God our refuge in a time of violence at an LDS worship

Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

This Sunday’s psalm is Psalm 91:1–6, 14–16, words of refuge that declare:

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty… When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble.”

These words arrive at a heartbreaking moment. In Grand Blanc, Michigan, a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) congregation experienced the unimaginable: a man drove a vehicle into the church, opened fire, and set the building ablaze during Sunday worship.

In today’s news: https://www.npr.org/2025/09/28/nx-s1-5555970/multiple-people-shot-mormon-church-michigan-shooter-down

As of writing this at least one person is dead and many more are injured. A place meant to be sanctuary became a place of terror.

Psalm 91 does not pretend the world is safe. It names terrors, pestilence, and arrows. Yet it insists that in the face of all these threats, God remains our refuge. For the grieving, the wounded, and those who ran in fear, the promise holds: When you call, God answers. When you tremble, God is with you in trouble.

And so the psalm calls us, too. It calls us to pray for the families broken by this tragedy. It calls us to stand in solidarity with our LDS siblings, affirming that their pain is ours. It calls us to resist fear by refusing to let violence define our worship or our faith.

Every time we pray, every time we sing, every time we open our doors to neighbors in need, we bear witness to a God who is greater than violence. We testify that love, not hatred, has the final word.

Today, Psalm 91 is not just an ancient song. It is a lifeline. May we cling to it and live it.