YHWH MAKES THE MOST HIGH HIS REFUGE

“Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, “He will command His angels concerning You”; and “On their hands they will bear You up, Lest You strike Your foot against a stone.”’ Jesus said to him, ‘Again, it is written, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”’” Matt. 4:5-7 Legacy Standard Bible (LSB)

“For thou, O Jehovah, art my refuge! Thou hast made the Most High thy habitation;” Psalm 91:9 American Standard Version (ASV)

“You, O Lord, are my refuge! You have made the Most High your home.” GOD’s Word Translation (GW)

“For you, O Yahweh, are my refuge. You have made the Most High your dwelling place.” Lexham English Bible (LEB)

“You, O Yahweh, are my Machseh! You have made Elyon your home.” Names of God (NOG)

 “Because YOU O Lord, are my hope, the Most High YOU made YOUR refuge.” Psalm 90:9 ((Psalms (and Prayer of Manasses),”, translated by Albert Pietersma, A New English Translation of the Septuagint, published by Oxford University Press in 2009, including corrections and emendations made in the second printing (2009) and corrections and emendations made in June 2014, p. 593; emphasis mine)

ὅτι σύ, Κύριε, ἡ ἐλπίς μου· τὸν ῞Υψιστον ἔθου καταφυγήν σου (hoti su, Kyrie, he elpis mou· ton Hypsiston ethou kataphygen sou).

 9- Because thou, O Lord, art my hope: thou hast made the most High thy refuge.

Quoniam tu es, Domine, spes mea; Altissimum posuisti refugium tuum.  [Psalms 90:9] Douay-Rheims Latin Vulgate

Victory of Christ and of each person being perfected according to Him.

90.

§ 1

“He who dwells in the help of the Most High in the shelter of the God of heaven will he lodge.” (v. 1)  

The psalm has no superscription.[1] Perhaps it is not really a psalm, but rather a kind of prophecy that contains more profound teachings (λόγους) concerning Christ and those who are perfected in Him? There is a great discrepancy between the present [psalm] and the prior psalm [and] its sequence. For it (Ps 89), through the prayer [M23.1141] of Moses, predicted the final rejection of the Jewish nation, while the present [psalm] contains the struggles and the trials of the person being perfected according to the Lord. It also prophesies our Lord’s very own temptation in the wilderness, when he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, and His victory over all [the temptations]…  

The Holy Spirit discoursed all these things by way of introduction, yet he addresses the things that follow to him,[4] and he extends the whole discourse (logos) to his person, whether of the person who is struggling in Christ and overcoming, or indeed of the man understood according to the Savior,[5] whom the Logos who preexists of God used as a kind of instrument [δίκην ὀργάνου]. For indeed this [man], who dwells in the help of the Most High, lodged under the shelter of the Logos God who indwelled him, who overshadowed him with his deity, [such that] he had the power of the God Logos filling him as helper, and refuge, and his hope. And just as his human instrument [τὸ ἀνθρώπειον αὐτοῦ ὄργανον] is termed “body of Christ,” so also his people are referred to as “body of Christ” by the holy apostle who says, But you are the Body of Christ, and members as particulars (1 Cor 12.27)…

[M23.1149] After saying all things in the singular as to one particular person, he attaches [the following], saying, Because you, O Lord, are my hope, you have made the Most High your refuge (90.9). He presents more clearly that it was the Lord to whom he was speaking all these things. For with absolutely no change of person intervening, the word connected under one meaning all things as to one person: indeed he presented who this person was when he clarifies [the matter] saying, Because you, O Lord, are my hope, you made the Most High your refuge. For since you, he says, O Lord, are the one on whom I have hoped, the Most High, clearly the supreme God, even your own Father, you made your own refuge, and for this reason neither a thousand, nor ten thousand, nor snares of hunters, nor any of the other things enumerated will come to you (90.10). And inasmuch as you, O Lord, are the hope of me who says these things, you made the Most High your refuge; because of this at the beginning [of the psalm] I[11] was saying concerning you, he who dwells in the help of the Most High, or, he who is sitting in the secret [place] of the Most High, inasmuch as the Most High caused your co-seating and co-enthronement in ineffable and secret ways, saying to you, Sit at my righthand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet (Ps 109.1).  

That the “Most High” understood in these passages is the supreme God of all, while the “Lord” is the Son of God, who made the Most High his refuge, Moses, being inspired by the Holy Spirit himself, fittingly taught in the Great Song, saying, When the Most High apportioned the nations, as He scattered the sons of Adam, He established the boundaries of nations according to the number of the angels of God. And the Lord’s portion became his people, Jacob, the allotment of his inheritance, Israel (Deut 32.8-9).  

