The Lord is My Buckler

 

In my Wednesday night ladies bible class we are studying the life of David. Last week we discussed Saul hounding David, and David's eventual retreat to the land of the Philistines, despite Saul's assertion that he will no longer chase him. He wants David to come home. (! Samuel 29, 30) David becomes chief body guard to King Achish. There is a battle between the Philistines and Saul's army, but instead of fighting his own people for Achish, David and his men are sent back to Ziklag, where David finally turns back to God. It is after David goes after the Amalekites who took both his wives and everything else the Amalekites took, that he is told of the deaths of Saul and David's friend Jonathan. David mourns for both, even though Saul had tried to kill him several times.
  This is a rather condensed version of what happened. I encourage you to read for yourself the account. But it was after Saul's death that Davide wrote Psalm 18.  Verse two says:
  The Lord is my rock, and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust: my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
  I had no idea what a buckler is so I looked it up. Merriam Webster defines a buckler as a small round shield held by a handle at arm's length or one that shields and protects.  David said that God was his buckler. His shield. Many times in David's life he could have been harmed, yet God protected him. He protects us as well.
  Does this mean as Christians we won't or should never deal with anything bad? No. In this life we will experience hurts and misfortune and eventually we will lose our physical life. But, if we let him, God is there the entire time. God didn't stop the persecution from Saul, but he kept David through it all. David grew stronger in faith because of all he'd been through. Like steel or gold, we too must withstand some fire in our lives to strengthen and refine us as Christians. We may not always understand why we are going through a particular trial, while we are in the midst of it, and sometimes the answer doesn't show up at all in this life, but God is there the entire time. 
  Read psalm 18 and see how David praises God.     

 

In my Wednesday night ladies bible class we are studying the life of David. Last week we discussed Saul hounding David, and David's eventual retreat to the land of the Philistines, despite Saul's assertion that he will no longer chase him. He wants David to come home. (! Samuel 29, 30) David becomes chief body guard to King Achish. There is a battle between the Philistines and Saul's army, but instead of fighting his own people for Achish, David and his men are sent back to Ziklag, where David finally turns back to God. It is after David goes after the Amalekites who took both his wives and everything else the Amalekites took, that he is told of the deaths of Saul and David's friend Jonathan. David mourns for both, even though Saul had tried to kill him several times.
  This is a rather condensed version of what happened. I encourage you to read for yourself the account. But it was after Saul's death that Davide wrote Psalm 18.  Verse two says:
  The Lord is my rock, and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust: my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
  I had no idea what a buckler is so I looked it up. Merriam Webster defines a buckler as a small round shield held by a handle at arm's length or one that shields and protects.  David said that God was his buckler. His shield. Many times in David's life he could have been harmed, yet God protected him. He protects us as well.
  Does this mean as Christians we won't or should never deal with anything bad? No. In this life we will experience hurts and misfortune and eventually we will lose our physical life. But, if we let him, God is there the entire time. God didn't stop the persecution from Saul, but he kept David through it all. David grew stronger in faith because of all he'd been through. Like steel or gold, we too must withstand some fire in our lives to strengthen and refine us as Christians. We may not always understand why we are going through a particular trial, while we are in the midst of it, and sometimes the answer doesn't show up at all in this life, but God is there the entire time. 
  Read psalm 18 and see how David praises God.