Dearly beloved in Christ,
I greet you in the sweet name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
David sought the presence of the Lord at all times when he was sorely oppressed on all sides, and pleaded for help from the Lord. In the circumstance in which he was placed, he was troubled that he may be affected. At those times, he appealed to the Lord for help and guidance. He knew very well that He alone could deliver and protect him. He said: “Salvation belongs to the Lord.” Therefore, in his psalms he requested the Lord to preserve and protect him as the apple of the eye.
Man seeks ways to protect himself and his family and all that belongs to him. But the Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and Saviour, keeps extending His invitation to come under His wings of protection. He would protect you as a hen that protects its chicks. Disregarding His call, we seek protection by self-righteousness, by our own ways and means. For protecting himself, man trains his body submitting it to various types of exercises or yogas. By the strategies he has learnt, he thinks he can manage any situation.
A man, who was rearing doves, had skills in silambam, a protection skill in handling a stick. He had the ability to subdue anyone who came against him, with this skill. Even the stones thrown at him will be deflected by that stick and he would not be hurt. He had a dog and he used to feed it with biscuits. Once he was playing with it and it bit his fingers as he was feeding him with biscuits. In a few days, he died miserably. Whatever be the training we take, it cannot substitute the protection of the Lord. He alone can protect us adequately. This Lord Jesus Christ does not change; He is the same yesterday, today and forever.
I. Areas of Protection
1. From the Sneers of Men
“For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.” (Psalm 12:5).
In today’s society, we can observe people who indulge in hideous activities harming other people. “. . . as for all his enemies, he sneers at them” (Psalm 10:5). “He sits in the lurking places of the villages; In the secret places he murders the innocent; His eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless.” Thus, people indulge in witchcraft in secret against innocent people. But the Lord God protects us from such wicked people. They do it out of jealousy and arrogance, and also for profit in competitive business. Psalm 35:7 says: “For without cause, they have hidden their net for me in a pit, which they have dug without cause for my life.” “Those also who seek my life lay snares for me; Those who seek my hurt speak of destruction, and plan deception all the day long” (Psalm 38:12).
Once a magician who indulged in witchcraft came to a gospel meeting where he was convulsing because of the evil spirits that worked in him. He was rolling all over the place and the people who were there were frightened and began to disperse. After a while, they came back to see him. As the evil spirits left the man, he began to regret and relent for what he had done to men and families to disturb their lives. He had used these evil spirits to divide and separate couples. If any businessman failed to give him the thing he desired free of cost, he would create a mentality among customers not to go to this shop. All the wicked acts of witchcraft were evil.
But the Lord Jesus Christ protects us from such wicked acts of people and blesses us. One of the acts of witchcraft is to harm the efforts of people – creating loss in business houses and industries, bringing about disaster and destruction, defeats and harms in people’s lives. People become desperate and develop hatred towards life. But the Lord Jesus Christ annihilates such evil effects upon us and protects us to live peacefully.
2. From Fear
“...Preserve my life from fear of the enemy.” (Psalm 64:1).
Our adversary creates fear in the hearts of people. We know that fear is terrible. Satan our enemy through his wicked acts creates first fear in us to achieve his ends. This fear cripples us by false alarms, and through dreams of the worst possible scenario. Our thoughts get entangled in vicious ruminations and disable us from acting or taking decisions. Suspicions, doubts, and worries overpower us and deprive us of sleep. We are mentally agitated and the soul is affected.
I used to cite the example of Peter walking on the ocean with the permission of the Lord. He had the permission and also faith in ample measure even though the sea was turbulent. He stepped out of the boat in faith. But when his eyes drifted to look at the situation and the waves of the sea, fear came over him. He was walking on the water and now began to sink. Then he cried to the Lord and the Lord helped him. He doubted the power of His word. His deep faith became little faith. Fear made him lose his confidence and the privilege of walking on water.
If we fear, the thing that we fear will come upon us. In Job 3:25, Job confesses: “For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me” (Job 3:25). That is what Job experienced. Luke records Jesus’ words: “men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken” (Luke 21:26). Whatever may be the way, when fear enters one’s life, it has always been disastrous. The Lord of lords will deliver you from fears caused by loneliness, lack of help from anywhere or hope, from desertion or in any other form. The Lord alone can restore your strength as said in Psalm 138:3, “In the day when I cried out, You answered me, and made me bold with strength in my soul.” He emboldens us to enter the Holiest place by the blood of Jesus, through the veil, that is, His flesh (Hebrews 10:19-20). Peter and John were uneducated and untrained men; yet they spoke with boldness and authority against the establishment. Their enemies themselves realized the reason: “they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13).
3. From All Evil
“The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul.” (Psalm.121:7).
There are people who always work evil against others. There are angels and evil spirits which cause disaster. People do evil to others because of jealousy or arrogance through devious ways. But this works against them and brings about bitterness and sorrows. Sometimes, buying properties that had been defiled brings along with it curse and suffering.
Once a family buried the body of a child in their very house. It brought about several harms to them like accidents to vehicles, untimely deaths, etc. Such places are defiled. Micah 2:10 cautions us: “Arise and depart, for this is not your rest; Because it is defiled, it shall destroy, Yes, with utter destruction.” Therefore, we should avoid visiting such defiled places, which might be historical sites or picnic spots. To have the favour of the Lord Jesus Christ, we should look to Him. The Bible says: “They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed” (Psalm 34:5). He is the Creator, God of love. He will protect us as the apple of the eye and make us lead a comfortable life.