Through these passages, then, Moses clearly calls the unbegotten God “the Most High,” who distributed the nations on earth to his own angels, but [he refers to] the Son of God as “the Lord,” who had received Israel from the Father. This person, then, who is the Lord is also said through the present [psalm] to dwell in the help of the Most High, and to have made the Most High his own refuge, clearly his own Father. Wherefore it is said about him, Because you, O Lord, are my hope, you made the Most High your refuge. Since Aquila and Symmachus have offered a more Judaic interpretation, being suspicious of the dogma propounded by us concerning the Most High and the Lord, indeed Aquila translated, saying, Because you, O Lord, are my hope, I made your inhabitation most high, and Symmachus, For you, O God, are my fearlessness,[12] made your dwelling most high. One must observe, first, how the Fifth Edition agrees with the Septuagint, saying the same: Because you, O Lord, are my hope, you made the Most High your refuge.  

Second, as the Hebrew text involves elion, it indicates the Most High. We find, then, the text in the 56^th Psalm, I have cried out to God the Most High (Ps 56.3), where instead of, the Most High, the Hebrew text reads elion, just as the present case. The [versions], then, should not have done violence [to the text] so as to distort the truth.[13]  

Alternatively, if indeed, according to Aquila it is said to the Lord himself, because you, O Lord, are my hope, I have made your inhabitation most high, or according to [M23.1152] Symmachus, for You, O Lord, are my fearlessness, you made your dwelling most high, the word is referring to the God of all, as the students of Jews suppose, how does this connect with what follows according to Aquila, Vice will not be directed to you, and a plague will not approach to your shelter, for he commanded his angels to guard you in all your ways. They will bear [you] up on pinions,[14] lest your foot stumble on a stone; and according to Symmachus, after, You, O Lord, are my fearlessness, you made your dwelling most high, how does it continue to say, evil will not prevail over you, nor will a plague draw near to your tabernacle. For he commanded the angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. They will support you on hands, in order that your foot may not strike against a stone?  

For how would it not be the greatest of impieties for these things to be said in reference to the God of all? For who would the person be who commands his angels concerning the God of all, so as to guard him in all his ways? Or how would they support the God who is above all things on hands, so that his foot might not strike against a stone?  

But do observe how the word does not permit these things to be referred to the person of God over all, since this [could] not be the case with the things above from, For he will deliver you from the snare of hunters, from a word that is troubling. With the broad of his back He will overshadow you, and under his wings you will hope, and the things that follow these. But if someone might take these things about the Christ of God, here [called] “Lord,” just as he is named in other places, one would not err from the truth, since the apostle in fact speaks of “one God, from who are all things, and one Lord, through whom are all things” (1 Cor 8.6); and again, “one Lord, one faith, one baptism. One God who is over all and through all and in all” (Eph 4.5-6). Two “Lords” are openly named by David according to, The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my righthand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet (Ps 109.1). And Moses says, The Lord rained from the Lord brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19.24), that the glory might be the same, just as he said in the passage, When the Most High apportioned the nations, the Lord’s portion became his people, Jacob (Deut 32.8, 9). Openly through this, he intentionally manifest the Most High and the Lord: the “Most High” who distributed and gave inheritance to his own angels, and “Lord” who inherits with the angels the portion that differs from all the nations. (Eusebius of Caesarea, Commentary on Psalm https://sophiaphile.wordpress.com/2020/10/14/he-will-command-his-angels-concerning-you-eusebius-of-caesarea-commentary-on-psalm-90-91-part-1/)

“When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of men, he fixed the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. For the Lord’s (YHWH) portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage.” Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

“When the Most High divided the nations, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God. And his people Jacob became the portion of the Lord, Israel was the line of his inheritance.” Brenton’s LXX

“And he led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here, for it is written, “He will command His angels concerning You to guard You,” and, “On their hands they will bear You up, Lest You strike Your foot against a stone.”’ And Jesus answered and said to him, ‘It is said, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”’” Luke 4:9-12 (LSB)

“And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and there will be no end of His kingdom.’ But Mary said to the angel, ‘How will this be, since I am a virgin?’ The angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.’” Luke 1:30-35 LSB  

“Then they sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. And when He came out onto the land, a man from the city met Him, one who was possessed with demons and had not put on any garment for a long time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs. Now seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before Him, and said in a loud voice, ‘What do I have to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me.’ For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had seized him many times, and he was bound with chains and shackles, being kept under guard. And yet breaking his bonds, he was driven by the demon into the desolate regions. And Jesus asked him, ‘What is your name?’ And he said, ‘Legion,’ for many demons had entered him. And they were pleading with Him not to command them to go away into the abyss.” Luke 8:26-31 LSB

“For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay each one according to his deeds.” Matthew 16:27

“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.” Matthew 25:31-33  

“For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” Luke 9:26

“and to give rest to you who are afflicted and to us as well at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, executing vengeance on those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our witness to you was believed.” 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10

“And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, ‘And let all the angels of God worship Him.’” Hebrews 1:6

“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sits on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; having a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself, and being clothed with a garment dipped in blood, His name is also called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the wrath of the rage of God, the Almighty. And He has on His garment and on His thigh a name written, ‘KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.’” Revelation 19:11-16