Bible Passage (NKJV): Psalm 91:1–7, 9–11, 14–16
1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.’
3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence.
4 He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you.
9 Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place,
10 no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
11 for He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.
14 ‘Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.’
EXHORTATION
Welcome to the Mercy Speaking Devotional — your daily encounter with a God who does not just save you once and leave you to navigate life alone. Today is Wednesday, May 13, 2026, may you renewed, refreshed and empowered in Christ Jesus’ name. Midweek can feel like the heaviest stretch — the momentum of Monday is gone, the relief of the weekend feels far away, and the weight of everything you are carrying can feel especially acute on a Wednesday. But that is precisely why God has a word for you today. Not a word about surviving. A word about being covered.
Let me tell you about a man named Samuel Adeyemi — not the well-known pastor, but a different man entirely, a civil engineer from Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria.
Samuel was thirty-eight years old in March 2020 when the world locked down. He was working on a major road construction project in Kogi State, overseeing a team of forty-two workers, when COVID-19 brought the project to an abrupt halt. The company he worked for suspended all operations. His salary was cut by sixty percent. His landlord in Ibadan was unsympathetic. Within three months, he had used up nearly every reserve he had. His wife, Blessing, was pregnant with their third child. The anxiety was crushing.
Samuel later recounted that on a particular Tuesday night in June 2020, unable to sleep, he opened his phone and found himself reading Psalm 91 — not for the first time, but in a way that felt like the first time. When he reached verse 4 — ‘He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge’ — he said he had an experience he struggled to fully articulate. He described it as a ‘settling.’ Not the arrival of money, not the resolution of his problems. Just an undeniable, interior stillness that told him: you are not exposed. You are covered.
He began confessing Psalm 91 daily — out loud, deliberately, over his household, his wife, his unborn child, his workers. He printed it and pasted it on his bedroom wall. Not as a magic formula, but as a declaration of where he had chosen to dwell — in the secret place of the Most High.
In August 2020, an unexpected contract review reinstated his full salary with back pay. His third child — a boy they named Emmanuel — was born healthy in September 2020, at the height of a global health crisis, without a single complication. By the time the lockdown fully lifted in 2021, Samuel’s company had promoted him to Senior Project Manager, citing his composure and consistent leadership through the crisis. Three of his workers came to faith because of how they watched him carry himself during those months.
Samuel did not tell this story as a prosperity testimony. He told it as a covering testimony. He was at pains to say: ‘I do not know why I came through when others did not. I do not understand all of God’s ways. But I know that I made a decision to dwell — and that dwelling made all the difference.’
That word ‘dwell’ in verse 1 is everything. The Hebrew word is yashab — and it does not mean a casual visit or an occasional check-in with God. It means to sit down, to settle, to inhabit. The covering of Psalm 91 is not available to those who pass through the presence of God occasionally. It is the inheritance of those who make the secret place their permanent address.
Many believers want the protection of Psalm 91 without the posture of Psalm 91. They want the feathers of verse 4 without the dwelling of verse 1. But the covering flows from the communion. God is not a security system you activate in emergencies. He is the Most High — the One who is exalted above every situation you will ever face — and He invites you to live in that altitude with Him.
Notice also the intimacy in verses 14 to 16. These are God’s own words spoken directly to and about the one who loves Him. ‘Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him.’ The word translated ‘set his love’ is the Hebrew chashaq — a word used for a deep, clinging, devoted affection. It is not admiration from a distance. It is the love of someone who has decided: I am staying close to You, regardless of what surrounds me. And God’s response to that love is breathtaking — I will deliver him, I will set him on high, I will answer him, I will be with him in trouble, I will honour him, I will satisfy him, I will show him My salvation.
Seven divine promises — cascading one after another — to the person who simply refuses to let go of God.
Today is Wednesday. The storm around you may be real. The anxiety may be real. The financial pressure, the health report, the relational tension, the career uncertainty — all of it may be very, very real. But here is what is more real: you are not exposed. You are not navigating this uncovered. The God of Psalm 91 has not changed. His wings have not retracted. His angels are still charged. His promises are still active over the life of every person who has made Him their dwelling place.
Choose today to dwell — not just to visit. And watch what grace does when you refuse to leave the secret place.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Samuel’s turning point came not when the storm was stilled, but when his soul found a home in God.
Psalm 91 reminds us that the secret place does not always silence the arrows, but it makes the heart untouchable beneath the shadow of the Almighty.
LET US PRAY
- Father, thank You that I am not uncovered today; You are my refuge and fortress. Let my heart dwell in Your presence, and let Your peace guard me from fear and anxiety, in Jesus’ name.
- Lord, cover my household with the protection of Psalm 91. Let every hidden danger, arrow, plot, and spiritual ambush fail against me and my loved ones, in Jesus’ name.
- God of grace, forgive me for treating Your presence as an emergency shelter instead of my daily dwelling. Teach me to cling to You in love, and let me walk in Your promises of deliverance, honour, long life, and salvation.
- Holy Spirit, give me grace to remain in communion with You even when life is busy and demanding. Let prayer, worship, and Your Word become my daily lifestyle, not occasional visits.
- Lord, let my life under Your covering become a testimony to others. May those who watch me in difficult seasons see Your peace, stability, and grace, and be drawn to You, in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.
