GOD’s Protection
Seek the Truth with all your heart.
Exodus 14:14 ‘The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.’
Deuteronomy 31:8 ‘The LORD HIMSELF goes before you and will be with you; HE will never forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.’
Deuteronomy 33:26-27 ‘There is no one like the GOD of Jeshurun, WHO rides across the heavens to help you and on the clouds in HIS majesty.
The eternal GOD is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. HE will drive out your enemies before you, saying, “Destroy them!”
Joshua 1:9 ‘Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your GOD will be with you wherever you go.’
2 Chronicles 20:15 (last sentence) ‘For the battle is not yours, but GOD’s.’
Verse 17 (last sentence) ‘Go out and face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.’
Verse 21 (last sentence) “Give thanks to the LORD, for HIS love endures forever.”
Psalm 25:14-15 & 20-21 ‘The LORD confides in those who fear HIM; HE makes HIS covenant known to them. My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only HE will release my feet from the snare.’
‘Guard my life and rescue me; do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in YOU. May integrity and uprightness protect me because my hope, LORD, is in YOU.’
Psalm 27 (14 verses) A great Psalm for seeking GOD’s protective assurance.
Psalm 28:7-8 ‘The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in HIM, and HE helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise HIM.
The LORD is the strength of HIS people, a fortress of salvation for HIS anointed one.’
Psalm 32:7 & 11 ‘YOU are my hiding place; YOU will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.’
‘Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing all you who are upright in heart.’
Psalm 34:5-10 & 22 ‘Those who look to HIM are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.
This poor person called, and the LORD heard them; HE saved them out of all their troubles.
The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear HIM, and HE delivers them.
Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the person who takes refuge in HIM.
Fear the LORD, you HIS saints, for those who fear HIM lack nothing.
The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
The LORD will rescue HIS servants; no one who takes refuge in HIM will be condemned.’
Psalm 37:18-24 ‘The days of the blameless are known to the LORD, and their inheritance will endure forever.
In times of disaster they will not wither; in days of famine they will enjoy plenty. But the wicked will perish: The LORD’s enemies, like the beauty of the fields, they will be consumed and vanish like smoke. The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously; those the LORD blesses will inherit the land, but those HE curses will be destroyed. The LORD makes firm the steps of the one who delights in HIM; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with HIS hand.’
Psalm 37:28-29 ‘For the LORD loves the just and will not forsake HIS faithful ones. They will be protected forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off; the righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever.’
Psalm 46:1-11 ‘GOD is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the Earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of GOD, the holy place where the most high dwells. GOD is within her, she will not fall; GOD will help her at break of day. Nations are in uproar; kingdoms fall; HE lifts HIS voice, the Earth melts. The LORD Almighty is with us; the GOD of Jacob is our fortress. Come and see what the LORD done, the desolations HE has brought on the Earth. HE makes wars cease to the ends of the Earth. HE breaks the bow and shatters the spear; HE burns the shields with fire. HE says, “Be still, and know that I am GOD; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the Earth.” The LORD Almighty is with us; the GOD of Jacob is our fortress.’
Psalm 54:7 ‘For HE (GOD) has delivered me from all my troubles, and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.’
Psalm 63:7-8 ‘Because YOU are my help, I sing in the shadow of YOUR wings. My soul clings to YOU, YOUR right hand upholds me.’
Read Psalm 91 prayerfully every day. It is GOD’s wonderful offer of protection for HIS people, written here in the first person tense.
Psalm 91:1-16 ‘I dwell in YOUR shelter LORD GOD MOST HIGH, and rest in YOUR shadow ALMIGHTY GOD.
I will say of YOU LORD, “YOU are my refuge and my fortress, my GOD, in WHOM I trust.” Surely YOU will save me from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. YOU will cover me with YOUR feathers, and under YOUR wings I will find refuge; YOUR faithfulness will be my shield and rampart. I will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at my side, ten thousand at my right hand, but it will not come near me. I will only observe with my eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. I say, “YOU LORD are my refuge,” and I make YOU, the MOST HIGH, my dwelling, no harm will overtake me, no disaster will come near my tent. For YOU FATHER, will command YOUR angels concerning me, to guard me in all my ways; they will lift me up in their hands, so that I will not strike my foot against a stone. I will tread on the lion and the cobra; I will trample the great lion and the serpent. Because I love YOU LORD, YOU will rescue me; YOU will protect me, for I acknowledge YOUR NAME.
I call on YOU, and YOU will answer me; YOU will be with me in trouble, YOU deliver me and honour me. With long life YOU will satisfy me and show me YOUR salvation.’ Amen.
When Psalm 91 has been prayed – quoted regularly – by individuals, families, and even army battalions, GOD’s protection has been astounding.
Psalm 91 is the only place in GOD’s Word where all of the protection promises are brought together in one collection – forming a covenant written through the Holy Spirit – a spiritual contract that GOD has made available, which must be fulfilled. (Luke 24:44)
Honour is one of the seven unique, promises GOD made to us in Psalm 91.