4. Protection of the Heart and Thoughts
“and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).
Our hearts are to be cautiously guarded. “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications,murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness,an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness” (Mark 7:21-22). So, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9). The Lord looks at the heart. ‘But the Lord said to Samuel, ”Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Sam. 16:7). The Lord looks at your evil thoughts, the iniquity at your heart.
We have been created to praise Him. If we fail to do that, we will have to face various struggles in life. The Lord warns us: “because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Rom. 1:21). “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wicked ness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers” (Rom. 1:28-29). Let us decide today itself to praise and glorify the Lord God. Let us grow in the knowledge of Him.
The Bible also warns me: “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear” (Psalm 66:18). Let us get transformed with the heart of Jesus Christ. He will not forsake us. To be filled with the peace that passes understanding and preserve our hearts and thoughts, let us make known to Him everything and thank Him.
Today the Lord God who protects us from the sneers of men will keep us away from the snares of men. He lives. He will deliver us from all fears and evil things so that they may not harms us. He will do good things in our boundaries and fill us with peace that passes understanding. He will guide and lead us according to His plan. What He has told us, He will do and bless us.
II. Whom will the Lord Protect?
1. Those Who Trust in Him
“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3).
As we trust fully in the Lord Jesus Christ and commit to live depending upon Him, He will keep us in perfect peace. There would be protection as well as peace in our boundary. There are several people living with no peace, but are worried about several things. They have no sleep at night times and keep worrying about unwanted things. They easily get irritated with their own family members and lose all good relationship with others. Even in the work places they reveal their bitterness and cause enmity with others working with them. They keep a long face always and use abusive language with their children and make them angry. These children would not obey them or respect them.
Dear Brother/ Sister, have you lost your peace of mind and are with tears? Has life become miserable? The Lord who knows your situation will change everything and wipe away your tears and He wants to give you a new life full of joy. Now decide to remain committed to Him and trust Him fully. You will see everything becoming better in a miraculous way. You would have a better life and your life would cheer up. Discouragement would disappear and joy would multiply. You would perceive the hand of the Lord supporting, protecting, and guiding you.
2. Those Who are Faithful
“Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints! For the Lord preserves the faithful, and fully repays the proud person” (Psalm 31:23).
Lying lips are abhorrent to the Lord. “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are His delight” (Proverbs 12:22). Today it is very difficult to find a person who is truthful. But the Bible says, “A faithful man will abound with blessings, but he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished” (Proverbs 28:20). He will get it from the Lord.
Nebuchadnezzar was enraged when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow to the 60-foot statue he had put up. Then they “answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” Then they were cast into the burning fiery furnace. The flame of the fire burned those who put them into the furnace, but the fire did no harm to any of them. On the contrary there was the presence of another man with them, who was like the Son of God. The king was astonished. They were recognized as the servants of the Most High God and were honoured by the king. “Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God!” (Daniel 3:28). The king realized that there is no other God who can deliver like this. They were faithful and true to the Lord God, and the Lord God protected them from the fire. Daniel was faithful in his work and he was protected from the lions by the Lord. Moses was faithful and he was exalted and led by the Lord. If we are true to the Lord, the Lord will protect us and lead us. Let us try to be faithful in our talk and love towards our family members. Let us be faithful to the Lord in seeking Him, in prayer and in praising Him. He will protect us from all evil and lead and bless us.
3. Those Who are Israelites
“Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4).
The Lord keeps Israel. The word Israel does not refer to the people dwelling in Israel. Biblically, it means all those who have been transformed by the Lord in a miraculous way to lead a different God-fearing life. We were like Jacob, who cheated his father who was blind in old age, saying that he was his eldest son, Esau. He did not love his brother, but when he was hungry, he made him sell his birthright to him for supplying him with porridge. In his hunger he sold his birthright to him. But such a person was transformed into Israel by the Lord. As Jacob took the blessings of his father by deceit, Esau vowed to destroy him after the death of his father. When Rebecca came to know about it, she called Jacob and asked him to run away to her brother, Laban in Padan Aram and be there till his anger subsided. Isaac also blessed him and sent him to Padan Aram.
Jacob was with Laban for twenty years tending his sheep. He also married both his daughters and became a big family. When he decided to return to his own place, he had fear about Esau destroying him. And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok. He sent them all before him and he remained alone and wrestled with the Lord all night. And He said, ”Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” (Gen. 32:28). Thus the Lord God transformed Jacob into Israel. This transformed Israel is blessed. “... it pleased the Lord to bless Israel. .” (Num. 24:1). “Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4).
4. Those Who Love Him
“The Lord preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.” (Psalm 145:20).
The Lord God protects all those who love Him. Because of the love He had for mankind, He sent His only Son Jesus Christ to this world. Christ revealed His love in the cross of Calvary. This love is the reason for His mercies that guard us from annihilation. When we obey His words, we love Him and remain in Him. As this love increases in us, the gifts and talents are also multiplied in us. “For the love of Christ compels us” (2 Cor. 5:14) to do the ministry for Him. The love of Jesus Christ should abound in us day by day and that would transform us, our ministry and ministerial gifts which facilitate deliverance. We can win souls for Christ through the love that works in us.
The blessings of the Lord be with us all.
In the service of Christ,
Bro. Ebenezer Paul.