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Jehovah Magen My Shield
Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.
Psalm 33:18-22
What comes to your mind when you think of a shield? Can you picture yourself in situations or circumstances where you would happily employ the advantages a shield offers?
Shield
armed, buckler, defense, ruler, scale, shield…as defense of His servants
Biblehub (https://biblehub.com/hebrew/4043.htm)
Battleground
I have boys. I grew up with boys-five brothers. I could have used a shield more often than not, honestly. But, as my Mom told the ICU nurse one time, I’ve developed thick skin. It’s true. I did. Growing up with the rough and tough had its effects over me, and In a lot of ways I’d rather all the snails and puppy dog tails over sugar and spice and everything nice. Frilly lace dresses don’t bode well in the battleground of survival of the fittest.
Like most desparate children, I learned quickly to improvise in the heat of the battle. Among many other things, I used pillows, pots and pans, corners and tables, and any unsuspecting body nearby I could as a shield, quickly and strategically placed between me and the enemy at hand. Most of the time it was a fair, at best, attempt toward safety but not because lack of earnest quest. I was just a little girl in the field of giants.
Indeed, thick skin ensued through the flesh and blood battles. Over the years, I learned how to better protect myself where danger loomed.
Prepared
Like any good solider, I was trained to recognize where danger loomed. When ordinary circumstances were starting to become a bit unsettled, I knew when it was time to retreat and when it was time to protect myself. I no longer walked into situations quite as naively…or empty handed without being prepared for battle. But it was the least of the battles my life would have to face.
The Least of the Battles
My flesh and blood may have had battles to fight, win and lose. Some more painful than the others, and as I’ve come to realize, they were the least of the battles to come. It was, it is, the battles in my own mind that would prove to be the biggest fights in my life. I wonder, can a shield protect what is otherwise invisible?
Invisible
When I climb into the driver’s seat, unless it’s raining or snowing (or love-bug season: hey Floridians!), I never see evidence of any looming danger in the air. Even so, I am safely placed behind my windshield. In a few decades of driving, I’ve only had to replace a windshield crack a handful of times, but had it not been there, the surprise attack could have caused great harm to myself or anyone else in my car.
Not to mention the huge white crane that flew into my windshield not long ago! It seems, after all, a shield does protect me from what is otherwise invisible.
It isn’t so uncommon anymore to see someone out and about donning a clear face shield with the hopes of staving off a minuscule virus from breaking through.
The Strength of the Mind
In my mind are the hardest battles to fight. They’re the ones that need a shield the most. A shield to protect, to deflect, to hide behind, to charge confidently forward clasped in hand…
Thoughts that waken me and keep me from sleep. Thoughts that upend my God-fearing, obedient heart. Thoughts that roar against all I believe, that lie and try to adulterate my faith. The strength of my mind wars greater heights than my flesh and blood have ever known.
Shield of Faith
Ah, just like our loving Heavenly Father, He has prepared His Word for His children in just this way. Faith, the evidence of things NOT SEEN. Those private thoughts that try to wreck us? God sees them, and He has given us just the equipment we need for those battles.
First, it’s important to remember exactly what faith is:
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1
We cannot actually see the evidences, the manifestation, of our faith, it’s invisible outside of our hope in Christ who makes it so. What an incredible answer to the battlefield in our minds, the one we can’t see and no-one around us knows is there unless and until we share it with them. Even so, they may not believe or understand the depth of the effects we fight in our minds, but God does. Right where the war is most ravenous, the hope of our faith has already won.
Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield.
Psalm 33:20
Exciting, then, to then revisit the passage most of us know regarding the armor of the Lord.
Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Ephesians 6:16
ALL those fiery darts coming at you in your own thoughts are an attempt from the enemy to harm you. That’s what fiery darts do: harm, hurt, scare. They’re not from the Lord.
We know that we are of God, and the whole world is under the sway of the evil one.
I John 5:19
It’s really important to understand these mind games playing are not given to us from the Lord, they should be recognized as what they are: uninvited and untrue. God desires us to tactfully and concertedly renew our mind:
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
Romans 12:2
properly, a new development; a renewal, achieved by God’s power.. Renew.
bible hub (http://properly,%20a%20new%20development;%20a%20renewal,%20achieved%20by%20God’s%20power.)
Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
I John 4:4
Jehovah Magen: God my Shield
A shield for the battles in our lives. For the physical and for the battle of our minds. The evil one knows if he can infect our minds with his nasty lies-about us, about others, about life, and about God, he will steal our hope. But, when we belong to the Lord, hope is alive. Greater is HE who is in me than he who is in the world. Our hope is alive, the battle is God’s, His Shield is our help: Jehovah Magen.
Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.
Psalm 33:20-22
