Blessed be the Lord, because He has heard the voice of my supplications! The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him. (Psalm 28:6-7)

As was mentioned in the previous devotion, the gods of the nations are nothing gods, meaning there is no substance to them. They cannot hear, they cannot speak and they certainly cannot act on behalf of those who serve them. Our God sees all, hears all and intervenes in our circumstances to deliver us from peril. After crying out to the LORD to be heard and to be rescued from his enemies, David reacts with what seems to be a prophetic statement — “He has heard my supplications!” He was confident that the LORD had heard and would, in the appropriate time, act on his behalf.

David, who just a few verses before likened God to a Rock, now regards Him as “my strength and my shield.” Looking at the Hebrew terms for these words indicates that the LORD is the One who fortifies and enables us to stand (indicated by the word עז oze, “strength”). He infuses us with a force that is not our own which allows us to withstand the onslaught of our adversaries. As our shield, He protects and defends us from the arrows and missiles hurled at us by the enemy, causing them to fall harmless before us  (indicated by the Hebrew word מגן magen). Knowing this to be the reality for those who trust in Him, David rejoices with songs of praise.

I don’t consider myself to be a psalmist, a composer or a poet but I can relate to the sense of joy that is birthed in my spirit when I truly realize just how much God does care for me. If we really stopped and considered all the times life could have gone off the rails were it not for the LORD’s intervention (even if we did not recognize it then) and how He has preserved us to this day, it should cause us to rejoice. Like David, we can be confident that He hears us when we pray, and know that He sees what we are forced to endure. If we place our trust in Him, He will fortify and renew us; He will deflect the fiery darts of the enemy because He is our strength and our shield.

Blessings and Shalom,  

Bill 

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