Psalms 91:13 (ASV)

Passage

Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: The young lion and the serpent shalt thou trample under foot.

Nearby Context

Psalms 91:11 For he will give his angels charge over thee, To keep thee in all thy ways.

Psalms 91:12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Psalms 91:13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: The young lion and the serpent shalt thou trample under foot.

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.

Psalms 91:15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble: I will deliver him, and honor him.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thou", "shalt", "tread", "upon", "lion", "adder", and "young". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thou" and "shalt", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 12's "They shall bear thee up in their..." into verse 14's "Because he hath set his love upon...", so "thou" and "shalt" belong inside that flow. In Psalms context, the local focus is worship, trust, the LORD's kingship, and covenant mercy.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "thou" and "shalt" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.