Day 5: A Shield That Goes All the Way Around
Read: Psalm 3:1–4
But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.
— Psalm 3:3 (ESV)
Reflect
Look at the heading of Psalm 3: "A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son." This is not a peaceful morning prayer. David's own child has raised an army, and David is running for his life.
In that moment he says, "You, O LORD, are a shield about me."
The phrase is magen ba'adi, "a shield around me." The kind of shield named here is the small, round one, quick and mobile, not the large wall-like shield of Psalm 91. And the little word "about" means around, behind, on behalf of. God is not only a barrier set in front of David. He is a wall on every side.
Most of us can believe God protects us from the threat we can see coming. It is harder to believe he covers the side we are not watching. The betrayal we did not expect. The pressure that comes from behind. The danger that comes from inside our own house, as it did for David.
Not in front of me only. Around me.
And notice what else David calls God: "my glory, and the lifter of my head." The shield does more than block blows. It lifts the head of a man who had every reason to hang it.
Across Scripture
God's first word to a frightened Abram was, "Fear not, Abram, I am your shield" (Genesis 15:1). David says it with his son's army closing in. Paul carries the image to the church, telling believers to take up "the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one" (Ephesians 6:16).
Sit With It
Where do you feel exposed on one side right now? Ask God to be your shield all the way around.
Pray
Be my shield on every side today.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.