Him. Similarly, when God says, "I will protect him, because he knows my name," the knowing isn't merely intellectual. In Hebrew thinking, to "know" someone's name implied intimate relationship, not just information. When Moses asked to know God's name at the burning bush, he wasn't just requesting a label. He was seeking to enter into deeper relationship with the One who called him.
     This relational dimension of God's deliverance finds its ultimate expression in Jesus. All of God's promises of protection and deliverance in Psalm 91 are fulfilled perfectly in Christ. He is our refuge and fortress. His sacrifice on the cross is the ultimate act of deliverance, addressing not just temporary dangers but the eternal peril of sin and death. When we pray "deliver us from evil," we're acknowledging that our ultimate deliverance has already been accomplished through Christ's death and resurrection.
     It's no coincidence that Satan quoted Psalm 91 when tempting Jesus in the wilderness. In Matthew 4:5-7, the devil took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and said, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'" Satan was quoting directly from Psalm 91:11-12. But Jesus refused to test God's protection, responding, "Again it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
     This exchange reveals something crucial about God's promises of protection. They're not meant to be manipulated or tested. They're meant to be trusted as we walk in obedience to God's will. Jesus didn't need to jump from the temple to prove God's protection. He knew the Father would preserve Him through the cross to resurrection. In the same way, we don't need to create dangerous situations to test God's care. We trust that as we follow Him faithfully, He will guard us according to His perfect wisdom and love.
     The promises of Psalm 91 also take on deeper meaning in light of Christ's work. When verse 13 says, "You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot," we can't help but think of Christ crushing the serpent's head, fulfilling the promise of Genesis 3:15. When verse 16 promises, "With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation," we recognize that through Christ, we receive not just extended physical life but eternal life. The Hebrew word for "salvation" in verse 16 is yeshuah, which shares the same root as the name Yeshua (Jesus). This isn't just linguistic coincidence. God's promise to "show him my salvation" finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ, whose very name means "the LORD saves." Through Christ, we experience the full scope of God's deliverance – from sin's penalty through justification, from sin's power through sanctification, and eventually from sin's presence through glorification.
     But how do we experience this deliverance in our daily lives? Psalm 91 offers practical guidance. First, we must actively "dwell" in God's presence. This isn't passive or automatic. It requires intentional practices of prayer, Scripture meditation, worship, and obedience. Just as Israel needed to remain within the protective boundaries of the covenant, we need to abide in Christ (John 15:4).
     Second, we must "call upon" God. Verse 15 promises, "When he calls to me, I will answer him." Calling on God's name is an act of faith and dependence. It acknowledges our need for His intervention. Throughout Scripture, calling on the Lord's name is associated with salvation and deliverance (Joel 2:32; Romans 10:13). It's not a magical formula but a heartfelt expression of trust in God's character and promises. This practice of calling on God's name connects directly to the Lord's Prayer. When Jesus taught us to pray "deliver us from evil," He was giving us specific language to use in calling upon God. The Greek text could be translated either "deliver us from evil" or "deliver us from the evil one," suggesting that Jesus had in mind not just abstract evil but the personal power of Satan who seeks to destroy God's people.
     In the Lord's Prayer, the request for deliverance comes at the end, after we've acknowledged God's fatherhood, submitted to His kingdom and will, and requested provision and forgiveness. This ordering matters. We approach God as children seeking their father's protection, as citizens seeking their king's defense, as disciples aligning with their master's purposes, and as dependents recognizing their need for provision and pardon. From this posture of relationship and humility, we then ask for deliverance.
     When we pray this way, we're not asking for a trouble-free life. We're asking for God's presence and power to sustain us through whatever troubles come. We're asking that evil not get the final word in our story. We're asking that God's purposes prevail over Satan's plans. We're asking that we might experience now a foretaste of the ultimate deliverance that awaits us in Christ's return. This understanding transforms how we view life's hardships. When we face sickness, financial strain, relational conflict, or spiritual attack, we don't conclude that God has abandoned us or that His promises have failed. Instead, we recognize these as the very contexts in which God's deliverance will be displayed. Like the Hebrew young men facing the fiery furnace, we can say, "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us... and he will deliver us" (Daniel 3:17).