My Shield
Background Story: David was constantly on the move and under attack from Saul and others.
Read Psalm 115
Not to us, Lord, not to us
but to your name be the glory,
because of your love and faithfulness.
2 Why do the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever pleases him.
4 But their idols are silver and gold,
made by human hands.
5 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but cannot see.
6 They have ears, but cannot hear,
noses, but cannot smell.
7 They have hands, but cannot feel,
feet, but cannot walk,
nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
8 Those who make them will be like them,
and so will all who trust in them.
9 All you Israelites, trust in the Lord—
he is their help and shield.
10 House of Aaron, trust in the Lord—
he is their help and shield.
11 You who fear him, trust in the Lord—
he is their help and shield.
12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us:
He will bless his people Israel,
he will bless the house of Aaron,
13 he will bless those who fear the Lord—
small and great alike.
14 May the Lord cause you to flourish,
both you and your children.
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
16 The highest heavens belong to the Lord,
but the earth he has given to mankind.
17 It is not the dead who praise the Lord,
those who go down to the place of silence;
18 it is we who extol the Lord,
both now and forevermore.
Big Idea: God’s word is a shield.
As unrest happens in our world, we can be confident in this…we serve a God that is still in control. Three times in this Psalm it says, “trust in the Lord— he is their help and shield.” (v 9, 10, 11) A shield. Why is God compared to a shield? A shield in battle serves two purposes: defense and offense.
1-Defense: “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.” Ephesians 6:16
As attacks come our way through people, words, circumstances, and discouragement, we can take refuge behind the shield of God’s word, the Bible. God is our hiding place through life’s struggles. As we lean into Him learning to reach for His word for truth throughout the attacks of life, our faith expands seeing His faithfulness time and again. He becomes our safe place even as the arrows fall around us. Psalm 119:114 says, “You are my hiding place and my shield; I wait for Your word. “
2-Offense: “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10: 3-5
God’s word is our offense as well. Not only can we rest behind the truth of His word, but we can take His word to attack negative thinking and assaults on our mind. Our minds are a battleground and the Bible says to “take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ.” How do we do this? What better example do we have than Jesus? In Matthew 4: 1-11, Satan tried to tempt Jesus through different kinds of attacks. Each time, Jesus came back with, “It is written.” (v 4, 7, 10)
The more we know God’s word, the better prepared we will be when those attacks come in our lives. Take refuge today behind the shield of His word and the steadfast promises of God!
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