The Lord is our Refuge and Fortress By Leke Alder

When I was a kid, an uncle took me to Glover Hall to see Duro Ladipo’s theater production, Sango, god of thunder. I had benevolent uncles who took me to stage plays. I remember Hubert Ogunde’s Aiye (the wicked underworld). These were beautiful theaters with powerful characters.

I can’t but imagine David’s uncles might have taken him to the theater, like me. I mean David Jesse (DJ), the guy in the Bible. The kind of characters he introduced to us in Psalm 91 suggests he might have seen a Duro Ladipo theater or a Hubert Ogunde production. He takes us into the world of D.O. Fagunwa’s Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo Irumale (Translated Forest of a Thousand Demons by Wole Soyinka). 

David wrote about four evil characters in Psalm 91. Their names are Terror, Arrow, Pestilence and Destruction. In English they sound like Marvel Comics heroes but not so in Yoruba language. They’re villains. In Yoruba bible their names are translated as Eru Oru (Terror), Ofa (Arrow), Ajakale Arun (Pestilence) and Iparun (Destruction). 

English is a poor language. It can’t capture depths of meaning. “Destruction” and “Iparun” are not the same for example, even though they’re direct translations of each other. Iparun suggests a physical annihilation that grinds the victim into powder. No trace! The Hebrew text suggests sudden death.

“Eru Oru” is not the same as “Terror by night” either. Eru Oru means Lord of the Dark. It suggests a being with dark energy who manipulates forces of darkness. It’s probably what Paul translated as “Rulers of Darkness”. The Hebrew text reads “dread”. 

To protect us from these beings God created a security architecture around us. There are secret service details, angels on assignment (Psalm 91:11). They protect us from the things we cannot see. 

The Lord is our refuge and fortress. We will not fear.