God’s Protection — from the inside and out . . .

 

 

READ Psalm 120–124

In a farming community we had a neighbor whose wife was physically much larger than he was. Some of the other neighbors used to affectionately tease them that she was his “heat in the winter and shade in the summer.” I thought of them when reading this passage today:

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. (Psalm 121:1–8)

As loving and protective as this wife may have been toward her husband, she serves as only a small example of God’s care for his family. Sometimes that care is outward and visible as He removes problems and answers pleas for relief. Sometimes His care is inward as He gives His people the ability to stand strong even in the challenges of life. What is the greater victory — having the rocks removed from the river? Or having the water made deeper than the threats it contains? Either way, my help comes from the Lord and I rejoice!

I also want God’s people to focus on this marvel. Sometimes the problems seem too much and the prayers are only for their removal rather than that deeper water that enables joy in sorrow and praise in pain. For that reason, when I read these verses, I thought that Jerusalem could be a reference to the people of God more than this specific city. It speaks to inner security, inner peace, even that “peace that surpasses all understanding” written about in the NT:

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! May they be secure who love you! Peace be within your walls and security within your towers!” For my brothers and companions’ sake I will say, “Peace be within you!” For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good. (Psalm 122:6–9)

That does not mean ignoring the struggles of others and asking God for only one kind of answer to their situation. When someone is hungry, I should feed them, not expect them to have a fasting mentality and bear with it. When someone has lost their job or a loved one or is ill, I should pray for a new job, for comfort, for healing — as well as the sense of God’s presence and His peace as they struggle in their situation. The NT has many appeals to His children to do good, such as . . .

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. (Galatians 6:9–10)

But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. (1 Timothy 5:8)

Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. (Ephesians 4:28)

See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. (1 Thessalonians 5:15)

This does not mean trying to meet every need. Proverbs 3:27 qualifies it with: “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.”

Right now, people we know are taking in singles, couples, even large families that are refugees from persecution or have fled the war in the Ukraine. Some are giving goods and finances for their support and to meet physical needs. Prayers go up. Help is given regarding employment and for education needs as well as the emotional support for trauma experiences and spiritual support for the devastation in their souls.

This is one segment of the needy world we live in. It can be overwhelming until I think about the enormity of God. Yet He asks me only to do what He enables me to do and knows how to take care of the rest.

 

Protected

 

My husband has very fair skin. When the sun is at its brightest, he wears sunscreen or tends to look for some shade. I just found out that the OT word for ‘shade’ is sometimes translated as PROTECTION.

Another interesting discovery is that God not only protects His people but He can remove protection from our enemies:

Numbers 14:8-9. “If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.”

Other OT words are translated as protection. One of them means help or assistance. For instance, Ezra was able to go home from captivity in Babylon and take others with him. He stopped on the way to pray for a safe journey, giving his reasons in Ezra 8:22: “For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, ‘The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.’”

This reminded me of times when I called on God to do something, even told others I’d done that, and when it didn’t happen as soon as I wanted it to, I tried taking matters into my own hands instead of waiting for Him to act. Like Ezra, I should have been ashamed of myself for ruining my own testimony about God’s grace and power to hear my prayers.

This does not negate human action when asking God for help. For instance, Nehemiah was rebuilding the city walls ruined by their captives, the Babylonians. Others tried to stop the repairs, but Nehemiah 4:9 says, “And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.” This man prayed, but also did what was needed to keep his workers from harm. In other words, when I ask God to protect me, I do not play in traffic but instead do sensible things to stay out of trouble.

The psalmists often refer to God’s protection. They call Him our Refuge and Fortress, and other words meaning the same thing. When translated as protection, they bring out the results of knowing God’s care. For example, He deepens our joy: Psalm 5:11. “But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.”

Other psalms speak of His protection in the day of trouble and against the power of enemies. This word also describes His concern for widows and orphans, also all His people. God Himself says in Psalm 91:14, “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name.”

However, the prophets warn against running to other forms of protection. Isaiah 30:1–3 says:

“Ah, stubborn children,” declares the Lord, “who carry out a plan, but not mine, and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin; who set out to go down to Egypt, without asking for my direction, to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame, and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation.”

Protection sometimes means God’s defense of His people as in Isaiah 31:4–5:

For thus the Lord said to me, “As a lion or a young lion growls over his prey, and when a band of shepherds is called out against him, he is not terrified by their shouting or daunted at their noise, so the Lord of hosts will come down to fight on Mount Zion and on its hill. Like birds hovering, so the Lord of hosts will protect (defend) Jerusalem; he will protect and deliver it; he will spare and rescue it.”

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. God’s power to protect me is displayed in many ways yet one NT verse describes His ultimate protection against my ultimate enemy. 1 John 5:18–19 says, “We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” Daily news shows the truth of Satan’s power and activity, but daily victories over sin shout the greater power of God. His protection is a continuing blessing of being His child.