Psalms 91:14
“Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Near the psalm's end God Himself speaks, answering our love with rescue and our knowing with safety.
Context
For most of the psalm a human voice has spoken about God. Here, in the last verses, God breaks in and speaks for Himself, answering in the first person the trust the song has described.
What Does Psalms 91:14 Mean?
Something changes in these closing lines. All through the psalm a human voice has described God's protection; now God Himself answers, speaking in the first person. He gives two reasons for what He will do, and both belong to the heart. Because he hath set his love upon me, and because he hath known my name. To set love upon God is to fasten our affection on Him on purpose. To know His name is to know who He really is, the kind of knowing that goes past facts to genuine acquaintance. Where that love and that knowing are real, God answers with two promises of His own: I will deliver him, and I will set him on high, lifting the trusting one to safety.
This is the deep logic of the whole psalm. The shelter we have heard about flows from a relationship, love answered by love. Jesus made the way for us to know God's name truly, showing us the Father's face and calling us friends. Because of Him our small, faltering love is met by a God who runs toward us. The One who sets His love on Christ finds Christ has already set His love on us first.
In the Original Language
chashaq (חָשַׁק), 'set his love' -- to cling to, to be bound to someone in deep attachment and longing.
Application
God answers a heart that turns toward Him in love and longs to know Him truly. We do not have to earn the keeping of this psalm; we lean into a relationship, and He meets us there. As we set our love on Him and learn His name, we discover He has been reaching for us all along.