A Shield of Protection

Psalm 18:35 (NKJV)
You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, Your right hand has held me up, Your gentleness has made me great.

A shield is a necessary element in the hands of a battle ready soldier. In biblical times hand to hand battles where common and a shield was used for protection from the enemy’s weapons. It was a defensive tool for the sake of fortifying the warrior from harm. Today, we may not be in a physical hand to hand battle, but we are continually in a spiritual battle. We battle the unseen forces of an enemy who attacks our mind, our family, our health, our finances and many other things that can subtly destroy us.

In today’s verse David reminds us that our shield is God’s salvation. Salvation in completely the work of God, we cannot save ourselves or earn it in any way. We just need to repent of our sins and trust Him. When we put our trust in God it is the very power of heaven that shields us from danger. Solomon states is, “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him”, (Proverbs 3:5, NKJV). Our only defense to be saved eternally and protected daily is faith. Paul tells this in Ephesians, “above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one”, (Ephesians 6:16, NKJV). Paul is showing us here that the enemy uses fiery darts, which only are used for the sake of hurt and destroying the opponent.

The main battle ground is our mind. If Satan can deceive us, divert our path or destroy our desire to trust in God, he claims it as victory. We have a powerful tool which is called faith. Faith can and will make these weapons have no effect. Faith keeps our mind on the Lord and His goodness to us, not on the difficulties in the situations at hand. Just as Solomon notes that every word of God is pure, our responsibility relies in the fact that we need to stay in the word of God daily, meditating on Him and His principle. God’s word, infused in our mind will comfort us, strengthen us and stabilize our heart in the midst of all battles. Faith in God and His word diverts our mind unto Him and not the situation.

David goes on to tell us that God’s hand holds us up as we trust in Him. God shows His children individual loving care which daily proves to us and others that He is concerned about every care of our life. It is by gentleness that He establishes this in our mind. He deals with us in all gentleness and expects the same out of us. Gentleness is not weakness. In fact, greater strength is exercised by showing gentleness and not harshness. Paul says that showing gentleness displays the Lord’s presence, “Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand”, (Phil. 4:5, NKVJ).

Thoughts, comments, objections, prayer requests.

Daniel A. Smith