The Part Satan Left Out

I haven't posted one of Steve's Scripture meditations from church in a while, but today I wanted to share the one he gave last Sunday. It blew me away--in all the times I've read Psalm 91 (and I'd encourage you to go read the whole psalm first--it's not very long), I've never compared it to Matthew 4 to notice this.

[guest post by Steve Kannel]


"For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot." (Psalm 91:11-13)

This is a fabulous case study on how Satan knows and uses the word of God. Look at the quotation of this psalm in Matthew 4 and see if you notice what is missing:

“Then the devil took him [that is, Jesus] to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, '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'" (Matthew 4:6).

Do you see what’s missing? Satan didn’t finish. Here is the remainder in Psalm 91:

“You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.” 

This is clearly a connection back to the curse God set upon the serpent in Genesis 3, where God says He will use the offspring of the woman to crush the head of the serpent.

Satan, in his quoting of the scriptures, managed to conveniently forget the part where he loses and Christ is victorious. Satan would love for us to meditate on the promises of God, be fearful of the wrath of God, and be in awe of the power of God, so long as we miss the ultimate victory of Jesus.

I’m thankful that God has given us His Spirit and His church to remind us often of the complete salvation we have in Jesus.

Father, we know that Satan is the father of lies. That he would love to come to this place and either elevate some portion of Scripture beyond its intended place, or belittle and encourage us to forget some other glorious truth that You intended to be a great comfort to us today. 

He would also love to use Your Word to cause division among us by highlighting our differences and blinding us to the great ways that we are joined together as one body, the very bride of Christ. 

Help us to understand his evil ways, and help us to fight against them through the power of Your Spirit. Please come and magnify Yourself among Your saints today.