Thursday, July 03, 2008

THEIR Help and THEIR Shield

Psalms 115:9-11 KJV
Israel, trust thou in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.
house of Aaron, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.
Ye that fear the LORD, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.


We have to be careful about applying passages that speak of Israel to the New Testament Christian, but there is in the Word of God a definite correlation as we are also the seed of Abraham. Our promises are somewhat different but God has not changed. It is interesting that the verses speak in the first person in the early part of each verse and in the second person in the last part.

So I find here an ever enclosing circle of admonition to trust in the Lord.

O Israel
This would be the household of faith, the family of God. These are those called out and chosen of the Lord. It is specifically true of Israel as a nation. But it is also true of all who have called upon the Lord as Saviour. Israel is not the only people who may trust in the Lord. I thank God that He has opened the way for people of every race and tongue to be born into His family. God is their help and their shield too.

O house of AaronWithin the people of Israel is a subgroup, the house of Aaron, the priestly family. All New Testament Christians are priests and ministers unto the Lord. But it is also obvious and true that God has called within the called, those He sets aside to minister unto the Lord by equipping and training the believers for the work of the ministry. God is their help and their shield as well.

Ye that fear the Lord
Among the people of Israel, there were those who were merely a part of the nation and those who feared and served the Lord. In our day, and among those who have called upon the Lord and Saviour there are those who are happy to live out their lives with Christ in the peripheral. But there are also those who love and fear and devote their lives to living for God. I am thankful that it is not just the full-time ministers who pour their lives into Christ, but that God has those faithful and loving believers who day after day go into the working places of the world and live out a life of christlikeness. God is their help and their shield also.

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