S42P4 – Confessions of Psalm 119: God is our protector

Psalm 119:114

You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word.

The soldier cowered in the corner. Although he was hidden, he could see the enemy approaching. He was alone, but his adversary showed up in numbers. He was not big enough or strong enough to do this on his own. If he had any hope of surviving this battle, he would need reinforcements. The problem was that there were no reinforcements to be found. Not only were his allies nowhere to be seen, but he had no method of communicating with them. He would not have the option to be the aggressor in this instance. He would have to find a place to hide and wait out the attack. He needed protection and refuge. When we enter our times of spiritual war, and we simply need to be hidden, God is the one who becomes our refuge and protection.

I think we sometimes fall into a trap of visualizing spiritual warfare as always a battle. Yes, there are times in which we will have to engage the enemy, and we will rely on God to give us the weapons and ability to prevail. However, do we ever consider that perhaps God simply protects us from having to battle at other times? Today’s scripture seems to indicate that we will have moments during which God will simply shield and hide us. These are not moments when we will strike out with our swords and cut the enemy to pieces. These are moments when we will simply sit and wait for God to clear the way for us. How busy we might be if our Lord simply let us fight every battle that the enemy wished to wage against us! How grateful we should be that God gives us refuge from the fight at times!

We serve a gracious and loving God.  We also serve a God who desires that we work alongside him in carrying out his will.  There is a way for us to reconcile these characteristics of God when it comes to spiritual warfare.  When we are required to stand up and fight, He will equip us.  When we are required to lay low and hide, He will shield us.  There are times when He takes on the battle without us and times when He enlists us.  In all this, God remains our protector.  We make it to the next day and the next battle because of this protection. On our own and in our own strength, we would be sitting ducks just waiting to be defeated.  Father, thank You for the protection You provide, and remind us to hide in You when we need refuge.