Under His Wings, Behind His Shield

I want to talk about Psalm 91:4 for a moment. It says, "He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust; His truth shall be thy shield and buckler." Isn't it such a wonderful picture? It is the picture of a hen calling to her chicks and shielding them under her wings. But why must a chick hide under his mother's wing? Chicks don't like to hide under their mother's wing. They want to be out running around, eating bugs and learning new things, but when there is danger, she calls to them and they run to safety. The song says, "under his wings I am safely abiding." As much as I love the old song, I don't think we are intended to stay under his wings. His wings are a place of refuge when the dangers are more than we can handle. But he verse continues and says, "His truth shall be thy shield and buckler." A shield is a big heavy thing that is intended to protect against things like arrows, stones, or dead animals flying through the air. The buckler was used more in hand to hand combat. It was much smaller, held in the hand and was used to deflect the blow of a sword. I was also used as a second weapon.

The verse implies that we will do more than hide within his protection, we are called to go out and fight. As we go, we have something to protect us. What is it? The truth of the Lord. As we go out into the world, we are going to be facing the enemy. It won't be arrows or a sword that will be coming at us. The fight we face is one of words and ideas. People have many ideas that they believe to be true. They will be throwing them out there, trying to convince us that they are correct. They may become angry and accuse us when we disagree. If we do not have protection then we may be sucked into their lies. The truth is what will protect us. It will shield us from evil. There are many religious beliefs out there and many of them seem very logical. If we go on logic alone, we will lose the fight, but when we compare the beliefs of the world with the truth of God then we will not be taken in.

Where do you find God's truth? In the Bible. Look to the Bible for guidance. Study it and use it to help you determine whether a preacher is telling the truth or lying. Be like the people of Berea who we see in Acts 17:10, 11 "received the Word with allreadiness of mind and searched the Scriptures daily to see whether those things were so." Don't take mine or anyone else's word for it, search the scriptures and see if what we say is correct.