God's Protection
What’s Coming Up Behind You?
Have you ever been driving and keeping your eyes on the road when suddenly a car came up too fast behind you? If so, do you remember the startling feeling? Do you remember hoping the driver would slow down rather than rear-end you?
Often, we speak of the Lord leading us, but Isaiah 52:12 also speaks of the Lord as watching out for our backs: “…the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.”
In Isaiah 52:12, God is referred to as a rear guard when the Israelites escaped Egyptian bondage.
God is also our rear guard. He watches over us, leads us, and not until heaven will we know how many times He’s protected us from encroaching evil and danger.
Just as it was important for Moses and the Israelites to pay attention to and follow God’s instructions, it’s important for us to pay attention and follow His instructions.
How do God’s warnings and instructions come to us? They come through the Bible and the Holy Spirit’s promptings.
How well are we paying attention to our Rear Guard?
Lord, thank You for being my REAR GUARD and for all the ways You watch over me and protect me. Help me be ever sensitive to Your warnings. I love You.
In addition to being our rear guard, the Lord is also our fortress. Debbie discusses this further in her blog post, “A Good Place to Be.” To read the full post, click HERE.
Eyes in the Back of Your Head
The other day my daughter shared with me that when her son was little, he started looking through the back of her hair. His little fingers were just combing through it, separating each strand. She said, “Hudson, what are you doing?” He said, “I’m looking for the eyes in the back of your head.” Haha! He was so accustomed to her being able to know what he was doing even when she wasn’t looking at him that she’d kiddingly explained, as many of us parents have, “I can see you. I have eyes in the back of my head.”
Well, we parents certainly wish we did have eyes in the back of our head so we could watch out for our little children and warn them if they were getting into something they shouldn’t or about to hurt themselves. No, parents don’t have that capability, but there is someone who does: our Heavenly Father. He watches out for us and over us. Learn more about how God is our Rear Guard.
Thank You, Lord, for watching out for us and over us.
A Good Place to Be
When you think of fortresses in the Bible, what comes to mind? In the past I often had images of David scaling a hill and finding protection in the clefts as Saul pursued him. In addition, however, fortresses were thick-walled cities such as Jerusalem, referred to in 2 Samuel 5:9 as the stronghold in which David lived.
Fortresses imply the need for protection from enemies. Is there such a need today? Yes. Whether the enemy we face is a person, nation, or the devil and spiritual forces of wickedness, we have a fortress in God as David did. What can we learn from him regarding the Lord being a fortress?
First, we must have confidence in the Lord and place our trust in Him when standing against the enemy. We must say as David did, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust” (Psalm 91:2).
We must call upon the Lord. “I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies” (2 Samuel 22:4).
We must go to the Lord, our fortress, confident He will lead and guide us. “For You are my rock and my fortress; for Your name’s sake You will lead me and guide me” (Psalm 31:3). God is mindful that we live in dangerous times on enemy ground. The question is, are we mindful that God is our fortress? Are we staying “in” Him?
Lord God, You are my FORTRESS. Thank You that I can run to You, I can live in You, and be saved from my enemies.
Do you ever wonder if we’re in the end times? Would you like to learn more about the signs of the end times? Grab a copy of Debbie’s Bible study, End Times: What You Should Know, What You Can Do HERE. Access the free accompanying videos and podcasts HERE.
If You Want God’s Glorious Protection
Throughout the years that I have watched for how God reveals Himself in Scripture, one that I only recently noticed was Wall of Fire. “‘For I,’ declares the LORD, ‘will be a wall of fire around her (Jerusalem), and I will be the glory in her midst,’” Zechariah 2:5.
What does the LORD mean that He will be a “wall of fire”?
Scholar and author Herbert Lockyer writes, “Many were the trials and tribulations overtaking a covenant people in their city without walls. But although hemmed in on every side by foes, abundant proof was given that God had not forgotten His promise to shield Jerusalem and His remnants within it.” 1
We have already considered how God is a shield. In this description, we are told one of the ways He has shielded His people is by being a wall of fire.
Evidence of God protecting the Israelites by being a wall of fire can be found in Exodus 13:21-22. “The LORD was… a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.”
Numbers 14:14 records, “They have heard that You, O LORD, are in the midst of this people, for You, O LORD, are seen eye to eye, while Your cloud stands over them; and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.”
Yes, the LORD is a glorious wall of fire protecting His own.
Lord God, WALL OF FIRE, thank You for the visible evidence of Your glorious protection of the Israelites. Thank You for the glorious protection You provide me in my time of need.
“Wall of Fire” is just one of the many incredible attributes of our Lord. To explore more, you can find them in the updated edition of 365 Days of Praise Daily Devotional. It is now available and on sale on Amazon in both paperback and e-book formats. Get your copy HERE.
1 Herbert Lockyer, All the Divine Names and Titles in the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1975), 81.
If You’re Under Attack
Do you feel under fire by a barrage of personal, financial, physical, spiritual, or other attacks? Have you attempted to shield yourself or your loved ones with your own efforts or things other than the Lord? Although your efforts may be well intentioned, the Lord is the ultimate, impenetrable shield. Any shield other than the Lord will fail to protect the mind, emotions, and hearts of you or your loved ones.[1]
Jesus hasn’t left you alone to suffer through life’s trials by yourself. You can cover yourself with His love and truth.[2] You can call to your Heavenly Father, who David describes in Psalm 3:3 as a shield about him. You can put on the spiritual armor that He’s given you so that you can resist evil and stand firm (Ephesians 6:13).
If your shield of faith is down, take it and hold it up. You can do this by taking “up” your Bible and taking God “up” on His Word. Soak your mind and heart in His Word and let it speak to and strengthen your soul (Psalm 119:97-98, 110-111, 114). [3]
Lord, thank You for being a SHIELD about me. Help me stay under the protection of Your divine armor and Word.
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1 Debbie Taylor Williams, Monroe, Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion (Monroe, LA: Howard Publishing, 2006).
2 Williams, Pray with Purpose, 2006.
3Williams, Pray with Purpose, 2006.