Psalm 35:2
2 Take hold [chazaq] of shield [magen] and buckler [tsinnah], and
stand up [quwm] for mine help [`ezrah]. KJV-Interlinear
2
Take hold of shield and buckler and rise for my help! ESV
The shield and buckler
are weapons of defense. The shield is the smaller weapon, hand held for more
mobility and flexibility in defense against the onslaught of enemy
weapons. The buckler, a larger
protection, refers to the total covering of the body of some sort. It can be thought of as the fortress or
impenetrable defense through which enemies cannot breach.
The world around us all
is constantly on the offense against us, and the first line of defense, in one’s
protection.
Jesus Christ of course is
that protection.
Put the world in front of
any one of us and we are small to non-existent by comparison. The world is far too great for anyone of us
to handle, let alone defend ourselves against.
With an overwhelming
world it is far too easy for one to have self-pity, disenchantment,
frustration, regrets, and so forth, because after all, it is better to think
that life should have been better than it is, had this or that not happened to
us. Typically we look to exterior
people, things, or events to lay the blame at, but the real blame is not with
the world, but within ourselves.
And that self-blame is
due to not looking to God as the infinite and wise person that He is, knowing
every detail of our life, and providing everything necessary to give us a life
in this world, regardless of the circumstances we have or will face in this
world.
If you are down on yourself,
for whatever reason, then your spiritual life is lacking. You are not looking at life through Gods
eyes. You are looking at life through
human viewpoint, which is always the wrong view.
God has a shield and a
fortress. God permits us to wander through
this life, as we all do, but He places His shield and protection around us, in
spite of ourselves.
It is easy to say, that
if this or that did or did not happen, then we would have had a better
life. But such is never the case, and
never true. The fact that this or that
did happen is proof that God needed you to go through the experience in order
for you to learn and grow, and ultimately look to Him.
If your life looks
continually at the negatives, then you have missed the point entirely.
If you begin to look at
God, then there is hope for you.
The long and short of it
is, God has a plan for your life, and regardless of where you have come from,
regardless of what you are been through, Gods plan for you, is never dependent
on any of those things. You have but to look to Him, study and learn, and grow
up. Everything in life is irrelevant,
because it is all temporary in this world.
The only thing that is
permanent is Gods truth, which if you learn it, will become a permanent part of
you.
