Psalm 91 gets a wider reading: Jehovah's Witnesses revise a 1974 explanation

The Watchtower study article for November 2-8, 2026, "Trust In Jehovah for Protection" (w26 September, pp. 2-7, theme text Psalm 91:9), revises how the organization reads Psalm 91. Source: wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2026560

Before. Psalm 91 promised spiritual security only. When Satan quoted it to Jesus in Matthew 4:5-7, his mistake was suggesting it promised protection from physical harm. Footnote b on paragraph 9 names the earlier reasoning and cites The Watchtower of December 1, 1974, p. 722.

Now. Paragraph 7 says the psalm is a promise of spiritual security, then asks whether it promises only that: "No." It also promises protection from "physical and emotional harm." Paragraph 9 concludes that Psalm 91 is "a promise of complete protection." On this reading Satan's sin was not citing the psalm for physical protection. It was "using it to justify putting Jehovah to the test."

The limit the article draws. It does not claim protection from all harm today. Paragraph 17 says Jehovah "does not protect us as individuals from all physical harm" at this time. Paragraph 20 says that during the war of Armageddon the psalm's words "may literally prove true," for individuals as well as the group.

The picture. The illustration under paragraph 20 shows an angel making a protective shield around a mother and her two sons while Armageddon rages outside their home. The caption reads: "During Armageddon, we will be protected from physical and emotional harm." It puts the new reading, physical as well as spiritual protection, in a single image.

Why it is worth noting. The footnote states the old explanation outright and gives its source. That makes the change easy to trace, and you can check every quotation above against the page.

The verses discussed, in the Mister Translation reader: Psalm 91:9, Psalm 91:11-12 and Matthew 4:5-7.