Shielded by God

The other week I received the letter that I had been dreading would come. The letter that said ‘Your daughter needs to be shielded from Covid-19 for a minimum of 12 weeks’ and with that everything changed. Well to be honest it wasn’t as dramatic as that. We had already been isolating for five weeks already and in many ways life would continue much the same as in previous weeks, but as is often the case, along with the letter, the enemy seemed to enter my mind with words of fear, anxiety and worry.

Looking to the news for guidance and reassurance did very little to help so I looked to the place that overflows with reassurance and words of comfort, I looked to scripture and I wasn’t disappointed.

Psalm 28:7 says: ‘The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with songs I praise him!’

What a promise! The scripture makes it clear that God will shield us, in every situation and even as we shield those around us that we love. I was struck that in this short verse our heart is mentioned twice. It is clear that our protection is linked with what our heart trusts and has faith in. If our heart trusts in God and not the world, then we will be protected by his shield. That doesn’t mean that we don’t have to follow government measures, life is far too precious to take chances, but we can be assured that when our heart is faithful to him, we will have divine protection and what’s more in a world full of fear, a heart full of trust and one that can leap for joy is something the world will crave.

This idea of the faith of our heart helping us to be protected physically, spiritually and emotionally is also found in psalm 3:3. The passion translation says:

‘But in the depths of my heart I truly know that you, Yaweh, have become my shield, you take me and surround me with yourself, your glory covers me continually.’

This very quickly became my prayer during this time as we started to look at how we could protect the life that has been entrusted to us. Sometimes I need to remind myself exactly what I believe so when the enemy tries to tell me different I know the truth.

The promise of God to be our shield in time of difficulty isn’t one only found in the psalms. In fact from the beginning of the bible we find the promise being made to his people. In Genesis chapter 15 as God is making a covenant with Abraham that he would have descendants as numerous as the stars, his conversation starter is ‘Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great’ (v1) The great thing is that this promise isn’t exclusive to Abraham. In the book of Galatians, Paul explains to the church that Abraham is the father of our faith and that his faith means that the children of Abraham can access the same faith that he had, and his promises. He goes on to explain that when we come to know Christ we also inherit those promises. The promise of a shield to protect us.

‘Abraham, our father of faith, led the way as our pioneering example. He believed God and the substance of his faith releases God’s righteousness to him. So those who are the true children of Abraham will have the same faith as their father...And so the blessing of Abraham's faith is now our blessing too’ (selected verses from Galatians 3:7-9 The Passion Translation)

The imagery of God being our shield is not just found in the Old Testament. In 1 Peter we read about the promise that God will shield us until the end times. 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 5 we read:

‘You who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time’

Shielding isn’t a concept invented by the government in order to protect the most vulnerable in the midst of covid-19, it is something that God has been doing for thousands of years. Furthermore the protection he brings protects us physically spiritually and emotionally.

In proverbs 30:5 The passion translation talks about how we can trust his promises as he is a faithful God. It also talks about the shield of protection that God brings being a wrap-around shield. The shield doesn’t leave a single place exposed or vulnerable. Interestingly this concept is found a couple of times in this translation. One of these time being in Ephesians 6:16 and the passage talking about the armour of God. The shield is the ‘wrap-around shield of faith.’ Another place it is found is in Psalm 144:1-2 which reads:

‘There is only one strong safe and secure place for me; it is in God alone and I love him! He’s the one who gives me strength and skill for the battle. He’s the shelter of love and my fortress of faith, who wraps himself around me as a secure shield.’

As I continued to study the scriptures around God being our shield and protection I found a final piece to the puzzle which is vital to God being our refuge and strength. Psalm 32:7 reads:

‘You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble, you surround me with songs of deliverance’ (NKJV)

God will sing over us songs that will deliver us and bring us to breakthrough. Songs of worship are important when it comes to protection. This led me back to my original scripture in Psalm 28:7 which talks about us singing songs of thanks to him for our protection, or as the passion translations says ‘I jump for joy and burst forth with ecstatic, passionate praise. I will sing songs of what you mean to me.’ 

Worship secures ours position and helps to change our mindset to one of Joy and thanksgiving. This doesn’t mean that it will always be easy, that we will always feel confident, or that there won’t be times when we have to actively battle the enemy. Some days shielding our daughter doesn’t seem too bad especially when we are enjoying good weather in the garden, but there are other days when it all seems too hard. However we can rest assured that God is protecting us and in worshiping him we are reminded of the refuge and hiding place we can find in Jesus.

There is a song in The Salvation Army song book penned by General Sidney Cox and the words speak of the shield and shelter that we find through Jesus Christ. It is also a great song of worship, of praise and of thanksgiving for what God has and will do for us (song 864)

1.      In the love of Jesus I have found a refuge,

Though the winds may blow, this one thing I know,

He who never faileth is my shield and shelter,

And he leads me where still water flow;

He leads me where still waters flow.

Oh what a hiding place,

What a precious hiding place,

In the love of Jesus!

In the love of Jesus!

Oh what a hiding place,

What a precious hiding place,

In the love of Jesus.

2.      In his love abiding, in the rock I’m hiding,

Lord of life is he, yet he thinks of me

Oft-times weak and wayward; yet in great compassion

Jesus watches, O so tenderly,

He watches, O so tenderly!

3.      How my soul rejoices in this mighty Saviour,

His unmeasured grace for a fallen race;

There upon the cross he wrought so great salvation,

There in love divine, he took my place;

In love divine he took my place.