THOU, O LORD, ART A SHIELD FOR ME

David was familiar with adversity and persecution. He spent long years fleeing Saul, hiding in the desert and enduring refu­gee status in foreign territory, 1 Sam. 22. 1; 27. 1. Not surprisingly, the sorrowful tone of Psalm 3 is particularly intense, because his enemies increased and the opposition intensified, v. 1. The title affirms that it speaks of the harried monarch’s flight from his own disloyal son, the usurper Absalom. At that time, persecutors like Shimei slanderously claimed that God was turning His back on David, rewarding him for the demise of Saul’s dynasty, v. 2;

2 Sam. 16. 7, 8. This, of course, was not the case. David was being disciplined, not forsaken. Contrary to the appearance of his cir­cumstances, the Lord was David’s shield, v. 3, and protected him through the darkest times of his life.

David’s cry in verse 3 links God with man in a lovely pro­tecting work. What is it about God that makes Him an excellent shield? Firstly, He is all-powerful, as Psalm 115 verse

3 notes, ‘But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatso­ever he hath pleased’. He is repeatedly called ‘God Almighty’ in scripture, Gen. 17. 1; Job 11. 7; Rev. 11. 17. The believer’s Protector is not just strong, He is superlatively mighty! Sec­ondly, He is omnipresent, Ps. 139. 7-10. He can be everywhere, at all times, to defend His people. Thirdly, God is all-knowing, perceiving every threat before it arises, Isa. 46. 10; Ps. 139. 1-6; Heb. 4. 13. The world’s intelligence services and military establishments would love to possess such knowledge, but they are limited in their understanding. Thankfully, the Lord combines total power, presence and wisdom in His work as the shield of His people. As David expressed it, ‘Thou, O Lord, art a shield for me’, v. 3.

The Lord shelters His people from various dangers. His love encompasses the saints and cannot be disrupted by political calamities, economic reverses, natural disasters, disease, spiri­tual conflicts, or any other power known to man, Rom. 8. 35-39. God, who is the Christian’s shield through all generations, will present His people in glory to Himself spiritually and morally unblemished, Eph. 5. 27. In Him alone is lasting security.