You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; Your right hand has held me up, Your gentleness has made me great. You enlarged my path under me, so my feet did not slip. (Psalm 18:35-36)
Paul wrote to the Ephesians encouraging them to put on the whole armor of God, including the shield of faith, which he said, enables us “to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one” (Ephesians 6:16). David likens God’s salvation with a shield which, if you think about, does exactly what Paul addressed — it protects us from the wicked one. Furthermore, David recognized that it was God’s Right Hand (the Hand of power) which had provided for his deliverance on so many occasions by improving the path before him so that he would not fall or stumble. Sandwiched between these thoughts David makes this very interesting statement — “Your gentleness has made me great.”
The Hebrew word translated as “gentleness” is also translated as meekness or humility. In fact, there are translations that use the word humility rather than gentleness. The point is that David acknowledges it is God’s humility that caused him to prosper and grow strong. I point this out because, we don’t often think of the Sovereign of the Universe as being humble. We think of Him as the All-Powerful King whose will and purpose we are to submit to without hesitation. Yet, there are many examples of God exhibiting humility to His people for their benefit.
To underscore the point, consider this parable from Jewish commentary. If a master and his disciple were to walk at night, who would we expect to carry the lantern? We would expect the disciple to do it out of respect for his master. However, when God led the children of Israel out of Egypt, in an act of humility, He walked before them in a pillar of fire, illuminating their path so that they would not slip. He continued to lead them until they eventually came into the land of promise.
The greatest demonstration of God’s humility, of course, is the fact that God took on the form of lowly flesh in order to become our salvation. As Paul said of Messiah: “Being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Yeshua the Messiah is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:6-11)
Because He humbled Himself to do the Father’s bidding, the Father made Him great — He is highly exalted. Furthermore, His act of humility benefits all who believe in Him, thus becoming our shield and salvation. In that regard, we can conclude this: Messiah’s humble obedience not only saves us but also provides opportunity for us to grow in strength and power — to be able to walk without stumbling and faltering. And one last thought: His humility should serve as example to us in how we should conduct ourselves. David did not claim credit for his victories; he humbly acknowledged that only by the grace and power of God was he made great.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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