The Lord My Shield

He is my loving ally and my fortress, my tower of safety, my deliverer. He stands before me as a shield, and I take refuge in him. He subdues the nations under me. – Psalm 144:2 (NLT)

While reading Psalms 144 last night, the verse above stood out to me. In particular, the part I highlighted about God standing before me as a shield really caught my attention. I wanted to share with all of you what I feel God revealed to me through this verse.

We are all familiar with what a shield is. I think we have seen enough Hollywood action films to know about these pieces of armor wielded by warriors. I’m not one to rely on movies for historical knowledge or information, but I do think we can learn something from some of those battle scenes. Movies like Braveheart, Gladiator, Lord of the Rings, etc… All of them featured warriors wielding shields of one type or another. Some were round and some square. Some were made of wood and others of metal. Some were decorated with symbols and some were left plain. Regardless of how they looked, the shield provided one main function – to protect the warrior wielding it.

Shields could be used for other purposes as well, such as bashing the enemy in front of you, but its main purpose was not to damage but to protect from damage. A warrior relied on that shield to protect him from the numerous weapons of the enemy. Fiery arrows, sharp swords, and pointed spears were all examples of weapons that could be blocked by the protective power of a shield.

The purpose of the shield is obvious, but what isn’t always obvious is how to properly use a shield. If God is our shield, then why do we sometimes feel vulnerable and unprotected? Why it that the enemy’s fiery arrows sometime manage to hit us and wound us? God revealed to me some things about the shield this morning which I believe are quite powerful.

A shield must go before a warrior and not behind him. To receive proper protection from a shield, a warrior had to hold it to the front of his body. Most attacks came from the front, and had the warrior placed the shield behind his back or to his side, then he would find that he wasn’t receiving the proper protection. So it is with our walk with God. He may be our shield, but if we don’t put Him first in our life and allow him to go before us and take the lead, then we will find ourselves more susceptible to the attacks that Satan and his demons try to unleash on us.

A warrior must know how to properly use his shield. Most soldiers are trained before they enter combat. They are taught how to use their weapons properly in order to receive maximum benefit from them. I am not trying to compare God to a weapon, but the truth is that He wants to protect us from harm and fight our battles for us and alongside us. However, if we don’t tap into our training (which is God’s Word), then we will have no clue how to fight when the enemy approaches. We will give up and throw in the towel, letting the enemy stomp all over us and beat us down. I know firsthand what this is like, as I have struggled with depression, anxiety, and fear. I have let Satan capture me rather than fighting back, because I didn’t know how to fight back. God’s word equips us with what we need. No wonder it is called the “Sword of the Spirit.” We have all read the scriptures about the armor of God, but how many of us put that armor on daily?

David was not just a king but also a soldier. He fought many physical battles along with the spiritual battles, so it makes sense that in his writings David would reference things such as shields, swords, fortresses, strong towers, etc… He was relating his God to the things that were familiar to him on the battlefield. He knew that a physical sword and shield alone were not enough to save him. He knew that the physical wall of a fortress could be broken down, but that his God could never be defeated. He put his trust in God and relied on him to help him win his battles.

I hope I have made sense with this posting. I just wanted to share what God had revealed to me regarding this verse in the Psalms. I have to work daily to put my complete trust in God and let him go before me as my shield and protection.

Thank you Lord for protecting me.

Thank you Lord for fighting my battles for me.

Thank you Lord for being my refuge in times of trouble.