"A thousand shall fall from thy country, and darkness shall be at thy right hand, but shall not come nigh unto thee: behold with thy own eyes, and behold the recompense of sinners" (vv. 7-8). It was, it will be: thousands of people fell near us, both to the left and to the right, fell dead, killed. They have fallen and are falling now, struck down by demons, having lost their faith, blaspheming God, crucifying the Lord Jesus for the second time.

They fall and die spiritual and bodily death around us by the thousands, thousands. (Tma is a thousand thousand). "He will not come near you" — it will not touch you: the angels will fly to you, and Satan himself will not dare to approach, for you live under the shelter of the God of Heaven. "For thou, O Lord, art my hope: Thou hast laid down thy refuge of the Most High" (v. 9).

Oh, blessed is everyone who has taken refuge in the Most High our God! "No evil shall come unto thee, neither shall a wound come nigh unto thy body" (v. 10). Not even a wound will approach: you will be saved from all evil. "As by His angel I have spoken of thee, to preserve thee in all thy troubles. They will lift you up in their hands, but not when you dash your foot against a stone.

Thou shalt tread on the adder and the basilisk, and cross over the lion and the serpent" (v. 11-13). The guardian angel will always be before you, and he is not alone – a whole host of angels will receive an order from God to protect you in all your ways. They will take you by the hands, they will lead you along the right path, they will take care that even your foot does not stumble over a stone. "Thou shalt tread on the adder and the basilisk, and trample upon the lion and the serpent."

Nothing poisonous, evil, even deadly will be frightening: you will tread on the heads of serpents, you will trample on scorpions; neither will the roaring lion be fearful, nor will the lion that seeks to devour be the devil. "For in Me I trust, and I will deliver, and I will cover, and as My name is known" (v. 14). All these things will be given from God if we trust in Him.

He will deliver us from all evil and cover us because we have known His name with all our hearts. "He shall call unto me, and I will hear him: I am with him in tribulation: I will punish him, and I will glorify him" (v. 15). He will even glorify you. He will be exhausted from all evil, from all misfortune, from every misfortune. "By the length of days I will fulfill it, and show it salvation. Mine" (art. 16. He even promises him the length of days. He will show us salvation.

You know this great 90th Psalm, and you love it, and you have high hopes for it, but not in the right way. You put your hopes in the very words of the psalm, write it on paper and carry it on your breast; gird yourselves with a belt with a psalm woven on it; And what—does this protect you? No, for the psalm should not be written on paper, but in your heart. It must be on your lips.

In accordance with this psalm, you must direct your life; We must remember all the great, holy words of this psalm and live according to them, and not only wear this psalm on our bodies. It's a superstition to think that the great Psalm 90 will protect you mechanically, it's a superstition, a ridiculous superstition. Carry a psalm in your heart, sing it with your heart; live as this psalm commands, and then you will receive that great protection from God, which the prophet David promises in this psalm.

You also have another extremely stupid superstition, unfortunately, very widespread in all corners of Russia. Someone mails or throws papers with incoherent, often meaningless prayers; it is written that this prayer was sent allegedly from Jerusalem, that it should be copied so many times and secretly sent out. This is nonsense, absurdity.

Если когда-нибудь вам подбросят такую записку, порвите ее и сожгите. Не передавайте и не распространяйте ее, ибо мы должны жить не суевериями, а верой. Суеверия свойственны язычникам, христианам же должны быть чужды. Будьте же свободны от всяких суеверий! Храните 90-й псалом не на теле своем, а в сердце своем!     Почему враждуют люди против истины?   11 августа 1948 г.

  "И когда пришел Он в храм и учил, приступили к Нему первосвященники и старейшины народа и сказали: "Какой властью Ты это делаешь? И кто Тебе дал такую власть?" (Мф. 21, 23.) Почему они такой вопрос задали Господу Иисусу Христу, — конечно, с раздражением задали? Как Ты смеешь, кто Тебе позволил, кто дал Тебе право учить?

Нам принадлежит власть учить народ, а не Тебе. Господь Иисус Христос ответил им так, как не ответил бы никто. Если бы на месте Его был тот, кто действительно не имел власти учить, то смутился бы от сердитого вопроса начальников, первым делом стал бы оправдываться. Он даже не удостоил непосредственно ответить на их вопрос. Он так ответил, как они совсем не ждали.

Вместо того, чтобы оправдываться, вместо того, чтобы обосновать Свою власть учить народ, Он Сам обличил их, заставил их самих признать, что они не правы. Он сказал им: "Спрошу и Я вас об одном; если о том скажете Мне, то и Я вам скажу, какою властью это делаю; крещение Иоанново откуда было: с небес, или от человеков?" Они же рассуждали между собою: "Если скажем: с небес, то Он скажет нам: "Почему же вы не поверили ему?

" А если сказать: от человеков, — боимся народа, ибо все почитают Иоанна за пророка". И сказали в ответ Иисусу: "Не знаем". Сказал им и Он: "И Я вам не скажу, какою властью это делаю" (Мф. 21, 24-27). Господь Иисус Христос поставил в безвыходное положение тех злых первосвященников и книжников, которые задали Ему вопрос о праве проповедовать.