1 Samuel 19: God, Our Shield

"This God—his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him." Psalm 18:30

In 1 Samuel 19, we get a beautiful picture of what it looks like for the Lord to be our shield. How often have you heard that term, or terms like it before? Oftentimes, especially in the book of Psalms, we find phrases like God is our shield, or that he is going before us, or that the is with us in battle, and phrases alike. But what do these phrases even mean?

For David, the Lord being his shield literally meant that Lord protecting him from those who were trying to kill him. In 1 Samuel 19, Saul tries to kill David five times (after he's already tried to kill him three times in the preceeding chapter), but each time David gets away. Why? Because the Lord was sovereignly with David, fighting his battles for him, as the Lord was David's shield. When Saul sought to kill David while David was in Saul's house, the Lord gave David the wisdom to allude Saul so that Saul's spear would not hit him (8-10). When Saul sought to kill David in David's own house, the Lord gave David's wife the wisdom to encourage David to get out of the house before Saul's servants came to kill him (11-17). When Saul send his servants down to the land of Samuel (where David sought refuge), the Lord sovereingly appointed that the messengers start prophesying so that they would be distracted and not seek David's life. Oh, and this last one happened four times over! Do you see it now? God was sovereingly with David, defending him in battle and protecting him, even when he could not do so himself.

For us, the Lord being our shield may mean something a little different, but let us not go too far. For David, God was able to protect him from his literal, physical enemy, but for us, God is able to protect us from our spiritual enemy. Ephesians 6:12 speaks of this: "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." For David, God being his shield primarily meant that God saved him from his physical enemies that were trying to take his physical life. However, for us, we can see God as our shield primarily as God saving us from our spiritual enemies that Ephesians 6:12 talks about. In the day and age we live in, we don't fight primarily against flesh and blood as David did, but against the rulers of darkness. However, God's protection still remains the same!*

So, have you taken refuge in God as your shield as David did? Have you trusted in the Lord in all circumstances, knowing that he is willing and able to save you from your great enemies? Beloved! Stop trying to fight your own battles, for the battle is won in the Lord! Run to him, and trust in his power to save. Amen.

*However, let us not forget the Christians who are being persecuted across the globe, who each day do have to pray to God that they may not be murdered for their faith. Praise the Lord that he can save them too! / Also, a fancy college note: the way of interpretting God as our shield in this paragraph is a good way of interpretting the entirety of the book of Psalms. In other words, we can see David's physical struggles representing our spiritual struggles, because the book of Psalms was purposely written in a way that they could be applied to everyone, everywhere, whatever struggle they were going through. This is a fancy way of writing called democratization, where the writer keeps his writing vague and broad so that anyone can read it and apply it to their own lives, even though they may not be going through the same exact struggle as the original author. Isn't that cool?!!?