The LORD is my strength and my shield. My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I give thanks to Him in song. (Psalm 28:7)
A 9/11 Miracle
In the United States, Patriot Day is observed on September 11 each year in memory of the victims killed in the terrorist attacks in 2001. Genelle Guzman-McMillan was in the World Trade Center during the bombings. With God’s help, she stayed alive for 27 hours, trapped in a collapsed building of twisted steel and smoking debris.
Her head was pinned between two pieces of concrete. Her legs and right hand were sandwiched between pieces of a stairway. Raised a Roman Catholic in Trinidad (Caribbean), Genelle had fallen away from the Lord. Now in the rubble, she called out, “God, please save me. Give me a second chance. I promise I will change my life and follow You.” Genelle was the last person to be rescued.1
A Powerful Verse
Deep down, we all know that turning to the Lord and surrendering to Him is the only remedy in all disasters. Psalm 28:7 is a single verse with 6 big ideas. It is a window into many Bible truths. Meditating on this one sentence can train and transform us. God the Holy Spirit works through His Holy Word to save and renew us. That’s our deepest need.
The Lord is My Strength
The name “LORD” (all capitals in English Bibles) translates God’s most personal Old Testament name (Yahweh in Hebrew). When God promised to rescue His people after 400 years of slavery in Egypt, He used this name.2 It means that God is the Creator and Upholder of the universe, the Promise Keeper, and the All-Powerful One who is on our side.3
The LORD will march out like a champion-warrior. With a shout He will raise the battle cry and will triumph over His enemies… Jesus says, “In this world you will have trouble (tribulation). But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (Isaiah 42:13; John 16:33)
Calling on Christ the Strong One is wise, while relying on ourselves is foolish. What we think is our own strength may be just stubbornness, ego, or pride. Scripture says that we cannot do anything of lasting value by ourselves. Our success comes only from God. So let’s admit our weakness, ignorance, and helplessness, and call on the Almighty Lord who delights to help us.
The Lord Is My Shield
In Bible times, this was a soldier’s defensive weapon, and some were large enough to protect the entire body. Roman shields were made of wood overlaid with canvas and leather, and when soaked in water, a shield could snuff out flaming arrows. The Apostle Paul urges us to use faith in Christ as our shield to quench every burning missile the Evil One hurls at us.
We need Jesus’s protection because life brings us hardship and pain of all kinds. Christ’s believers still get hurt, but He protects us from the full impact. Jesus comes between us and danger; otherwise, we’d be destroyed. Thank God, His shielding moderates our suffering. Our life may not be less painful. But the Lord guarantees that we don’t have to face it alone. He gives us His constant presence, care, strength, hope, and an eternal perspective when troubles attack us.
King David prayed, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit… Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in You I take refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of Your wings until the disaster has passed.”4
When we call on Christ and follow Him, He covers us spiritually, helps us to resist the devil’s schemes, and delivers us from evil.
My Heart Trusts in Him
Trusting God involves our entire personality—mind, heart, and action. We must embrace Christ, the whole Person, with our whole self.
- In our mind, we believe what the Lord reveals about Himself in the Bible. We know the Christ we are following. We understand the facts of Jesus’ sinless life, death, resurrection, aliveness, and promised return, and rejoice in these truths.
- In our heart, we are convinced that we are sinners who need God to save us constantly. We are confident that Jesus loves us unconditionally, brings us into His family, and rescues us as often as we need it.
- In our will (the freedom and responsibility to make moral choices), we commit and daily decide to depend on and obey Christ as our Redeemer-King.
I confess that I stumble constantly, beloved. So trusting Christ means re-leaning and re-resting on His everlasting arms. Jesus is so good and loving that He wants the best for us. He’s so wise that He knows the best for us. He is so strong that He does what’s best for us, even when we don’t see it. Lord, I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!
Hidden in the hollow of His blessed hand,
Never foe can follow, never traitor stand.
Not a surge of worry, not a shade of care,
Not a blast of hurry can touch the spirit there.
