JOURNAL ~ PsalmsSample

PROTECTION - Day 4

There is a story about a driver going way too fast on a curving road.  As his car flies off the road and is about to crash he prays: “Jesus, save me!” to which Jesus answers: “I got out of the car a while ago.” David continues the theme of protection in these verses, but he makes very clear the conditions of God's protection. You must claim the Lord as your refuge, and you must also dwell in the Most High. God protects His children. But like the driver of the car, if you take yourself out of God's presence and flee from Him, you may experience God's correction - not his protection.  Remember Jonah? "But if you dwell in the Lord, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent."

God also uses His angels to protect us. There are some verses in the Bible describing the guardian function of angels. Even Satan referred to this passage during the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness: The devil led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,' Satan said, 'throw yourself down from here. For it is written: 'He will command His angels concerning you to guard you carefully;  they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'”(Luke 4:9-11).

Not only does God protect us, but he gives believers the power to destroy the forces that come against them. "Tread on the lion and the cobra. Trample on the great lion and the serpent." 'Tread' and 'trample' are action words— we are taking the fight to our enemies. (Remember, our enemies are spiritual forces, not the people we see who may be persecuting us.) Because God is with us and His angels are protecting us, "even the gates of hell" will not prevail against us. The size of our enemy doesn't matter, because our victory comes through the power and

authority of the Most High God.