Psalm 28:7

NASB – The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart triumphs, And with my song I shall thank Him.

NLT – The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.

VOICE – The Eternal is the source of my strength and the shield that guards me. When I learn to rest and trust Him, He sends His help. This is why my heart is singing! I open my mouth to praise Him, and thankfulness rises as song.

Joy Found in Protection and Provision

In the bible, strength describes God’s sustaining presence (see Exodus 15:2). A shield suggests protection and defense (see Ephesians 6:16), where Paul describes a shield against spiritual attacks. Through these things, we can rest in our trust in God. We find ourselves relying on His faithfulness and His provision. The psalmist is feeling God’s help in his story because of His faith. The result of God’s help and protection is joy. Joy, in this instance, isn’t just the feeling of happiness. It’s our profound sense of well-being and gratitude. Found in Galatians 5:22, joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit. This shows that joy comes from our deep-seated contentment and our relationship with God Himself. The psalmist also responds with gratitude, as mentioned above. His songs of praise was the communal method to honor God.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: We learned that joy is our response to embracing God’s provision and protection. How have you felt joy through God’s presence in your life?

Sharing the Joy of God’s Blessing

When we trust in God, we can expect that God will respond with His help. God’s provision and protection are signs of God’s faithful presence, even when help comes through people and communities . God’s provision includes his daily bread, wisdom, endurance, opened and closed doors, It’s often regulated through people, systems, and communities. We can find places that can guarantee us the things for our basic survival, such as food, shelter, and clothing. The struggle in our world is that these resources can often be gatekept through consumer capitalism and greed, which can restrict access to these resources. It’s here, where we need to step up and in to help those in need. Our goal as followers of God is to feed the hungry, care for the vulnerable, and building just structures in order to help steward God’s resources to all people. We can rest in the joy that God will provide, and we must be committed to doing the stewardship work to ensure everyone can benefit from that provision.

God’s protection is not about nothing bad happening, but it’s the promise that evil, suffering, and death doesn’t get the final world. There’s many evils that we see in our world in various ways. It’s very easy to feel like you are drowning all of the anxiety, panic, and stress that is ongoing. God’s protection shows us that we will not let the evils of this world get the best of us. It will not crush us or condemn us, but will give a hope and motivation to endure. We can endure, name the harm, and build systems of care and resistance and create boundaries and resources to help others endure. We can reflect God’s light by helping others find safety, dignity, and hope.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: Between God’s provision and protection, how can you share in this with your neighbor?