Word of Encouragement (01/18/2024)

He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. ³⁶ You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your gentleness made me great. ³⁷ You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip; ³⁸ I pursued my enemies and destroyed them, and did not turn back until they were consumed. ³⁹ I consumed them; I thrust them through, so that they did not rise; they fell under my feet. ⁴⁰ For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me. ⁴¹ You made my enemies turn their backs to me, those who hated me, and I destroyed them. ⁴²They looked, but there was none to save; they cried to the LORD, but he did not answer them. ⁴³ I beat them fine as the dust of the earth; I crushed them and stamped them down like the mire of the streets. (2 Sam. 22:35-43)

David thanks God for giving him the shield of His salvation (v. 36). He experienced a deep sense of safety amid his countless battles because he had the shield of God for his protection. Should he be afraid of who the assailants were or how many of them were charging against him if God was his shield?

Of course, God’s shield was not something he could see with his eyes. But he knew that what is real doesn’t have to be visible to the eyes: “we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18). He could see the shield of God only through faith. But it was more real than all the enemies that surrounded him. As long as God was God and His promises were His, he did not have to fear anything. The sun would stop shining before God broke His promises. So, he could sing,

“O LORD, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. Selah But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head” (Ps. 3:1-3).

Notice that David called the shield of God specifically “the shield of your salvation.” It was not some kind of magical instrument as we see in mythologies. The shield referred to God Himself and His act of saving David from all kinds of dangers. God is deeply involved in our affairs. This doesn’t necessarily mean that He directly intervenes on our behalf all the time. He may, and does, use means. He can send His angels. He can send people, even “a bird of prey from the east” (Isa. 46:11). He can use natural phenomena and the elements of nature. But all these things happen under His sovereign direction. How safe we are behind the shield of His salvation!

Notice what David goes on to say: “Your gentleness made me great.” That is an interesting description, isn’t it? Robert D. Bergen says, “Here David picks up that theme [of coming down from heaven to help David, v. 10] again to note with wonder that the Lord had humbled himself (NIV, ‘stooped down’) to make David ‘great.’ God debased himself to exalt David! In God’s action toward David, we see a foreshadowing of the work of Christ (cf. Phil 2:6-8).”

If so, the protection David experienced was but a small preview of the ultimate protection God has provided for His people—from the eternal condemnation of sin. For what does it profit a man to prolong his life here on earth and face eternal damnation? And if we have received the Shield of God’s salvation in Jesus Christ, how bold and secure we should be! That is our reality. May we all experience it in our lives.

‍