20240106

divine shield

Psalm 144:1-8 (JDV)

Psalm 144:1 [Of David.] Blessed be Yahveh, my rock who trains my hands for battle and my fingers for war.
Psalm 144:2 He is my covenant faithfulness and my fortress, my stronghold, and my deliverer. He is my shield, and I take refuge in him; he subdues my people under me.
Psalm 144:3 Yahveh, what is a human that you care for him, a mortal son that you think of him?
Psalm 144:4 A human is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.
Psalm 144:5 Yahveh, part your sky and come down. Touch the mountains, and they will be wrapped in smoke.
Psalm 144:6 Flash your lightning and scatter the enemy; shoot your arrows and rout them.
Psalm 144:7 Reach down from on high; rescue me from deep water, and set me free from the grasp of foreigners
Psalm 144:8 whose mouths speak lies, whose right hands are deceptive.

divine shield

David faced his human enemies with the confidence that the same God who subdued his people under him would also rescue him from foreign enemies. He looked at what God had already done for him and gained faith to keep going. It was not self-confidence. It was confidence in his divine shield.