Devotional for Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Twilight: God Is My Shield

by the Rev. Andrew Kuyvenhoven

Monthly Theme:

These meditations are on the psalms. All those songs about Zion, the temple, and the Son of David really make sense when they are sung In the New Testament church.

Bible Reading:

Psalm 3

Bible Text:

But you are a shield around me, O LORD;... I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me (Ps. 3:3, 5).

Devotional:

Except for the riot police, most people today don't handle shields. We do hide behind windshields, though, every time we're in an automobile. Shields protect from harm.

God calls himself Abraham's shield in Genesis 15:1. And in the Psalms all God's people learn to say, "The LORD God is a sun and shield" (Ps. 84:11), "His faithfulness will be your shield" (Ps. 91:4), "He is [our] help and shield" (Ps. 115:9-11).

The man in Psalm 3 is in great danger. An enemy may be behind him, just around the corner, or hiding beneath a bush. But David has protection: "You are a shield around me, O LORD." This Shield covers him from sunrise to sunset: "I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me."

Like David, some of us may be followed by malicious people who try to harm us, but most of us have different kinds of enemies. We are pursued by forces, powers, disappointments, adversities, temptations, accidents, and events of all kinds that make living hazardous and difficult.

But we confess: God is my shield. At night I will sleep, for God's hand is my pillow. And when I awake I will walk in his presence. "You are a shield around me, O LORD."