Billy Graham · Psalm 91

Billy Graham on Psalm 91

No standalone crusade sermon on Psalm 91 appears in BGEA's published archive — but Graham did write a short devotion on it, and the psalm itself is one of the most preached-on texts in Scripture for good reason.

"Billy Graham Psalm 91" is one of the more common searches connected to Graham's name, and the honest answer is less tidy than most people expect. Searching BGEA's published sermon archive and its devotional library turns up no standalone crusade message titled or built around Psalm 91. What does exist is smaller and more specific: a short devotion, "Angels Have Charge Over Us," built on Psalm 91:2, published in Day by Day with Billy Graham (© 1976 BGEA) and still available free on billygraham.org.

That distinction matters. A devotion is a page of reflection, typically a few paragraphs; a crusade sermon is a preached, recorded message delivered to a stadium. Graham's devotional writing on Psalm 91 exists and is genuinely his; a full sermon on the psalm, as far as the public record shows, does not. Separately, the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove has run its own verse-by-verse devotional series on Psalm 91, but that material is written by Training Center staff, not by Graham himself — worth knowing if you are specifically looking for his own words.

This page exists to give a straight answer to that search, and then to do something more useful: walk through what Psalm 91 actually says, since that is very likely what brought you here in the first place.

What Billy Graham Actually Taught

Graham's confirmed connection to this text is the 1976 devotion "Angels Have Charge Over Us," anchored on Psalm 91:2 ("I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust"). Its theme, consistent with Graham's broader devotional writing, is simple trust in God as a place of safety rather than a guarantee against hardship — a distinction Graham was careful about throughout his ministry, since he did not preach a health-and-wealth reading of protection texts.

Beyond that specific devotion, Graham's decades of crusade preaching returned again and again to a small set of themes rather than an exhaustive tour of the Psalms: the reality of sin, the person and cross of Christ, and the call to a decision of faith. Psalm-based imagery of refuge and trust in God shows up inside that larger gospel appeal more often than it stands alone as the subject of a full message.

If you are looking for Graham's own recorded preaching rather than devotional writing, the BGEA audio archive of more than 1,600 sermons at billygraham.org/sermons is the place to search directly — it is free, and it is the most reliable way to confirm what he did or did not preach on a given text.

A Closer Look at Psalm 91

Psalm 91 is an untitled psalm of trust, traditionally read as an individual's declaration of confidence in God's protection. It opens with the image of "dwelling in the shelter of the Most High" and moves through a series of dangers — the fowler's snare, pestilence, the terror by night, the arrow by day — each answered by the assurance that God is a refuge.

Its most quoted line, verse 11 ("He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways"), is also the one line of Scripture Satan quotes back to Jesus in the wilderness temptation (Matthew 4:6), which is part of why careful preachers, Graham included, tend to frame the psalm as a call to trust rather than a formula that guarantees safety from every harm.

Psalm 91 is preached constantly at funerals, before medical procedures, over military deployments, and during seasons of public anxiety — which is almost certainly why it circulates online paired with recognizable names like Graham's even where no sermon exists. The psalm's real staying power does not need borrowed authorship: it has been a go-to text of comfort for congregations for millennia on its own merit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did Billy Graham preach a sermon on Psalm 91?

Not as a standalone crusade sermon, as far as BGEA's published archive shows. He did write a short devotion, "Angels Have Charge Over Us," on Psalm 91:2, published in Day by Day with Billy Graham (1976) and available free on billygraham.org. The Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove has also published its own devotional series on the psalm, but that material is written by Training Center staff, not by Graham.

Is Psalm 91 a prayer of protection?

Yes, it is widely read that way — it is a psalm of trust that describes God as a refuge and fortress against danger, and it is one of the most common texts read over people facing illness, travel, or fear. It is a declaration of confidence in God rather than a guaranteed exemption from hardship.

What does 'refuge and fortress' mean in Psalm 91:2?

The verse pictures God as a place of physical and spiritual safety — a refuge to run to and a fortress to stand behind. It is the verse Billy Graham's 1976 devotion on this psalm was built around.

Did Billy Graham preach on the Psalms often?

Graham's crusade preaching centered mainly on the gospel — sin, the cross, and a call to decision — more than on extended series through Old Testament books. Psalm-based language of trust and refuge appears inside that broader appeal more often than as a standalone psalm sermon; his most-preached texts are catalogued in the free BGEA audio archive.

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