It is an immensely wonderful thing to be honoured by the GOD of the universe. HE honours us by calling us HIS sons and daughters. HE honours us by answering us when we take HIS WORD seriously, and call out to HIM in faith.
HE honours us by recognizing us individually and by preparing a place for us to be together with HIM eternally.
If and when we encounter a serious threat, we need to speak forth the authority we have in Jesus’ Name – for example.
“I am in covenant with the living GOD, and I have a blood covering that protects me from anything you might attempt to do. So, in Jesus’ Name I command you to put that knife down.”
GOD’s shield will remain steadfast and available forever.
GOD’s instruction for us to bless our food and water before eating, provides for our safety, and is an important part of GOD’s protective plan. Blessing the food with gratitude literally brings about sanctification – a cleansing of our food and water. No matter what pestilence we might be facing, GOD’s promise never ceases to be true.
Everything created by GOD is good and should not be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the Word of GOD and prayer for those who believe and know the truth. (Ref. 1Timothy 4:1 & 3-5)
Exodus 23:25 ‘Worship the LORD your GOD, and HIS Blessings will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you.’
When we are doing something to further GOD’s kingdom, we should not be surprised to feel spiritual opposition.
We must be full of faith, and rid of fear. If we have any fear we cannot be full of faith. Fear allows doubt to step in, and we then step out of our place in GOD’s refuge. Refuse to let fear have any place in you.
Psalm 121:1-8 ‘I lift up my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the MAKER of heaven and Earth.
HE will not let your foot slip – HE WHO watches over you will not slumber; indeed, HE WHO watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you – the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm – HE will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.’
The Earth is full of wickedness and danger but they don’t have to affect us. Believers have a safe place in GOD, which we must lay hold of and believe.
Read and meditate continuously on GOD’s Word, and speak in agreement with scriptures in which GOD promises protection. HE has given us the power to overcome fear by HIS Word.
Isaiah 41:10 ‘So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your GOD. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with MY righteous right hand.
Isaiah 43:2 ‘When you pass through the waters (trouble,) I (GOD) will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.’
Isaiah 49:13-16 ‘Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O Earth; burst into song, O mountains! For the LORD comforts HIS people and will have compassion on HIS afflicted ones. Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me.” Can a mother forget her baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I (GOD) will not forget you. See, I have engraved you on the palms of MY hands; your walls are ever before ME.”
Isaiah 54:17 “No weapon formed against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from ME,” declares the LORD.’
Zechariah 2:8-9 ‘For this is what the LORD Almighty says: “After he has honoured ME and has sent ME against the nations that have plundered you, for whoever touches you touches the apple of MY eye, I will surely raise MY hand against them so that their slaves will plunder them. Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent ME.”
Sometimes you might wonder why GOD has not intervened and stepped in to protect you or your situation; however GOD knows why; ---- there is always a reason ----; we may be unable to identify why it might be that way, and remain totally unaware of why.
GOD’s ways often remain a mystery to us, because HE knows things that we don’t, and HE also knows what the outcome would otherwise have been.
Job 3:25 ‘What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me.’
Matthew 23:37-38 ‘Jesus said “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left desolate.”
GOD always wants people to come to a place of safety in HIM. The safest place on Earth is in attaching yourself to GOD and abiding in HIM. Do not let anything move you away from this.
When you are in relationship with GOD, if the worst that can happen on Earth, happens, and you do not turn away from GOD, you can know that your eventual outcome is resurrection to eternal life, and GOD’s blessings.
Romans 8:31-33 ‘What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If GOD is for us, who can be against us? HE WHO did not spare HIS OWN Son, but gave Him up for us all – how will HE not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom GOD has chosen? It is GOD WHO justifies.’
1 Corinthians 16:13 ‘Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.’
The armour of GOD. Keep yourself topped up with this.
Ephesians 6:10-18 ‘Finally, be strong in the LORD and in HIS mighty power. Put on the full armour of GOD, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armour of GOD, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of GOD.
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the LORD’s people.’
2 Timothy 4;18 ‘The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to HIS heavenly kingdom. To HIM be glory for ever and ever. Amen.’
Revelation 3:10 ‘Since you have kept MY command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the Earth.’
Will the LORD GOD protect HIS people in the time of extreme trouble?
HE did not forget faithful Noah when judgements were upon the antediluvian world.
HE did not forget Lot when the fire came down from heaven to consume the cities of the plain, Sodom and Gomorrah.
HE did not forget Joseph when he was surrounded by idolaters in Egypt.
HE did not forget Elijah when the oath of Jezebel threatened him with the fate of the prophets of Baal.
HE did not forget Jeremiah in the dark and dismal pit of his prison house.
HE did not forget the three worthy young men in the super-hot furnace.
HE did not forget Daniel when he was in the lions’ den.