Day 517: The shield of God's love – Psalm 5

To the choirmaster: for the flutes -A psalm of David.

1-3 Give ear to my words, O Lord; consider my groaning. 2 Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray. 3 O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch. 4-6 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness, evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. 7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down towards your holy temple in the fear of you.

8 Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me. 9-10 For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue. Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you. 11-12 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. For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favour as with a shield.” Psalm 5 English Standard Version

“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. For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favour as with a shield!” That's the lovely way King David ended his prayer when he was going through one the many difficult situations he faced during his life. In the Psalm he remembers that God takes no pleasure in the wickedness of people who are proud liars, and whose deepest desire is to harm the lives of others. Even when they pretend to be looking out for the interests of others their flattering speech is only a cloak for foul intentions. (vs 9-10)

Yet David knew too that some of those who were plotting against him were more powerful than he was. So, in vs 8, he prays: “Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness  because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.” David knew that his only hope lay in keeping close to God and staying on God's path.

There's a helpful lesson for us here. Unlike Christians in many countries, we may not yet be facing extreme hostility and physical threats to our lives, but we do have a powerful enemy of our soul! Satan doesn't only use brute force to bring people down, he also uses flattery and lies, and temptation and craft. He can even use, as Jesus warned, people from within our own family circle. Sometimes the danger may come from our struggle between wanting to overcome sin, and the desire to still be 'part of the crowd' and enjoy things that give pleasure - but are not the right path! So David prayed that God would 'spread His protection' over his life, and surround him with the shield of His love! Is that not something we all dearly need?

On one occasion Jesus was accused of only being able to cast out demons because He was 'in league with the Devil'. Jesus pointed out the silliness of the accusation because strong armies don't use their power to conquer themselves! But then he said: “For who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger - someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house.” (Matthew 12:29) So the one who encouraged us to pray “lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil” is the same one who showed that He is more powerful than Satan, and stronger than all who are against us!

May we rejoice in the knowledge that we can call on a Saviour, even in the most serious situations we face, to spread His protection over us - and to shield us daily with His love.