Stayed upon Lord Jesus, hearts are fully blessed,
Finding, as He promised, perfect peace and rest.5
I am Helped
As we recognize who Christ is and commit to Him, He befriends and boosts us, heals and helps us, sanctifies and sustains us. Thank You, Lord! A soldier in wartime wrote to his captain: “I knew that wherever I was, you thought of me, and if I got in a tight place, you would come.”6 Christ is the Friend who sticks closer than a brother. He gives us mercy and grace in our times of need.7
Jesus says, “So do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)
A friend reminded me recently of Hagar in the Old Testament. She was an Egyptian (non-Jewish) servant of Abraham. Hagar was treated harshly and unfairly by her masters, and so distressed that she ran away into the wilderness while pregnant. She was abused, hated, and abandoned, but the Lord saw her and preserved her! Grateful Hagar gives God a name based on her wonderful personal encounter with Him. She calls the Lord, “El Roi” (the God who sees me). God helped Hagar, as He helped Genelle in the opening story. So let’s call on Him also when we feel invisible or overlooked.8
Quick note #1: The Lord can take His believers home to Heaven whenever He wants, and we will never be losers. Dying means that our body perishes, but our soul goes home to be with Jesus in Paradise. Christ is our source of joy, our reason to live on Earth, and to die is to gain, for we will be with Him forever.
Quick note #2: Jesus’ believers are not spared from trouble in this life. We are wronged and hurt by circumstances and other people. But God has promised to work it all out for our good, sometimes in this life, perfectly in Heaven. We may not understand until we see Christ face to face, but we trust Him and help each other to trust Him.
My Heart Leaps for Joy
Praise the Lord, O my soul. All my inmost being, praise His holy name and forget not all His benefits. He forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases. He redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion. He satisfies your desires with good things. (Psalm 103:1-5)
Pastor Lloyd Ogilvie (1930–2019) once wrote about the worst year of his life. His wife had five major surgeries plus radiation and chemotherapy, several of his staff members quit, and he was drained and depleted. But in the midst of these disasters, the Lord Jesus gave him “artesian joy,” like water springing up from an underground river. Although Ogilvie felt beaten down, God assured him that he was deeply loved and that nothing could separate him from Christ. It wasn’t a gushy or jolly happiness, but a strong, refreshing flow of the Holy Spirit that energized his soul.
Jesus says, “I have taught you so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be full, complete, and overflowing.” (John 15:11)
I Give Thanks to Him in Song
I met Edward Davis in prison ministry.9 His traumatic life would have crushed many people. He has spent most of his 62 years in orphanages, psychiatric hospitals, and prisons. Yet in a recent worship service, he came to the microphone and sang:
I love Your voice. You have led me through the fire.
In darkest night, You are close like no other.
I’ve known You as a Father. I’ve known You as a Friend.
And I have lived in the goodness of God.
‘Cause all my life, You have been faithful.
And all my life You have been so, so good.
With every breath that I am able
I will sing of the goodness of God.10
Edward reminded us that instead of getting stuck on “woe is me,” we can learn to say, “Look what God has done for me!” Both Scripture and science tell us that gratitude is healing and powerful. So let’s ask God to give us eyes of faith to celebrate His goodness in our hardest times.
Let us praise the Lord for His great love and for the wonderful things He has done for us. For He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. (Psalm 107:8-9)
Prayer
Lord Jesus, You are our Strength, our Song, and our Salvation. You turn our mourning into dancing, remove our heavy sadness, and clothe us with Your joy. Help our hearts sing to You and not be silent. O LORD our God, let us shine Your beauty to those who do not yet know or obey You. Amen.11
Why not memorize our key verse?
The LORD is my strength and my shield.
My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy, and I give thanks to Him in song.
We just prayerfully studied each part of Psalm 28:7! Notice the progression in the six phrases. When we prayerfully mull over any portion of Scripture, God’s word comes alive to us, our souls are nourished, and Christ truly changes us!
Notes (various Bible translations): 1 Genelle Guzman-McMillan, Angel in the Rubble (2014). 2 Ex 3:13-14. 3 Heb 1:1-4; 2 Cor 1:20; Rom 8:31-34. 4 Ps 34:18, 57:1. 5 Frances Ridley Havergal, “Like a River Glorious,” 1876. 6 Letter from William Tecumseh Sherman to Ulysses S. Grant in the American Civil War. 7 Prov 17:17, 18:24; Heb 4:16. 8 See Gen 16:1-16, 21:1-21. 9 This is not his real name, but the story is true. I have known him for 15 years. 10 Johnson, et al, “Goodness of God,” 2019; recorded by CeCe Winans, 2021. 11 Prayer based on Ps 30:11-12, 118:14; Isa 61:3; Phil 2:15.