Assurance of God's Shelter, a Reflection on Psalm 91:1-2,9-16

Luke quotes the devil tempting Jesus to throw himself off the pinnacle of the temple by quoting Psalm 91:11, "for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you, ...."

Then the lectionary chooses this same psalm this week as a response to the reading from Deuteronomy. What are we supposed to do with this juxtaposition? Are we to read this psalm solely as an assurance of God's protection, or, should we read it light of its being used by the tempter?

I am troubled by verses 9 through 13 because I have seen good people suffer, have evil befall them, dash their feet against a stone (actual as well as metaphorically.) So what do I do with these assurances?

I'm not going to join Job's friends in as assertion that anybody who suffers must have done or thought something to deserve the pain. That is, reading verse 14, the promise that God makes, "I will deliver those who love me, protect those who know me," should not be read to mean that "Those who aren't delivered and protected deserve not to be."

Yet, I can pray quite honestly the opening verses. I do experience God as a refuge and a fortress. I do trust God.

Here's my compromise (I don't like that word, but I can't come up with the term that better expresses my thoughts): Verse 15 is an assertion that I can agree with. I can depend on God to be present with me whenever I am in trouble. That presence is in itself rescue--I am not suffering alone, and I am not suffering without possibility of salvation.