But Thou, O Lord, art a shield for me.
A man’s best confidence in trial
These verses show how much a man may have in reality when he seems to have absolutely nothing in appearance. David has described his estate as one of loneliness, amounting almost to utter desolation, so far as social relationships are concerned. He seems to be alone in the very midst of threatening and desperate enemies. His soul is mocked and his prayers are blown aside by the furious opposition of his pursuers. What, then, has David even in the midst of all this loss and peril and fear? He himself seems to give an inventory of his riches.
1. He has a sense of security. “Thou art a shield for me.” The image of Divine protection under the type of a shield is of frequent occurrence in Scripture.
2. He has a sense of prayer. He describes God as the lifter up of his head: the meaning is, that though sore driven he could still turn his eyes towards heaven, expectant of spiritual deliverance and benediction, and that even when his enemies were most heavily pressing upon him he was lifted up higher than any of them--a target to be shot at; but he knew that no arrow of the enemy could strike the head that was divinely sustained.
3. Then David points out the fact of his own enjoyment of the quietness and refreshment of sleep,--“I laid me down and slept.” An eye so critical as this could never be without an object of Divine care upon which to rest. We are too prone to think of God as only at the head of battles, and as leading great hosts in orderly procession; we forget that He giveth His beloved sleep, that He dries the tears of sorrow, and that He does about us the work of a servant, ministering to our life in patience and tenderness, and all bountifulness of love. The warrior who talks about a shield, and who rejoices in the lifting up of his head, recognises in sleep the benediction of God. God will never allow Himself to be excluded from what may be termed the more quiet and domestic spheres of life. (Joseph Parker, D. D.)
My shield and my glory
This is a sweet song, and all the sweeter when we note the estate of the songster. Some circumstances set the sweetness of music in pronounced relief. It is the song that rises out of dreariness that exercises such a fascinating ministry. Look at the outside of the Psalmist’s life. His external comfort was disturbed. His piety was questioned, and his fellowship with the Divine was denied. Man fails him. He retired more entirely upon God. In God he found that which transcended comfort, he found peace. In God he found that which transcended success, he found glory. In God he found that which transcended human regard, he found the approbation of the Divine. The figure of the shield is a beautiful one. It suggests the all-sufficient protection which comes from the companionship of God. The Lord will not permit my external circumstances to injure my spirit. The Lord will also be a shield against the foe within. When the circumstances are unfriendly, man is apt to become embittered. The hostility may nourish revenge. Failure may make a cynic. The winter time may breed envy, malice, and uncharitableness. I need some defence against these foes within. “Man needs re-enforcing against his worse self.” I claim all the real protections as the ministry of the king. “My glory” In the approbation of God I find my honour. The crown that man can give me, man can take away. God’s crowns are worn not as external dignities, but as spiritual dignities which adorn the soul. .. Men were unfriendly, circumstances were unsympathetic; this man “cried unto the Lord, and He heard him.” There was a constant festival of fellowship, of fruitful responsiveness between man and his God. (J. H. Jowett, M. A.)
God a shield
“Often,” says John Paten, during his early days on the island of Tauna, “often have I had to run into the arms of some savage when his club was swung, or musket levelled at my head, and so clung round him that he could neither strike nor shoot until his wrath had cooled down.” One day, while toiling away at his house, the war chief and a large party of armed men surrounded the plot where he was working. They all had muskets besides other weapons. They watched him for some time in silence, and then everyone levelled his weapon at his head. Escape was impossible, speech useless. His eyesight went and came in a moment. He could do nothing but pray, and the text came into his mind, “Whatsoever ye shall ask,” etc. The natives retired a little to another position, and they all levelled their muskets again, and urged one another to shoot, and ultimately withdrew. Once again was he saved as a bird from the snare of the fowler.
God a helper in time of trouble
Gerhardt was exiled from Brandenburg by the Grand Elector in 1659. The said Grand Elector wished to tune his pulpits. Gerhardt refused to preach save what he found in God’s Word. Notice to quit was thereupon promptly served upon the intrepid preacher; he tramped forth a homeless exile, accompanied by his wife and children. Wife and weans at night, wearied and weeping, sought refuge in a wayside inn; Gerhardt, unable to comfort them, went out into a wood to pray. As he prayed, the text, “Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass,” recurred to his mind, and comforted him so amazingly that he paced to and fro under the forest trees, and began composing a hymn, Englishised by John Wesley, beginning with the verse--
“Give to the winds thy fears.
Hope and be undismayed:
God hears thy sighs and counts thy tears;
God shall lift up thy head.”
Returning to the inn, he cheered his wife with the text and the hymn, and they went to bed rejoicing in the confident hope that God would take care of them. They had hardly retired before a thunderous knocking at the door aroused them all. It was a mounted messenger from Duke Christian Meresberg, offering him “Church, people, home, and livelihood.” So, adds the Chronicle, the Lord took care of His servant. (W. T. Stead.)
The Lifter up of my head.
Revival
This verse is the triumphal shout of David when under peculiarly trying circumstances. Happy is the man who makes God’s ordered and sure covenant all his salvation and all his desire. Three things in the passage.
I. Favour. For Jehovah to become our “shield.” If your religion is not opposed, it is not worth your having. Real godliness, real Christianity, cannot exist without being opposed. Sin is always opposed to grace. We are opposed on our journey heavenwards by ourselves. The Father shields us with His fixed decrees The Son shields us with His imputed righteousness. The Holy Ghost shields us by His operations in the soul.
II. Our orthodoxy. “Thou, O Lord, art my glory.” Theology may be brought into a very narrow compass; here it is in two words, “my glory.” Every doctrine, every privilege, and every practice must glorify Him. The words “my glory” contain the idea of fixedness, in opposition to fickleness.
III. The revival. The lifter up of my head.” In times of experimental depression. From nature’s ruin and degradation. This work is carried on by the Comforter’s ministration. (Joseph Irons.)