“Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence.” (Psalm 91:3 NKJV)
“Surely” is not “maybe” or “sometimes” but an unconditional “surely”. It is a definitive “He shall”, not “He might”. We possess the promise that God will deliver us from the snare of the fowler.
The fowler is the devil and is portrayed as a bird catcher who lays traps and carefully conceals them so that he can ambush unsuspecting birds. Let’s pause here for a moment and look at Ecclesiastes 9:11-12 (NKJV) that also talks about the fowler’s snare and to allow the Bible to interpret the Bible.
I returned and saw under the sun that—
The race is not to the swift,
Nor the battle to the strong,
Nor bread to the wise,
Nor riches to men of understanding,
Nor favor to men of skill;
But time and chance happen to them all.
For man also does not know his time:
Like fish taken in a cruel net,
Like birds caught in a snare,
So the sons of men are snared in an evil time,
When it falls suddenly upon them.
(own emphasis)
We read that irrespective of who you are and what you do or have done, “time and chance happen to them all”. There are two groups of people – those who are blessed and find themselves at the right place at the right time and those who are less fortunate as they are at the wrong place at the wrong time.
The key in unlocking the treasure to find yourself at the right place at the right time is found in the Hebrew language of the Bible. The Hebrew word for “time” is eth, which means time or season. The Hebrew words for “chance happen” are pega qarah. When we look at pega qarah separately, we find the following: Pega comes from the word paga that means to make intercession or pray. The word qarah is used in many parts of the Bible to explain God-ordained happenings. So the Hebrew words (pega qarah) for “chance happens” means “prayed opportunities” or “prayed happenings”. When we go back to the verse “time and chance happen to them all” and combine eth (time) with pega qarah (chance happen) it refers to the right time-right place happenings. It refers to being at the right place at the right time doing the right thing as a result of prayer and as ordained by the Lord.
Another little nugget of truth we find hidden in this passage in Ecclesiastes is also found in the original Hebrew text of the Bible. The original phrase (which is read from right to left) is translated as: “but time and chance [Aleph Tav] to them all.”
Aleph Tav are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. We see in Revelations 18:11 that Jesus calls Himself the Aleph Tav (Alpha and Omega), so we know that Aleph Tav points to Jesus who has the first and final word over every situation we face. This means that Jesus is the one that brings time (eth) and chance (qarah) together in our lives. He leads us to be at the right place at the right time.
If we revert to Psalm 91:3, the divine protection God promises flows from the relationship we have with Jesus, who leads and delivers us from the snare of the fowler as He leads us to be at the right place at the right time. The same way we see the snare appearing seamlessly in ordinary life for the unsuspecting bird, so the Lord’s protection and intervention becomes part of the believer’s ordinary life. It becomes so natural that you do not always realise you are being protected.
The next time you find yourself in a traffic jam or being delayed by something beyond your control, instead of becoming frustrated, rejoice knowing that the Lord is control. He brings you into the right place at the right time that will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, which you do not even know of.
Maretha Retief
Illustration credit: Jeanne de Villiers