“Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler” (Psalms 91:3)

The “fowler” in this case is a hunter who traps birds in a snare. The Psalmist is saying God delivers His people from snares and out of snares. Most snares are flesh traps or moral dilemmas. “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1). 

 When God prevents you from getting caught in a snare, that’s called “preventive grace”. When God restores you after you’ve been caught in a snare, that’s called “restorative grace”. Preventative grace is painless, but restorative grace can be very painful depending on how stubborn you are. 

 There are three ways God teaches you. 1) God prevents you from being caught in a snare by warning you, “Don’t go near that snare”. 2) If you don’t obey Him, He allows you to get caught in the snare, and after as little pain as necessary, He sets you free. 3) If you still haven’t learned your lesson, He holds you in the snare as long as it takes for you to never forget the inevitable consequence of disobeying God. After the lesson, you’ll be one of “those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14). 

 When you’re caught in a snare, don’t say, “‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed” (James 1:13-14). But what a blessing, if you do end up in a snare, you know “God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). 

 Backslidden saint - repent, but don’t despair. Surely you must know God yearns to restore you. “No chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11).