There is a big shift in war from the Old Testament to the New. For the Israelites the battles that they found themselves in were often against other nations. The picture you probably get from this is like World War 1 or 2. But the battle we’re in today is in the spiritual realm.

 

When David says in Psalm 28:7, “The Lord is my strength and my shield,” the context likely implies that this shield would protect him from opposing nations.

 

Maybe you don’t feel like you have a country after you, but do you feel the Devil trying to rob your joy? Do you ever get the sense that there’s more to a cancelled coffee date or a technological glitch? The Devil is still roaming – still tempting.

 

But the amazing truth about God as your shield is, how does a soldier hold a shield? He holds it in front of his torso, but more specifically in front of his heart.

 

Your heart determines the kind of life you live, we’re taught to guard it closely because everything flows from it. What you believe is good and true, how you respond to temptation: it all flows from your heart.

 

And here God says, 'you don’t have to guard your heart alone – let me be your shield, let me protect what is most intimate about you.'