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Psalms 28:7
“The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him.”

Years ago I injured my knee and required surgery. Before the operation, I was given a detailed description of the human knee. I learned how it was constructed, how it functioned and how mine was damaged. When the surgery was completed, I was even given a video of the operation. If I wanted to, I could have watched on the big screen as parts were cut away and replaced. I learned things I never really wanted to know.

David expresses praise to God for being his strength and his shield. It is important to keep in mind, the only way to know the strength of the Lord is to encounter your own weakness. It was the times when David reached the end of himself that he would come face to face with the reality of the power, strength and enabling of God. All of us want to know God’s power, but we need to realize He only gives it when we are facing things that our own strength cannot handle. Paul prayed to know the power of the resurrection. He needed that because he was constantly in situations where his own power was insufficient. Those who truly know the power of God, are those who have come to realize their own weakness.

The same concept is true regarding a shield. What sounds like beautiful poetic expression, also has a real and practical backstory. David knew God to be his shield because he faced situations in life where he was forced to hide from the attack of others. He had to duck from the spear of Saul, hide in the caves of Adullum, and even flee outside the borders of the land. It was in the times of greatest attack that David learned he could hide himself under the protective shield of His God.

Whatever you are facing, it is good to know that your strength does not have to be sufficient. You can break, and when you do, you can find the strength of the Lord to be enough. No matter what the enemy hurls at you, the shield of the Lord is a fortress that will not fail.

Pastor Jim

Questions for Psalm 28

What does it seem like David is in need of at this point in his life?
How can you relate to that today?
How are “the wicked” described in verses 3-5?
How can you avoid being like that?

Deuteronomy 23:24
“When you come into your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes at your pleasure, but you shall not put any in your container.”

In John 12:8, Jesus said, “The poor you will have with you always…”; history has certainly proven that to be a truthful statement. Even today, with all the advances in science, medicine and technology, there are still those who struggle to make ends meet, and have to have their basic needs met. Understanding that this would be a constant struggle, God established a system within Israel whereby the needs of the poor could be satisfied. It was based upon both the grace of God and the love of His people.

Without the natural resource of a river like the Nile or Euphrates, Israel requires an abundance of rain for their crops to develop. God promised to provide adequate rainfall for the nation. It was this gracious provision of God that made abundance possible. Each year as the rain fell the people were reminded of God’s gracious promises and provision.

When it came time to harvest the field, the owners were to leave a substantial amount of fruit in the fields for those who were unable to provide for themselves. Instead of violently shaking every tree to get the last olive, they were to leave that for the poor. The same was true of the vineyard and the grain fields. Leaving this behind would mean there was always provision for those who lacked.

We see this law being practiced in the New Testament by Jesus and the Twelve. We read that they passed by a field and plucked the grain and ate. They were not stealing, but were having their needs met by God’s provision for the poor. We also see this law practiced in the book of Ruth. We find Naomi and her daughter-in-law struggling to survive after the death of their husbands. Ruth is sent to the fields of Boaz to work on the harvest, and we read the shearers purposely left extra behind for Ruth (Ruth 2:16).

While there is nothing wrong with storing up for our future, or having nice things, we cannot do so at the expense of neglecting to express the grace and love of God to those who are in need. Jesus said,

“But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” Matthew 6:3

It is His expectation that His people will do charitable deeds for one another as an expression of the love of God.
Pastor Jim