Four Words the Devil Skipped
"If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone."
— Psalm 91:9-12
Many churches keep 29 September as Michaelmas, the feast of Michael and all angels. In England it was also a quarter day: rents fell due and workers were hired for the year. Jewish tradition gave these lines a grim nickname, the song against plagues and evil spirits. Families said them at bedtime, and a copy turned up at Qumran among texts for driving out demons. Centuries later the devil used the same words as a weapon. He set Jesus, forty days without food, on the temple parapet far above the valley. Josephus wrote that anyone who looked down from that corner grew dizzy. The devil quoted the promise and left four words out: “in all your ways.” Without them it seems to cover any danger a person invents. Jesus refused, and answered with a line about Massah, the desert camp where his people demanded proof. Massah means testing, and a promise you force God to prove is no longer trust.