On the Battlefield - Psalm 5
You cover [the righteous] with favor as with a shield – Psalm 5:12
Throughout the psalms we can find many different ways of understanding the grace of God in our lives. In this psalm, David doesn’t simply say God protects, he seems to be getting at something else. Maybe how God protects. While on the battlefield, God’s goodness and grace is so thick that the enemy cannot get through to strike a fatal blow.
The imagery here is not one of God defeating the enemy while David is removed from the experience. It’s easy to think that our protecting God should simply take away every problem or remove us from the fight. But that’s not the plan, and that was not the experience of David or Jesus. That’s not our experience. The plan is that we remain in the fight until God removes us. And while we’re here, exposed to cancer, heartbreak, poverty, persecution, and hundreds of other painful things, God’s goodness will cover us so that the enemy will not win.
It can be difficult for us to harmonize God’s love with ongoing and excruciating struggles. Take heart; even though we are physically frail, always tempted, and still failing, we know that God’s love for his children cannot fail.
Strong Father, your goodness to me is my protection. I confess that at times I question your care for me – I’m sorry. Thank you for never leaving me and protecting me even when I doubt. Please open my eyes to just how committed you are to my safety. Amen