This is our last post for the series on Protection that we started on January 1
with "Wings".
Others include:
- Shadow of His Wings
- Hedge
- Watches
- Shield
- Refuge
- Shelter
Here are 3 Scriptures:
"For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield."
–Psalm 5:12
"You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance." Selah
–Psalm 32:7
"You hem me in--behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me."
Psalm 139:5
Our wonderful Creator starts "hemming" us in, surrounding us with His
protection,the moment we are created in our mother's womb.
Psalm 139 is one of the most beautiful chapters in the Bible regarding God
being All-Knowing and Ever-Present and may I add All-Protecting.
Verse 13 says:
" For You created my inmost being;
You knit me together in my mother's womb."
You knit me together in my mother's womb."
"You so guide me with your hand, that I can turn no way, but where you appoint me. "
–The 1599 Geneva Study Bible
"God has set us where we be, and beset (to be covered with) us wherever we be. Behind us there is God recording our sins, or in grace blotting out the remembrance of them; and before us there is God foreknowing all our deeds, and providing for all our wants. We cannot turn back and so escape him, for he is behind; we cannot go forward and out-march him, for he is before. He not only beholds us, but he besets us." (definition in parenthesis is mine)
–Charles Spurgeon
How would it feel to be "hemmed" in with God?
To be surrounded...
To be covered on all sides...
To be enveloped...
in His protection and love?
Would you feel loved?
Would you feel cared for?
Would you feel like you mattered to Him?
At this point, I would like to talk about another type of Protection.
This may seem not to fit....
but stay with me and hopefully you will see that is does.
I read Psalm 23 this last week.
I would like to have a dollar bill
for every time I have read that Psalm...
Now, I am not into prosperity preaching,
I am just using a figure of speech...
But this last week, verse 5 was for me.
I love, love, love it when the Lord does that...
He made me "hover" over that verse and I could not leave it until I knew all that
there was for me to know at this time.
Here it is:
"You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies."
My mind first went to the word picture of the Old West (really, it did!)
I can see the Indians high up on the tops of the hills or cliffs.
They are sitting there with their war paint on their faces and they are
holding those real long spears with feathers streaming off of them.
They are looking down to the valley below where a caravan of Conestoga
wagons are parked.
The wagons are in a circle and the families are busily.....
preparing their supper in plain view of their enemies!!
They are setting a long wooden table with dishes and dishes of food.
They are watching the fires under the kettles, so they stay hot enough to cook
what is in those great big pots.
They are not looking up to the top of the cliff or hill.
They are at peace, carrying on with their daily tasks at hand.
They are not cowering under the wagons and shaking with fear.
They are not thinking that their world is coming to an end.
They know that they are being protected by an unseen Hand.
They are being covered, surrounded with His care when everything around
them goes wrong.
Here is another different slant on this verse.
Have any of you ever read "A Shepherd looks at Psalm 23"
by W. Phillip Keller?
It was written in 1970.
I highly recommend his books, especially this one.
For verse 5 he says:
"In thinking about this statement, it is well to bear in mind that
(in the summer) the sheep are approaching the high mountain country.
These are known as alplands or tablelands.
So it may be seen that what David referred to as a table was actually the entire
high summer range.
Though these (ranges are) remote and hard to reach, the energetic and aggressive
sheep owner takes the time and trouble to ready them for the arrival of his flocks.
He takes along a supply of salt and minerals to be distributed over the range at
strategic spots for the benefits of the sheep during the summer.
The intelligent, careful manager will also decide well ahead of time where his
camps will be located so the sheep have the best bed grounds.
He will check to see if there are poisonous weeds appearing, and if so,
he will plan his grazing program to avoid them, or take drastic steps to
eradicate them.
The parallel in the Christian life is clear.
To forestall our getting into (deadly) grief of this sort, we need to remember
our Master has been there ahead of us, coping with every situation which
would otherwise undo us."
Our Protector.
He "hems" us in and surrounds us with His care and His love.
Yes, we will have trials and troubles,
but as I said in the last post,
"He shall give us the best of shelter in the worst of danger."
Now, I am not into prosperity preaching,
I am just using a figure of speech...
But this last week, verse 5 was for me.
I love, love, love it when the Lord does that...
He made me "hover" over that verse and I could not leave it until I knew all that
there was for me to know at this time.
Here it is:
"You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies."
My mind first went to the word picture of the Old West (really, it did!)
I can see the Indians high up on the tops of the hills or cliffs.
They are sitting there with their war paint on their faces and they are
holding those real long spears with feathers streaming off of them.
They are looking down to the valley below where a caravan of Conestoga
wagons are parked.
The wagons are in a circle and the families are busily.....
preparing their supper in plain view of their enemies!!
They are setting a long wooden table with dishes and dishes of food.
They are watching the fires under the kettles, so they stay hot enough to cook
what is in those great big pots.
They are not looking up to the top of the cliff or hill.
They are at peace, carrying on with their daily tasks at hand.
They are not cowering under the wagons and shaking with fear.
They are not thinking that their world is coming to an end.
They know that they are being protected by an unseen Hand.
They are being covered, surrounded with His care when everything around
them goes wrong.
Here is another different slant on this verse.
Have any of you ever read "A Shepherd looks at Psalm 23"
by W. Phillip Keller?
It was written in 1970.
I highly recommend his books, especially this one.
For verse 5 he says:
"In thinking about this statement, it is well to bear in mind that
(in the summer) the sheep are approaching the high mountain country.
These are known as alplands or tablelands.
So it may be seen that what David referred to as a table was actually the entire
high summer range.
Though these (ranges are) remote and hard to reach, the energetic and aggressive
sheep owner takes the time and trouble to ready them for the arrival of his flocks.
He takes along a supply of salt and minerals to be distributed over the range at
strategic spots for the benefits of the sheep during the summer.
The intelligent, careful manager will also decide well ahead of time where his
camps will be located so the sheep have the best bed grounds.
He will check to see if there are poisonous weeds appearing, and if so,
he will plan his grazing program to avoid them, or take drastic steps to
eradicate them.
The parallel in the Christian life is clear.
To forestall our getting into (deadly) grief of this sort, we need to remember
our Master has been there ahead of us, coping with every situation which
would otherwise undo us."
Our Protector.
He "hems" us in and surrounds us with His care and His love.
Yes, we will have trials and troubles,
but as I said in the last post,
"He shall give us the best of shelter in the worst of danger."
Thank You, Lord for Your hedge of Protection.
Thank You that You care enough about us to watch over us
and to go ahead in our pathway and be our Shield.
You hide us under Your wings,
even in the Shadow of Your wings.
You are our Refuge, our Rock in shaky times.
You are our Shelter in the storm when the "strong
furious sea winds" try to push us down.
Without You we would be "doing life on our own",
standing alone.
Call on Him today to be your Protector and your Provider.
He is able.
Amen.
Debbie G.
Thank You that You care enough about us to watch over us
and to go ahead in our pathway and be our Shield.
You hide us under Your wings,
even in the Shadow of Your wings.
You are our Refuge, our Rock in shaky times.
You are our Shelter in the storm when the "strong
furious sea winds" try to push us down.
Without You we would be "doing life on our own",
standing alone.
Call on Him today to be your Protector and your Provider.
He is able.
Amen.
Debbie G.
