Sunday 31 Aug 2014

August 31: Psalm 91:1-6

Key Verse: Psalm 91:4
He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

Devotion:
You may think it a bit strange that God should be compared to a bird in that we should take cover under His feathers; I mean, how much protection can we get from feathers? Well, we could ask the same of our bed covers as we hide under them from night terrors. When we have something that we are hiding from, any sort of cover is going to be good enough to make us feel safe, but God’s cover is so much more than a simple description of feathers or a hedge or whatever else we hide behind!

We need to trust God with our lives, not just saying that we trust Him but really giving in to His authority and protection. He knows what dangers we are going to face and has already prepared the protection for us but we do still have to listen out to His instruction so that we can get that protection in the manner in which it is meant. If we are given a shield for protection we should have the knowledge to hide behind the shield and not to try and use it as a hat or something else.

Just the same with God’s protection, we need to know how we can use His protection and how we can depend on it. It is Satan who God is protecting us from. It is the evil one who is trying to mess up our lives so that we run from God instead of running to Him. It is our choice as to whether we follow God or run from Him. It is our feeble hearts that give in and say we are doomed rather than standing firm in God’s Word. Jesus used God’s Word to reject the devil in the desert and we need to know how to do that as well.

It is not a case of just turning round and saying that we are protected by God. It is not a case of relaxing and assuming we are safe. What we need to do is to actively use God’s Word, His instruction and His power to overcome the evil in our lives. We cannot do it by ourselves. But Christ has already paid the price for our sins so taking refuge in God’s shadow, under His wing is natural and expected; but we do need to take shelter and not just assume that God will run after us wherever we run. If we are running away from Him we are making an active choice against His protection. Be safe and rely on God for everything.

Points to Ponder:
What makes you scared?

Are you asking for God’s protection?